Skinnyman

Standard set should do it, yes. Or, in my case and in the absence of any nut files at all, use a standard (undersized) file to get close and an old string to finish to the right size… And I plan on reusing two strings from the current set and then four from a new set for the experiment….

The thing that appealed to me was the fact that one can still play standard chord shapes. That and it sounded lovely having the “B and E” (now C and A) strings an octave lower than usual. I have a new nut due this week so I can try this on my (currently being ignored due to recent arrival of PRS) K Line.

My YouTube algorithm offered me this; Once I got past the usual irritations i was fascinated by the sound of it. I’m going to give it a try but I think it might be worth getting a cheap nut that I can file for the thicker strings. Anyone tried Gambale tuning?

None of which should necessarily stop you from getting a new pedal/EQ/amp/guitar (delete as appropriate)….. I didn’t really appreciate the significance of pickup height until I replaced the pickups in a Strat. It was playing around with the height across the strings that led me to hit - totally by chance - a sweet spot that transformed the whole instrument.

So I think that means that clockwise would add relief, loosening the strings which is in line with what you’re seeing. It’s the looser strings which always seems counterintuitive to me…..

Which end is it adjusted from? The sound hole? Or the headstock end? I can never get my head round which way truss rods adjust as they seem counterintuitive but I’ve always worked on the assumption that if I do (as you have) small adjustments, count them (so I can go back to square one as needed) and don’t do more than a half turn in total in any direction, it should be okay… I’ve always believed most truss rods are two way so loosening it should be fine - what I have found is that the neck takes a little time to settle when loosened so it’s easy to go too far and have to retighten a bit. All that said, despite being generally cack-handed and not really having a clue, I’ve managed not to break anything yet by sticking to the small-bit-at-a-time rule. Good luck!

I’ve not come across the sonicake before but they look pretty good - it’s basically the same as the Nux. I would be tempted by the model with the expression pedal (QME Matribox) at £89 on Amazon - looks amazing value and for home use should do the job nicely.

I’d normally suggest Zoom as a good first multi-fx but i must admit that ive been blown away by my Nux MG30.

I’ve had a couple of PRS SE models before and they’ve been great but left me a bit….underwhelmed really. Beautifully made and great to play but somehow, a bit….passionless Stupid, I know, but I’ve always ended up moving them on (to better players who can make proper use of their obvious quality). Part of the downsizing exercise is to move on my Yamaha Revstar and Cort CR250 (both great guitars and incredible value for money) and replace the two with a single instrument. A trip to Wildwire in Selby (fantastic shop with an amazing selection - well worth a visit) and I tried pretty much every guitar in the place before settling on a choice between the SE Paul’s Guitar or the SE DGT. In the end I decided that I didn’t need all the switching options on the Paul’s so I saved myself a couple of hundred and got the DGT…. ….which is unlike any of the other PRS models I’ve played. It might be the slightly chunkier neck or the slightly lighter weight or maybe the pickup position on the 22 fret or the colour or…. Who knows? All I can tell you is that it sounds superb and even unplugged it absolutely sings - that Em pentatonic box at the twelfth fret just….rings out with some gorgeous harmonics. Anyway, just thought I’d share…. And a massive shout out to Wildwire for letting me play so many instruments, even fetching boxed models from the storeroom and setting them up for me to try…

Quick update….. This is the first time I’ve managed to record a guitar into Logic and have it actually sound like the guitar I played. Straight out of the USB on the Blackstar using their cab emulator and into a plain audio track in Logic (no fx, EQ or compression added) and it sounds just like the amp does in the room. I’m very pleased with that.

I’ve had a ton of guitar amps over the years including Line6, Marshall, Fender, Vox and Boss Katana. I’ve ended up moving them all on as they were too big, too loud, too heavy or just a bit…., meh. Most recently I’ve been using an old Fender G-Dec 15 for practice and that’s an amp that has outlasted all the newer, shinier models that have come and gone while I’ve had it. It’s been a great practice amp but It just sounds a bit….ordinary and it’s no good for recording. Enter the Blackstar ID:X 50 and, so far, i am loving this! It seems to be positioned as a direct competitor to the Katana but i think they both have a very different approach. The Katana is all about the Boss FX built in. It sounds fantastic but i think you need to spend a lot of time with the app to customise it to your own needs. The Blackstar has FX onboard and has an app but it really is an amp first and foremost and you don’t really need to touch the app to get great sounds from it. I like the USB connection to the computer and the ability to use it as an audio interface to record direct (with IR cab simulation). I also like that i can play backing tracks from Youtube (or wherever) through the USB connection into the amp or direct from my phone. But the main thing is the sound. It sounds superb even on the 1W setting.

Firewood; Gibson Les Paul Traditional. That thing weighed a ton. Would be a b*****d to light but would burn for days. Weapon; Another Les Paul Traditional please. No chambering means a lot of weight and once that gets swinging it translates into a lot of kinetic energy. Play; I’ll settle for my little Yamaha Revstar, thank you very much. Cheap as chips, nice and light and plays like butter.

Sad news indeed - I read somewhere that it was JHS’s wish that the company be wound up when he passed. Someone is bound to buy Vintage guitars - or at least , I hope so. Their reputation and history has to be worth something in today’s crowded market

I’m selling my pedals. All in great condition, all working fine although I don’t have the boxes for any of them and I don’t have power supplies for them (they all take standard 9v centre-negative PSUs). We have; EHX Oceans 11 (reverb) T Rex Replay (delay) EHX Soul Food (drive) Zoom A1four (acoustic multi FX) Morley Distortion Wah (combined wah and distortion) Price above is for the job lot collected from sunny Cleethorpes. If you want them posted please add another tenner. PLEASE NOTE: I’d really prefer to sell the whole lot in one go so at this stage I’ll see whether there’s any takers for the bundle before I offer to sell them individually. Thanks for looking, please PM with any questions

I need to make some more room quickly so up for sale is the Eastman T386 semi-hollow that I bought from Guitar Galleries in Beverley a couple of years ago. Condition is immaculate and Eastman build quality is well known. Comes with original Eastman hard case. Priced at just £625 to move quickly - available to try here in Nottingham or PM to discuss meet/drop-off options. Thanks for looking

I’ve just realised that it’s also the exact same colour as the PRS SE semi-hollow I had a few years back. Given that Cor-Tek produce PRS SE models, I’m inclined to think that there was some PRS paint left over one day and a line foreman didn’t want it to go to waste

I haven’t weighed it yet but it feels lighter than my Godin which is a fraction over 8lbs. It’s certainly not the boat anchor that was the Traditional I had. That’s the only guitar I’ve had that had its own gravitational field

Here it is, about to get treated to a good clean and some new strings. Setup seems spot on but I’ll check it all and set the pick-up heights to suit. The overall finish is superb - not just for the price but for a guitar of any price. The binding is lovely and clean with no gaps or flaws that I can see and the fret ends are super smooth (the frets need a good polish though). It needs a good clean up and some oil on the fretboard and I may swap the volume and tone knobs for black ones at some point but I do think I’ve blagged a real bargain for once

Well, that went to plan. Not. I was all set to get me a nice little Revstar when our local guitar shop advertised a new (well, NOS strictly speaking) Cort CR250 for £299. Other than being a bit dusty and needing some new strings (thrown in as part of the deal), it’s immaculate. Nice weight (well under the weight of a Gibson LP), beautifully made and sounds epic. It’s now mine. I still want a Revstar, mind.

One of these? https://www.juno.co.uk/products/digitech-trio-band-creator-looper-effects-pedal/599334-01/?currency=GBP&flt=1&cq_src=google_ads&cq_cmp=1838759436&cq_con=70756262838&cq_term=&cq_med=pla&cq_plac=&cq_net=g&cq_pos=&cq_plt=gp&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIiImG0sHEhgMVXpVQBh0EbhKyEAQYAiABEgLzSPD_BwE I vaguely recall TC Electronic doing something similar with one of their vocal/guitar harmoniser boxes - but I might have been dreaming/stoned/fitting so I’m not sure how reliable that memory is…

Well, if I ever manage to sell the Ric 4003s that I have listed in the Other Place, I’m having one of these Revstars. Until then, I’m not allowed….

Ooh, my GAS monster likes the Copper Red LSE20…. https://www.eltoromusic.co.uk/yamaha-revstar-element-rse20---red-copper-5172-p.asp Chambered and sculpted body too. I need to try one of these.

I’ve had three “real” Les Pauls. One, a Studio, was fantastic and I regret selling it. The other two I just didn’t gel with. There was a Traditional which weighed more than a family car and a gorgeous Tribute which sounded great but was really unbalanced - the opposite of neck dive meant the body was always trying to drag itself off my knee when sitting to play. I’d give up on the idea, but there’s something about the 24.75 scale, twin humbucker arrangement that really appeals so I keep finding myself looking at LP clones and wondering…. I don’t want to spend a lot (having lost a ton on the previous forays into LP-world) and I think my Gibson itch is well and truly scratched so I’ve ended up looking at the Cort CR250 and the ESP LTD EC-256. Or maybe an Ibby AR420 double cut. Alternatively, I might start looking at SG clones. What seems not to be an option is to just play the bloody guitars I actually own…. Curse you, GAS!

Santa brought me the Nux looper pedal and I’m very impressed. So impressed, in fact, that I’ve bought the MG-30 multi-fx unit which is superb. Rock solid build and the tones it offers are excellent. The supplied patches are, as usual (looking at you here, Zoom) a bit too gainy and OTT for practical use but that’s easy enough to dial out

It’s sold.