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I was watching some 80s music documentary on Friday and seeing John McGeogh made me realise there’s a huge and unexplainable hole in my collection.
A Yamaha SG.
Please talk me out of this expensive and totally unjustified purchase before I’m forced into the ‘but I really need it’ conversation with my wife.
There were different levels in the 80's era of Yamaha SGs
from 'nice enough' to 'les paul quality'
Not that i'd recommend 'les paul quality' as anything desirable
If you want something of that era its Eggle everytime for me
@Superficial I loved that! One of my favourite tunes since I first heard it on release.
I'd never have thought try it on guitar. Brilliant.
Hey @racefaceec90 - that's exactly what I've just been eyeing up! I have an SE Hollowbody and like it way more than I thought I was going to, so I wanted to add some SE locking tuners to pimp it up a little (and because they're soooo easy to use). Where did you get yours?
On the topic of pimping things up, I'm soon (fingers crossed) going to have sold my little Yorkshire terrace and will have a certain amount of 'free money' - until the taxman and existing house maintenance bills catches up with me... So, what are STW's suggestions for a guitar-based spending spree? Given that I already have a raft of lovely guitars and a couple of nice amps...
My scattergun list so far of things to have a play on in a guitar shop includes: Fender Princeton and/or Deluxe (and/or Tonemaster versions), Strandberg Boden, Gibson 330, Fender Meteora and/or '51 Telecaster, Mesa Boogies of assorted stripes, Guild TA60 (thinline P90 hollowbody) and, er, I dunno really.
I don't actually _need_ anything - apart from perhaps a 'take to a friend's house for a jam' lightweight amp. And I definitely need some more lessons, so they're on the list too... But it's nice to dream. Same with bikes.
@chipps good afternoon to you i bought them from amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07XL5PWQJ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details i paid £77.07 for mine and it included next day delivery even though i did free delivery (it was £4.99 for next day delivery but i got it for free somehow) am not complaining i have to add 🙂
now just waiting for the guitar to fit them too still awaiting delivery peach guitars say on my order
ps mine came with black locking screws as opposed to the bronze coloured ones but i prefer the black tbh.
I've only seen black locking screws. It's the shafts that are plain brass.
ah you are correct it just shows the tuners in the pics not the locking screws so got confused doh
my guitar has been sent out by prs so hopefully sometime this week i will receive it after peach have checked it over and set it up for us.
am really looking forward to getting the guitar now 😀
I'm a big fan of the PRS SE guitars. I think I've had a P90 Singlecut, a P90 Baritone and now a Hollowbody. All of them were beautifully put together and played great.
oh very nice @chipps
this will be my first prs as i have never seen one at a guitar shop i have visited or had the funds to buy one either lol.
i love the fact that my guitar is pretty understated looking as well as being one of the cheapest models too (nothing against the blingy expensive ones/am just not a good player to do them justice tbh).
You don't need to be a good player to justify a blingy guitar. I am proof of that 😉
Same as bikes. If you want a nice bike and can afford it, you have a nice bike. And 'affordable' doesn't mean 'bad' these days either. Whether guitars or bikes.
PRS SE Zach Myers (with upgraded locking tuners) and SE 245 singlecut over here. Great value instruments.
So, what are STW’s suggestions for a guitar-based spending spree?
A Trace Elliott Elf bass amp.
Sounds great, loud, small.
Free up space for more toys....
.....such as a Squier Bullet Mustang mod project.....or something custom from Ancoats.... https://www.ancoatsguitars.co.uk/
But it’s nice to dream
I'd put my name down for a Kinkade Kingsdown Deluxe 🙂
Guitar based spending spree? Guitar building course at Crimson?
Slightly cheeky but I’m selling a lovely little Vox valve amp for £120ish
Here’s the spiel…..
Vox AC4TV valve amp
Fantastic all valve practice amp with beautiful Vox tone. Has three power settings 1/4 watt, 1watt & (a very loud ) 4 watts so you can play at home volume on the lower settings but it’s loud enough to play with a drummer at full power. ( I have actually used it at a couple of small gigs. )
Selling cos I rarely am allowed to play without headphones at home ( even though this is barely above “tv” volume in the 1/4 watt setting) & I have an ac10 for band practice now
Based on the 60s Vox TV amp it’s got a slightly warmer tone than a top boost Ac30 ( like an ac30 normal channel) with a lovely clean sound through a nice blues drive into a passable impression of AC/DC if you crank it.
I can send photos if anyone is interested.
This is the info from the vox site…..
https://voxamps.com/en-gb/product/ac4tv/
Sounds interesting. Where are you based? Would you post?
Those are lovely, @simondbarnes and a decent price - however, I made the mistake of playing a couple of Jeff Traugott's guitars and they will always be top of the Lottery Win tree... Prices start at $38,500... 😮
@eddiebaby I live in Devon but miles from anywhere so am happy to post!
Pics here….
https://imgur.com/gallery/1cMg09y
Right, I'm going to have to speak to the CFO (just booked a wingfoiling holiday and she's coming along…).
good luck with that!!!!
I've got someone coming to look at it tonight but i'll keep you posted
Best of luck with the sale.
Its sold, on the plus side you will still be in the CFO's good books
Also wing foiling looks so fun! (but hard)
I'm guessing that this may have already been asked in the previous 79 pages but anyway...
How often do people change their guitar strings? I leave mine on until they snap or go rusty which I'm guessing is probably a bit long?
On my Tele I change the set when I break a string (about once a year max). This is long before I'd notice a problem with the sound. I use D'Addario NYXL and for my body chemistry and playing style they seem to last forever. Plus my guitars have no places to kill stings.
Its sold, on the plus side you will still be in the CFO’s good books
Happy and sad at the same time.
Also wing foiling looks so fun! (but hard)
Fun? Yes, but not that hard if you can windsurf.
I don’t change my strings often. Couple of times a year maybe. There’s a noticeable brightness from new strings but it’s not necessarily better IMHO.
YMMV and I know a lot of people recommend changing them much more frequently.
How often do people change their guitar strings?
When they start to get that ‘dead’ sound.
Never change my strings unless they break which I cant remember the last time it happened
Actually I do change strings on new guitars as they are often not great
Cheers all. I've just changed the strings on my Strat. They had been on there a couple of years and they were rather manky 🤮
Knowing me I've done it wrong and I'll have all sorts of issues but you've got to learn how to do it at some point!
locking tuners are an option as they make string changes a breeze.
something like these for your strat https://www.thomann.de/gb/fender_schaller_locking_tuner_ch.htm
ah apologies.
actually the vintage tuners you have are great. there is a knack for doing them though but once learned it becomes second nature.
this guide might help.
Vintage tuners are great. Almost self-locking already. And especially if you're not using the trem, then they work brilliantly.
my guitar is on its way (should turn up sometime tomorrow 😀
apologies for all the updates about it it's just been a shit year so far (nightmare neighbours with criminal records who are still next door even though their tenancy has run out).
have never owned or tried a prs so doubly excited for sure (especially with 8 different tonal options).
Hope it arrives tomorrow for you! New guitar days are the best 🙂
My challenge for this week is to lean to play this smoothly (and more than once by sliding back up to the starting point). Will see how I get one! (unlikely to get much time to play much until Sunday though)
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/o83ZlTHt9Hk
thanks @simondbarnes 🙂
good luck with learning your rhcp piece (John Frusciante definitely isn't the easiest of players to play their music that is for sure). you'll get there for sure though with the clips i have heard of yours 🙂
Thinking of getting another acoustic, but this time with a cut away at the neck. This looks nice on line but its not recognised as a dreadnought, any idea why? What would the difference between this and a cut away dreadnought be?
https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/martin-gpc-x2e-sitka-top-mahogany-hpl
Edit - Ignore me, ive just googled it.
New question - Recommend me a dreadnought cut away???
ah apologies i have not a clue about acoustic guitars (i bought a cheap fender dreadnaught from argos back in 2004 i think it was) that's as much as i have played one tbh.
fantastic news my prs has turned up 9it was delivered at 9:15 this morning which is fantastic in itself.
am bloody loving the guitar i have to say (only been playing it unplugged after giving it a quick clean).
everything feels nice on it/no damage that i can see etc and after a quick tune up cannot detect any fret buzz/choked notes etc people were def right about prs quality control that's for sure (and peach guitars checking it over before dispatch).
the guitar is def heavier than my harley benton fusion iii hss (as the body is mahogany) but not super heavy either. but most of all it just feels really nice to play and it resonates also when playing through neck/body.
will try and take some pics at some point but might not be for a while as i just want to play it lol.
(i just need fit the locking tuners to it as some point also).
i am now a junior member of the dentist club now ;-P
@blackflag.
If you're planning on spending that amount on an acoustic go and play lots of them.
There's so many things to consider; does it play how i want it to play?. Does it sound the way I want it to sound? Is it comfortable for me,? Don't rule out second hand either.
Good luck.
For the record I AM a dentist and I’ve never owned a PRS!🤣
Sure they’re great guitars but always seemed a bit AOR for my tastes....
( that said, I’ve always loved offsets for their connection to bands like sonic youth and dinosaur jr but seems like they’re mainstream now and strats are becoming the “edgy alternative” choice for some of the kids so guess I should accept I’m just old and mainstream now!)
Anyway, sold the vox I posted and this was delivered today.... Orange rocker 15. What a versatile & loud little amp!
Thst looks a sweet setup.
EDIT: just read that back and it seems a little wine infused and churlish Race face.
Bet your new guitar is actually lovely and hope you love the way it plays / sounds. There are some very good cheap guitar around but you can’t beat the joy of owning / playing a high quality instrument!
@ceepers no need to apologise at all 🙂 i have felt the same about prs guitars too in the past lol. but man i absolutely love it since playing it.
as i said on the fretboard forum about my prs now i just need to get some golf clubs and an audi (cannot afford either tbh).
No Audi or golf clubs here either.....
To be fair I’m atypical among my colleagues. Stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason for sure!
People, I feel this is safe space to share this information. After almost 3 decades
of full commitment to bass guitars I’ve had a couple of weeks of actually getting excited about playing these tiny six string instruments!
I’m not sure what to blame, maybe years of playing bass rather like a guitar (yes chords!) has won me over to the upsides of skinny low tension strings (and two bonus ones? Maybe those chordal leanings mean I’m no longer annoyed by that major third interruption to the perfect fourths?
Maybe our faux Les Paul feels more right because of the angled body making the string to body spacing much more like a bass and the pickups feeling like big thumbrests? Maybe it’s me saying “I can play this with my fingers and don’t need to stress about learning to use a pick!”? Maybe noodling on a soprano uke has got me used to much smaller instruments?
Maybe it’s that having written a LOT of songs in the last few years I’m appreciating more of what a guitar can do - and thinking it would be useful if I could do that on these forthcoming sessions?
I don’t know! What I do know is I appear to have talked myself into a need at work for a hollow body guitar, in addition to a Strat and an LP, to cover more of the bases when demoing our guitar cabs. Spent a while yesterday touring the guitar shops of Brighton and appear to be rather sold on getting a fully hollow but electric Gretsch. Help!
Welcome aboard.
I'm selling my bass as having 4 strings is way more difficult than 6, or so i found .
Finally got some guitar time in today.
Since we closed the papers I've been looking for extra work to to top up the bits of freelance I still have.
As a result I'm working at a huge local garden centre 4 days a week. Midweek is OK but the weekends are brutal with 28,000 steps a day and a lot of heavy bags of graceless, soil and fertiliser to shift and load for clients plus trolley moving, stock replenishing and order creating.
But god above I enjoy it. Meeting people and being useful takes me back to the good old days of Covid testing...
As I approach 70 this wipes me out frequently but on the other hand pays for new toys, and prevents the threat of daytime TV.
A couple of hours on the baritone this morning after the F1 finished.
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Picked up this MIM Fender Strat last weekend. Made in 2005, and has been sat under someones bed for the last 17 years. It still had the plastic film on the pickguard and trem cover!
I've rewired the pots to be right handed - Fender wire them left-handed, and they are like an on/off switch. Also changed the strings (still had the originals!) and setup action and pickup height.
Plays really nicely, although the vintage frets have taken some getting used to. The scale length also feels a bit alien, having spent 2 years playing a Gibson.
Blimey, thats pretty. Did you buy it to coordinate with the wall?
Thanks 🙂 Blue Agave according to the serial number. I've not seen many lefties in this colour, I'm thinking it could look good with a white pearloid pickguard...
Spent a while yesterday touring the guitar shops of Brighton and appear to be rather sold on getting a fully hollow but electric Gretsch. Help!
Just be careful with the Streamliner/Electromatic Gretsch models.
Quite a few had bridge/neck/pickup alignment issues. Pretty much ever single one in stock at PMT when I got mine (which went back).
The bridges were pinned, which made fixing the issue pretty involved.
Nice Strat 🙂
No guitar lesson for me today as my teacher is on holiday so I thought I'd try and work out how to combine 2 guitar parts on a video. Thought I may as well learn a new tune at the same time. Behold my one man band!
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pZIuDBCT6LU
“Just be careful with the Streamliner/Electromatic Gretsch models.”
All looked to be lining up well on this one (although this photo looks the opposite because the bridge pickup is a lot higher than the neck - needs winding down because it’s louder). Anyway, hopefully that’s my guitar buying flurry done for a while!
Anyway, hopefully that’s my guitar buying flurry done for a while!
Until next week 🤣
Why do I find this kind of picking so difficult? Keep hitting the wrong strings. Even this short snippet took many tries!
https://youtube.com/shorts/IMcJrj0j21I?feature=share
Simon - I found that a tricky thing to get right. Just when you think you have it another bum note appears. Took me a while to finally nail it. The only reason i finally got it, rather than my usual trick of throwing in the towel after 30 mins was someone at work said to me "people always over estimate what they can achieve in a day and under estimate what they can achieve in a year" That really stuck with me.
The only reason i finally got it, rather than my usual trick of throwing in the towel after 30 mins was someone at work said to me “people always over estimate what they can achieve in a day and under estimate what they can achieve in a year” That really stuck with me.
They sound like wise words. I do get frustrated too quickly but a lot of that is because my finger joints are pretty buggered so practice time is often limited by how long they hold out so I want things to click straight away!
Working to a metronome and slowing it right down, and then gradually speeding up, can do wonders with difficult parts!
“ Until next week 🤣”
I’m fine, we don’t need a company tele or double P90 or pointy EMG thing, do we? 🙈
I am getting better at starting slowly then working my way up to speed, worked really well when I was learning to play plug in baby. Sometimes I still try to learn stuff at full speed though 🤣
I think that you *definitely* need a company Tele!
Two bars without ****ing up now! I can't play it at all without staring at my picking hand 🤣
https://youtube.com/shorts/rVj228jI5k4?feature=share
All looked to be lining up well on this one (although this photo looks the opposite because the bridge pickup is a lot higher than the neck – needs winding down because it’s louder).
Git.
That's just gorgeous.
I’m fine, we don’t need a company tele or double P90 or pointy EMG thing, do we? 🙈
Yes, yes you do.
A Tele is a thing of beauty and amazingly versatile.
In fact, the only thing MORE versatile is an Ibanez RG550.
With the addition of those you've all bases covered in terms of neck shape, tone and feel. Something for everyone!
Anyway, sold the vox I posted and this was delivered today…. Orange rocker 15. What a versatile & loud little amp!
Yay, I love mine!
The clean channel is just amazing, try it with an OCD type pedal....gorgeous.
@rustyspanner yeah it’s the clean channel that’s blown me away so far. It’s got an almost vox like chime to my ears. I set it up with my vox ac10 running a stereo tape echo delay last weekend and the combo sounded gorgeous. It’s funny, I’ve always loved the oranges aesthetically but felt they were too “rock” for me but apparently this is perfect!
The dirty channel obviously does that tight bottom end rock sound really well, gives a nice meaty tone even with a single coil guitar. Took it to practice last week and it sounded great all round.
Not tried an ocd drive yet but you’ve maybe given me an excuse to try one now!
Innit?
I chose it after going to PMT in Salford on a slow weekday, turning it up and standing at the other end of the shop whilst a mate played through it and several competitors. No contest.
The dirty channel is lovely, but the clean is so complex it just blew me away.
'Chime' is a nice way to describe it.
What really made me love it is the fact it sounds just as good on the 'Bedroom' setting as it does on full power.
I bought an OCD on a whim and found it really suits the amp. I also use a bog standard Boss SD-1 (which sounds exactly like a Tubescreamer if you turn the tone down) and a Big Muff.
All gain pedals set to edge of breakup at 3/4 volume on the guitar.
You then have the option to use the dirty channel as well.
Almost an infinite variety of clean and filth just using pedal combos and the volume control.
For such a simple amp it has so many tones. And you really, really have to try hard to find a bad one.
I keep meaning to buy a Barefaced Cab to compliment the amp, but I find the volume on nearly full power more than sufficient for the situations I encounter.
I hope you have as much fun with yours as I've had with mine!
I am totally loving it so far. The clean channel really sounds great with pedals. I’ve got a tube screamer, a big muff and a rat clone on my board for my covers band and it sounds ace with all of them so far.
The consistency of the tone across the different power settings is a big plus for me too. The little vox I posted sounded great on full power but definitely lost some of its sparkle at the lower wattage settings whereas the Orange keeps a consistent tone from 1/2w up to 15w!
It’s plenty loud enough for the pub gigs we play too.
Can you tell I’m stoked with it?!!!!
“That’s just gorgeous.”
It’s soooo nice! I’m going to have to take the old Squier Strat home so I can get some time on six strings under my fingers because I want to get good at this guitaring!
“Yes, yes you do.
A Tele is a thing of beauty and amazingly versatile.
In fact, the only thing MORE versatile is an Ibanez RG550.
With the addition of those you’ve all bases covered in terms of neck shape, tone and feel. Something for everyone!”
So I’ve been looking into the myriad guitar options and yes, Tele is top of the list, then a Super Strat and then maybe a P90 SG.
However, a project borne of curiosity and YouTube potential is now coming back to me. A kit guitar with rear swappable pickup units so we can compare different pickups and positions in one platform. If we get two necks & bodies we can AB easily. If we get three then one body could have a trem and the other two fixed bridges. If we get some more necks we could compare different scale lengths. And obviously going forward we could compare different body and neck materials too.
Quite a bit of work but I’m sure I’m not the only person who wants to know how changing variables changes tone!
Hey, 👋 I’ve not posted on this thread or undead used STW for a long while but forced absence from bike use means I’m looking to invest some time in my guitar playing. I currently have a 20 year old Tanglewood acoustic, which despite the fact that it’s never going to be amazing plays fairly well. I used to have an Epiphone LP and Marshall a few years ago but stoped playing after blowing the transistors up. I have had a longtime longing for a Gibson Firebird in Tobacco Sunburst and Marshall setup. I like the look of the 20w Studio head and 2x12 cab, especially as you can reduce the power down for neighbourly practice. I’m actually fairly well blessed as far as this is concerned as I have a studio/home office at the end of the garden and a noisy pub next door so any loud music people assume is coming from them! Anyway, I saw the Anderson’s review of the 2019 Gibson Firebird and would snap one up in an instant but they’re not to be had for love or money. Apparently Gibson aren’t the best for logistics. This means I can put a deposit down with lead times quoted for between May this year, February 2024 or never! I am somewhat aware that Epiphone now have the ‘Inspired by Gibson’ range, and that they have a Firebird in Tobacco sunburst, but (1st world problem) it’s not a GIBSON! and for a once in a lifetime purchase I’m not sure if I should either wait for one to appear in the supply chain, risk second hand or go for the Epiphone. Does anyone have any experience of the ‘Inspired by…’ range and should I just stop being a drama queen and buy the Epiphone?
More importantly have you actually played a Firebird? They are long. Very long, and can be a bit neckdivey.
Great guitars and I too lust afer one, but like Explorers and Flying Vs it is really important to spend some time with one. Especially if you ever intend to play sitting down.
I'm still up for a V though, and I'd have no trouble with any of the inspired by range and the new Korina ones look and feel stunnjng.
I'm lucky that Andertons is my local shop.
And on that subject is anyone else off to see Steve Vai at their evening with him?
I’ve not actually played one, but read that the neck dive was typically due to the banjo tuners whereas the current crop come with normal tuners. We do have a HB Explorer in the house though so maybe I will compare the specs from one to the other. Having said all of that there really is no ‘why’ or practical reason to want a Firebird, it just looks awesome to my mind and an actual Gibson has been an ambition for a while. It’s just perverse that when I have the means to buy one, and they have the Tobacco in the range that they can’t be bought!
Having said all of that there really is no ‘why’ or practical reason to want a Firebird, it just looks awesome to my mind
Agreed. I actually slightly prefer the non reverse body shape, but I wouldn't kick either out of bed for farting.
Did you read the description? “There is light neck break” 😳
Sorry. Didn't see that anywhere on there.
I didn't see that anywhere either. It looks like a fair price for the studio model which is significantly different to the proper one. The proper one has a raised centre section, the specific pickups and the right neck. I've played one of the originals, a really playable guitar for such an odd shape, the neck was the nicest to my hands of any Gibson electric I've played (I'm not a Gibson fan apart from their acoustics.)
Aaah, I’ve just realised there are two studio ones on there, one in Gainsborough and the other in Germany it’s the latter with the neck issues, which seems superficial but given it’s a through design you wouldn’t want to take any chances. Plus as Edukator points out the studio differs in spec, mainly with full size humbuckers rather than the mini ones, and while the one in the UK looks in great condition it doesn’t have the raised middle section, white pick guard or hard case as the 2019 model. Picky I know but ‘I likes wot I likes’ and it’s this one
I can’t play a guitar worth a damn, but I’ve long had a lust for an Ibanez Iceman. Nothing to do with Paul Stanley of Kiss, I saw one in a music shop once and just fell in love with the design. There’s even a uke version!
Following on from the theme of my last video, here’s another looper cover of a dance classic.
This time it’s Groove Armada’s At the River
I’ll have to change it up for the next one, do some hair metal or something.
What do we reckon then, wait for a proper Gibson Firebird to turn up at some time in the next millennium, or pull the trigger on one of these and get playing?
And while we’re at it what does the STW massive think to choosing between the Marshall Studio series either the 20W combo or Head and 2x12 Cab for home studio playing and occasional gigging?
I'd be tempted to buy the Epi AND put a deposit on the US version. You'll have time to see if you really like the Firebird and if you do when the Gibson version is ready you'll shift on the Epi for not too much of a loss and you'll have have a lot of playing time under your belt.
If you want the fire bird vibe in an easier shape then ~Ivison Dakota
I've just got mine