ezbass

The son of my parents’ friends’, who was older than me (I must’ve been 11 at the time), had an Eko Ranger 6, dreadnought. It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen or heard. I’d already learnt to play a couple of musical instruments, so I already had a leaning in that direction. Once I’d seen and heard that guitar (he was into CSNY, etc) I wanted to learn. My first guitar was an awful acoustic bought on a holiday, barely playable. Then a Spanish guitar that was OK that I could actually learn properly on. I bought my first electric from a friend with my pocket money, it was an Audition brand from Woolworth’s. My parents bought me another couple of cheap electrics, once it was clear that I was going to stick with it, but my first reasonable quality electric was an Aria Les Paul (one of the famous lawsuit models), which I bought with money earned working a full time summer job. Many guitars followed and then I switched to bass and many more instruments followed. Why do I play? I have to, it’s in my bones.

That surely is a handsome beast.

I’m also guided by weight these days, especially for basses. I think, on the whole, basswood is generally light, but each instrument differs somewhat. Something that is important regarding weight, is balance. I had a Stingray that was a hefty lump, but on the strap the balance was spot on and made it feel lighter and then there’s strap width to consider, which also helps. Anything chambered is going to lighter than it’s all solid equivalent and totally hollow lighter still of course. My Casino Coupé is stupid light, but obviously not a Strat.

Nice to see that your dog is a rock fan.

Welcome to the forum. My normal recommendation for replacement hardware is Hipshot, but a set of those would be almost half the value of your Ibanez. I would probably go with Wilkinson tuners for your AX120 as they’re good quality and reasonably priced.

Gotta love a bound body, Telecaster. GLWTS &…

The Papa, he say yes!

I haven't used one either. However, Yamaha's silent double bass is reckoned to be the best EUB on the market, so I can't imagine that they'd drop the ball on the classical guitar version.

I’ve looked at the Valeton strip fx units for both guitar and bass. Hard to beat at the price.

Binge watching The Blacklist.

I returned from the Co-Op today with 4 bottles of beer, a 4 pack of cider, a large pizza and a bag of bombay mix. Release the inner student in halls!

I must say that the YouTube videos don't really do it justice, even Yamaha haven't over egged the pudding in their own promos. What I don't understand is how this passed me by when it first came to the market. I guess, much the same as my reaction, the guitar buying public have seen it as a gimmick and 'not a proper' acoustic. The current discounts available for both L and F ranges would support this notion, I think. I'm unsupervised (Lady Ez is away down to London) for the next few days, so I may do something rash .

I went into my first guitar store in 18 months yesterday, mainly to check out the store closest to me. For a smallish store, it had a good range of electrics, a reasonable acoustic corner and a paltry handful of basses (most unimpressive). I didn’t look too long at the electrics as I’m not in the market for a new one at all, looking at the basses took no time at all sadly, so I wandered into the acoustic section, as I wouldn’t mind a mahogany bodied, dreadnought. One of the assistants asked if I’d tried a Yamaha Trans Acoustic, which, although having been around a while, I was unaware of. Through some electronic wizardry, you can add reverb and/or chorus to the acoustic sound (there’s an actuator inside the body, connected to the back). Sounded like a huge gimmick to me, but I humoured him and gave it a go. OMG! This tech is just amazing. I was blown away by it and had the parking ticket on the car not been getting close to expiry, I would have been sitting there for hours. I open tuned the guitar to play Zep’s The Rain Song, had the reverb on and it was fantastic, really natural sounding, not faux in any way, shape or form. The guitar, an FG, was up to Yamahas usual build and playability standards (i.e. very high) and I’m seriously considering buying it. The added ambience just makes you want to play it and, for those who write their own songs, seems it would be inspirational. I’ve only ever had the ‘I need this guitar in my life’ reaction once before. I make no apologies for this gushing review and I urge you to try one if you can.

4 guitars, 5 basses here.

I concur with everything that Dad has said above. I have owned a Tanglewood in the past and wouldn’t hesitate to include them in any search for a new acoustic guitar, they really punch above their weight. Your choice of a Dreadnought style guitar is wise, as this really is a great all rounder for strumming, fingerpicking and all and any stops in between.

Doh! I missed the headstock/tuner reference. That is weird. I’d say string tree, except that it’s the G.

Check your bridge saddle, there may be a sharp point there or where it enters the trem mechanism.

Nice Lowden.

Nice. Every home should have a 335 type.

His instructional video was good, I don’t think I learnt anything from it, it was just great to watch and listen too (Dave LaRue on bass).

You could make a guitar out of concrete…

Speak of Purple and their guitarists and most folk think of Blackmore or maybe Tommy Bolin, but the amazing Steve Morse served in that role longer than either of those 2 put together - 28 years! I’ve been a Steve Morse fan from before his Purple days, a player with an individual voice and style. He’s been a farm labourer, an airline pilot, as well as one of the finest guitar players out there. In recent years, he’s had mobility issues with his right hand/wrist and I thought this was why he has finally quit the band. No, it’s to care for his wife, who has been diagnosis with cancer . https://planetradio.co.uk/planet-rock/news/rock-news/steve-morse-deep-purple/ If you’re unaware of Steve Morse and like virtuoso, rock guitar, I whole heartedly recommend you check out his work with his own band, The Dixie Dregs or Kansas, as well DP.