Dad3353

Good afternoon, @Pbassred, and ... ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

I never use any of these stuffs on any of my guitars or basses; I haven't seen, in well over half a century, what benefit they bring. I do wipe my instruments over with a few drops of Dr Duck wax when I change strings (roughly annually, or longer...), just to remove any finger marks and lay the dust. Folk in other, harsher, climates may have different reasons and results, but our (French...) temperate climes don't affect my instruments in any way. Just my tuppence-worth.

Our cottage, in France, Lower Normandy, stays at around 14-15°C all year round, thanks to thick stone walls and no central heating. None of my guitars, basses or drums suffer in any way from changes over the course of a year.

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've just looked up small multi-Fx on Thomann, and see the Valeton Dapper Mini 4 Effect Strip, which would fit your bill, I think, at £70 +£10 shipping. Any use..?

Best to forego the Gitanes; too; happy Christmas, and have fun with Mickey Baker.

A quick search of LeBonCoin (like Gumtree, for France...) shows up 28 Epiphone Les Pauls at 300€ or less, in our region (Pays de la Loire...). Three or four look to be splendid. Just sayin.

Far too much over-thinking here, I'd say. Any decent (for whatever definition of 'decent'...) pair of headphones would be fine. It won't, and will never, sound like a guitar playing in the room (and that will change, depending on the room...), so define your 'decent' and play away. For reference, my 'phones, used for every thing from listening to ISIHAC on R4, mixing whatever genre I'm working on (along with other monitoring methods...), playing guitar, bass, keys etc are Superlux HD669, 32€ from Thomann. Your 'decent' may be different, but not by much, I'd suggest. Hope this helps. Douglas

Do you want/need a vibrato bar or not..? Both are 'speed-freak' guitars, for shredding fast and furious. If that's your style, both are suitable. Just for strumming..? Hmm... These are very flashy choices for that. Excellent instruments both, but both would be wasted on me. So... A whammy bar : useful to you or not..?

... and can change from day to day.

Not at all; quite the opposite. The Illuminati know that that is where the 'mojo' lies. Marks like that are very sought after, and fetch a high premium. It looks like you've struck really lucky, there.

I agree, it's a natural figure in the wood. treat it as a 'signature'; if ever it's stolen, a dated photo of you holding it, proudly showing off this distinguishing feature, will help with its return. Move along now, please, you're blocking the pavement. There's no QC issue here. Move along ...

If you've had it since new, I would imagine that you're getting to be quite familiar with how it feels and plays, and anything else would feel strange. On the other hand, if you've only recently acquired it, some instruments have 'mojo' (a technical term...); that indefinable 'je ne sais quoi' that gives it sublimity in spades. There is, as yet, no agreed scientific explanation for this, and it's beyond the realms of possible for manufacturers or artisans to build 'mojo' into their production except by chance. If your guitar sounds and feels great, just play it and thank your lucky stars. Be warned: 'mojo' is not transmissible. If you pass the instrument on to someone else, they may well find it to be a 'dog'; we all have differing perceptions of what constitutes great sound and feel. Hope this helps. Douglas

Dense..? Not at all, or maybe I am, too..! It's a new-fangled 'thing', explained here on the Sustainiac site ... Light is shed on those little black switches, too, which are part of this 'Sustain' effect thingie. It seems to want to give the effect of everlasting feedback, as if howling from a cranked Marshall stack, one metre away, but without the volume. New to me; every daze a school day, eh..?

That's not a normal Telecaster, though, is it..? It has an active circuit, and those little black switches have some effect, Shirley..? What make is it, and did you buy it new, with its current features, or has it been 'upgraded' by someone..? What do those switches do..? Learn to solder if you want, but not on that guitar before becoming proficient and capable, t'would be a massacre and a waste. It may well already have coil switching and/or phase switching. Pray tell...

Just to say that there is no 'correct'. Regarding phase, many guitars offer a switchable phase in/out, so that the player may choose the sound that best fits the music. It's all good.

Neither better nor worst; they're complementary. I'd suggest using both; no kittens die as a result (but one's ears may start to tingle a little...). Hope this helps.

Pick-ups are a very Dark Art, with a few more than umpteen different factors that contribute to the tone. Wire gauge, number of turns on how many coils, type of magnet and its shape, wax-potted, base plate material, scatter- or tight-wound, given name of the lady operating the winding machine... These are just a few of the things to be considered. As for the RetroVibes : they are, I believe, twin-coil four-wire humbuckers, where the original toasters from the '50s and '60s were single coil, so very different. The ones fitted to that guitar are quite highly reputed (not at all Far East knock-offs...), and would give good results in any decent build. Will they sound exactly the same in another body (Les Paul style, for instance...)..? probably not, but they would certainly sound good. Rather inexpensive as an experiment, I'd suggest, so worth trying out on a 'suck it and see' basis. Just my tuppence-worth.

Good evening, @sundayguitar, and ... ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

Link duff, so here it is corrected, giving...

You say that there are major cracks, and broken bracing. This would be best repaired by replacing the top altogether, by a reliable qualified luthier. Will that affect the sound..? Quite certainly, and for the better. Only worth doing for an instrument of quality in the first place; your Guild qualifies, I'd say. Let us know what you decide, and how it turns out, please..?

OK, then I recommend that you learn the Dark Art of guitar set-ups as soon as practicable, as you'll be needing those skills, to get the best from your new, or any other, guitar. Douglas

You're re-tuning your guitar from standard 'E' (EADGBE...) down to Drop C (CGCFAD...) regularly, or keeping it tuned down..?

What guitar did you buy..? That would help us give the best reply to your request. Until then, I'd say that, for electric guitars, of the 'Les Paul'/'Stratocaster'/'Telecaster' type (and anything similar...), a 'standard' string set would typically be 10-46. Fitting new strings should not need any adjustment to the bridge height, but maybe the intonation (the forward and back adjustment of the string saddles...) if changing gauge. No special ruler is needed for adjusting, but a little experience comes in handy. IF you're not happy with the new height, adjust it again, in small increments, until it suits you. You won't need to touch it again for years. If in doubt, go to your nearest music shop (where did you buy the guitar from..?), and ask them to show you how to get it as you want it. You'll have to learn these little set-up actions; they'll always be needed, and every guitarist learns them. No harm has been done, though, so take it slowly and be patient. Hope this helps. Douglas