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Get some wood. Kicking off with a Martin from circa 1840 with original hard case, but a dodgy newer bridge... which will soon replaced with an original looking one when I get some cash!

Hey one and all. I own SC Guitars and we have an exclusive license to sell Shijie here in the UK. I would be happy to answer any questions. You can email me [email protected] any time. Cheers, Gregg.

I have one of these Godin 5th Avenue jazz guitars incoming in about a month but without the fancy maple top. I've found a company here who claims to ghost build them and Godin make some great kit.

OK - here's one of my recent lightweight builds. Built for my sister-in-law at 25" scale length and 5lbs 3oz total weight. Amboyna top, oak back (from her late mother's mantlepiece), maple/purpleheart/mahogany neck :

THIS 🙂 Careful, he'll get a sense of timing and you'll turn him into a bass player...

Nothing, absolutley nothing, no way do I need anything else, no man don't tempt me. I'm back off to Bass chat

Welcome, fellow BCer. Always a tough one, especially as you want your nephew to want to pick it up in order to play it and improve. Yamaha don’t make a bad instrument at any price point IMO. Therefore, they would be my go to brand for a beginner. With that budget, I’d look at the £300ish Pacificas or the Revstars (a bit retro looking, but pointy/SGish enough), they sound great and play well. With shapes in minds, an Epiphone SG in the same £300+ price bracket could also be considered. However, if it was my money, it would be Yamaha all day long (says the man who owns a Squier and an Epiphone 😆). In terms of an amp and FX, I think I’d start off with a modelling amp with built in FX, something like the Boss Katana, Vox Cambridge or Line6 Spider. 50 watts or so should be plenty for starters and a headphone out is a must (all 3 do). I’ve seen some very favourable reviews of the Boss, so I think your sister would be safe with that. If they don’t come with a footswitch, I’d always encourage getting one to get the full use of the amp. Guitar and amp for £500-£600 with maybe some room for a few accessories.

You will not be surprised to hear that there is no real "all round" acoustic guitar . My favourite guitar is my Guild DV52 - similar to a Martin HD28 , but a lot cheaper ( £1000 used ) , has more of a low end projection , I have used this for recording ( strumming and fingerpicking) , but for gigging I use a relatively cheap Crafter GAE648 through a Fishman aura using either a Taylor or martin Sound module , and am really happy with that. Plus good crafters can be had for less than £500 .

That was it, yeah! Big fan of kilts. Just have to remember to shift yer sporran to the side so as not to get in the way of the guitar...

The proof of the pudding is in the stealing of it?

Squier Affinity is a safe bet and Harley Benton T types are super cheap. However, if you could stretch that budget just a bit, you could get a Squier Classic Vibe 50s or 60s and they are quality instruments that would see you right for ages (I’ve had mine years).

The low 'E' pin is a bit high, too. Probably nothing; maybe the holes have been reamed differently (although that would surprise me of a Yamaha...). The holes are actually tapered. Next time you re-string, try swapping the 'D' pin for the high 'E', for instance..? As for the tuners, they're very rarely an issue, with any guitar. Most of the time it's just a question of how to put the strings on. Here's what we do at our house... I'll assume that the bridge pin is now firmly holding the ball end in place, as described above ^^. I thread the string through the hole in the tuner. For the skinnier strings, I loop around and pass through the same hole again. In doing this, I keep some slack in the string, enough to hold it about an inch or so above the fretboard. I'll wind the tuner, keeping the string taut above the fretboard until it's settled into the nut slot. My first turn, I'll guide the string to below the tuner hole. The next turns I'll guide progressively up the tuner post. There should be about three or four turns, if the amount of slack has been guessed correctly. Repeat for the other strings. Once all the strings are fitted, I'll tune up to pitch (I start with the 'A', then tune 'em all relative to that...). Once they're all up to pitch, I'll seize each string at its mid-point, and gently lift the guitar up, solely by the string. There's no fear of the string breaking in doing this; it settles them and tightens up any slack anywhere, just by the guitar's own weight. Once I've done this for each string, I'll tune up again, more precisely. This way, new strings are pretty much bedded in from the outset. Maybe a tweak or so the next day, but all will be stable from then on, until the strings wear out through aging or intensive playing. If there's anything not clear in my description, feel free to ask for more. If you have your own method that suits you, carry on, of course..!

Ha, here you go. The full body picture is a stock image from google, the other two are from the store's website but are of the actual guitar I walked out with. I was originally looking at faith's but they only did the cedar / mahagony wood combination with a 45mm nut. The Auden had it in a 43mm and the overall feel and playability of the guitar is wonderful.

Hope you enjoyed the popcorn

Our Eldest started his luthering by firstly building his bench; those vice parts look very familiar..! He's just finished his second, commissioned, Build (he's out right now, delivering it; I'll post photos when I can...), and his bench, and the vice, work very well. You'll not be breaking that any time soon..! Here's the lad micro-planing a part for one of my model 'planes... ... and here's the first guitar he built, for himself...

If we're open to other guitars than the high-flying Usual Suspects, I could present some of my guitars, just for their own sake, and recount a little of their story (how/why got them, what they're good or less good for etc...). Similarly, I have been learning, on and off, for decades, some aspects of guitar-playing; specifically trying to get to grips with chord/melody, and testing my receding memory with 'Misty'. I put the guitar down for a couple of weeks and it's gone; I have to start again (old age, you see...). Would a Beginners Guide to Guitar Pro or Drop 3 chords be useful..? Just a few from the top of my addled head...

DiMarzio do some very good hum cancelling Tele pickups, that still sound like a Tele, the Area T for instance.

$25000... Hell, why not? You gotta be all kinds of sure its gonna be your 'keeper' or so wealthy that its no big deal to you...

Hulk fists and wet celery...or a spot of mud wrestling as they did in the old days, with onlookers throwing guinea coins and making obscene or humiliating demands.

It is worth throwing the amps and pedal board up as well?

I’d call it free improvisation. There was a lively discussion on this a while back over on Basschat, but it is a movement with quite a long history. A lot of it’s best known exponents are horn players such as Lol Coxhill and Evan Parker. Amongst guitarists, best known are people like Derek Bailey and Fred Frith in his wilder outings. Very much an acquired taste of course and not really for anybody who likes to know where the one is, but it does have a following. For the curious, there’s plenty to choose from over on yoochoob. Not for the musically faint of heart though; you have been warned.

OK and here it is, my new Ltd M403HT superstrat. As some of you may have seen elsewhere on here, I've been after a guitar for that neck, single coil Strat vibe that wasn't necessarily an actual Strat, and this is what I've ended up with. It's a 2016 Korean model, basically in "as new" condition with a solid mahogany body, flamed maple top, maple bolt on neck, rosewood or pao ferro fret board (the current Malaysian ones are pao ferro but I think the Korean models had rosewood - it certainly looks like rosewood to me anyway), a pair of Seymour Duncan STK -S4 stacked single coils in the neck and middle positions , a TB-14 Custom 5 in the bridge, a hard-tail bridge with through-the-body string anchoring and Grover tuners at the other end. Controls are a 5-way selector, a single volume and a single tone. First impressions were that it looked really good and played OK - the previous owner had the action set far too low, the pickup heights were all over the place, and the tone knob was coming loose but after a quick setup, everything is much better although I'm finding the dead-flat fret board a little unnatural feeling but no-doubt I'll soon get used to it. The Custom 5 in the bridge is a perfectly good pickup but I'd had one of those in previous guitar and knew what to expect with that. The S4s are amazingly quiet with the hidden coil doing an excellent job of cancelling any hum (in fact they appear to have less noise than the bridge humbucker), tone-wise they sound pretty much like your standard single coil pickup, perhaps a little warmer, but I will give them a go one day with this second coil shorted to ground to see if it makes any discernible difference to the sound - if it does, I'll probably then replace the tone pot with push-push or push-pull so that I can have this as a switchable option. General workmanship is pretty good - the fret ends are nice and smooth (more so than my previous Korean made Fenders which needed a mini-workover with a small file and some wet'n'dry), the strings and pickups line up on this one unlike an earlier one that I almost bought, although I can feel the slightest of lips on the nut where it's less than a hair's width out of alignment - one day I'll probably have go at fixing this too (anyone know if it's possible to easily remove the nut and reposition it on these without damaging either the nut or the guitar?). I've got a new set of NYXLs coming in tomorrow and I'll write a more detailed review when I've put those on and given the guitar a thorough setup. Update - it's now been re-strung with my string of choice, the fretboard cleaned and oiled, the pickup heights adjusted and the relief / action / intonation all setup. So what do I think now? The bridge pickup is great for heavier stuff - a little scooped but not too much (the NYXLs help smooth that a little but emphasising the mids and high mids while toning down the bass and extreme highs a little) and the neck and middle pickups are great for the funky rhythm stuff when played together. As I've already said, the build quality is good for the "street price", certainly on a par with my other Korean guitars but it just can't quite match the feel of quality that you get with a full-fat Japanese ESP. It might sound like a cliché but when I play my Japanese ESP Eclipses, they don't feel like guitars - they feel like a part of me while this feels like … a guitar. A good sounding, well balanced guitar but still a guitar none-the-less. The main reason for that, I believe, is the neck - while it's beautifully smooth and shallow, it's just a fraction wider than I'm used to with a flatter fretboard - no doubt if a I give it a chance and play it as regularly as I play my other guitars, I'll soon get used to it, after all I can switch quite happily from a 5 string Spector Euro 5LX bass to a 4 string EBMM Sterling and then to an ESP Eclipse 6 string electric guitar. Update 2 - I've now re-aligned the nut, and the pickups (the middle pickup was slightly slanted and the bridge humbucker was slightly off centre), and now I'm feeling happier. I'm still finding it a little un-natural to play but I've only had it a day so give it some time ...

Another Tele Tuesday - my home build assembly. Walnut body (weighs a ton) finished with gun-stock oil, flame maple neck with macassar ebony board, Lollar pickups and Callahan hardware. Plays and sounds way better than it has any right to given that I put it together

On the flipside, it probably makes your signature guitar a lot more within your reach than for many! Nothing wrong with liking the classics, imo; some things are so popular as to become 'run of the mill' for good reason....

I am closet guitarist. This is my third guitar. I have an Ibanez SA and an steel string acoustic, but I couldn't resist this one. An Ibanez 1977 lawsuit-era Les Paul. It needs a bit of love, but in the meantime I can take the opportunity to learn to play.

And in the meantime I made a bit of progress with the fretboard. Cut a couple of swifts for the 12th fret: Then used a precision router base on the Dremel with a 1.5mm bit: and installed with epoxy mixed with Macassar dust: Dots fixed either side and sanded smooth with the radius block: And that's all up to date as of this morning

First!

Hi, I thought I'd start a thread for discussion and sharing Cab IR's. Obviously I'm not suggesting we should share anything other than those which are freely available. So Cab IR's. The latest digital witchcraft in helping us chase the holy grail of tone or just another con? To my ears, there's no doubt at all that changing a Cab IR in a patch on my unit can makee a massive change to the tone and overall sound of the patch. But..... is it really a Marshall 1960x/Mesa/Fender/Ampeg can with an SM57/SM58 on/offcentre - well I have no idea as I've never had the ability to try all the millions of possibilities and options that now exist. To me, if it sounds good, sounds as you want it to, then it's the right thing to use. Accuracy of 'modelling' doesn't really matter to me. Much like the whole amp modelling debate. Oh, I use a Mooer GE200 which I think is extraordinarily good value for money. It's Amp Sims are as good as I need, it's small and really simple to programe and it takes Cab IRs. What's not to like? Anyway, here's a link to a load of Cab IR's I've collected over the years - fill your boots! https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Vyly3Doh4F3_x2xN4VnpvjnqlRrnR4ms

That's his real name! How could you be so mean?!

My old trusty 77 Tele, much missed. Seen with my old 1956 and 1957 Champ amps.

Hi, thought I’d join a forum to see what the craic is. I have owned an acoustic guitar for about 11 years, apart from a few weeks of trying it out when I first got it I haven’t touched it for at least 10 years. I picked it up again four weeks ago and have been practicing every day since. I haven’t got a clue what I’m doing but it doesn’t matter, I’m enjoying the process. I’ve just discovered the JustinGuitar site, he seems to know what he’s doing, so I’m trying that out. I used to be a mediocre drummer in various bands for 40 odd years, so I can count to four, aside from that I know the square root of feck all about playing guitar. Hopefully I’ll pick up some tips about the dark art of the F bar chord amongst other things.

I'm itching to play it, I was hoping to have got the neck finished this week but ongoing issues with the headstock have held me back.

I thought I would give you a quick tour and guide to my amps . Firstly I would like to say that I am addicted to valves , I have tried solid state amps and amps with valve emulation or a valve put in the circuit ( e.g. vox valvetronix ) , but for me the sound with a valve is just right . I would say that my guitars tend to be humbuckers and I do think that humbuckers sound better through valves , whereas with single coils there are benefits to both. As a side issue, many are concerned that valve amps by their nature are less reliable and robust , I have never found that to be the case , I always take a back up amp to gigs in any case , but have never had to use one. Valves were often designed for military purposes e.g. 5881 in jet fighters , and are designed to sustain extreme forces. Always ensure though that you use the standby switch to ensure warm up and warm down of the amp and do not move it until it has cooled. Valves last a long time , I tend to swap mine out every two years or so , and check that they are properly seated every three months - valve amps need a little more care but are worth the effort Marshall JTM 30 2X10 - the amp is 25 years old now but has never given me any trouble other than a jack socket needing replacing. It has a great clean sound but has a real Marshall crunch then growl when pushed. I chose the 2X10 , I like the compression that a 10" speaker gives over the 12" , and I would recommend listening to the differences before going for the standard 12" . Its a nice portable amp and is available second hand at a reasonable price (£200 ish) , I stopped using it for gigs because I needed a louder clean sound and a bit more flexibility. Mesa Boogie Mark IV 1X12 - this amp is 20 years old and is incredibly robust and reliable. Many are put off by the complexity of the controls of this amp , but I just went through the suggested settings in the manual and from online forums and tweaked from there. I have to say the the sound engineers love it for its DI output , both for recording and gigs , they and i were really impressed. I have to say that whilst capable of Bedroom level clean sounds , it is designed to be played loud and can get very loud. I do find the weight staggering though at 80lbs , plus it lives in a flightcase. For that reason it became a second amp as backup and for outside gigs. Mesa Boogie Express 5:25 1X10 - this amp is 10 years old and is my most used amp, not as flexible as the Mark IV , but covers most of the same bases with a more lush reverb and is less than half the weight. I can use it on all genres from Blues, Jazz , pop covers , rock . It is a lot easier to dial in the sound you want with this amp and again I chose the 10" speaker. AER compact 60 , after trying a whole range of acoustic amps , this is the one i settled on , despite its small size , it sounds great and projects well. I use it both for may acoustics but also for Jazz when I want a particularly crystal clear sound. Getting back to to my first point re my love for valves , whilst my valve amps do a great clean , in fact for jazz a little bit of valve warmth sound great , but for true clean I have not found anything as good as solid state. Best wishes Alby

I'm so happy with what I have done, really over the moon :) Recap: Chibson, neck pick up - Iron gear Rolling mill, bridge pickup - iron gear Hot Slag, 4 CTS long switch pots, orange drop caps, copper earth tape, top hat knobs & position pointers. Just over £400. I used the Jimmy Page wiring, but in a 1950's vintage style. I've only just finished it, and I haven't put it through it's paces so to speak, but the Rolling Mill neck pickup is stonkingly good. Oh ya. I'm so glad that I didn't buy an Epiphone as I more than likely wouldn't have done this mod. I have learned so much from doing this job; now I can go and do it again with my £40 Hondo Les Paul. I'll Jimmy Page it in the modern style and do a coil tap conversion on the existing pickups, as I like the sound. Thank you all for your help :)

I've actually got an order for the Epiphone atm, however between the retailer/carrier who have appeared to have lost it somewhere between Germany/UK im now awaiting a refund. The loss shipment has given me pause for thought on the gibson because the epi is pretty much out of stock everywhere. I like the 60s Standard and while the epi rolls in at an affordable price compared to over 2k for the real deal. Was just wondering where the Tribute sits? Yeah its bugger not being able to try out feel it. Guess its youtube for me. Thanks for your opinion.

An interesting question and not one I have an answer to - other than the fact that the Tele seems to be the one guitar that crosses all genres

I only started playing again because my son wanted an electric guitar and thought great something we can do in lockdown together. We have the same Marshall amplifiers and face time each other on iPads both amps you can play backing tracks through to play along with. Its been great fun even though my left hand hurts like hell most of the time.

As Kiwi has gone to all the trouble of setting up this section, it seems churlish not to use it so I’ll ask the first question - and although I’m no longer an absolute beginner, it’s one that I’m not sure of the answer as I can see pros and cons of each. Anyway, my question to the panel is; What’s the best choice for a complete beginner - electric or acoustic or classical? Obviously, with an electric you have the added complication of an amp but I wonder which is the easiest for a beginner to get to grips with in the very early days when it’s all about learning some chords and getting your fingers toughened up?

I'm sorry, I forgot that you're rather new here. Never mind; have it be known that I'm old, and these things that happened to me are in a dim and distance Past. I really can't remember quite how long ago I bought the Daisy Rock, but I doubt that the Seller is still advertising, or if he is, he's very old now, too..! That 'Venus' guitar looks to be excellent; I'd be pleased too..! Keep looking; meanwhile... Keep well, stay safe Douglas

Rusty screws are necessarily a bad thing, unless it prevents some sort of adjustment, reliced models come with rust as standard. The jack socket might be a bit of a nuisance to put back in place, not impossible, just fiddly.

I was thinking Lace Sensors after I saw your suggestion.

Yes, slightly. Didn't watch the video for the transcription or that would have annoyed the hell our of me :)

They've probably all escaped and run off to set up a refuge where they feel empowered to explore a more plectrum orientated lifestyle that includes singing plectrum empowering world music, reading lifestyle magazines and periodicals exploring what it actually means to be plectrum aware, celebrating significant dates in the history of plectrums, promoting plectrum friendly destination holidays, and organising large scale public events to raise awareness of plectrum friendly alternative perspectives on pressing issues of public interest.

Thanks. I am following the justin guitar beginners course but have also booked lessons.

I remember talking to the guys on the Gillett stand about doing a guitar at the last bass show I went to. Good to see that they have produced one now. Enjoy it when you receive it.

mines basically a malmsteen strat without the scalloped neck

The finish has maybe 2 coats more to do. There's a lot of waiting around, though, when the varnish is dry enough to touch and handle but not dry enough to take the next coat. So in that time I've started on some of the other jobs. The bridge goes on last (you have to scrape away the finish that you've just spent weeks putting on!) but needs to be shaped to match the spheroidal shape of the top. This is where the old 'engineers blue' approach comes in - except you use blackboard chalk. I put a wide strip of easy peel masking tape where the bridge will go and gave it a liberal coating of chalk. Then placed the bridge on top and moved it around a couple of mm. Hey presto - the high spots: Then all you do is scrape where the chalk is and repeat (multiple times). Here it is after the first scraping: So same m.o. - now scrape these areas away. After about 8 iterations, I am getting there: So I know now that most of the area is making good contact. Just a final bit of tidying up and it will be ready to fit as soon as the final coats of finish have been applied. The colour won't change much now - it will just get glossier. Here's where we are at in overall look so far: So - all being well - a few more days of finish coats and drying and then I can move towards final steps

I only have two Strats; a Bravewood '62 type I bought on EBay 10 years ago or so. Brazilian rosewood slab board, all period correct and as good to play as it is to look at. Also have a jv Squier '57 bought in 1990ish. Very light, quite chunky neck. The seller had an identical one he had "Fenderised" with new decals and didn't want to keep this, which he said was in too good condition to gig and surplus to requirements. It is still almost immaculate, save for 2 dings. I am always on the lookout for another, of course.

Thanks for the show reports S.B. over on B/chat, excellent stuff. Are you going to to some for here ?

Liking quite a bit there from the OP and there are so many to choose from. Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson for starting it all for me I like the Steely Dan contributors with Larry Carlton top of the list Robben Ford, particularly the 'Talk to your Daughter' period and sound A lot of the LA and AOR guys like Steve Lukather, Michael Thompson, Tim Pierce and the mighty Dann Huff. The sounds are as much of an influence as is the playing My 'Rhythm Kings' are Nile Rodgers, Paul Jackson Jr, Andy Summers and I'll include Eddie Van Halen, as well l