src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53121489692_5d27f55e71_z.jpg" alt="Gold top" />
Wow, looks complicated. How long was the build process?
To be honest the worst part was sorting out all the different resistor values -- you just get a baggie with all the components in it, so if you're not totally au-fait with resistor colour bands it's a bit of a pain in the neck. I ended up using a system whereby I identified a resistor value, then found somewhere on the schematic for it to go: less time consuming than hunting for the specific resistor for R1, then R2, then R3, etc, etc.
I think I had a couple of goes over an evening or two to get the board mostly soldered up. Maybe three or four hours altogether, plus or minus a bit of time for enclosure decoration 🙂
@Plumber sweet guitar! What is it?not a PRS so...?
@tomparkin just looked on their website. Very tempted to try something. A bit more up my street than LEGO to work on during an evening.
@eddiebaby Thank you, correct not a PRS its an eggle which I much prefer over PRS and they are much cheaper if you can find one
Hard to find though.
I knew I'd seen those inlays. Here's Rory Gallagher's
Thats a very nice one
Looks to be based on a Vienna?
Mine is where they based it on an LP - the one I have is a custom build for a professor who liked jazz - that what I love about the internet is you can find the life of a particular guitar from order through some parts of it life before it gets to you
Thought I share another picture of my B rig 🙂
Clearly I'm not allowed to have it in the lounge under normal circumstances
thats lovely!!
And the other was a PRS McCarty from Coda Music. I ended up buying both guitars, intending to sell the one I didn't get on with, but kept both for a few years. Then I foolishly swapped the gold one with a friend for a Japanese Strat and an Epiphone Zephyr (like a Gibson ES-5 T-Bone Walker guitar) - neither of which I really bonded with... Very taken by both the JJN Epiphone and the PRS DGT though. Perhaps I need some more gold in my life.
@chipps that BFG looks cool -- I'm normally a bit 'meh' about gold tops, but gold + wood grain is nice 🙂 I'm especially interested in the pickup configuration though: is that a P90 neck and humbucker bridge? If so how did it sound?
@eddiebaby I can recommend. The kits are very good IMO and the instructions are great. So long as you're generally happy with electronics assembly and soldering it's not hard. I got the full kit with a pre-drilled enclosure so it was very smooth sailing to build. I'm really tempted to give their Reverberation Machine clone a try next 🙂
@tomparkin - It's a nice pickup combo (see also the Fender Powercaster) - eighties rock at the bridge, seventies rock at the neck... 🙂
What I liked about both those gold tops was that they had natural finished backs and necks. The contrast was really nice. I think a full-full gold covering is a bit too flashy. Mind you, I do fancy a gold PRS Vela... (Pic stolen from Reverb)
Yeah man. There's something reminiscent of Dunable in that body shape, which is fine by me! Although I'll have mine with dot inlays please.
I keep thinking about P90s for my Epi Les Paul, which is an out-and-out doom metal machine currently. OTOH, pickups probably make 90% of no difference whatsoever once you've got it in a mix, etc, so maybe the thinking time would be better spent writing and rehearsing 😀
Always wanted a gold top since wearing out my VHS copy of Iron Maiden live at the Rainbow. Finally got my Patrick James Eggle Macon Special 36 years later.
Drool.
Morning folks. Selling gear at the moment- to buy more obviously.
Here's a link to the threads on The Fretboard.
Strat and Telecaster pickups plus Tele Bridges and saddles: https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/252743/telecaster-pickups-and-parts-emg-bootstrap-fender-and-gotoh#latest
I haven't managed to find my playing mojo yet but my guitar wall is getting larger 🙂
Nice wall Simon. Much better than pictures 🙂
I have pictures on the other wall 🙂
Before I commission-sale this at Sound Affects for not much money, are there any eighties hair metal fans in the building who are interested in a Vivian Campbell/Whitesnake Nightswan reissue (with upgrades...)? \o/
(Probably selling my white Gibson LPJ too... if anyone's interested, then I'll stick them on the Classifieds...)
Why? I've bought a Strandberg, which arrives in a couple of weeks, so I'm sticking to the one-in, one-out regime...
Actually, that Nightswan is too awesome to sell for a a few hundred quid. I'm keeping it. Going to sell the Les Paul still, though, as it weighs a ton and unless you're in a dad-rock band, it just doesn't make sense to me... I'm more a bolt-on neck guy. (Apart from PRSes)
Good idea to keep it.
I'm depleting my stock of gear and was thinking of selling the baritone but I love it too much for the odd (very) swampy noodling so its staying so down to three.
Strat, Variax and Precision are all going/gone. But I'm just in the process of loading up my Reverb store with a bunch of stuff.
Which Strandberg are you getting? I've had my eye on the Boden Original NX6 for a while now.
Hmmm.
I'm trying to get rid of a few, but it's so hard choosing which ones.
The Jap Strat and Jap Ibanez RG are staying.
The Squier Tele with P90s has sentimental value, and it's delightful.
That leaves the Cort CR300, which is the best LP style I've ever played, but leaves me a bit cold and the modified Bullet Mustang, which is fun, but might get traded for a new pink one with a maple neck.
The LAG acoustic and new Yamaha 734a bass are staying.
First world problems, eh?
New guitar!
Went to Andertons asking for something Telecaster shaped. I tried (plugged in) an American Pro II, an American Ultra, a Chapman ML3 Pro Traditional, a PRS NF53, and a PJD York Standard. PJD felt the nicest to me but I hated the looks.
Then I sat down by the wall of Telecasters and tried about 10 more, unamplified. Despite not liking reliced/road worn guitars or sunburst finishes I ended up with the Jason Isbell signature, the neck just felt right to me.
Very nice beej. Everyone seems to like those.
Andertons? I live in Ash, are you around this area?
About an hour away = West Berkshire. Worth the trip though to be able to try a few different things.
It's my local store, only 15 minutes away for me by train (and that includes the walk at both ends) and the range of gear is great. They know me now so I just turn up with my Waza Air headphones and a clip on tuner and walk round trying stuff, usually mid afternoon mid-week when they are quieter.
After seeing your Jason Isbell sig, for my evening session I got out the Tele that has been neglected a bit since I got the PRS SE (new toy syndrome). I'd almost forgotten how good the Tele is. The longer scale length and higher string tension are pretty unnoticable now as the setup is so right for me.
The only bad thing I noticed with the Fender scale length was I did have a bit of a problem fretting an open Eadd9. I think my fingers are tightening up. Time for stretching exercises to go alongside my hammer-on pull-off practice. Think Malcolm Young's intro to Thunderstruck, easy to try for a few bars but it all wanders off after a minute.
EDIT: Just checked out the PJD York. That look IS a bit challenging. Made from a branch of the Ugly Tree.
The PJD looks even worse in real life.
My other guitar is a PRS SE, Zach Myers edition, 24.5" scale. You can just about see it in the background of the picture, it's a silk charcoal finish. The tele is taking a bit of getting used to, bends are easier though.
I too use Thunderstruck as an exercise, trying to pick it all like Angus does, rather than ho/po. Can't get anywhere near the speed though.
The PJD looks even worse in real life.
😵😵😵😵
Latest purchase in my gold series
Shoreline gold custom shop 63
And to put into perspective some of my mates toys in the background
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Oooh, I do like a bit of Shoreline Gold.
I'm on a any gold as long as it lefty - from fire mist to gold sparkle
Cant be to choosy in lefty world
You seem to have coped quite well with it... 🙂
Thats what spending far too much money brings you 🙂
Sorted out my 'shop' on Reverb. More stock coming over the next couple of days. If anyone is interested in anything give me a PM and I'll sort you a buy it now 'special' price.
https://reverb.com/uk/shop/johns-shop-4636
I’m on a any gold as long as it lefty – from fire mist to gold sparkle
My local shop have this in stock, which I was very intrigued by. Looks ace! Obvs not lefty, but if you need another gold guitar to try and find, a lefty gold firebird must be a rare beast
https://richtonemusic.co.uk/gibson-50th-anniversary-firebird-bullion-gold-hard-case-2nd-hand/
Blimey. Very pretty but neck-divey as heck. My baritone is bad enough.
Had a mate round for a bit of a jam so got the (cheapy) gold top out 😃
Its lovely, but heavy and goes out of tune quite quickly.
Its lovely, but heavy and goes out of tune quite quickly.
Les Paul with Vibrola tuning issues shocker! 🙂
Very pretty guitar but not an unknown problem even on pricey examples. Is it heavy?
Les Paul with Vibrola tuning issues shocker! 🙂
Very pretty guitar but not an unknown problem even on pricey examples. Is it heavy?
I wasn't expecting it to go out of tune quite as fast 😃
Its by far the heaviest guitar I've picked up. Bought on eBay and paid for before I turned up, I might not have gone for it if I'd just tried it in a normal shop.
This is the Firebird I love, the non reverse and this one is pretty gorgeous.
https://reverb.com/uk/item/73699140-gibson-firebird-non-reverse-sunburst-all-original-1964
@tall_martin there are a lot of videos on YouTube about tweaking the Vibrola system.
Just noticed that Bias FX2 from Positive Grid is on free download for today only.
Might be useful for some of you lot
The tuning issue on the Gibson Les Pauls I've played has always been caused by a sticky nut (Epiphones are fine 🙂 ). Big bend on the G-string = out of tune. Make sure the strings run smoothly in the nut and add some pencil lead, tall_martin.
Too many pickups in that Firebird for me Eddiebaby, fine for strumming but nowhere to pick without touching a pickup.
Blimey, how deep do you dig in Ed? 🙂
I'm lucky I have a fairly light touch most of the time, certainly never hit a Strat pickup. And of course it'd be pretty tricky on a Tele...
Blimey, how deep do you dig in Ed?
Deep enough to have the middle pickups on my Strat' and hybrid Strat-Tele set lower than the height they sound best at. At best sound height I'll play fine for a while then trip up on the pickup. One of the reasons I prefer a Tele for picky tunes.
I have very boring job and needed something to get my teeth into so I have bought a guitar. I am 47 years old. Am I just kidding myself and it’s too late to learn?
Seen lots of apps that teach you but I guess it’s no substitute for a real teacher?
Youtube, Kato, Youtube. 🙂 Playing with other people or a teacher can be useful because they'll spot your errors or show you how to do things more easily/better but Youtube is as good a starting point as any.
This is worth a look too, lots of free lessons, and well explained, starting right from the beginning.
https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons
Its lovely, but heavy and goes out of tune quite quickly.
The nut slots might just need a bit of work, especially the D & G so the strings are exiting at the right angle to meet the tuner. Some graphite in the nut slots is worth a try first though.
I'm in the market for a new amp, I've got an old vox vt30 which really hums and I find the sound very thin. I'd like something new, thinking it's hard to go past the Katana but I'm really like the idea of one of these low wattage valve amps. Any experience living with the valve options? I play classic rock but there seem to be so many I don't know where to start. I only jam with friends so doesn't need to be super loud just want a decent sound.
I have a Marshall DSL1 combi, playing an Epiphone Les Paul. Despite just being 1 watt, it's pretty loud for at home. Using the clean channel, turned all the way up, and controlling things with the guitar volume sounds fantastic, and then there is the gain channel for full distortion. I really like it.
The DSL1H sounds great through a bigger cab with a decent speaker. The stock 1x8 speaker is pretty awful in the combo, but then all 8" speakers are pretty useless for guitar. Tbh I'd probably be going for a Katana for your application, they sound great, well priced and are really versatile.
I should say I do have a few pedals so thought the simplistic 2 channel options of a valve p might be best
DSL head and a cab or your choosing would be my suggestion
I has a JTM 1 watt from the 2012 limited edition run - sounded great through a 2x12
www.sweetamps.com
For those nearer London I will recommend the recently opened sweet amps shop. Jim Sweet the owner is a lovely chap who kept making me try different vintage amps. It was an education
video of same shop from a few weeks ago
I have a Marshall Origin 20
Lots of tiresome bores on the Marshall forums will complain about it because it's not super high gain (and it's made in Vietnam), therefore it's crap, but it's not supposed to be a high gain Marshal. It's a classic low gain amp thats perfectly suited to 60s and 70s rock. It takes pedals really well if you need more gain and it has an effects loop. In built attenuator means you can drop the power down to 0.5 watts. I have the 20 watt version and it's been great
https://marshall.com/amps/products/amps/origin
Orange Rocker 15?
Switchable down to half a watt, can't get a bad sound out of it.
I did like the Origin as well.
If you've got drive pedals you like then the Origin 20 is a great shout, it takes them well. It's a bit clean for me unless it's really loud, but when you get that master up it does sound cool for old school Marshall tones (kind of like a tighter JTM to my ears) and with a boost and the right guitar can do classic metal stuff ok too. If you want to spend a bit more the new Studio JTM is great.
There's also the Laney Supercub which are nice little amps.
I suppose if I wanted a more modern metal tone I could go for a distortion pedal.
I have a fuzz and tube screamer already so could probably push an origin into an 80s metal tone.
I did wonder about the blackstars but they seem to have the most haters
Just made my first guitar purchase in about 30 years!
Saved up my pocket money for a long time to buy an SG when I was in school and still love the way it looks and feels. Unfortunately I didn't really learn to play in the intervening period, but i'm getting back into it now and trying to encourage my eldest to get stuck in.
Bought an Artist ST62II strat-a-like. Just arrived today. looks great for the money (I got an immaculate customer return and paid £137)
One issue - its got scratchy frets. Google suggests this isn't that unusual. Do i need to sand/polish them or will they smooth out with playing?
Polish them up with 000 steel wool next time you change strings. Make sure to mask off all the pickups and selector knob to ensure no bits of steel wool get in and cause issues
Someone mentioned Tele’s, and I was reading a review earlier about a new Squier Tele Thinline that Fender have brought out, with twin ‘buckers. It gets a very good write-up, it’s lighter than the original ones, which were all ash, these are maple.
£369 - amazing price for what seems like a very good guitar.
Yep, tried one as I'm looking for a Tele for permanent 5 string open G duties.
Poplar body, not maple but rather nice. Hmm. May be mine on Thursday...
Orange rocker 15 is a sound choice. The clean channel has shades of vox chime and takes pedals well. It has a bluesy crunch as the volume knob gets turned up but the switchable wattage lets you keep a decent amou t of clean headroom up to small venue levels. it does the proper 70's rock orange sound on the dirty channel. Best of all, it retains all this character on all the wattage settings unlike other switchable valve amps i've had.
It's "tv volume" on the lower settings but the full 15watt is proper loud. Ive been happily playing pub gigs with mine on the 7watt setting.
Vox ac10 is worth a look too if you want some vox flavor at house volume
My friend has a little Blackstar 1W valve amp -- the combo with the 8" speaker (I'm fairly sure it's a HT-1R).
For playing in his flat it easily gets too loud. It has a speaker out which will drive a 4x12 to a reasonable volume: I think he's used it in a band/rehearsal scenario like that and it worked out fine for him.
Slightly OT: IMO it's not really about "loud" so much as how the amp behaves as you turn it up. I've just gotten back to rehearsals with my band, which is now a three-piece for the time being. I played my VX Kraken in "low" mode (15w) with just the drummer, and that was fine. But once the bass player was added in, it was much better in "high" mode (50w). It seemed a lot more flexible having the extra headroom in 50w mode with the volume at about 25% v.s. being in 15w mode with the volume at 75%.
But once the bass player was added in,
You need more mid potentially see recent Thomann youtube on this subject
You should see my amp's eq settings 😂
But yes, maybe so. I'll have a look for the video 👍
If anyone is interested I've been dumping loads of stuff via Reverb but it is hardly worth sticking these two on there.
A pair of Behringer pedals, the Super Fuzz SF300 and the Vintage Tube Overdrive TO800. Are they any good? Well the Super Fuzz is a clone of the Boss pedal and the Vintage Tube Overdrive is a Tube Screamer clone that Danish Pete chose as the best in a blindfolded Andertons video (its a cracker as Lee Anderton gets increasing concerned as Pete continues preferring the pedal over the ones costing over ten times as much.)
Both pedals in mint condition: £30 including postage
An awful photo of two very very nice additions to our demo guitar arsenal here at work:
Bottom left is a Reverend Descent RA to fill our baritone/downtuning spot. And bottom right is a Reverend Jetstream 390 (Ron Asheton tribute).
Not had much playing time on them yet, but unsurprisingly this longtime bassist newbie guitarist loves the baritone but also, OMFG P90s sound so good, right where I want guitars to fit within my domineering bass sound! 😉
@eddiebaby (only a week late...) I'm getting a Boden Standard NX 6 Charcoal - because it was the cheapest one in the online store's 20% off sale. I reserve the right to change my mind if I love it and get a Plini neck-thru trem model instead... 🙂
A pedal question if anyone has any expertise to offer:
I have a Bass Big Muff nano which has recently started breaking the signal chain when I turn it off. It works fine when it's on, but about 30% of the time, clicking off cuts the sound completely rather than just bypassing the pedal.
I'm going to have to open it and have a look, but has anyone got any idea what I might be looking at? I'm sort of hoping I can spray WD40 on it or clean a connector or something, but equally could be something mechanical with the switch.
Thanks for any pointers.
Boden Standard NX 6 Charcoal
- let us know how it is
They are doing lefties again after saying they never would, hopefully I can sang one on the next release
I have a Bass Big Muff nano which has recently started breaking the signal chain when I turn it off. It works fine when it’s on, but about 30% of the time, clicking off cuts the sound completely rather than just bypassing the pedal.
To me that sounds like the switch on it's way out. It shouldn't be that hard to replace though, if you can solder.
Caveat: I've not seen the inside of a Bass Big Muff Nano: I'm assuming the switch is connected to the circuit board with some leads which can easily be detached and resoldered to a new unit.
@plumber - yes, looks like they've just started another run of lefties, just for you...
https://strandbergguitars.com/product/boden-lefty/
I have a gold top scratch that, one day, will no doubt demand to be itched…
Welllll, not quite, but a PRS SR SC McCarty 594 in black gold sunburst top 🙃
I even customer ordered it (local shop matched the internet ‘street’ price). The neck is a bit chunkier than I’d ideally like and even the splitting is a bit clunky (well compared to the ProII i guess). Selector switch is also a bit ‘stiff’ to normal.
I really like the low output pick ups, not disappointed with the finish (for a cut price Indonesian ‘knock off’). Lived up to its hype/promise.
Pretty pleased with it.
The GAS is strong at the moment… 🙇♂️