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.

Hi! It seems I joined a while ago but forgot. I started playing guyitar when I was in my teens back in the early/mid 70s the moved to bass. Now bandless on bass, I am about to pick up a guitar again for the first time in many years and have a few questions. I have had a Mexican Fender Telecaster for some years, stashed away in its case, and just recently bought one of these for a few quid at a bootsale which now sports a Tonerider PAF pickup and some new tuners. Hope to find answers to questions!

I missed the electro bit Yamaha Music London do the FX310A for £235

We're stoked to announce that we've launched some new multipacks... https://www.rotosound.com/blog/product-news/new-rotosound-multipacks/ These offer our most popular sets in 3- and 10-set boxes for cost-saving and convenience. Starting from £21.95 for the triple pack and £69.95 for the ten-set multipack, they're available now from UK dealers!

Or, pretty much, exactly the same.

Wouldn't surprise me. The older I get, the more I realise 99% of the electric guitar market is about selling branding an intangibles far over the actual, physical product. It does seem to vary by location, though: players in the US on average still seem to be much more likely to be emotionally invested in the idea that a guitar made in the USA *must* be superior, or is somehow otherwise "the real thing". Which I suppose shouldn't be surprising given that's where the electric guitar boom started, and so there's a sense of "loss" that those aren't dominant in the market any longer - as opposed to being "only" another import product as they are for us in the UK.

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

Ordered a pair of matched JJ EL34 tubes and swopped out the Marshall stock EL34 ( will keep as spares ) Replaced V1 and V2 with JJ ECC83S Pleasing results as it sounds warmer, fuller and less harsh at high gain which the better JJ tubes seem to be helping A nice easy upgrade

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!

Ah. For this, I'd refer you to my usual words of encouragement that I often dish out, when subjects such as this arise... 'It's the first forty years that are the worst, after which things sometimes tend to get slightly better.'

Looks beautiful! (The Hofner, not the delivery guy)...

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.

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!

Spend your money on lessons? If you become a better player, the difference in tone is only audible in back to back testing by musicians. Everyone else is just listening to the notes.

Well, it didn't take long to get a reply; consensus seems to be 'pickups from a PRS Mira X, with added covers'. Here's a review of the Mira X ... ... and another ... Hope this helps.

Take a look on Reverb or eBay to see what sort of prices they are going for. Beware that on eBay, the asking price isn't always what they will sell for.

I bought myself a semi acoustic Ibanez Atcore to get the "in between" sound that I like. It also has the vibrato arm if you want a bit of shimmy. I love it but my better half doesn't as she can hear me practise, even when I'm wearing headphones (obvious to guitarists but not to her indoors who thinks that headphones should eliminate all the guitar "noise"!) I also got a Nu-x Mighty Plug headphone amp which can be used with any electric guitar to add effects and power wired headphones, earbuds and a small powered or battery amp/speaker such as the Marshall MS-2C. There is an app called Mightier that upgrades the Nu-x for use with a bluetooth phone for allsorts of tuneable effects.

Maybe you are correct... If the looper outputs to the amp, the OD pedal distorts the output from the looper and guitar overdubs if placed AFTER? But yes, if the OD pedal was BEFORE, then you could record a clean loop and then overplay with OD second guitar sound. I stand corrected

GAS is a cruel mistress, but she's a lot of fun

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.

They look great. (What would KDH say, though? )

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!

A few tips that I may adopt for my playing/practice I think! It's good to see others progress and to be able to see that I am not alone and am having the same progress and struggles as others. @ShawnE thanks for sharing your progress it is inspiring and encouraging. Alan

@Dad3353 Cheers Douglas... plenty of great advice & suggestions there as always! Will take all of that onboard going forward... all very simple things for me to implement &/or keep in mind...! Since the turn of the year I substituted a lot of "song practice" time for straight up strum practice.. extra time noodling between chords I guess but with a goal of naturally easing up the wrist/hand during strumming (& further improving chord changes as an added bonus of that) & think it's paying off... still a long way to go with it of course but it at least definitely feels more free-flowing than it did back in December. Hopefully that'll start transferring into new song practices. @Crusoe Thanks a lot! Sticking with it for sure... I sense I'm at the stage now where things begin to kick up a gear!

It's 4/4, but unlike most typical western 4/4 rock and pop, it doesn't have a typical snare drum hit on beats two and four, instead it has an accented guitar strum on two and four, which in part at least, is akin to reggae, where the guitar chops on the two and four beats. Reggae then has the snare (or sometimes a rim shot) on the third beat. Your tune differs in having the main drum beat on one. Listen to it and imagine it's a reggae song and you'll hear what I mean.

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.

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.

i used one continuous oak board (easy cuts) to make this: lots of sanding, some stain, etc. I used the scraps to create supports for the bottom side (given the stomping): i used a 1 3/8" hole saw to cut an opening for wires. i then took that plug and split it in half to make posts, to wrap the excess wire: on the underside, i used wire ties, tacked into the wood, to secure the power lines: in the far corner above, you can see i velcroed the transformer onto the underside. then, velcro on the top, and on the pedals, and a $6 leather handle: then, rubber feet on the bottom, and wire it all together. PS this is not representative of my pedal setup, this is just for testing! i'll post the actual rig soon. it's made it through 6 gigs. hopefully more to come (we have about a dozen lined up!). what i'd change- it doesnt stand on it's side, probably because of how heavy pedals are. to put a stand plate on one side would mess with the aesthetic. what i'm thinking of adding- maybe a shoulder strap so i can make one trip from the car to the studio. i can send plans if anyone wants.