Guitarists of Singletrack…

As eddiebaby says – it’s not an electrical phase thing to do with the wiring of the pickups, but more to do with where the pickups are in relation to each other and the standing wave of the string. A little like if you’re on the neck pickup and play a 5th fret harmonic, no sound comes out of the pickup as it sits right where the node of the standing wave is… so having the two pickups a Strat’s distance apart means that some of the string’s wave isn’t picked up, so you get this (lovely) quacky ‘out of phase’ sound.

While I’ve got the page open… And seeing as there’s a lot of Fender love in here, I want to float my latest though –  I find that I keep looking at Gibson Les Pauls. I’ve previously had a couple (a Gibson BFG gold-top and a wine-red Studio – oh and a Vintage (the brand) Lemon Drop Peter Green job) and I’ve sold them all. Something about the weight, the neck join (position and thickness) and that all I did with them was to play Led Zep riffs badly…

However, the band I’m currently playing with is after no-nonsense rock tones, which suggests a humbucker guitar. I mostly have Strats or guitars with P90s or Filtertrons. I _do_ have a PRS, but the other guitarist has a PRS, so I want to go for something a little different… I do have my old bits and pieces ‘super’ Strat with Floyd and wood-screwed-in pickups and a homemade paint job, but I do keep looking at the new Gibson Tribute Les Pauls. Especially in ‘worn white’…

Any other suggestions to look out for? Apart from a Scorpions-style Explorer of course…

Gordon Smith?

I’ve lost hours speccing up stuff on their website……

https://www.gordonsmithguitars.com

Any other suggestions to look out for?

An SG 😁

Ooh, I like the look of that Gordon Smith ‘No Cut’… Very bluesy!

Er, I’ve got a P90 SG already, Simon, sorry! *blush*

In the spirit of ‘Say What You Play’ try a Variax JTV 59.
It is depressingly convincing if you aren’t doing an A/B test in a quiet room.
And as there are a lot of haters they go quite cheap.
Of course if you want it just to fill a gap in your heart rather than the band’s sound then fill yer boots and that

I do have a Roland hex-pickupped homemade guitar that I can plug into a GP10S Roland synthy thing and make whatever noises I want, but I guess I’m looking for those rock looks 😉
Plus, the other guitarist also has a GP10… First world issues and all…

335 copy… bloody awkward, esp if sat down… 🤪😚 but def different sound and rawk n roll bonefide

Or a Tokai (or FGN) MIJ Less Paul copy…

So i bought this mystery guitar as it was very cheap.
Woman i bought it off had bought it as a decorative piece at some point and was told it was a German from the 50s.
Neck have been reglued (badly) at some point and there is some splits in the body where the metal bracket is screwed on and around the strap attachment. But should be fun trying to restore it.
This is the only markings on it.

A friend have ID it as a Musima via a 50s guitar forum

+1 on Japanese Tokai Love Rock.
Excellent guitars, I’ve had one as my #1 since 2003.

~£700 used

+1 on Japanese Tokai Love Rock

Always been a classic. Hard to find these days I thought.

Tokais are fab guitars. I had an early Springy Sound Strat and it was lovely.
Had a couple of Epi Sheratons and never really got on with the size – yet the 339s all seem a bit too diddy. Need something in the middle, size wise. Ibanez John Scofield? Godin Montreal?

Nice goldtop: https://www.facebook.com/groups/323510377722873?view=permalink&id=4570360819704453&scmts=scwspsdd

As far as semi hollowbodies go, I like the Gibson Midtown. Lovely in Pelham Blue

Nice goldtop

Very much so. I’m struggling to see the ding in the headstock. Looks like it’s never left the house. Very nice guitar.

Wow, consensus on Tokai 😍

Mine was ~650£, MIJ bought over the internet from Richtones. They had about 20-25 different guitars all lovingly photographed in detail and I picked the one I liked the look of best. Wasn’t disappointed. I subsequently replaced the pups with BKP Mules (‘59 PAF ‘replicas’), Jensen oil in paper caps and a lovecraft toggleswitch (as both my Tokais have suffered dodgy ones). I borrowed a mate’s ‘95 Less Paul for a couple months and I think he would have have swapped that for my Tokai (except I wouldn’t have…).

Tokai are difficult to buy new these days (although a guitar shop in Inverness has one on its wall, albeit at 1500£!) which was why I mentioned the FGN. I hummed and heyed over a goldtop, especially when they were on offer at 800£ end of last year… always wanted a goldtop (I ended up getting one of the new Yamaha travel parlour steel acoustics instead)… and I’ve the Loverock already… 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think the Gibson Tributes are great guitars. I won a Les Paul Jnr DC Tribute earlier in the year and despite a few finish issues, hey it’s Gibson after all, it plays and sounds great, actually way better than some far more expensive Les Pauls I’ve played over the years. If you have the chance to try a few I’m sure you’ll find a gem.

I got that Gibson Les Paul jr as my first guitar, based on look alone lol

Anyone removed the neck on old acoustic?
The neck of my mystery guitar have been glued on very badly with PVA and would like to try sort it myself and wonder if anyone have any tips

Heat seems to be the recommended advice. Heat gun on low heat, clothes pressing iron with brown paper to prevent scorching etc.

Chipps, if you are ever in Manchester there are a few GS in stock in Forsyths (top floor)

I’ve got a real hankering for one too… Just a shame (also a good thing for my bank account) there are no lefty ones to try

Oooh I like that steamer of his

Got the neck off, heat gun and lots of wiggling did the trick.
Now time to clean all the old glue out and see if it will fit back on in the right spot as it was totally misaligned before. the action at last fret was 10mm and neck wast not straight, the low E string was not even over the fret board.

2. The control layout.
The Tele controls are pretty much perfectly placed. Strat knobs get in the way, depending how you play.
And no tone control on the bridge? Please….

ON my Strat I’ve removed the volume pot and wired the other two like a Tele. So I don’t accidentaly wind the volume off and I can take some of the edge off the bridge pickup without touching the amp. I still accidentally flick the switch sometimes but as the bridge pickup goes through the tone pot the change doesn’t shock as much as it did.

Got the neck off, heat gun and lots of wiggling did the trick.
Now time to clean all the old glue out and see if it will fit back on in the right spot as it was totally misaligned before. the action at last fret was 10mm and neck wast not straight, the low E string was not even over the fret board.

Nice work. How straight/twisted is the neck?

ON my Strat I’ve removed the volume pot and wired the other two like a Tele. So I don’t accidentaly wind the volume off

Noo! I need to be able to violin the volume pot!
The worst feature of my JTV59 is the volume pot is out of finger range…

he neck itself is fine, it had just been put on very badly.
so hopefully i can get it back in working order, just need to figure out how to find the right angle etc. but i will worry about that a little later fow now i want to get it sanded down and try and fix the failing gluejoints and a few small cracks where the tailpiece is attached.

Try look at the body upside down and tell me what you think it looks like.

some more tidying of the neck joint.
a bolt had been added but without making sure everything fitted as it should.
the round mark is from where a threaded insert had been added without making room for it, why the neck angle was way off.
Now to figure out how to get it back on.

Somebody made a proper bodge of that.

yep, hope i can find someone who can put it back on for me as its cleaning up nicely overall.

A decent luthier should be able to help. Acoustic neck re-sets are a pretty standard thing with older guitars.

Guess it’s time to own up to this being my stage guitar – a 1983 Dean Z with the shrimpfork headstock and a pair of SD Pearly Gates humbuckers.
My Tokai is a better guitar, but this looks the tits.

That is sweet looking and i usually do not like those “weird” shapes.

Hope your right Hero, i have send some pictures to a Luthier and asked him if he can do it.
The local one to me only do setups these days to busy to do stuff like this.

All these beautiful guitars!

Puts shame to my £99 chinese no name jalopy!

I’m sure a lot of you will have seen this on Paul David’s YouTube feed but listening to 10 different guitarists talking their approach to an 8 bar solo was pretty cool to me.

Just out of interest, Pro Solo in Burnley have just become a Tokai dealer.

They will be stocking some of the Chinese guitars but will be able to order the Japanese models on request.
Bought a few guitars from them and Paul is an excellent bloke to deal with.

Apparantly Tokai have a new UK distributor so should be much easier to get hold of from now on.

Arse. 🙂

a pair of SD Pearly Gates humbuckers.

I’ve got a pair of those in a black top Tele. Excellent through a Marshall JCM. They’re splittable but don’t have the grunt of a normal Tele bridge pickup when split.

I don’t actually like them that much – they’re decent but a bit muddy.

My favourite pickup is a GFS Dream 90 – a HB sized P90 – just lovely, and cheap too!

That Dean Explorer is ace! I still have an idle desire for (another, I sold the last one) Explorer… Although the new Fender Meteora fits the ‘quirky big slab guitar’ bill too…

anyone seen tuning machines like this anywhere in the UK or EU?

https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-hardware/tuning-machines/solid-peghead-guitar-tuning-machines/golden-age-restoration-guitar-tuners-3and3.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=2020-11-gp&pref_currency=P&shipcalc=UK&gclid=Cj0KCQjwlvT8BRDeARIsAACRFiXUhjI6X7ZLcBooHSU3HLGpJNuDKUJSRjiCXpGEZurDS63VvAYsnRsaAusdEALw_wcB&fbclid=IwAR0YRhoihYnDYcBwiIde2-_IOmc0iCTYyeoL-1-RyCQrWUior1R4ZMLQKCU

Im after something not chrome/gold/silver for the Mystery project which im almost sure is a Musima/Heinz Seiffert