Leaderboard

Put it all back together, polished it up and it plays just fine. What a bargain

I don't think I've posted here before - I'm a member of basschat.co.uk, but after playing bass for decades, lately I've been singing and playing mandolin and octave mandolin. I don't actually play guitar, though I have a couple of guitar-shaped objects in my collection - an acoustic guitar bodied octave mandolin, and earlier this year a local guitar builder converted a copy of a Gibson SG to mandolin for me. I'm currently working towards a Rock School grade 2 acoustic guitar exam... with a mandolin!

Decided to get the Epi Les Paul 60’s Standard in Bourbon Burst I had looked at PRS but decided this is what I wanted. Out of the box the quality, setup was spot on and amazing for a £500 guitar. Sounds excellent and pickups are very good and sounds great clean and overdriven They have definitely improved since I owned an Epi Les Paul Plus Top Pro about 10 years ago this is as close to Gibson quality you can get without the price tag ! Awesome guitar

Thinking that I ought to have a hollow bodied guitar for jazz I bought a Streamliner and have indeed given that Bigsby a wobble from time to time despite it being considered inappropriate within the genre.

I picked up a super cheap Ibanez S670 with a fake body for 1500RMB ten days ago and went about upgrading, fixing and customising it with chrome Gotoh hardware and Dimarzio Satriani signature pickups. I wanted to do a Chromeboy painted finish but it's not possible to do it well on wood bodies. The original Chromeboys had finish cracking and bubbling issues do to wood expanding and contracting with seasonal changes, the follow ups had bodies made of lucite not wood. So I did the next best thing - bought a load of mirror vinyl wrap online and found a friendly auto wrapping firm to do it for me after my own attempt failed miserably. The reflection isn't 100% sharp but only really noticable when you are standing closer than 5 meters. I'm planning on using the guitar for a show coming up on Jan 11. The good thing of vinyl over paint is that I can get it re wrapped if it starts to look a little worn.

To better appreciate this event, I would refer you to a previous post here, where the 'back story' is quite fully related, so doesn't need repeating here. Skip it if you're in a hurry, but you'll be missing out. Soooooo... I've just, in the past few days, taken delivery of a new (to me, but not quite...) guitar that has been on my 'bucket list' for over half a century. A fellow member of our sister site (Basschat...) passed me a link to a site where this quite rare guitar was for sale, in Sweden. After looking up my finances (it was not cheap...), I contacted the Seller I 'bit the bullet', and, after some tractation over acquisition of a hard case for shipping, it finally arrived, safe and sound, snuggling up nicely in a brand new case. 'OK', I hear you ask, 'but what guitar is it..?' You'll have guessed if you'd read the post in the link above; it's a Hofner President Thinline E2 Florentine, from the late '60s, the same model that I foolishly 'let go' in my stoopid youth. Yippee..! Here's the photos I hastily took as it arrived... Pleased..? You betcha; pleased as Punch. I'm now struggling to get back to where I was, all those decades ago, trying to play a chord-melody version of 'Misty'. By a horrible coincidence, I had trimmed my nails, on both hands, and will have to wait a while before playing that way, as I have done since year 'dot', with only fingers, so I'm struggling at the same time with the use of a plectrum. It's all good, though, albeit extremely slow going. I have a Chromebook for displaying a Pdf of the version I'm using (from a Sandy Sherman YouTube video; just about the best and most accessible I've seen...), but as soon as I think I've assimilated a few bars, I turn the page to continue, but have forgotten it when I turn back again. I'm using my usual method of learning the 'outro' first, so that I'll be working into 'known' territory as I move forward, but, for now (it's been only a few days, but...) I'm finding it quite a job remembering only these dozen or so bars. It'll come (it has to..!), and I find the neck of this guitar to be exactly fitted to how I play (perhaps 'muscle memory' from all that time ago, when I learnt on that first President...). Anyway, enough rambling; back to the Chromebook for another session. I'll see about better pictures if/when the weather picks up, for outdoors lighting. Bye for now... Douglas

Son(16) is a fan of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Cheap Squier Bullet Strat from Cash Converters and a Most-Marvelous Inter-Fret Job by @Andyjr1515 fella who sits (slumps!) at the bar in the BassChat Arms... (Blah! Blah! and Pics in a BassChat Tech&Repair post) https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/496955-microtonal-fretting-microwhat-but-sorry-not-on-a-bass/?do=findComment&comment=5264843 When 12TET and 20 or so frets just arn't enough... go 24TET and over 40 frets to play with!

Thanks everybody for your answers and contributions. Made some interesting reading, and some great model photos. Just before Christmas, I privately bought a Marshall amp. The owner asked if I would also take his old black and white Strat off his hands too for a meagre £30.... It was an exact double of the one in my original post with identical headstock and weight. Well...you can guess the rest! Cheers again for all of your input.

I think HB are great value guitars and worthy of modifying too...here is a Youtube video showing what I do to them:- Infinity Mirror Guitar v3 with hot rail pickup.

Quick update to say I pulled the trigger on the Thinline Godin. It's new, coming from the States and even with delivery and taxes will be £300 cheaper than the best price I could find in the UK!

After a bit of work with fine wet and dry and a polish up with brasso, it transpires it's a Coxx Classix.

What a palava. OK so GC has been offline for a few days due to a mix-up in transfer of content from the old server (which was upgraded due to email notification issues on BC) to the new server. The old server subscription cancelled last week taking GC down with it. Then we had issues trying to get things set up on the new server. As you can see, we have managed to restore GC but the only back up on the old server was from January. Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry to any of you who had made the effort to post detailed or lengthy replies during that time, I've personally lost at least one lengthy post as well. If you need to flame, go ahead. We had to unravel a whole load of secondary issues to do with databases not working quite right, upgrades not installing quite correctly, DNS and nameservers not being what they should be. However, thankfully, we have made it through the other side and GC is faster and more stable than ever. I don't expect this perfect storm to happen again and thanks in advance for your patience and understanding.

On Saturday we had a work party where we provided the entertainment. About six weeks ago I rounded up a bunch of colleagues and proposed we do a song together. Below is the result: 52fb7b34b4790dbaf517c3d5cce802d3.mp4 It was my first time performing on guitar and I used the instrument mentioned here: All sorts of technical issues that I won't bore everyone with but the band had no right sounding as good as this recording suggests. I originally rehearsed with a 4U rack containing my beloved Triaxis and MPXG2 into a Marshall 20/20. But there were 60Hz hum and phasing issues so I swapped the rack for a Kemper and used a profile of the Triaxis instead with only marginal improvement (no more phasing). The Kemper went into two Hotone Loudster Class D power amps sat on a pair of Joyo 1x12 cabs loaded with Celestion Neo Creambacks. The speakers struggled to disperse, but this shouldn't have been too much of an issue if we had been given PA support. Unfortunately the video stops just before I move up front for the solo guitar breaks. I did the thing though - one foot on the monitor. No hair in the wind unfortunately.

Hi there! I just joined a new band called Sons of steel. This is one of our singles: Let me know your opinion about it. Thanks!!

This year a Joyo "Oxford Sound" pedal. So far I'm very pleased with it - lets me go straight into our PA without lugging an amp around.

When singing a melody through, in your head or out loud, try to pick out the highest and lowest notes, when you get to them. That's when to pick up the guitar and find those notes, and only those notes. That'll determine where on the fingerboard the rest of the melody lies, so, having established the extremes, now find the initial, starting note, keeping in mind these extremities. Does this help..?

If you can afford it and it will make you happy then do it. I personally am a tight arse and even if I could afford a Gibson (I can't) I'd never buy one because I'm a klutz and it would be an expensive thing for me to damage, same goes for a Ferarri, I'd have door pockets full of crisp packets and I'd no doubt kerb the wheels parking it.

There is a chap on Instagram named Ohms in Hawaii and he posts beautiful guitars on the beach like this photo: There are hundreds of posts just like this one, these photos really warmed my winter mornings.

What about selling it and buying a nice gift for the donor, or explain to him that you aren't getting on with it and ask if he would mind you selling it. You could offer him all or some of the money minus any expenses.

Here it is, about to get treated to a good clean and some new strings. Setup seems spot on but I’ll check it all and set the pick-up heights to suit. The overall finish is superb - not just for the price but for a guitar of any price. The binding is lovely and clean with no gaps or flaws that I can see and the fret ends are super smooth (the frets need a good polish though). It needs a good clean up and some oil on the fretboard and I may swap the volume and tone knobs for black ones at some point but I do think I’ve blagged a real bargain for once

Apologies for the two months absence - super busy with life stuff! I hope anyone who's still around from last year are keeping well & have had a good start to this year! On my front.. bad news is I didn't have time to record updates or really progress much through modules... However.. good news is I still managed to put in circa' one hour practice pretty much every day which has just helped me further cement the early foundational stuff as well as the new things learned in the first module of grade two, which I've now completed between the start of Jan & now... in the next module I'm about to start I (finally) start taking a first look at the F.

A few years ago I bought a Blue Ridge 12 string with the confidence that I would soon be able to remove my finger picks and apply my scruggs style technique to the 12 string and be able to emulate the one and only Leo Kotke.......... Well, it did kind of sound like him, if he flipped his guitar to lefty and played it with his bare feet. just had to get that off my chest. So sad

Or, pretty much, exactly the same.

Just browsing the web the other night and came across this and on looks alone I knew I had to have it. I watched the youtube reviews which were all really positive but was still cynical as I had fallen for the reviews on the Lava ME guitar which I though was a pile of trash. Anyway I pulled the trigger and bought from Andertons knowing I could send it back if it didn't work out. The guitar arrived the next day. It came in a lovely padded quality gigbag so first impressions were good. I got the guitar out and it was stunning ( I know this bit is subjective !) with the flip paint job and headless roasted neck. I tuned it up and it had been set up perfectly, the action was fantastic and intonation correct. I bumbled through setting up the app which controls it - the manual is very brief and does not give you anywhere near enough info, however from what I'd seen on Youtube I got it working. I played it through a newly revalved and Celestioned up HTR-1 amp using the wireless dongle straight into the amp. The guitar has fanned frets which I'd never played on before, but within minutes I didn't even notice them. So I've put it through its paces over the last couple of nights and it is truly phenomenal. The presets are brilliant and infinitely adjustable - none of the widdly robot sounds that you get on multieffects as filler. The modelling guitar feature definitely changes tone - whether it replicates a '58 LP I'm not sure but just scrolling through the models I could get some lovely tones. Volume and tone knobs are really responsive .The guitar has a built in looper/ drum machine which worked well - I subsequently stumped up for the wireless footswitch to make it work even better and was that impressed with the tones and flexibility even ordered the Prime P2 to use with my other guitars. In summary, this guitar might even be the best one I've ever bought and there have been lots , customs , Fenders, Gibsons, Ricky's - but none of them had ever been set up this well or had the OMG factor this one has Anyways it's nice to report something this good rather tha being underwhelmed.

I had already pre-empted Christmas in offering to myself my bucket-list guitar : a Hofner President E2 thinline, Florentine cut, having foolishly traded away the first one I had, late '60s. Half a century later, I got this one from a Reverb seller in Sweden. The Christmas gift..? Our Daughter, thinking (rightly...) that it would be difficult to find something I'd want/need that I didn't already have, posted a sum of money into my bank which covered the cost of the hard case and shipping of my dream guitar. Much appreciated, and a Very Nice Surprise. Here's a (bad...) photo of the delivery and unpacking of the guitar...

I’d love an L5, or an ES175 at a pinch, but I’m quite attached to my kidneys.

I do as well, but when I was looking for photos I kept finding ones of the pale wood and wondered how much that was used and I just assumed it was ivory paint under the stage lights?

This year: A book on jazz guitar comping concepts.

For me it has to be Ritchie Blackmore and his stratocasters. As far as I can tell he has at least two - one which is a pale natural wood finish, and another which is painted an ivory colour.

There are posting settings saying you need 5 posts to be able to post in general. Seems a bit high, but otherwise, you probably have enough post count to now do it!

The DSL20 is EL34 paired and I would say it’s more 80’s to modern day rock I have the DSL20HR and it’s a great amp and can run at home at 10w It will sound much better cranked of course when it really shines The Origin 20 head is better for 60’s 70’s rock and with a drive pedal in front would cover most ground. I had the Origin 50 head in my old band and it was a lovely sound. For home I think the DSL20 is a good choice as it can still gig or jam or play at home Boss Katana is a good choice too but I still prefer valves I briefly tried the Laney Lionheart Foundry 60 but it was poorly built and sounded boxy and average The current production DSL20 is a great small amp. Can be bright sounding but back off the presence and treble and it sounds great. I use a Standard Strat with single coils and play clean and rock

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I totally agree with this; my Takamine is fitted with these ... ... I have 'etching fingers', which rapidly turn steel or nickel-steel strings to red rust; these 80/20 bronze strings suit the guitar perfectly, with the added advantage of being the same gauge as my electrics and semi-acoustics, all fitted with nano-web sets. They last, for me, much longer than any other make of strings; I previously had to change in less than a year, but these were fitted over a year ago now, and are as good as when fitted, although I admit that I don't play my acoustic every day. It's a joy when one finds the right set for any guitar or bass; I'd even extend this to establishing the best heads for an acoustic drum set..! I used Remo Ambassador heads for decades, but the later choice of Evans Genera and G2 heads made a world of difference..!

dad ive always been a tight git. i just go on ultimate guitar its free. plus ive just started learning to use fl studio which was given to me for nowt so i can make my own drum beats and backing stuff. dunno if you need to have a face book account to wacth this but here is a very short clip of my doing my best Ian mcCulloch impersonation. i was only going to put the chorus bit in and was virtually mouthing the lead up lines but decided to leave them in. ive watched youtube clips of echo and the bunnymen live and i can safely say i "p1ss" all over what he can do nowadays on the high notes. he needs to go on ultimate guitar and transpose it down a bit lol. https://www.facebook.com/alan.jackson.7731/videos/2532299470293234

I agree with this too. I have had both US and Jap models as well a custom shop one too, but get bored with instruments quickly so have always had a high turnover of buying and selling. I defaulted to Mexican in the end. I found the build quality just as good and to be honest I found it more consistent too. I have found some USA (and MIJ) built shockers and passed on them, but not found any poor instruments in the Mex range. Again, my suggestion is just choose the one you like the look of. The electronics can be changed easily and cheaply if necessary.

Considered Mexican? I spent years selling Japanese and Mexican reissue Fenders in London, the difference was so negligible or random between track country. Some Jap gear that gets rave reviews, while being good, is sometimes hyped up far too much. Have you played a Jaguar btw? Just checking you’re cool with the smaller scale length? Some players find a Buzz Stop is really helpful on models with a vintage style bridge, as it stops strings popping off the saddle if you hit hard. The Mex one is definitely Alder btw, could be nice with a good set up and new pups - https://www.fender.com/en-GB/electric-guitars/jaguar/player-ii-jaguar/0140580518.html

Taking up any musical instrument is a permanent learning journey, there’s always something new to take on board, be it a scale, chord, technique , whatever. However, as Dad says, it should be enjoyable. When I first picked up the guitar as a youngster, I was taught some chords and I had a book or two, but what I did most of all was learn tunes that I liked and wanted to play and I didn’t get too bogged down with scales and theory. This may not have been the wisest course with regard to musical proficiency but, 50 years on, I’m still playing and playing tunes that give me pleasure, not what some book, course or latest internet craze tells me to. What makes you smile, when you’re playing? Do that more and the other things you want to learn, but give you trouble at the moment, will become easier. You may not ever perfect everything to your personal standards (who does?), but you will perfect some things and that’s not bad.

Yep, sounds like a partially pinched harmonic to me. You may find that part of the thumb or finger, holding the pick, are choking off the note and creating a false/pinched harmonic. This can be used to good effect, if you want it and that’s your thing, Billy Gibbons and Zakk Wylde are noted exponents of the technique.

I bought the files. I couldn't bring myself to pay someone else to customise a guitar to suit me, while having to explain what that is. Then getting the knowing looks of "that isn't stock". So I bought them, did it and its fine. Subsiquently, I have bought a cheap Yamaha acoustic who's string height would have been appropriate for an aircraft carrier deck. I used the files to turn that into the most playable guitar I own!

It sounds to me that you're in Good Hands with a suitable tutor, and that your own, personal, needs are being catered for. It's not a race, so 'softly, softly catchee monkey' applies here, as in other endeavours. Follow what he says, diligently, and you'll be as best as you can be, at every stage of your journey. Regular little and often practice of whatever he gives you will see you through. Keep us posted as to progress from time to time, please..?

Everything that @Dad3353 says above. It happens to everyone, whatever their skill level. Sometime, just taking a week off really helps. For some reason the brain digests everything when you aren't even playing and suddenly you make a jump forward without even realising it.

Hi Crusoe, Dad33..., EZ and Randy!! Nice to meet you all!

Faceache turned up a G4M 12 for not a lot... cleaned up rather nice

Thanks for the suggestions. I have experimented with the Ultrabass setting on my Behringer V-amp and it does drop the lower strings without seeming to affect higher notes. It is an octave divider by another name. However the sound coming out of the octave down strings is pretty much a fart, if you’ll pardon the expression. I think I’ll just live with no bottom end.

Well, that went to plan. Not. I was all set to get me a nice little Revstar when our local guitar shop advertised a new (well, NOS strictly speaking) Cort CR250 for £299. Other than being a bit dusty and needing some new strings (thrown in as part of the deal), it’s immaculate. Nice weight (well under the weight of a Gibson LP), beautifully made and sounds epic. It’s now mine. I still want a Revstar, mind.

Hi Everyone! I am new here and this is my first posting... Just a Dream Theater guitar solo in my studio room... Hope you all like it!

It's just practice and experience. I can assure you it will all come good if you keep it up. But one very important thing with practicing stuff to remember, is that what you are aiming for, is to have things down so well that you're pretty much on 'autopilot' when playing. The key to this happening with any song, chord shape, picking pattern, strumming pattern or whatever, is to have the thing so ingrained in your muscle memory that you literally could not play it wrong unless you actually made a conscious effort to do it wrong. You won't be surprised to learn that the trick to that, is to practice at a speed which is slow enough for you to become really accurate with your finger placement and movement, then when you are accurate, pick up the tempo a bit, rinse and repeat. If you do that, when you speed it up, your fingers retain the muscle memory of the movements and you remain accurate. Conversely, if you practice sloppily, your muscle memory will then be sloppy and it will be hard to 'undo' that, so in short, concentrate on getting it accurate and worry about the tempo later. Honestly, it's nothing more complicated than accurate repetition which is the key to progress.

Ah, excellent; well done for replying so clearly. It sounds as if you're on the same track as all of us, when starting out. Obviously you should address these concerns with your tutor; he/she will have doubtless heard much the same from many pupils. Meanwhile, if you're not doing it already, I'd recommend playing for short periods, as often as you can, but regularly. Two 15-minutes sessions, each and every day, no exceptions or excuses, will cement the 'information' very quickly. Far better than an hour once a week. I will assume that you have exercises, routines, to practise, from your tutor..? Do these, religiously, in your practise sessions, plus any other stuff you want to do from other sources (method books, U-tube etc...), but avoid playing for too long at a time, especially for the first few months, as this can seal in bad habits and damage your hands. Depending on the complexity, it's normal to have to refer back to the partition (be it tab, notation or chords charts... whatever...) at first, but much will become 'ingrained' over time, as long as you keep plugging away at it assiduously. There is no 'silver bullet', but be assured that every guitarist, whatever their talent, started out with your level of competence. It's only the practising that makes the difference, and it's not overnight. Speak to your tutor, then, follow their advice and method, and trust me; it will all come together, and all the faster for being patient and doing things slowly. I'll end with my usual tongue-in-cheek encouragement ... It's the first forty years that are the hardest, after which things sometimes tend to get very slightly easier.

A present for myself : a piezo_pre-amp kit to install into my acoustic (holes to be cut into the sides, and the capteur to be fitted under the bridge...). I'll then be able to record without recourse to a mic.