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I really like those PRS SE guitars.
I have a James Tyler JTV59 built in the same World Music factory and the workmanship on it and the SEs is fantastic. The fretting and attention to detail is the best I’ve seen from one of the Far East operations.
I made a new pedal - Parentheses Fuzz which is a copy of the EarthQuaker Devices Life Pedal.
Daughter did a short video which show my current setup as she painted the pedal.
Steinberger ZT3 - I am a huge Vito Bratta fan and always wanted a headless guitar.
Blackstar 1W amp - may move one day to the 5w.
Boss GT1000 core - still figuring this out
Behringer SF300 Hyper Fuzz clone
Boss looper pedal
We need sounds!
Pretty pedal. And I loved my Hohner Steinberger clones.
i have an old Marshall MG15DFX where the 2 square push buttons for overdrive and Digital FX is worn out so dont always turn on/off
anyone got any idea where i can get replacement parts for this? or even just what to search for?
Lesson 3 of How To Play Blues Guitar up on Dave Simpson's channel now. Think this one will be a bit too difficult for me!
i have an old Marshall MG15DFX where the 2 square push buttons for overdrive and Digital FX is worn out so dont always turn on/off
anyone got any idea where i can get replacement parts for this? or even just what to search for?
They'll just be bog standard latched switches. best thing to do is have a look there will be a code on them or possibly on the circuit board, type that into google but 100 because its cheaper ot buy 100 than 1 😀
but i would just squirt some contact cleaner in them first and see if they are just a bit manky.
good point Josh, my dad had a look at it (he is old school tv repair tech from back when they actually repaired stuff) and i assumed he gave them a clean but not actually sure if he actually did it, will give it a try.
Short scale, twin humbuckers, semi-hollow?
I've got one of the previous Zack Myers SE models. Tbh I had/have no idea who he is, just bought it cos it's a lovely guitar 😎 much prefer the tobacco burst colour to the blue.
Upgraded & customised it a bit...
- Humbucker sized P90 in the neck.
- Black pickup surrounds.
- replaced clear knobs with brown/gold witches hat ones.
- black locking Hipshot tuners - look nicer and the originals were a bit crap.
- built in tuner on the bridge tone pot.
Interesting that they've gone with black tuners and pu surrounds on the new model...I'm obviously on trend!
I did a few mods to my ZM too. I'll have to get a picture. Agree there tuners were a bit naff. The only part of the guitar that was. I switched mine for gotoh locking ones. Same knobs as ajantom up there too....great minds
Sneak peak of my bands new single (out tomorrow)...
Lead guitar and organ by myself, also produced/mixed by my fair hand.
Most amusing, ajantom. Sounds great on my headphones. Only confusing thing is the vid, where are you? Oz? It's sunny and warm!
Only confusing thing is the vid, where are you? Oz? It’s sunny and warm!
Sunny Devon 😆
What tunes are you lot currently learning / working on?
I'm embracing my Bolton heritage by trying to play the bass part for this
Pinball Wizard. I can play it or sing it but not both at the same time (yet - these things take time). My triplets become normal strumming as soon as my brain has to find words. My left thumb is sore and the room is toasty warm from the Marshal. I started acoustic but the riff sounded pathetic so it's now a single-coil Tele into the 100W JCM clean channel cranked enough to fill it out. No pedals needed.
now a single-coil Tele into the 100W JCM clean channel cranked enough to fill it out
👌
Currently practicing a couple of Sor pieces, i giorni and giorni dispari by Einaudi, Milonga, River Man by Nick Drake, Hotel California plus Lovely by Billie Eilish to name a few.
for cover band purposes I am learning
Club Tropicana
Walk like an Egyptian
Kiss
Kids in America
Wherever I Lay my hat
massively enjoyable
Hi, Does anyone have a postive grid spark amp, and is it any good? I've been playing for 6 months now, I've a yamaha pacifica and a little Vox Amplug, which works ok, but never sounds that good (it doesn't have many settings and they seem a bit heavy handed), but I'd like to play around with the sound a bit more, to try and get what I'm playing to sound more like the original song I'm playing. I'd also like to play without headphones now and again. I've also seen reviews of the Yamaha THR and Boss Katanas but neither seem as versatile as the spark, though they do both seem to sound better (but cost nearly double the money for less features). I'm hoping it will be my only amp for a while, as I don't have the room, and I'm not good enough yet to justify a load of kit. I've not really settled on the kind of stuff I'd like to play either, though I prefer rock/metal/pop/acoustic type stuff to classical/spanish, hence thinking I'm better off with a versatile amp rather than one that does one thing really well....
IIRC @BoardinBob has the Spark and likes it. I'm interested in hearing how it is, as I've held off buying one because of the import duty. I see they are on Amazon now though.
You might also want to consider one of the Fender models - Fender Mustang GTX 50 as another modelling amp option.
https://shop.fender.com/en-GB/guitar-amplifiers/contemporary-digital/mustang-gtx50/2310606000.html
Might add that to my playing list for something a bit different.
Currently in a bit of a piano to guitar mode, Goodbye Yellow Brick road at the moment, which is sounding surprisingly good.
Last November I was about to buy a Spark but 2 things put me off. Duty and postage were surprisingly high and delivery lead time was something like 6 weeks.
Instead, I bought a Boss Katana 50 (still in stock for free delivery on Thursday for £219 from Andertons) and I'm really pleased with it.
If they've got a bunch of Sparks in the UK for delivery through Amazon (although the 10-20 days lead time suggests otherwise) for £247 that's not bad but I'd still choose the Boss. The 100w Katana has a couple more features but I'm not sure I'd notice the difference.
IIRC @BoardinBob has the Spark and likes it
Yes, absolutely love it. A great piece of kit. I really should do a demo video
I've always appreciated the Telecaster but have never really lusted after one. However, look at the wood on this one. The back of the neck is amazing!
My buddy ordered a spark and has have a first gen THR10 for years
The spark arrived and was sold within the same day
That all I need to know
Your old Uncle Larry has been killing it recently over on Home Skoolin
I’ve always appreciated the Telecaster but have never really lusted after one. However, look at the wood on this one. The back of the neck is amazing!
Hmm, I'm torn on that one. It looks absolutely lovely, but there's a nagging part of my brain that says Tele's shouldn't be fancy. Solid colour, ideally with a bit of (real!) patina.
I've been waiting ages for the Squier Telecaster's to come back in stock on the website. I'm really torn between the butterscotch 50's style and the glittery contemporary version with the lush maple neck.
I also think a Tele should look a certain way but the modern version still looks mint. They're both £303 with my discount. I'll probably just get whichever one is available first.
Not that it makes a difference. It'll be my first and only guitar and I'll be making an appalling racket for the foreseeable future regardless of which one I buy.
They're very differnt guitars, sharkattack.
I bought junior the 2012 butterscotch blonde classic vibe as his first electric. He's left it here prefering to have his Warmoth with him so I play it now and then.
It's heavy
The neck is excellent
The bridge pickup is the best single coil Tele pickup I've used. It can be used with a shed load of gain without squeal and sounds properly Tele with a bottom end growl and twang.
I like the ash-tray bridge for flat picking as I can use the bridge to locate my hand when going from a strum to a pick without muting any strings.
n.b. the latest ones have vintage frets, tall and narrow, and for me that's a deal breaker, I like Fender's medium jumbo . They've also changed the bridge pickup, no idea why, the 2012 was perfect to my ears.
I've got a spangly Mexican blacktop with humbuckers so a similar theme to the Squier Modern Tele.
The neck is not quite as thin as the Blonde but has an extra fret.
The original humbuckers were disappointing so I fitted some Duncan Pearly Gates which are better defined.
The bridge was a 55mm string spacing which put the Eand e strings too near the edge of the neck for my taste so I fitted a 52mm Gotoh.
The Blonde can be used for almost anything. On low gain it's bright, tight and clean. With gain and pedals it'll go all the way to metal light. To go further it would need N3 or N4 stacked pickups which junior has in his Warmoth.
The Blacktop with Pearly Gates sounds, as you might expect , more like a Les Paul than a Tele. Splitting the pickups brightens it up but it then lacks bottom end and doesn't growl. It works well with my tube amps but not so well with the Fender Mustangs.
Edukator - I've just gone the same way - ordered the Gotoh 52mm spacing to replace the saddle on my Squier Classic Vibe Deluxe Tele.
I'm also replacing the nut and tree with Graphtech, the tuners with Gotoh locking tuners, and swapping the wide range pickups with some from Brandonwound in the states, and popping in a freeway switch.
Still works out cheaper than a mexican tele, but it'll be a lot more versatile.
I'm actually really impressed with the tonality of it as is, the quality feels sub-par when comparing against the latest Epiphone Inspired By Gibson range. My ES-339, and Les Paul Special feel more like they're hand made, and the Squier feels like it's off an assembly line.
But... the Deluxe has soooo much spank. It still sounds like my original 70's American Tele, but broader and a little darker. I was expecting it to be more like a p90 sound, but it's much more like a tell singlecoil.
I'll post up some photos once I've fitted everything.
Well, replaced the nut and saddle on the squier telecaster deluxe, and popped in the vintage style locking tuners.
Bonkers difference. So much wider sound, single notes and chords ring out far longer and sweeter.
The vintage locking tuners are a little gem too. They look and feel like the original Fenders, but are locking and they're so so smooth in use.
Definitely recommend the upgrade. I think you'd not be able to tell the difference between the Squier and the Fender Vintera now.
Can't wait to pop the Brandonwounds and the Freeway in next.
I still like the old Gotoh vintage tuners with the slot and hole, they don't budge. Madame's back at work so I'm making lots of noise having another go at Pinball Wizard. Two broken strings, a sore thumb on the left hand again, sore index on the right hand and beginning to lose my voice after an hour. I'm trying a slightly bigger pick so I graze my fingers less on the strings.
I like the look of those locking tuners. Very subtle.
I'm just having a bit of a mare finding some 60s original tuners/parts for this beast I'm putting up for sale.
I hadn't opened the case for a quarter of a century until yesterday.
I quick Google says you might get 4-5k for it if you can get it to mint original. That buys a nice bike or some very nice guitars, amps and pedals in exchange for something of on oddity. Did you master using the organ and guitar together a quarter century back?
Nope. I used it as a bleep making toy instead of a synth into tape delays and filters.
Paid £30 for it in 1971 so it has been worth keeping. All 100% original. Even has the unused original little leatherette strap. Unused because it is about half an inch wide and this guitar is literally 2 Les Pauls in weight.
It won't be mint though, too many scratches and the like but less significant damage than the one on Reverb has. Just need to crank the electronics into life.
Might be worth getting it to Gardiner Houlgate in Corsham. They're an auction house that does a specialist guitar auction about four times a year - that would fit right in... The guitar guy there, Luke Hobbs is super knowledgeable too, so I'd ask him what he reckons.
https://www.gardinerhoulgate.co.uk/departments/6/Guitars
EDIT - in fact their June auction has an entry deadline of the end of this week...
Sky's the limit eh! The guitars with a history I'd expect a premium but a tatty old 63 strat is a tatty old 63 strat and I'd rather have a new Custom Shop for a quarter of the money. Bodes well for your Vox though, Eddie.
Wow, that's fantastic. 🙂
At a slightly lower price point, I picked up the Bullet Mustang today from PMT in Salford.
For £109, I'm surprised and really happy with it.
Paint is flawless, everything works, it sounds good and was simple to set up.
Flaws? Nothing serious. The tuners were loose on the headstock, a couple of the pickguard screws are katy-cornered and the back of the headstock needs a bit of sanding.
The fretwork feels nice after a quick polish and the laurel fingerboard looks fine after a bit of lemon oil.
Even the plastic nut was cut nicely.
Next?
Sand and oil the back of the neck. Loctite the saddle screws and play the thing. 🙃
Oh dear. I feel this won't end well:
After fitting the new Tusq nut to my Tele, I'm getting some harmonic/resonance from the G and D string. A lot more so ok the G string.
I've got a spare Graphtec string tree, which I'm thinking of installing to get a better breakaway angle - my Tele only has a tree string on the high E and B string.
Before I break out the drill, is there anything else I should be considering? The nut is pre-cut, and looks pretty clean, no pings when tuning.
Could it be the nut is too low, so there's not enough downforce on the strings?
the grooves the stings rest in should fall away slightly to the headstock and have a sharp edge at the fretboard end otherwise you can get the "sitar" sound.
you can simulate increasing the breakaway angle by pressing with your fingernail behind the nut to see if it makes a difference.
if the nut is too low it will buzz when open and be OK when held at the first fret.
You would normally have to adjust a precut nut a little to get a good setup in any case.
this forum is quite nice
https://www.tdpri.com/threads/basic-setup.952636/
That's another excellent setup guide. Bookmarked and added to the collection.
Tried another very nice Tele. A cheap Harley Benton that played like a dream. A new nut and tuners (are we seeing a theme here folks/) and a little bit of fret dressing were all it had needed. The owner is now heading down the rabbit hole where his pickups and tuners will cost considerably more than the original guitar. It was one of these and is firmly on my radar now. I mean that is a pocket money price - I could buy two and have one in open tuning FFS!
https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbt1952.htm
I needed some Tele spares so bought one of these
https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbt30be_egitarre.htm
for bits. I liked the neck and body so much I changed the nut, bridge and pickups and it's now one of my favourite Teles. The neck is really nice. It was perfectly playable and sounded OK out of the box, but deserved some attention to make it a very pleasing guitar. Check out the reviews, I'm not the only one who's impressed.
I still needed a Tele for spares so I bought the one you've linked, Eddie, and it was not as nice so got cannibalised for spares. The neck has sharp edges, the frets are poorly finished, the varnish is yuk. I think there's a bit of a random factor with Harley Benton Teles, sometimes you get lucky, sometimes not.
A few new guitars have appeared over the last few months....
The HB TE-52 is weighty but fantastic value for money, it will get a few minor tweaks and maybe a shou sugi-ban treatment if my experiment works...
The Schecter Nick Johnston traditional is very nice, a modern take on the strat which feels great to play.
The Gretsch G5622T Streamliner is again really good value, lovely and bright sounding. A few tweaks needed to improve the tuning stability though.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51189027266_f21462e69c_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51189027266_f21462e69c_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2kZp9pC ]IMG_20210519_105616[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/111231073@N07/ ]David Wadesmith[/url], on Flickr
Finally managed to track down a left-handed one of these... One-in, one-out so my Telecaster has just been sold.
Damnit @chipps - I'd had a flash of inspiration and popped onto the thread to ask a stupid question relating to Jazzmaster wiring - and you've sent me down a very pretty GAS rabbithole. That Blue Boy Rickenbacker 360...
However, back to the original query... Recently got my Jazzmaster (bit of a beater, MIJ, no-name Mustang bridge, got a pair of SJM-2's fitted) out and, unsurprisingly, the controls are still as rough as they were last time I used it. As it probably wants new switches and pots already, am considering trying something inspired by the Rothstein Wiring Diagrams at www.guitar-mod.com. Am tempted by dual volumes on the conventional knobs and wiring the roller knobs as a G&L PTB Tone Stack. Haven't quite decided what to do with the slider just yet - maybe noting, maybe a phase reversal on one of the pickups? The sticky bit is that to get the bass cut working right in the right direction, I'd need to source a 1M reverse audio taper pot - anyone any recommendations for sources of decent quality pots and switches that might have something a little fruity (such as a reverse audio taper)? Oh, and being a MIJ will probably be needing metric threads/shafts because I don't particularly want to be reaming all the mounting holes etc...