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

And it's done. Had to do a lot of routing to get the bridge located properly including plugging and redrilling one bridge post 1mm further way. The wiring was a challenge, I spent three days of eliminating possible causes to arrive at only one conclusion, the pickup selector switch was faulty. My midboost preamp didn't work and I wasn't going to spend a week trying to troubleshoot it, so I bought one only to discover that the guy who build it didn't include separate earth and -9v wires. So had to jury rig something up to provide the output socket with an earth connection, the boost is definitely warm but it lacks the glassiness I expected. So I have on order a genuine Demester Fat Boost (Tyler style) and at some point I will probably wire the switches so they are series, phase and parallel. Although they were fiddly to solder as well. However, after a fret levelling and proper set up, it plays very nicely and has more sustain than my other two strats. I have no idea why. It's quite a warm and loud sounding guitar as well acoustically. More aging is needed on the sides and back but I have other things to attend to in advance of being in the UK next month.

A common mistake is for folk to stick to the minor pentatonic when improvising, whether the key or chord is major or minor. Try and make sure you’re complimenting the chord by emphasising the 3rd note. A lot of players tend to play through the scales from one end to the other. Stand out from the crowd by making some interesting, intervalic jumps (Carl Verheyen is the king of this, check him out). Don’t be in a hurry to show your chops too early, build to a crescendo and release (the solo from Stairway is a great example of this).

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.

Steady on, it's not like some of them need extra reasons to slap a premium on a five quid set of parts.

here is the current board with some diys and some stock pedals. More diys kicking about and more Boss to add on a new board for part of my rebuilding the rig of my youth

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.

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

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..!

I'm not sure that there are any guitars that are excluded from playing 'metal', but if I take that to mean roughly Strat-shape, with a pointy headstock, I'd start by looking at the Thomann B-stock offers. 'B-stock' means that someone ordered one, then sent it back, normally, but they are perfectly sound, and carry the same guarantee as others. It's a way of getting a bit off the price. Here's a link to some I'd suggest fall into your criteria (between £200-£300...)... Thomann 'Bargain' ST-type guitars, with no vibrato, UK prices ... Feel free to play around with the filters on the left, to see what else is on offer. There's nothing wrong with Tele-style, Les Paul-style, SG-style etc guitars either for metal (maybe avoid archtop though, as a beginner...). All of these guitars hold their tuning, and can be used in any style, including metal, of course. There are many other suppliers than Thomann, but this is an easy way to see and compare what's on the market, from the comfort of one's own home. Nothing beats trying out various instruments at a music shop, once one has an initial idea of what to try out. My personal choice would be a Squire Affinity Tele Deluxe (I prefer humbuckers...), like this one ... Thomann Squire Affinity Deluxe ... ... or this one ... Thomann Harley Benton Fusion T-HH ... Spoilt for choice, now, eh..?

It’s been a progression really, so I’ll list them as they came into my consciousness. Les Paul - I was raised with Les in the house, the sound of guitar, front and centre was different from everything else. Hank Marvin - The Shadows were on my turntable a lot with records that I’d inherited, guitar front and centre again. Crosby Stills Nash & Young - The live album, 4 Way Street, made want to learn to play. Eric Clapton - Hearing Layla for the first time was a ‘wow’ moment, I wanted to play like that. I became the biggest fanboy, but can’t stand him now Paul Kossoff & Santana - I didn’t have fast chops and these guys showed that note choice and feel were just as important and I could actually play their lines (at least I thought I could). Eric Johnson - The master of electric tone IMO, I can’t play or sound like him, but still my favourite player. Carl Verheyen - Introduced me to playing bigger intervals for solo breaks, pulled me out of the typical, pentatonic rut. Brian Setzer - I was asked to join a rockabilly band, so started to listen to Brian, completely changed my style. These days, I’m more into rhythm playing and guys like Cory Wong and John Mayer for their rhythm chops are more my thing. As I play mainly acoustic now, I’m also developing a better appreciation for Jimmy Page’s acoustic playing (I think he plays electric like he’s falling downstairs, too messy).

Hi all if I tuned down half step… where would a capo go if I wanted to get back to standard tuning? The first fret?

In all honesty, I haven’t actually played a jaguar before! But I have numerous guitars both electric and acoustic that have similar or even shorter scale length (which all suit me well since I’m not a very tall person) so I’m confident I’ll enjoy the feel of a jag. One of my 2 main guitars on tour is a Mexican tele and it’s brilliant. It’s got bare knuckle pups and electronics as well as better tuners but build quality and woods are just as good as my vintage and custom shop strats. But I do definitely prefer the classic jaguar with lead and rhythm circuits and individual pickup switches as opposed to the new stripped back player series ones. If I found a Mexican one for sale with standard layout I would really consider it

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

Ooh, you’ve asked the wrong question for me as I’m a Gretsch fanboy. Worst thing I ever did was let my old customised Streamliner. If it were me, I’d get a Electromatic 5420, with a Bigsby (well set up, they’re pretty stable and definitely add something to the sound of the guitar) you don’t have to use it, but it’ll be there if you fancy a wobble.

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.

I've just bought a Cordoba Stage and love it - absolutely stunning looking in the edge burst finish. It was this or the Tim Henson but YT reviews suggested the neck was more to my liking on the Cordoba and I couldn't live with the marks on the matt black finish on the Ibanez TH

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.

you might call me Fender Fluid lol

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

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.

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

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.

This great number was composed by Kevin Romang and is copyrighted by Duo Astral Plane (Kevin Romang and Silvia Plegniere). I played this using my Fender '56 NOS Stratocaster with the neck and middle pickups (Fender 57/62's) both used together, into the excellent Vintage VST Host software produced by Christian Boileau, available absolutely FREE at - https://vintage-sounds.freeforums.net/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMjwxi8HDlU

UPDATE: my Behringer SF300 has arrived. Does the job just nicely! Really useful having the three modes, too: I can see myself using the more "vintage" sound of Fuzz 1 the most, but the scuzzier tone from Fuzz 2 has been quite fun to play with so far. Popping the guitar into drop D with Fuzz 2 certainly gives a nice All Them Witches-type vibe! Thanks again for the recommendation!

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

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.

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.