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I also have a Benson guitar, however it's seen some intermittent heavy use (with little-to-no skill progression hahaha) since my dad got it about 15 years ago. I've never maintained it or even replaced the strings. I get fret buzz on the G string and a couple of the pickups also appear to be very slightly rusting, as well as some discolouration on the metal frets themselves which will most likely also need replacing. I want to have a go at replacing most of the guitar but have no experience doing so and also can't really afford to give it to a technician (would probably be worth just buying another guitar in that case!). Would somebody be able to point me in the direction of a good source to get quality parts cheaply? And maybe any other advice on how to make the same guitar as OP better?

I’m sharing this backing track in the key of G# minor. It’s from a song I produced for a Spanish artist. You can improvise over the whole track using the G# minor scale. Hope you enjoy it!

Jack of all trades, Master of none..? It sounds as if you're doing very well, with a quite eclectic set of strings to your bows. I think, however, that it might be fruitful to stand back a bit, chill a little, and concentrate on one main 'work in progress', whilst still maintaining 'contact' with your current acquired skills. I'd suggest that a spell on the acoustic would be a Good Thing, in general, and will serve you in good stead for all the rest. You have a very decent stable of equipment (no real 'quality' issues with what you've described...); an acoustic will complement this, and give you something to make progress on, if you can keep your mind on the goal that you set yourself. I'm not a church-goer, myself, but an acoustic would fit very well in that setting, as an option over your other instrumental arrangements. If, by 'rhythm playing', you mean strumming chords from charts, that, in itself, is a very healthy skill to have. It can be developed into a whole host of styles, around picking, chord-melody, drop-two chords, alternative rhythms... The list is endless. Whilst waiting for reception of an acoustic, leave the Epiphone 'upgrades' and try thinking of playing it in a new style, as if it were an acoustic. Never mind the 'tone', just the approach to chord choice, right-hand techniques to try, new sets of substitute chords etc. Take, for instance, any church song that you know well, and look for substitute chords (replace any Major chord by a Maj7th, so 'C' becomes 'CMaj7' etc...)..? If such a chord repeats for a few bars, try moving for 'C' 'C' 'C' 'C' to 'C' 'Cmaj7', 'Cmaj6', 'Cmaj7' instead..? Find these chords at different position on the neck, to get different 'colours'..? There is so much that can be done under the heading of 'rhythm guitar'..! Hope this helps, a little.

Hello chaps. I'm a very occasional poster here, although I lurk a bit from time to time - please be kind! I'm trying to work out what direction to take my playing and I'm looking for advice. I've been trying to learn electric guitar for about the last 4 years. I've been doing pretty well and am approaching an "intermediate" kind of ability (at least in rhythm playing), but I know I still have practice to do / things to learn before I can properly back that up. For example: I've been able to play a few services at my local church when they've had no other instrumentalists available, but I'm not always particularly comfortable doing it. I'm usually their bassist and often in the "just me" situations I'll still sometimes play piano in preference to guitar, depending on the music. I also sometimes play rhythm in a little trio I've got going with a couple of mates, but again, they really prefer me to play bass, as do I. So, mostly with the church thing in mind, I started looking at the start of the year for an electro-acoustic, thinking that having one would probably be another string to my bow as far as church band goes. Some of the repertoire just seems a more suited to acoustic tone (although I have a Helix and various other bits and pieces for tone shaping, so an acoustic would be a nice-to-have rather than a necessity). Not liking the size of a dreadnought (or anything large) I picked out a nice Alvarez parlour guitar and put a deposit down on it, started saving up etc. Due to delivery / customs issues, it won't be here before October, but I thought I'd use the time to ponder whether I really wanted to spend the money and I'm in no particular rush. I even put some 11's on my LP to improve my finger strength a bit in anticipation of its arrival (it's working so far!). Obviously the waiting time has given me space to think about other things. The main thing is obviously whether spending £400-500 on a(n acoustic) guitar is the best use of the money - a decision made harder by my choice last year to upgrade my other guitar - a strat. Moving from a cheapo £100 strat copy to a Fender Player was something of an eye-opener. Before that purchase I was again concerned whether it would be a wise use of the money - would I end up with the same thing at 6x the cost for the name on the headstock? Afterwards, I saw and felt the difference: playability, tone, tuning stability etc. - all vastly better (even on a MIM) than anything I'd ever played before. So now I'm sitting here wondering whether, rather than buying that acoustic, I should be looking to upgrade my current LP - an Epiphone Stuido LT (pickups Warmanized) instead. Up until recently, I've always been really happy with it. In fact, even post-new-strat, I've tended to use it in church as the tone is fuller and it just seems to work better in lots of songs. But it does also have it's annoyances - tuning stability has never been great (which a new nut didn't cure) and although I've made one or two aesthetic modifications, it was always "what I could afford" rather than "what I wanted" (or at least, "could justify"). On the flip side, it's got some humbucker-sized P90's in it and sounds amazing with the other kit I have. Having moved away from humbuckers, I'd worry that I'd be going back in a direction I'd tried and disliked if I upgraded to a better quality Epiphone (or simillar) that had them. And if I put the P90s in a new guitar, why am I upgrading at all? I'd also be giving up - at least for the foreseeable - the prospect of developing my playing into acoustic guitar and learning the styles and techniques for that. So there's a bit of new kit desire going on, but also a wider question about developing as a player and whether it's better to focus more on what I'm doing already, or branching out into something new. I'd appreciate hearing any experience / opinions. Thanks.

Nearly a year since your last bump, still not found a buyer for this beauty?

Well, I changed them they were originally p bass style Matt black and had grub screws. those are the knobs from my old squire jazz bass.

Those control knobs look like the electrics are aftermarket.

From my research Antoria is like Ibanez as they’re guitars was made in the same Japanese factory and then had they’re guitars imported to the uk. I know a bit about the 628-12 models and how it’s a lawsuit guitar (a copy of the Gibson. -45) but I don’t recall it ever having an electric variation?

I went for the Orange Supercrush 100 combo ! Superb sounding amp and loaded with a Celestion Redback

Yep the Katana is too digital sounding which is no surprise as that’s exactly what it is I’ve now got the Orange Supercrush 100 and that sounds very good

that custom looks totally legit to me probably has quite a thin neck, like my '89 Deluxe

I wanted to try making whole version of Sunny for fingerstyle guitar. There's some quite challenging chord voicings and fast runs, one of which I'll show in detail in this video. I hope you like it. Video Tabs:

Apologies if this a bit late but I keep getting caught by cable issues when testing my rig. I have a habit of chopping up unreliable cables into shorter leads and then ultimately to patch cables but without ever chasing the location. I've changed that tactic now but with old leads I still get caught out sometimes.

I shared a stage with another guitarist who was going through a Katana 100. He was absolutely deafening, I had to turn him down to 50w setting just to balance us out a bit (I was playing through a pair of 85w Class D floor amps at the time). Great cleans but it kind of sounded like an profiled amp through a computer plug in. But at the time it didn't matter so much as we were playing without PA support for the backline.

Hi guys thanks for all the help. I’m sending the guitar back to Epiphone and they’re going to fix it.

Hi DecepticonVibez glad to have you onboard.

Taylor Big Baby

Pop this into your Search engine ... 'guitar repairs hull uk' ... Inspired by any of the responses there..?

I live near Hull in England.

If you give us your location, maybe someone could recommend nearby source of expertise..?

At first there was very little sound coming through the amp, even though the amp was cranked up full but now there is no volume. Yes I have tried different amps and leads.

Which one? Was it little or none, because there is a big difference to what the problem could be between all of those. Huh? Is this a professional guitar tech or someone who just called himself that? I am wondering as there is nothing complicated at all in guitar electronics (although the nature of the sheridon makes them harder to get to), so I wouldn't be very keen on listening to the recomendation of someone who couldn't work out the problem. I assume you have tried other leads and amps etc. Its obviousy difficult to get to the componants but if you get them out through the F hole, disconnect the pickup hot first, check there is something coming out of the pickups (if you can) and check that the pickups themselves aren't either shorted out or completely open circuit, then the volume pot, then the switch and trace it through to where the sound goes away, that is where your problem is. It shouldn't take long with a meter to be able to find it out. If you are not comfortable doing this, take it to someone know knows electronics who should be able to help - they don't have to be a guitar tech at all, it is basic knowledge of electronics

Welcome!.