bassbiscuits

Just to follow up on this one, I did end up taking my nice Yamaha on holiday (I figured if I was going to cart one around it might as well be a decent one). Ended up playing on the beach watching the sunset with mates, and also jamming with some local French musicians I met in a campsite on the way home. Definitely the right decision! And guitar seems happy with its adventure.

Thanks - that’s what I was thinking. The guitar in question is a 20-odd year old Yamaha acoustic, which is very nice indeed but not super valuable. However I’d be gutted if it came to any harm. The alternative is the Hohner I bought in Argos in 1988 which mostly still works - that’s been to festivals and stuff with me and apart from a few rough/buzzy frets works well enough. I think that’s the wiser option.

Topical question given the heat in Europe this summer as holiday season approaches. Im off on my holidays camping in France in a few weeks, and there’s room for my acoustic to come with me. Should I be worried about the heat having a detrimental effect on it? I’m thinking warping, drying out, splitting etc? I think we’re looking at temperatures in the mid/high 20s rather than the 40c temperatures further south. But even long road trips in a hot car etc - is there anything to worry about?

Most definitely used. Yes the cheapy budget stuff is way better than it was 20, 30 years ago when I started. But better quality used stuff for the same money is going to be generally much better. I have two 20+ year old Yamaha basses that cost me £200 and £250 - an absolute steal given the build quality. I must admit I’ve not played a Harley Benton or similar cheap brands. No reason to think they aren’t good. But I suspect the same money on a well chosen used guitar could get you a better instrument.

I’ve got a Yamaha bass from the same era (well 2003) which I bought some years back, again as a spare, and it quickly became a go-to gigging instrument.

Not been on Guitarchat since 2018 it seems! Crikey. Well much of my introduction is still true, tho some of the gear has changed! I’ve been mainly working as a bassist over the last couple of years (my original instrument) but still finding time to slot in a few solo acoustic / singing gigs along the way.

Hi all, I’d been on the lookout for a back up acoustic guitar to my well gigged Crafter GE-7 which has been my only gig-worthy acoustic for the last 20 years (fingers crossed it hasn’t let me down yet). Wasn't looking to spend big bucks on a spare. But spotted this rather lovely guitar for sale locally for £40 including a stand! It’s a 2006 Yamaha FG512SJ - from what I can tell these were made in Taiwan for the Japanese market. It needed a bit of TLC (a loose machine head and missing it’s endpin, a replacement for which is in the post at the moment) and benefited from a good clean and a restring but wow it’s great! Like a good Yamaha acoustic, it’s loud, bright and very easy to play. I’m on the lookout for a sound hole pickup now to make it giggable and very much looking forward to how it sounds onstage (I had a fairly basic Fishman pickup many years ago which I suspect got sold with its host guitar at the time. Bummer. Will keep looking.) I love a good instrument even more when it’s something cheap and cheerful that punches above its weight!

I Yep I'm primarily an acoustic player anyway, so I can see why I should be used to just milking one decent sound. I do find my Epi Casino is a lovely halfway house between the two - elements of a big bodied, ringing hollow body, but electric enough to dig into some soloing with a touch of overdrive. I absolutely love the sounds available from the two P90s on the Casino. I'd have had to sell it to buy the SG, and I couldn't justify the step backwards tonally.

Yup. You're right how lots of 70s lyrics have dated along with most 70s attitudes. Plenty of godawful lyrics out there that just wouldn't pass muster nowadays, with all the (hopefully) progress since then. In terms of AC/DC, I always thought Bon's lyrics were often quite sly and humorous with a certain charm and menace to them - sort of fitting for his character really. But a lot of Brian Johnson-era lyrics are just single entendres (if there's such a thing) which much less of the clever wordplay that made Bon more amusing. It ain't just rock tho - would anyone write the Abba song "Does your mother know?" nowadays? I doubt it.

Yeah - I'm the same - i feel safe knowing I've got all the gear I'll ever reasonably need. The irony being that the majority of gigs are all done on that one acoustic guitar with no back up and it's worked perfectly well. I have three basses but only ever take one at a time to gigs. So maybe there's an emotional safety net rather than a practical one. In reality I could live with one bass, one guitar and my acoustic and probably live happily ever after.

Help me out on this one. At various times in my musical life I've been primarily a bassist, guitarist and currently an acoustic guitarist/singer. I've got a modest range of kit covering each of those instruments, most of which earns it's keep. But I have this nagging need to have a 'spare' of the good stuff even tho it's fair to say my kit has never yet let me down. Ive done 15 years worth of gigs on a single acoustic guitar for example, and don't really have a working spare to even take to gigs. I've just seen a similar model for sale on Gumtree near me and thinking "aha finally a spare one" - but I've used the other one perfectly well for 15 years, which kind of suggests I don't need one! Am i being dumb gigging without a spare (ok at a push I have a wreck of a Hohner from when I was a kid) or have I just got this itch to buy what I don't need? If it helps, I'm not one for rampant GAS at all - two kids and limited room/money means I tend to keep only what instruments I use. Help!

I was also lucky enough to acquire an early 2000s SG Junior 1968 reissue for a while (borrowed not bought!) The single P90 was the single best sounding bit of guitar in my house (trouncing two strats and an Epiphone Casino). However much I tried i love it, I did find it a bit of a one-trick pony once the initial rush of playing really really loud had subsided! Yes there are other sounds available but they are not easily on tap - rolling off the tone and/or the volume does yield all sorts of different tones, but not for quick live use. Now if they only made them with two P90s.... hang on....!

My only real amps have been two Fenders - originally a mid 1990s Blues Deluxe 1x12, and later a newer Hot Rod Deluxe. The Blues Deluxe was never the same after a baboon of a repairman 'fixed' a simple fault on it and I eventually ended up trading it in for a tweed coloured limited edition Hot Rod Deluxe with a Jensen P12n speaker. Its good. It's really loud. And it's what I'm used to now.

Mine would probably be just a straightforward red Gibson SG with P90s. I owned one a few years back and loved the combination of Gibsonesque vibe and feel, but with the brighter, toppy pickups. It was lightweight and balanced, and it just sang with the right amount of gain - right halfway between Strats and Les Pauls. I flogged it for a HSS strat at the time tho. What a fool. The HSS was great, but I miss the SG more.

I've owned three SGs and played various LPs tho never owned one. Hard to describe the difference but the SGs always seemed to sound more woody, maybe midrangy and a bit more honky/nasally is the best way to explain. LPs had a fatter, fuller, creamier sound due in part to the thicker, mahogany body and maple cap construction. I actually prefer the less refined, raspier sound of SGs as well as the lighter weight, tho they've been more inclined to neck dive than LPs for me. Could I tell them apart blindfold? Yes if everything else in the set up was equal. But listening to a band at gig volumes etc no i don't think I could tell you whether they were playing a V, Explorer, SG or Les Paul on sound alone. Theyve all got a big slab of Gibson humbucker goodness. That's why we love them!

That looks brilliant Andy. Fascinating build diary.

I saw Black Star Riders a few years ago and Vivian Campbell was playing a Yamaha SG with P90s. He had the best guitar sound of the entire gig.

Good shout on Adrian Smith. He's a great tasteful player. I always loved Matthias Jabs from the Scorpions too. Always on the correct side of being a widdler, but an incredibly adept player with lots of melody and style. His stuff from late 70s to mid 80s was absolutely incendiary.

For their sense of melody, restraint, overall versatility and sheer class I'd say Mark Knoplfer and David Gilmour. For intensity and fire I choose Stevie Ray Vaughan. I'm too young to remember Hendrix. And for sheer energy, volume and infectious boogie of his playing I choose Angus Young. Honourable mentions also to Slash, Joe Walsh and John Martyn each of which has a style and touch you can instantly recognise.

Evening all Fancy seeing you lot here.

Ooh ya. That's a bit special innit? Love p90s on a Gibson. Bet that sounds divine. Im not gassing for anything at the moment luckily. I've only recently resurrected my old Hohner acoustic from Argos in 1988 as my spare gigging guitar and realised it's actually reasonably good all things considered. Cant justify splashing the cash at the mo. Tho saying that I recently played my mate's Rainsong acoustic - a fully carbon fibre jet black thing. I wouldn't have looked at it twice but the sound on it was astonishing. Clear, crisp, stunning frankly.

Hello - I'm from the dark side at Basschat too. Liking the idea of Guitarchat tho. I've been playing bass for 32 years but also have had a parallel life as an acoustic guitarist for about 30 of those. Over the last couple of years the guitar bit has really blossomed and although I still play bass, most of my gigs are solo guitar and vocals these days. I've got a couple of electrics - a MIJ Strat I've had years and an Epiphone Casino, but acoustic is where my soul and my voice is - currently via a Crafter DE7, a little Tanglewood travel acoustic I use for songwriting, and an old Hohner I've owned since I was a kid. Hello fellow Guitarchatters anyway. A few names I recognise too yay.