EdwardMarlowe

TBH, when it comes to something in the Strat mould, I would tend just to replace the whole lot (with a new plate, ideally, if you can get one that fits right). That way if it doesn't work out as planned, it is a matter of a few screws and a single soldering end with the jack socket to revert to standard. Handy if you wanted to sell later on and not lose on the cost of those mods - or I suppose you could also sell the original plate and put tht towards offsetting the cost of the changes.

Stainless steel frets aside, I suspect the most obvious difference in the end will be which version of the LP shape you prefer, given that (for legal reasons) both vary the outline somewhat. The SC series is one of the HBs I've not handled in person, but online it does look like the body doesn't nip in *just* so much as the original in the middle, and the upper bought comes out further and then back in, rather than round - think a Les Paul trying to be a Telecaster in that specific area of the body shape. The Vintage to my eye is somewhat closer to the shape of the LP, with the only really obvious difference being the sharper horn. Of course, if being as close as possible to the Gibson is what you wanted, you'd probably be looking elsewhere. That said, I really like that the HB does vary that little bit more - it gives it a feel of being it's own take on the LP style, much like the LTD LP style guitar. YMMV. Quality wise, without having played both back to back, there's room for the HB to be a little better imo. Bear in mind they're basically offering you wholesale prices at retail: I suspect this would be a more expensive guitar than the Vintage were it retailed under the traditional model. The TL/DR version is that if I were looking for a new LP style guitar without spending crazy money, I'd be looking seriously at the HB. If you[re going to be pulling the trigger in the next week or so, do look at the 25th Anniversary model - the spec on that range is impressive (I have the JA25th and it is a lovely, lovely thing indeed), and it's only available until end 2023.

It's a very long time since I played out anywhere, so can't comment on direct experience. I suspect were I to be a gigger, the average punter wouldn't notice. It'd be interesting to get an impression from players who do but don't know the brand before... Online, views seem to be split between those who've played them and think they're very decent for the money, putting them up against Vintage (by JHS), Squier CV, Fender player Series... directly, and as "upgradeable" to hold their own against much more - and on the other hand. those rubbishing them because 'Made in China + racist idiot', or a refusal to believe anything cheap could be good. I've yet to see anyone from the latter group who'd actually played one... FWIW, though, while I can't comment directly on experience with HB, I tend to find musicians who actually play out for a living are vastly more open minded about instruments, and themselves vastly more likely to be playing "budget" gear. The gearsnobs I've encountered have almost exclusively been comfortably-off hobby players, or sometimes guys in originals bands who sneer at anyone who plays covers, and are bitter that "wedding bands" can make a living while nobody wants to hear their obscure prog originals.... :D

Yeah, was just saying this to a guy on the Facebook HB owners' group page. He's done all sorts of mods to his TEs - basically treated them as buying a neck and a body pre-attached. Even if that's all you use from the original, it compares very well to the likes of Warmoth imo, and you can probably put some very nice guts in it without spending more than the difference. I think last I looked the necks I was interested in on Warmoth were alone well over the cost of a TE52 or the likes.

Doesn't it? I can hear my debit card breathing a sigh of relief at the lack of left handers!

Interesting they told you that *after* you parted with the cash (imo, makes it less likely to be 'just sales talk' - not to cast aspersions on your dealer, of course!). It's amazing what's available in that price range now for acoustics, perhaps even moreso than the improvements in affordable electrics over the years. With an acoustic, it's definitely worth paying that little bit more for something you find better, given it's not so easy to 'upgrade' them with other bits like an electric can be...

Just been idly looking at this myself. I'm intending next year to pick up a HB TE52, and fancied running this mod on it, just to be a little different. I get that if you literally just flip it over, you're just inverting everything as you note. You can either rewire it, or the alternative is to replace it with a new, pre-wired plate. Good information here - https://myguitarlair.com/reverse-telecaster-control-plate/ I actually came across this thread as I'm planning next year to do exactly the same thing myself with a HB TE-52. I'll probably just buy a pre-wired plate for simplicity - in which case I'll go for one with a four-way switch, adding the option of having both pick-ups together in series or in parallel. Next I have to figure out whether I need something custom made for a left handed guitar...

Nines or tens are pretty much industry standard in my experience. That's for a 'regular', concert pitch tuning. One you get seriously into metal type drop tuning regularly on the fly, I'd go looking for something like.... was it Hipshot do those bridges where you can flip a level to switch to drop D or Drop C and whatever and then back without having to spend time retuning?

Nice guitar! I remember first hearing of Lag about thirty years ago. Electrics, in that case - some very Superstrat type guitars with a lot of work put into the maple tops - like PRS had started out making an answer to Ibanez. I've never played one of their acoustics, but I gather they are very nice indeed. Enjoy!

I'd compare the price of the two options. Years ago I had a Tanglewood dreadnought top suffer a crack. I had a tech add a thin patch on the back to hold it and stop the split getting any worse, and that worked well (with no discernible impact on the sound). Sounds like your top is far enough gone that a replacement might be as easy as repair, especially if the labour time (likely to be the most expensive bit of any repair ime) is about the same...

Sounds like an interesting idea. If it can fit (should be able to from what I can see online), a Submarine Pro in the middle (and so the option of sending output from the same guitar to another amp / direct to the PA) could be a fun variation too - https://www.submarinepickup.com

Very nice gift idea - and those Classic Vibe series guitars are really nice. IMO, they could as easily be labelled "MiC Fender" as Squier... If hubby is a big Nirvana fan, the Competition Mustang model is styled after the 60s Fender model that Kurt Cobain played on Smells Like Teen Spirit. https://www.fender.com/en-GB/squier-electric-guitars/mustang/classic-vibe-60s-competition-mustang/0374079502.html If you can stretch just a tiny bit over the RRP (should be somewhere selling it cheaper than the £449 quoted on the Fender website, though) - the Limited Edition Squier Classic Vibe 60s Jaguar in silver sparkle would be a nice choice, in that being LE it won't be around forever, so it's a guitar that is sort of tied to a particular Christmas in time as well, which would be nice - https://www.fender.com/en-GB/squier-electric-guitars/jaguar/limited-edition-classic-vibe-60s-jaguar/0374092581.html

I loved those Zip guitars. Would have bought at least one, but they didn't do a left hander. Pity.... maybe HB will pick up the torch there!

I heard some of the early ones were nice. The really collectable ones now are the first range of 'Vintage' brand guitars from JHS which were styled "Encore Vintage Series". These were the ones that Trevor Wilkinson first worked on and where the Wilkinson version of the Fender trem first dates from - 1995. Not long after that the Vintage brand started in earnest. I see on JHS's website now the Encore brand still exists - actually looks like it's more of a range than I think there's been for a long time. Vintage has been lifted right up to be challenging the MiM Fender range (with the sort of online following Harley Benton has in these parts), and now even has its own lower-priced range, the Vintage Coaster Series (priced somewhere between the Vintage and Encore guitars). My first electric was a Marlin - they had a brief moment in the sun in the very early 90s when for just one year they outsold Squier in the UK...

Yeah, the dear old Strat is a design I keep coming back to. What I love so much about it is it's so iconic, and yet the design was, in the first instance, very much about form following function, which produced such a beautiful form. Says a lot too how it's been so adaptable over time for all sorts of different tweaks (chamfered neck joints, different trems and pup combinations, and all the rest of it), yet still remained identifiably a Stratocaster.

I love the look of that! Custom build? Looks basically like an Esquier but with a Strat form-factor....

Nice thing about a Strat mod using a whole new guard is that you can also retain the option of very easily reverting to standard if you want to (or, indeed, if you're certain that won't be an issue, sell the original plate complete and wired in order to fund the new version....).

I've had similar experiences. The feel (sometimes even the look - all psychosomatical...) of a different guitar leads me subconsciously to play in a different way or to play different things... By extension, I suspect that different things just feel 'right' on different guitars... What was it recorded on originally, do you know? Something with a similar neck shape (so it - irrespective of the player - 'feels' better on the type of neck / guitar feel it was written / recorded on... Not sure I'm articulating that so well, but you know what I mean?

Sounds like standard LP-type wiring?

Yeah, if you want it to look standard but only use the neck pickup, I don't see any need to rewire at all. I'd only get into that if - as randythoades says - you wanted to only have the one pick-up on there, make it a feature. If you want to keep the standardised Strat look, I just don't see any advantage to doing any rewiring here (aside from switching in your preferred choice of pup).

Early days. I gather there's a bit of a collector's market for those early pieces. Still have (though it's at my folks' house back in the old country, got to be sold in the Spring) my old Tanglewood bowlback, which I believe was Cort-made in Korea. Paid £189 back in 1994 for that one. Bought a TW15NS (the dreadnought model, all-solid) back in 2002/3. Hanging on to that one - nice guitar. I think that was after they'd switch to Chinese manufacture, and the buzz around them started to grow. Their early electric could be quite nice, too, though afaik they've all but given up with the electrics as it's as an acoustic brand that they really hit.

Also occurs to me that there's a question to consider - is it the lived sound or the studio sound you're wanting to replicate? I know Jimi used pedals both live and in the studio, but it always seemed to me as best as I could make out at a historical distance that he was *somewhat* more reliant on the amp's own sound live as opposed to the studio - even if he did cane it in the studio as well. Fun fact: according to the Hendrix bio Eddie Kramer co-wrote (from memory that's where I read it), Jimi's doctor told him a few months before he died that if he didn't turn down the volume, he'd be stone deaf in two years.

Pretty much. I'm not much knowledgeable about SRV, but my understanding is that's what he did, with Hendrix being a big influence on him.

Works for me - I've never been much inclined to play above the 15th fret or so anyhow.... My very marked preference for a 21 fret over a 22 is purely aesthetic.

Thanks, I'll look into their line. Best