Leaderboard

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

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.

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.

Coming from the light side (basschat) and after having a friend of a friend show me how to get the most from my hx stomp, the other week I picked up an electric to try and learn… it’s from 1990 weighs less than 3kg and has switches on both knobs that makes it sound different- learning needs to happen !

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!

J. Bright, The Law Suit, late 1700s: There truly is nothing new under the sun...

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

Yes to both, not helped by intermittent focus in my eyesight and a reluctance to take my reading glasses everywhere in case it brings on mid life crisis.

Or are your fingers too big?

I blame the advent of GPS. ...

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!

Hah! Lucky I'd just swallowed my tea when I got to "Rickenwaffe" - not heard that one before! Yeah, they are more on the ball than anyone I've ever seen about their marks. Ric copies of any serious closeness only exist in Japan that I've ever seen... the very occasional one on ebay disappears almost immediately. I'd love a Ric solod body - a 4003 bass even moreso, but I'm resigned to the fact I'll never be able to afford one (and even then I'd struggle to justify the spend, tbh). Part of me wishes they'd do a diffusion line, A Rickensquierphone. They'd surely sell well, given their absolute nixing of the market for any other options if it's a Ric you want. (The Harely Benton options are about the only ones I've seen, and they're so deviated from the original - even if nice instruments in their own right.... you'll not see a Beatles tribute act playing them the way I've seen them use a Squier to recreate Rocky, let's put it that way...). Another part of me rather respects Ric for deciding they're happy as they are rather than just chasing the lifestyle brand market, or otherwise squeezing their property for every last penny. It was a remarkably late registration attempt by Fender - real stable door / bolted horse stuff. Trademarking a shape wasn't an issue for them in 1951 -or 1954 - as it wasn't until 1960 that you could trademark a shape in US law. The first registered US trademark shape was the Coca Cola bottle, a shape they'd been using since 1916, so I doubt Fender would have had any trouble registering The Tele, Strat, and other shapes then. As memory serves they had the foresight to at least trademark the shape of their headstocks, though.... Similarly, they were behind the curve in the UK as well, where shape-based trademarks became an option under the Trade Marks Act 1994. Gibson seem to have been more effective here, though from my casual awareness of their legal efforts (not least the PRS case), most of their real protection falls in the zone of lawfare.... i.e. Gibson can afford to spend a lot more than most of those they go after, and fighting a lawsuit will most of the time be far more expensive than just tweaking your design a little to make it go away. Smoke and mirrors to some extent once you see the eminently sensible decision by the Appeal court in Gibson v PRS.

If anyone is interested there’s a massive guitar, amp and music memorabilia auction on 10th June in Corsham, Wiltshire spanning 5 days. Imagine owning 500 guitars!! https://www.easyliveauction.com/catalogue/5abe5b32c7710c2b409b15545ad1d718/0af8d24542e81eb9357e7ef448a6646f/the-guitar-sale-five-day-auction-including-the-gordon-gi/?currentPage=1

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).

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 am a musician and teacher based on the west coast of Ireland. I teach online lessons across Ireland, the UK and the rest of Europe. I play electric, Acoustic and Spanish guitar in a variety of styles. My influences are diverse, from Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd to John Williams, SRV, Rory Gallagher and Tommy Emmanuel. Music was my 2nd love, but it's the one that never left me. (a good line for a blues).

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

Gordon Smith, although better known for their Gibson types, also do a very nice Tele - https://www.gordonsmithguitars.com/shop/stock-guitars/blaggards/ TBH, though, I'm not sure that's how I would go. Clearly you're not looking for a more affordable alternative to Fender's US or CS ranges if you're thinking of spending that sort of custom money anyhow. Now, this is only a personal opinion, but.... for me it would depend a lot on what you want. A tele is such a utilitarian design that if what you want is the standard set-up Tele, it seems to me madness to spend custom-built money on it. If that's the only way - you want something really offbeat like the Jack White signature, or a Trussant Steelcaster, or you have an original 52 that you want to clone so you can leave the vintage piece at home and play a facsimilie out.... then, sure. But if what you want is "just" a Tele, it seems to be it's hard to justify spending vast sums on it.... I'd buy whatever MIM / Tokai / whatever you like and maybe rewired if you want, or track down a CIJ Fender that's good to go as is. (IMO, the top end Japanese Fenders are as good as anything form the US, typically wired the same with the same specs, and usually cheaper - nut much harder to find.) Unless you want something that's just not available otherwise, imo having a custom built Tele is a bit like having a Saville Row tailor copy a pair of 501s for you. They'll be an exquisite example, but....

Many thanks for the feedback both. Seems that what I want to achieve isn't quite in the remit of my amp. I might just go back to my comfort zone of 90s solid state.

Hi,everyone, I'm new to the site so thanks for having me,my wife made me join so I bore someone else,Sorry.

I have friends that bought some Mosky overdrives and they're good. But I can only attest to owning the Mosky Pure Buffer and it's a good buffer, so good that I moved my two VHT Valvulator 1's to my rack. My friend bought the Golden Horsie and it is just as good.

I had a block that was non-magnetic so it wasn't steel. not sure what it was but it sounded good, only after researching did i find out it didn't have a steel block and I added one. I did notice a bit of a brigther sound, but nothing drastic and it didn't change the voice of the guitar too much but it was an improvent to my ears

Yep - I think you're right about the Gretsch. Not worth trying to sell it, and it does have sentimental value - it was the guitar that got me started, albeit fleetingly. I stopped playing it in 1973, but started playing bass in 2005.

A good shout-out for the F310, but be aware that it is an acoustic guitar. If you want an electro-acoustic, Yamaha offer the FX400, but at a higher price (£255 from Thomann, for instance...). Do you really need the 'electro' part, though..? For 'playing out', it's very useful, but for home use, the only real advantage is for recording, and even then, it's not the same sound as using an external mic. Your call, of course. The other makers cited are very good, too, especially second-hand, where one may get a better instrument, if there's enough knowledge to judge the instrument offered. Hope this helps.

Thanks both, much appreciated. @Dad3353 - I discovered Ohmmage when look at hifi... I'm not the most technical of people and it still blows my mind a bit, but that's helpful to know! I do plan, though, to stick to just the one speaker to keep the noise down - if I ever have a house where I can go louder, I'll be looking at a "proper" amp. Mind you, it's impressive what you can get in a pedal form factor these days. Once they get past an inherently conservative generation of guitar players, I wouldn't be wholly surprised to see fewer and fewer bands using traditional maps on stage (save rich ones with roadies and a 'look' to maintain, of course...).

Yep! Therein lie the important chord tones, which will add flavour to your soloing.

Look at barre chord shapes and use those notes as a guide to what to play, then experiment with different positions up and down the neck. Then, if you're brave, try it with inversions and THEN with modes. See how far you can push things without it sounding irrelevant.

I bought the Classic Vibe 50s Tele many years ago. All that remains of the original beast are, the neck and hardware, neck plate, control plate and scratch plate, although that’s been modded to accept the new neck pickup. The old body has become a small table and the old hardware is cluttering up a cupboard. Can’t help on the tuner ratio thing I’m afraid.

I think Behringer just got a little too close to the original design. I am very much a fan of Behringer, by the way. I ordered mine from Anderton’s, as it was the only place that had them in stock, two days before the lawsuit was announced. I told my wife that they would start being worth more because of the lawsuit, and the lack of stock in many places (Anderton’s were the only ones that had them in stock and not back order) but that was to justify buying it… I had no idea that the prices really were going up. Maybe I should have ordered two? I certainly won’t be selling mine, it’s a excellent pedal. I suppose, what I could do, is build my own (which had always been the plan before the Behringer came out and all the massively positive reviews for it), and if it’s close enough, I could sell the Behringer.

Anyone know any guitar teachers in the Bethnal Green area of east London and how much I should expect to pay for an hours lesson?

Pick up manufacturers charging more for special tone wax

I have the Silver Horse and would recommend it for anyone wanting an alternative boost to a TS. However I'm using an old Xotic AC Booster for that function these days, there's slightly more harmonic saturation available.

They seem to be doing well enough to stay in production. They're not going to fly out the door as a cheap alternative - there's very little price difference. But I wouldn't be entirely surprised if they did start to catch on more broadly. It'll be interesting. I suspect there are a lot more ofc them out there being used on the road than we're aware of. You know the drill - established acts / operations who've had enough of the weight / hassle of a tube amp on tour, these look close enough the average punter isn't gonig to notice.... (on some scenes, the look is as important as the sound. I've seen acts get dismissed on certain scenes for not having the right look - can be especially so on the rockabilly scene where a lot of acts put out vinyl because some of their fanbase won't buy CDs). Younger kids now seem to have come up with a range of new bands that have gone beyond the "tube good, else bad" mindset, so we'll see what they go for. If that's amps at all, that is. We've speculated on this elsewhere on this site as well, but it's not unthinkable that amps as we know them could be out-evolved by alternatives. PAs now are better and cheaper than ever before. The old, macho idea of The Big Amp comes from the days hen you needed that be heard and PAS weren't great. That's no longer the case. I've seen a number of acts recently who used pedal format pre and power amps on footboards, and plugged right into the PA. In the West End musicals in London, a lot of the guitar players have been using stuff like Line 6 Pods for years (when Buddy was last in town, they had empty cabs out front for the look, and were all hooked up to Line 6 pods out of sight). Maybe if younger bands and their audiences get past certain visual expectations, we'll see bands arrive with pedalboards under their arms, and set-up / tear down becoming vastly quicker for everyone. If it still sounds great, I'm not at all opposed to it. My own next move no is, I think, gonig to be a small pedal board with pedals for reverb, gain, preamp, into an A/B box that leads to a headphone pedal amp and a Mooer Baby Bomb preamp. Thinking of tying one of those tweed JHS Vintage 1x12" cabs at about £100 with that, could end up being a solid rig for me as a home player. In the unlikely event I ever played out again, the cab could then go or not depending on availability of monitors. I could see that becoming a norm. The tech is already there - it just needs to convince guitar players who have a tendency to luddism.

Thanks fo the advice. I'll check out somewhere to take it in Manchester when I'm back from hols and get it checked out and set up. Hopefully it's something simple. Thanks again

Hey thanks for the info, and as you say, a nice project. I've been slowly removing the paint with fine wet and dry and it is woirking. I'll report back when I have it finished.

It should be understood that each amp manufacturer, each model, and each technology, have, inherently, very different tonal responses to controls in the (very different...) pre-amps, so there is very little commonality between them. The settings, and range of result, cannot be equated from one to another. The reasons are as varied as the amps themselves : solid-state does not behave as valve stuff, and EL84 valves do not behave like KT88's etc. The effect of 'gain', 'master volume', tone controls differ; some tone circuits are 'flat' with the control at centre, some with the control max anti-clockwise, some (many..!) are never really 'flat', whatever the setting..! All of these factors make every combination of amp-cab useful for its own range, but maybe not so good at another. What sounds good at home may well not have what it takes on stage; even less so on a stadium stage. It works both ways, too; the only way to get a Marshall stack to belt out 'that' sound is to crank it, which makes it a poor candidate for bedroom practice in a town centre high-rise block of flats. In sum, it's 'horses for courses'. One amp for home, another for rehearsals, maybe another for gigs... This is one (of many...) reasons for the advent of Fx pedals in the first place : the ability to 'dial in' the required tone at any volume. It doesn't surprise me at all that the Classic 20 doesn't 'cut it' on stage. Despite having the same power valves (EL84...) as the Vox AC30, the circuits and cab are not at all the same, and the tonal response are chalk and cheese. You can never get a really clean sound from a Classic 20, at pretty much any volume; that's not how the circuit has been designed. They don't do 'loud'; certainly not the 'loud' that an AC 30 does. What are your options..? Find an amp which has the tonal variance that you need, in all the situations, you'll be playing, or have a different amp (and settings...) for each usage, or start building a pedal-board around an amp which ticks most of your boxes. It's not really a case of 'SS' v 'Valve' v 'Modelling'. It's just that all rigs have their upside and downside. Such is Life. Hope this helps.

I see I haven’t posted here since 2023 when I put up my Taylor 12 string which I have since sold. Replaced with a Taylor Grand Pacific 517e Builders Edition. Matt finish wild honey burst.

Good afternoon, @Fingers n thumbs, and ... ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share. A Word to the Wise : The key to beginning on the guitar is Regularity and Patience. Short, Regular practice sessions are far better than long hours. It's better to consecrate 15 minutes, twice a day, every day, than an hour's session sometimes skipped. Don't try to rush things; the fastest way to getting fast on the guitar is to play SLOWLY and take your time. Other than that, follow, diligently, the method of your Tutor (ask him/her about these recommendations..?), and make sure that you always have a Big Bucket of Patience on hand. That's the key. Have fun; we've all been there.

Ahhh, only thing that beats a puncture wound is two puncture wounds in the same spot. Nice to hear you've found your strings For some reason I keep wanting to keep putting 12's on my Mexican Martin. Just a little too much but sounds really good. Just put on Magna acoustic flatwounds 10's on Marty last week and they play and sound good, maybe even great. They seem to be holding up well which is what I was mostly worried about. I think same strings in 11's might be the answer on next round.

Hello and welcome. Plenty here to learn from and chuckle at. Frustration and patience are your biggest hurdles by the sound of it. You Tube is great, but no replacement for a proper teacher and I would heartily recommend visiting one, even just for a few months to even out your technique. I would also counsel against changing the songs to make them easier, if you only play the stuff you can already play you never progress. Changing them to fit your voice is one thing, but trying to avoid chords just because isn't doing you any favours long term. But also, don't get too hung up on playing them exactly as the records, most of us here can't play everything and do simplify songs to a degree. At the end of the day... just enjoy the journey!

Here’s a few builds I’m working on at the moment……….

I drink tea, we've been drinking tea in the family since before I was born. There is a sort of ritual to making a pot of tea, with the goal, every time, to be able to drink what we call a 'magic cuppa'. How does one create this delight..? I don't know (I wish I did..!). Our tea is excellent, and litres of it are drunk daily, but only once in a while does a 'magic cuppa' appear. Is it the water..? The 'standing' time..? The temperature of the mug..? A combination of dozens of subtle factors..? It's wonderful when one comes along; all the more so for it being a surprise. Why do I relate this..? I rather think that, with music in general, and guitars in particular, there's similar 'magic' at work. Why is it suddenly 'there'..? Again, I wish I knew. I'm of the opinion that these maestros that play so well have, each in their own way, 'cracked' the code, and are able to (most of the time...) bring out this 'magic'. How to acquire this skill..? Maybe it's in one's DNA, maybe one has to sacrifice black goats on mountain tops at midnight, maybe ... If you enjoy trying, carry on with your researches and experiments, but it's not given to everyone to have all the abilities in all domains. Keep cracking on with what you succeed in, too; there's doubtless at least some 'magic' in your other guitars that needs to be brought forth. Your call.

Red-check gingham..?

Behringer HB01 Hell Babe... ... for value for money. Works for bass, too.