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The whole Blackstar St James range is supposed to be based around making everything lighter. They do a vertical 2x12 that's 13.5kg and you can get them S/H for £300...
And happy 100 pages to this thread! Nice work @eddiebaby !
The St James cabs look good, though I also remembered that DV Mark (guitar arm of Mark Bass) do really light neodymium speakered cabs - under 12kg for a 2x12 apparently!
I really like DV Mark stuff, I've got a Micro 50 amp/head which is excellent, especially for use with pedals.
Will keep an eye on second hand stuff - main issue is that 2nd hand guitar cabs seem to be almost always collection only.
...well I lucked out on eBay, and got a mint condition 2 x 12 DV Mark cab (with Neodymium magnet drivers, so nice and light at 11.5kg) for £200.
Pairs really well with my DV Mark Micro 50 head, and sounds bloody marvelous 🙂
just been watching the latest NAAM vids from Andertons, he was on the Strandberg stand and this cropped up:
Passed me by in 2023 as I'd never picked up a guitar then but hello this must be the most thing I ever wanted!!!! I was fancying a Strandberg anyway but this.....titanium....thru axles......travel.....Mason....I mean its got to be the most Singletrackworld guitar ever...why do I not know about this?
I’m not sure I’d trust the views of anyone who thinks Strandberg were the first headless guitars…
- Maybe he typed Steinberger into google by mistake. Even then there were earlier guitars…
" Mason….I mean its got to be the most Singletrackworld guitar ever…why do I not know about this?"
I did half-write a story about this after last year's NAMM show, including a chat with Dom and Ola, but never found the time to finish it... sorry!
I did a thing……….
before……
after….
Managed to all the soldering well enough to avoid any weird buzzing so I’m stoked
that looks a really good job, did you spray over the sunburst or did you lift it all off back to the wood ?
just sanded the poly with a rough grade then put primer over it. Internet research suggested this approach was ok!
The metallic green was an acrylic with a nitro gloss coat so should be a little more durable than a regular nitro colour
Not sure if they've been mentioned on here yet but I used a few Christmas vouchers to put towards a Positive Grid Spark 2 amp/speaker/thing and I'm really impressed. Sounds a bit bass-y if it's not pointing at you but other than that it is quite literally every single effects pedal you could wish for combined into a loud-ish portable amp. Me n the kids are loving it so far, Mrs FlyingOx not so much.
Also lots of love for the Harley Benton DIY Strat kit. Talked work into buying one for the left handed amongst us and I've just finished applying a tobacco-burst effect to the main body. Very therapeutic. No idea what it sounds like yet, that'll become apparent next month.
I like the look of it. But there is zero chance I'm going to buy one.
How to make a heavy guitar even heavier... 😉
I can thoroughly recommend 'Marr's Guitars' - coffee table book. Loads of great guitar pics, but some really good stories in there too - he seemed to have singlehandedly helped Britpop with their classic guitar needs. 'Oh this one? Yeah, I sent it down to Oasis to borrow for their first album'... I'm not even a huge fan, but found it super interesting.
Well, my acoustic guitar search grew arms and legs somewhat and after trying out a fair few different ones I ended up with this which I absolutely love.
Furch Blue Deluxe Gc CM (cedar top, mahogany back and sides). Really comfortable with a double cutaway, and sounds absolutely tremendous. 
What a lovely guitar. I watched a review recently of one of their guitars with the contoured top section and immediately thought what a brilliant idea! Why aren’t all larger bodied guitars made like that…my Faith Neptune could really do with being a bit less pointy, especially when playing in a t shirt
I am planning getting a Furth when my playing improves and I can justify it, you can get some options I want from them, OMc body (slightly smaller body with cutout) and a 48mm nut. There is a dealer quite close to me (within walking distance) so I keep meaning to have a walk and chat about how much it would cost, I get the feeling that their dealers can just order the guitar with the options without any extra cost, but it isn't clear.
https://furchguitars.com/en/instruments/blue-series/blue-plus-sw/?v=OMc
I just sold my martin X-Series GPC-X2E as I couldn't deal with the small (standard) neck size with my xxl hands and am playing a ibanez aw417ce-ops which has a 48mm nut, but the body is larger and even as a beginner I can tell it just doesn't sound as nice as the martin, and isn't as comfortable, so every time I play it there is just that little disappointing feeling nagging away at the back of my mind. I probably wouldn't even think about it if I had bought the ibanez first.
Yeah it makes for a nice comfortable guitar. Some of the Taylors have a bevel too. The photo makes the top look like it has a lighter coloured patch but that's a reflection of the light behind me. Tried the Sitka walnut version too but preferred the sound of this one.
I can thoroughly recommend 'Marr's Guitars' - coffee table book. Loads of great guitar pics, but some really good stories in there too
Mini 10 got me Marr's Guitars for Christmas. It's a beautiful book. Unfortunately, Mini 10 decided he wanted a green burst guitar like JM's green burst tele after we looked through the book.
Not sure if quoting is working correctly...
Well I treated myself to a new 5M guitar lead today. Got it from designacable and as I no longer have a Strat I had a Neutric Silent 90° to straight using Mogami Gold cable.
I cannot believe how different the guitar sounds. It is like I've gone HiFi all of a sudden. Well worth the extra pennies.
On the subject of "what a difference that made!" I've recently rewired my Epi Les Paul.
I replaced the naff wiring and Epi branded switch and jack socket with braided wire and Switchcraft parts, and got it some fancy looking capacitors.
I also got lucky and got a couple of new pickups quite cheap. "Only" Irongear ones but they're more suited to the guitar's use case than the stock ones were I think.
Looking moar metal with black knobs and poker chip 😊
My, albeit limited, experience with Epiphone electronics was the p up selector switch was a massive bag of shite.
In fairness mine worked OK but was a bit clacky and naff-feeling and didn't really inspire confidence in its long term longevity.
Fitting the Switchcraft in was a bit tricky because the switch body is a lot deeper, but it feels a lot nicer in use and should last.
I'm mostly amazed at how much the noise floor has dropped with the shielded wiring throughout.
testing
So my middle child has just started playing guitar! He wanted to do electric but they didn't have a teacher for that coming into school so he's started on a classical (I found a cheap NOS Spanish 1/2 size in town). Lesson 3 today and before school he was keenly showing his little sister (age 5) all the "songs" he's learnt and then the one he's written (all open strings, he's not learnt about fretting notes yet). Curious to see where this goes, he's quite unique!
I've currently got a saved basket at Thomann.de (the easiest place for me to buy stuff, as I don't have a local shop), which is just new guitar strings and some cables and jacks to make my own patch cables, and I find I keep adding and removing bits and pieces, depending on how distracted I get (or how much work I'm supposed to be doing...)
Anyone else do virtual shopping like this? In the last fortnight, my basket has gained (and then lost when I've changed my Mr Toad fickleness...) the following:
- BOSS SDE-3000 dual delay,
- Blackstar Amped 3 er, amp,
- Valve amp attenuator
- Several tuner pedals
- PRS Swamp Ash SE
- Epiphone Explorer
- Several Les Paul Junior guitars
- Several semi-hollow guitars
- Active FRFR cabs and/or column PA speakers
- BOSS SDE-3 dual delay, hey, it's different to the one above
- Pedalboards, several...
- UA Enigmatic overdrive (Dumble pedal)
- Several other overdrives
- Several chorus pedals
And now I'm back to just having the strings that I actually need, except I won't allow myself to hit 'buy' as that would just be boring... 🙂
I should point out that I can't actually afford or justify any of this stuff, as I'm not gigging, don't have any cash, so it'd go on a credit card, plus I probably have several worthy alternatives to just about everything I want to buy...
There's no hope! 🙂
Does anyone else go pretend shopping online when very busy/very bored?
You probably don’t want to hear that Peach are doing the PRS SE swamp ash in charcoal for £499 since shipping to you would cost a bit more….
I could always get it shipped to my mum's (or a forum member...) until I'm over next 😉
Chipps, I’m so bad at spending money that when I needed new bass cabs rather than buying some I decided to design some - and look where that led me!
I do have a bit of a pedal problem but having finally built a new board for them all and got everything neatly connected I’ll be damned if I’m changing that lot again…
I’ll share it here as you guitarists seem to appreciate pedals more than many bassists!
And that's your bass pedalboard? Nice! 🙂
And lovely lead dressing, too...
That is a mighty pedal board for bass!
What do they all do?
If I was in the audience ( I was a bassist long before becoming a guitarist) would I notice?
ive recently started learning bass (and contributing on the bassists thread). talking about it with my daughter and she says shes always wanted to learn electric guitar. i never knew! 😀
whats her best 'in'? she knows nothing about reading music either so she'd be starting from absolute zero. should she look for a cheap second hand acoustic to get used to chords etc? or straight in at the deep end with a guitar and small amp?
and im really impressed with my Bassbuzz course. is there anything similar for guitar?
thanks
How old is she?
Tyred jr the younger (17) picked up my acoustic last summer, started investigating (picked up chords off YouTube then guitar pro and guitar tuna) and had the sort of maddeningly natural progress young people with time to spare can make. Plays really well now, way better than me. He’s the kind of kid who quietly goes off and finds stuff out, didn’t want lessons or anything.
Bought him a cheap strat copy and practice amp for Christmas, he loves it.
He took my acoustic into town in a soft case the other week and did a couple hours’ busking, made 45 quid! Didn’t tell us until he came home - he seeks forgiveness, not permission.
@sadexpunk, I started learning bass and guitar at the same time, I am one of the people who recommended you bassbuzz on the bass thread. With guitar, I tried a few online guitar resources as well, and I can honestly say that justin guitar is far the best for beginners and its free, IMO it blows the online pay courses that I tried away. He isn't just someone who knows how to play guitar, he knows how to teach, including how to structure the lessons advise on what and how to structure practice, in the bass thread I even might have advised you to look at some of his early guitar lessons to just help with structuring and learning bass
How old is she?
shes 40
and I can honestly say that justin guitar is far the best for beginners and its free, IMO it blows the online pay courses that I tried away.
lovely, ill recommend that then once we've sourced a guitar for her.
any acoustic/'starter electric guitars' to either recommend or avoid?
cheers
If going acoustic I would perhaps look at something with a slightly smaller body size, even as a big guy I find a slightly smaller body acoustic so much easier to handle and more comfortable. Go to a store if possible to try some different body sizes to see how comfortable they are, especially when learning that comfort factor can make a big difference.
An acoustic is easy to start and needs little extra equipment, but if she wants to play electric really maybe won't be as inspiring to pick up and practice.
That is a mighty pedal board for bass!
What do they all do?
If I was in the audience ( I was a bassist long before becoming a guitarist) would I notice?
Ok, so this might be a bit of an essay! This pedalboard grew out of me writing a load of songs on bass, recording some bits with a singer I’d recruited, and then Tim from RATM (excuse the name-drop!) saying I didn’t need to add a guitarist, that the bass was enough. So wanting to add texture and colour and dynamics I added a “few” more pedals to my previous board. I’ll share the studio recordings once they’re done - life has been getting rather in the way for the three of us (there’s a drummer as well).
There’s three FX loops, controlled by the triple stomp red/blue/green switcher. That allows me to turn multiple pedals on and off in one stomp, with the switches in a triangle so I can hit any 1, 2 or 3 at once. The pedals in corresponding loops have matching stomp toppers (I took this photo before I’d got some more blue ones) to make it easier to understand.
Loop 1:
Foxrox Octron 3
(octavier + sub-octave)
Barefaced Machinist
(parallel drive + fuzz + clean)
MXR Bass Envelope Filter
Loop 2:
Fulltone Bassdrive
(overdrive - it’s not a Fulldrive, it’s a Mk1 Bassdrive)
Barefaced Machinist
Loop 3:
Hamstead Subspace
(drive)
MXR Bass Chorus Deluxe
(also does flange)
EQD Grand Orbiter
(phase)
EQD Hummingbird
(tremolo)
Boss DD3 Delay
MXR Reverb
There’s also Cali76 Bass compressor which I got for my future funk project for dialling in slap sounds and also to possibly compress the dry signal when recording DI with wet and dry channels for this rig. So that’s in front but not active for this project for now.
And a Peterson Strobostomp tuner.
How am I using this stuff? Well, one song the first half is clean, the second half is just the drive on the second Machinist. Another song starts with envelope, then has slight bright lean overdrive from the Subspace into tremolo in the verses, then the thin buzzy fuzz with big clean parallel sound on the second Machinist on the choruses, then the verse and chorus FX together on the bridge.
Another song starts the verse with phase, then dark drive from the first Machinist in the chorus, then bright drive from the second Machinist in the bridge, then octavier (fuzz octave) and sub-octave from the Octron in the interlude, then phase and reverb in an instrumental verse, then the Octron again in the final chorus.
I’ve actually written everything for this project on an acoustic bass guitar, and I think that brought out a lot of guitarry bass playing - loads of chords, sometimes just power chords but also more complex stuff, parts where I play a simple guitar line over a simple bass line at one, sometimes just heavy riffing and allowing dirt to fill up the midrange and treble space. Fingers not pick, but also strumming using nails and thumb-plucking too. Whatever makes the right sound!
One song uses parallel fuzz, drive and clean from the second Machinist on the intro, then fuzz and clean in the pre-verse, clean in the verse, all three in the chorus, clean in the verse, overdrive (from the Bassdrive) in the pre-chorus, into fuzz and parallel “clean” (now the Bassdrive’s overdrive) for the final chorus and then adds the Machinist’s drive too for the second half of the final chorus. So on that one song we’ve got a clean sound plus five different dirty sounds to give the range of textures that one or two guitars would normally add.
So you’d definitely notice - the effects aren’t subtle and are there to make the bass sound like a whole band (within the limitations of four strings and no phrase looping etc)
The two most important things with a first guitar are the neck (how easy is it to form the common chord shapes and get them to ring out pleasingly) and its looks (how hard it is to walk past it without wanting to pick it up).
any advice on a first proper acoustic guitar for my soon to be 19yo lad.
He's had a little (3/4 size) cheap acoustic that he can play reasonably well still, but he's not a little chap and can easily play a big one. We're going to the LGS later for a look and play, so following that as advice already and it might be very well 'yep, this one'
But among all the options - classical vs folk? Parlours, dreadnoughts, mid-sized 00 or 000....at the price point (say £300, maybe a bit more - wife's school gets all their instruments here and so she's sweet-talked them into a possible deal) is having an electro-acoustic worth it or compromise?
Only real steer so far is he doesn't like the look of the classic pale wood, prefers darker. And coming from a small guitar, felt a dreadnought was massive.
Last time he looked was with my daughter on a London trip and they were in Denmark St. I think the first number of stuff the guy there let him have a play on was quite a bit bigger, maybe even back to a 1.
I have a dreadnought, it's what I take to Jam nights down the pub. Id like something a bit smaller (as well) like the Ed Sheeran style Lowdens. I also have a Yamaha nylon hybrid which is great but not suitable as a one and only guitar. 2 electrics which I mostly play without an amp. But even though I would love an epiphone casino it wouldn't work as my only guitar, whereas a solid telecaster just might.
just been yapping with my daughter. shes stated that she'd prefer to learn on electric as shes read its easier on her fingers as she has arthritic joints. and more importantly if we're going to source one for her.... shes left handed! 😀
i assume shed be better off getting a left handed guitar rather than learn to play 'cack-handed' yes?
I don't think electric is easier, what you do get is many acoustic guitars aren't set up right, they come from the factory with a high action and should be set up by the shop for the customer, and if they not that makes them hard to play.
If you look online somewhere like Andertons, you can select left handed as filter to get an idea of what is out there, they probably have starter packs for electric with guitar, amp, cable and strap, although I would probably steer away from the very cheapest starter packs.
I think an electric guitar is easier on the fingers, but that's mostly down to the string tension. Lighter gauge, and with some types, a shorter scale length. Also the action is often lower (height of strings above the frets) which can be difficult to impossible on some acoustics.
One thing to watch is neck (nut) width. Some prefer wider, some narrow. Go to a shop with a ruler to find what's best. Also vintage electrics (like '57 reissues') have more rounded fretboards (7" radius rather than flatter 12") which are easier for forming chords.
I bought a £200 PRS copy from Thomman during Covid and it's absolutely fine from a playing point of view so you needn't spend a fortune.
They've got some lovely looking left handers in stock for under £200
I'd echo that it's generally easier to play an electric than an acoustic. I do a lot of playing at home on an unamplified electric rather than my (lovely) parlour acoustic. I have a mahogany bodied Yairi GF-1 which is a dark-sunburst 'blues' acoustic, but I'd much rather noodle around on an electric. It's just easier on the fingers.
And if you do get a semi-acoustic, like a 335 or PRS Hollowbody, there's enough acoustic volume to play along with the YouTube without needing an amp. I'd start that way first and add a headphone amp and finally a practice amp. When you're starting out, you rarely want everyone to hear your wrong notes amplified. I'd reckon spend more on a guitar and not worry about you about an amp until later.
That was fun, picked a few off the rack, narrowed it down to two, and then sat in the little test room and played them side by side. A Fender and a Sigma, and when both were played side by side we all agreed (mum came too) that the Sigma played and sounded nicer - warmer, more resonant.
The one we liked was the electroacoustic version (000MC-15E) with Fishman preamp, so deposit has been put down - wife's contact wasn't in - and will finalise next week. It's over budget but after he played it (and I'm taking back my 'reasonably well' - he's actually pretty good) we'll find the money somewhere.