Guitarists – if you had £500 for something new…

Don’t know if any of you use YouTube at all but look up Ben Eller… the guy is amazing at figuring out tabs and stuff for all your favourite tracks. He’s a bit of a metal head, sort of 80’s/90’s era but he’s the only one I’ve found who actually dissects the guitar parts and shows you how to play them authentically…

He also has a weekend **** shop where he takes requests, and rips them to bits..

The vid has the word **** in it (as above) so the mods may rip this apart… but hey, check Uncle Ben out anyways..

Great thread, thanks! Kept me occupied in the small hours while working last night waiting for other people to do their stuff.

Could I ask a bit of advice, my Vox VT40+ died a few weeks ago, made a slight click while playing then to the relief of the neighbours all went quiet. The power amp is ok, I can plug in a source. The tuner etc works, footswitch changes channels, get usual noise plugging in headphones – so I don’t think it’s dodgy plugs (mentioned on some forums). Seems to be something in the pre-amp. Swapped the valve as I could do that easily. Any ideas what it could be?

I really don’t want to bin it as I really like it and don’t have many pedals, but a second hand one starts from £100ish and Korg want at least £90 (£60 an hour and £30 shipping back) to look at it and that doesn’t include me shipping it to them. Trying to get it into somewhere local – anyone used the place near the Apollo in Manchester?

For full discolusre – I’m rubbish, really rubbish (not quite good but modest rubbish). Messed about as a student 25 years ago (Encore strat copy and 2nd hand Fender 15). Been having some proper lessons recently and as a Bernard Butler fan, I got the VT40+ and an Epiphone 335 dot (cherry red) for my 40th. Also have an Epiphone humming bird I bought to take on trips to visit my dad before he passed away. Using the Fender 15 with a reverb pedal my teacher leant me and a Turbo Rat I bought in the 90s at the moment.

Tbh looking at how kit has moved on, top of my list would be the little line 6 helix into the power amp of your existing amp until you’ve got enough dough for an frfr speaker.

Could I ask a bit of advice, my Vox VT40+ died a few weeks ago,

🤯

I’d suggest the Vox FB owners page for assistance…. there will be a wealth of knowledge on there.

Failing that, any decent Amp repairer will help.. phone someone like Andertons and ask who they use… (I asked them who they use to set up their guitars and they gave me the name of 3 professionals)

But it sounds to me like a wire has come off its soldered connection. If you do fiddle under the hood.. unplug it first eh! Or send some pics of your frazzled hair if you don’t unplug it..

🤪

Tbh looking at how kit has moved on, top of my list would be the little line 6 helix into the power amp of your existing amp until you’ve got enough dough for an frfr speaker

Assume you mean HX stomp, really excellent distillation of the full helix.

For full discolusre – I’m rubbish, really rubbish (not quite good but modest rubbish). 

I’m not being modest. 🙂.

I have a feeling bb is though……….

Yep plumber – that’s the one. I had the full fat version and it was excellent. If I was looking for a compact option, I’d pick this.

How To Build An All-In-One Rack For Your Band!

Thanks for the advice everyone! Will have a look the HX stomp and try the Vox FB group. I did have a nosey inside, and replaced the valve – managed to keep what’s left of my hair un-frazzled. Didn’t spot any obvious loose wires. That did happen on the Fender amp a couple of years ago and I managed to find my soldering iron and fix that. Everything’s been on a pretty limited budget up to now, but I’ve restarted lessons and I’m really enjoying playing.

I have a feeling bb is though……….

Modest me? 4 hours practice today and now in the pub… with sore fingers. Beers gorgeous, Beef Crisps too…

Like I do in most things, but just plonk and hack it. It’s my mission statement in life… 🥴🤹‍♂️🎸

Could I ask a bit of advice, my Vox VT40+ died a few weeks ago, made a slight click while playing then to the relief of the neighbours all went quiet. The power amp is ok, I can plug in a source. The tuner etc works, footswitch changes channels, get usual noise plugging in headphones – so I don’t think it’s dodgy plugs (mentioned on some forums). Seems to be something in the pre-amp. Swapped the valve as I could do that easily. Any ideas what it could be?

Valves these days are pretty rubbish quality compared to stuff made years ago, so it’s always worth trying a few different valves to make sure that it’s not just duff valves causing it.

I’m a big Bernard Butler fan, too. We’ve got a lovely 335 in at the moment that I’ve been hooking up to a Fender Twin through a Turbo Distortion – great for that early Suede sound.

JP

The last thing I bought (arrived Abril iirc) was a Yamaha NTX700C, an electrico-acoustic classical/Spanish nylon string. 75£ over the limit though. Prompted by a love of the barefoot diva amongst others (and the Spanish E minor scale in particular).

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/d07b254487d357a20b361b54531fb504-1200-80.jpg

So I’ve gone the opposite from the rest of yous 🤣 bring the quiet…

I did get a cheaper Córdoba version but found the 52mm nut just a bit too much of a stretch for my post dislocation finger/hand and find the yams 48 much more accommodating. I’ve passed the Córdoba on to a mate who seems to be enjoying it so all good.

I also have one of them Princeton (68 Reverb reissue) amps and a Vintage Hotrod 52 tele (in butterscotch blonde) which tells you all you really need to know about what sound I’m after. I’ve also a Tokai Loverock (with BKP mules) and various other stray guitars…

Tremolo and Reverb are pretty much all I need (although the effects on the Microcube amp are fun when the urge appears…).

I’m very much of the ‘I play for my own enjoyment…’ brigade as everybody else’s reaction is that SY adage. My ears! My ears!

Popped into PMT Manchester yesterday having decided to treat myself to a couple of pedals, only to discover they didn’t have either of them in stock. Had a bit of a look around, including seeing the new PRS SE sandblasted models in the flesh, and still can’t decide if I like ’em or not. Came home and a quick look on Reverb led to me finding one of the pedals I wanted at a good price locally, so today I collected a mint used EHX Op Amp Big Muff re-issue. Also put an order in yesterday for a TC Dark Matter distortion, which arrived today. Already had the Mojo Mojo Overdrive, and for 40 quid couldn’t resist adding the Dark Matter to the collection. Had a fun couple of hours twiddling knobs this afternoon and making a load of noise…

Long post alert! TLDR: For my 1990 MIM Strat, should I get a new pickguard with all-new electrics, or should I just replace the broken selector switch and pots?

Long version:
So I recently dug out my Strat which has been in hibernation under the bed for ages while I played other guitars, and it’s in need of a refresh. I just wanted to talk it through with some people who know about such things.

Background: It’s a MIM Strat which I’ve owned for 22 years – the first guitar my parents bought me, IIRC for my 13th birthday. I believe it was made in 1990 which makes it one of the earlier Mexican-made Strats. As I understand it, these are notorious for poor electrics (more of which later…) but the neck / body are decent. Cosmetically it’s not perfect (there are visual imperfections on the neck and you can tell the QC checks weren’t amazing) but it plays really well – the neck feel is the best of any guitar I’ve had. Coupled with the sentimental value, it’s not a guitar I’ll ever sell.

Unfortunately, all the electrics are goosed. I replaced the volume and tone pots a few years ago but they’re a bit crackly again, and the selector switch is terrible, won’t select the neck pickup without serious wiggling. So that all needs fixing. I’ve also never been convinced the tone range is what it should be – the tone dial makes very little difference.

I’ve played in bands before but not for ages – I mostly just noodle about on the sofa with headphones on. This is relevant because I’m not in search of some impossible tone – I just want a decent-enough reliable sound. In short, I basically just want it to sound like a Strat.

I guess my options are:
1) Complete rewire with new electrics
2) Complete rewire with new electrics + new pickups.
3) At which point should I just bite the bullet and get a whole new pickguard with electrics? If so, which one (there is too much choice!)

P.S. Are the pickup covers likely to be transferable? My pickups and dials have a great vintage yellowed look. It would be a shame to lose that.
Thanks!

If it were me – I’d get new pots and switch and replace the jack plug while you’re at it. I would bet the pickups are ok but if you take it to a tech they would check them. pickup covers, knobs and scratchplate are all easily transferrable if you do decide to but good thing about a strat (and using the pickups you have) is that you just lift it all off so you don’t need to worry.

I’m not that convinced that expensive pickups make the biggest difference, I think good quality switchgear and capacitors matter as much (if not more). time to don the flame helmet for that last statement.

It’s not so much that the pickups are somehow faulty, just that the sound is a bit murkier than I would expect with a Strat. Apparently the ceramic pickups they used in the early MIM (Made in Mexico) Strats are a bit dull-sounding, although I don’t really have anything to compare that to. I think new pickups would make it sound a bit brighter, though.

Hmmm…

If it was me, and it was mine, I’d restore it to original and with that in mind keep all the original pots and switchgear in a box and replace it all with Fender new stuff.. TexMex PU’s from the CS range, some 500pots and new fabric covered wires and geranium capacitor … all available from Fender.

Or

Fill it with McNelly PU’s and pots/wiring from James’s home of tone.

Either way it’s going to cost about £250… so you need to invest in keeping it forever… and by the sounds of it you intend to keep it.

👍🎸

Well I’ve just had the present surprise to discover that my original 1990s Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe is now worth £350-£450 second hand. Lovely bit of kit built by Hendrix’s effects guru. Now I’m torn on whether to sell it and buy moar toys or not…it is my favourite pedal though…(even though it is huge and brick-like…)
This one is not mine BTW: voodoo vibe

I’d be temped to keep it if your sound is intrinsic to the pedal… You’ll not get another original like that without paying £;s for it.

Fix the existing pots and selector, AND, if you’re not happy with the sound buy a fully loaded pick guard with some pups in that you like.

Best of both worlds 😉

Superficial, you missed out some very important info – what colour is it? 🙂

And JCA, keep it for a while. Early boutique pedals seem to be going up in value at a stupid rate. If it all goes a bit Klon, your pedal could potentially double in value over a few years.

Yeah…I’m coming to the conclusion that after living with it for 25 years I can’t let it go. I’d probably just complain whatever I replace it with isn’t as good.

Either way it’s going to cost about £250… so you need to invest in keeping it forever… and by the sounds of it you intend to keep it.

Yeah that’s ballpark what I had in mind. It seems that I could spend anywhere between £30 for an Amazon special no name pick guard inc electronics up to around £500 for some crazy custom setup by Seymour Duncan or similar.

The ‘sensible’ sort of middle ground is this one, I think. Proper Fender (Made in Mexico, I think?) Tex Mex pickups.
https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Fender-Strat-SSS-Tex-Mex-Pre-Wired-Pickguard-WBW/30SU

Vs this one, a more top-end Fender 57-62 version. I think this is a bit posher, probably made in America, and lower output than the Tex Mex ones. https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Fender-Strat-SSS-57-62-Pre-Wired-Pickguard-WBW/30T1

I think I’m gonna go for the Tex Mex ones and save a bit for a professional setup to get it playing perfectly.

Superficial, you missed out some very important info – what colour is it? 🙂

Ah yeah, it’s black with a rosewood fretboard. Simple, functional. A bit scuffed up and well-played but it’s great. In an ideal world I’d get a Candy-Apple Red custom shop one to go alongside it! Having said that, I haven’t actually played the Strat a great deal recently – my ‘best’ guitar is a proper Les Paul standard which is just lovely and gets most of my playing hours. Currently the Strat can’t really hold a candle to it in sound but I find the Strat a fair bit more comfortable to play sitting down (lighter, curvier) so I’m definitely looking forward to making it sound a bit better 🙂

I’ve also got my eye on a Baja tele though…

HSS Strat with BKP pre-wired guard #3

BKP Pre-wired guard (reverse)

You’re not sell g are you, metalheart?

Looks good. I hadn’t considered changing colours but tort looks great on black!

@superficial: no, not selling. I have the original fender plate/guard (HSS & S1 switching, white, Texas specials I think) somewhere though. It’s nowhere as neat on the reverse as the BKP one. But iirc that was >300£ over 5 years ago now. The thing about BKP is you can custom build it. Big range of pick ups, colour, you can get aged control knobs and stuff as well if you want… I went for Vintage hot with added bass/baseplates to fatten up the single coils.

https://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/shop/prewired-pickguards

I am still tempted to get the body refinished in Olympic white…

there isn’t enough low end in this thread for my liking 😋

i have wanted a bass guitar for a long time and finally about a month ago i got one (a squier affinity jazz bass in sunburst).

i bloody loves it i have to say (it does need a proper setting up on the neck though one day but it is definitely playable now).

i also bought a fender rumble 15 amp and a zoom B1 on multi effects pedal which are both great i have to say.

i amnot musically gifted at all (as my guitar playing will attest to lol) but am loving playing the bass. it definitely makes you think in new ways about music for sure.

have been learning a few tracks from psycho killer talking heads to take five dave brubeck band and nutmeg by alice in chains (mtv unplugged version) and also cannonball by the breeders.

i think i am more suited to the bass as oposed to guitar (i still love guitar) and i hope to keep trying to learn new tunes that i love (want to try message in a bottle next by the police).

if anyone else was thinking about getting a bass one day i would definitely recommend it for sure (you can get a great bass for not much money nowadays).

long live the bass 👍 😃

definitely love playing bass but I’m no bassist 🙂

When changing the PU’s, change the Pots too.. Plenty of players have done the “Oh, wish I’d done the Pots too…” scenario. And go for the 500 Pots, more signal variations.

And the highset out put PU’s aren’t always the best sounding.

Before buying anything get onto Youtube and just search for Strat PU mods etc.. and listen through headphones at the sounds etc.

My 7 string is in drop G#..Does that count?

@superficial, you describe your Strat as a bit scuffed up and worn, well it’s nothing like as worn and scuffed up as the Gunnar Orn Tele that I saw at a gig last night! Owned by the singer/guitarist of an Icelandic band called Vintage Caravan, the maker is Icelandic as well.

In the last year then/

Bass for Raceface: I went into a shop to buy a short-scale Fender Mustang and then tried a Squier Jaguar from the same rack, and prefered the silky narrow Jaguar neck. I expected it to sound rubbish plugged in but it didn’t. This confused me a bit so I kept swapping them and paid for the Jaguar. I might go and see the nice man at Crel for a replacement P pickup.

I put together a Warmoth tele from parts I had lying around. The pickups were a headache as I wanted a bit more output than my other teles but they kept howling at me when I added effects. I ended up with a set of stacked N3s which provide enough output for a Marshal without an overdrive pedal which brings me to:

A Marshall JCM 2000 TSL 100. I’ve been looking for one for ages and finally found one with the right resistors and the later non-leaky circuit board without bias drift. The clean has a justifiable reputation as one of the better recent Marshal cleans and the crunch is like a hot-rodded 800. I don’t have much use for the lead which is a bit too much. I haven’t used it live yet, it needs an audience that likes loud.

On Strat pickups: Mexican pickups have a higher output and sound more Strat like if you roll off the volume a little.

I’m having a spat of chopping and changing.

Swapped out my old Line 6 Spider for a Blackstar ID 30 TVP. The spider was great when I was 14, but my tastes have moved on a bit. Very impressed, it’s got some lovely dynamics, like you’d expect from a valve amp, but I can sling it in the boot with reckless abandon.

Been meaning to upgrade my acoustic for some time. Spent 2 hours sat in Rich Tone on Saturday, played pretty much every guitar in my price range but nothing really stood out. Some sounded nice but felt like a fight to play (Ovation) some were lovely to play but sounded dull and flat (Fender Newporter), but nothing hit that sweet spot. Moped home. Sunday I took a chance detour from town mooching into Musicroom. They had a Seagull S6, which I’d heard great things about. Had a quick play and it just clicked. Lovely full, chime and nice fast, low action. 100 quid off retail plus a further 10% only sweetened the deal. It’s downstairs now, and I’m very happy, despite it not being anything like what I set out to buy.

Net up is the pedalboard. I’m thinking chop it all in for a Helix.

How were Vintage Caravan? I missed them before Opeth in Glasgow

I think my guitar could do with a proper set up by an expert. Can anyone say how much I could expect to pay?

@countzero were you at the Damnation Festival in Leeds on Saturday then? I missed Vintage Caravan, was looking forward to seeing them.  We made the mistake of watching Crowhurst, the singer looked to have just fallen off the stage when we got there.  A few minutes later he said  “and now for a country song…” we left.

I think my guitar could do with a proper set up by an expert. Can anyone say how much I could expect to pay?

Depends where you take it, the guy I take mine to does a lot of professional guitarists and still only charges £45

Where are you? I can recommend someone in Sussex..

Who do you recommend in Sussex Bikebouy? I am in Hampshire but depending on where it is could be 30mins or 2hrs away 🙂

Simon Bailey @ SMBGuitars in Milland GU30, just off the A3 near Liss… he makes his own guitars too… and he’s really good.

Thats really near me then 🙂 I live in Clanfield 🙂

🤩