ezbass

58 minutes ago, repoman said:

After posting this, I tried out a few Gretsches and didn't get on with them.  

Shame, but there are plenty of other brands and designs out there. For me, the hunt is often the best bit.

1 hour ago, EdwardMarlowe said:

More realistically, the 5xxx series are great guitars, and fully, imo, capture the spirit of the Gretsch sound.

Totally agree. Like you a 6120, Setzer Sig or Hot Rod would be awesome, but

That looks great. Gordon Smith make superb guitars; I owned a single pickup Gypsy many moons ago, an absolute Gibson Junior killer.

Cor, that’s cleaned up really nicely; result!

Yeah, most likely the selector is faulty, loose wire or duff switch.

4 hours ago, Andico said:

I want it as a beginner guitar for metal and rock but I wanna know if it lives up to the hype.

Ibanez make good guitars at every price point, so it’ll be decently built. The pickups will probably be voiced quite hot, given the genre the guitar is aimed at, but if you don’t like them, you can always upgrade them at a later date. However, you’re probably going to be using a lot of gain on the amp or through pedals for metal/rock, so a lot of your tone is going to come from there and will colour the guitar’s tone significantly. That being the case, it’s all about how it plays.

4 hours ago, randythoades said:

Many thanks for the feedback both. Seems that what I want to achieve isn't quite in the remit of my amp. I might just go back to my comfort zone of 90s solid state.

I’ve owned some awesome SS amps, nowt wrong with them IMO.

1 hour ago, randythoades said:

Or is there a pedal which does the reverse and creates a volume drop that then doesn't massively overload the input when switched off?

An EQ pedal could achieve that, like one of those 6/10 band graphics. However, I suspect that your amp may still react the same way, as it will still be receiving less/more signal. I’d be more inclined to add an overdrive pedal that will add the gain tone you’re looking for for lead, etc and then going back to your clean tone (or less driven) when off. You might find that the right pedal could be an on all the time effect, as it might react to the guitar’s volume knob in the way you’re used to. If that was the case, you could just have it on top of the amp with a short lead to the input, giving the feel of a guitar straight to the amp.

EDIT: Overdrive pedals = massive rabbit hole 

As Dad says, different amps, different responses. I once asked an amp tech the difference between 6L6 and EL34 power stages (typically Fender vs Marshall). He surprised me with the answer. He told me that biggest comes from where the tone stack is in the circuit, either pre or post preamp valves (Fender and Marshall are different). Couple that positioning with different output valves and output transformers (often overlooked) and you very different responses to the input. The name of this very knowledgeable amp tech - Brinsley Schwartz. I was a bit awestruck at the time, having seen him numerous times live, but he was the nicest chap and happy to nerd out on his favourite subject.

On 06/05/2025 at 16:44, Graham50 said:

Just thought of Robin Ford - Fender Espirit ( although these days sometimes a Tele or PRS)

 

Great guitar, Fender should’ve stuck with it.

So many brands to choose from, pretty much everyone has a good showing in that price range (if you include Squier and Epiphone as Fender and Gibson). Often overlooked are Gretsch, who have a good range of instruments in this range. There are even some rather nice PRS SEs too, but they go over the £500 mark pretty quickly.

EDIT: Doh! I missed the word used . However, I think my post stands, except that some Fenders will definitely come in under the £500 mark and maybe some of the budget end Gibsons (faded series?).

6 hours ago, Kiwi said:

If you need to flame, go ahead.

Just kidding, we’re just not like that here. After 25 years in office tech and all that binary ones and zeroes, it’s either right or wrong baloney, I know it isn’t actually like that. S**t happens, normally for no good reason. Good to have GC back. Sorry about the conflagration at the beginning of this post, please accept this for balance -  

I had a 3 way one of those in my Tele. They are horrible, not only in working out the connections, but in general operation. I just replaced it with a decent, open design switch. If your friend is unwilling to spend a few quid on a decent selector, try some Google images for what wire goes where. Sorry, best I can do.

 I haven’t lived in London for some time, so can’t help with a tutor. 

As Kiwi says, if you’re going for a trad, bolt on Tele, any tech can put one together for you, in fact, you could do it yourself if you have any DIY skills and just have final set up done by a tech (fret levelling, etc), this is pretty much what I did with my Tele: Squier neck & tuners; bound body from a UK supplier; DiMarzio pickups with the voicing I was looking for (DiMarzio were brilliant with their recommendations); Hipshot bridge; various other spares I had laying around. Everyone who plays it is blown away by the playability and tone (I was very lucky with the Classic Vibe neck).

When I think of rock guitarists who use/used solid state, I always think of Dimebag Darrell. He used Randall (among others) and they do a 75w combo, the KH75 (Kirk Hammett signature). Although probably not the sound you’re going for, but achievable with cranked gain and a pedal or two, the Fender Tone Master range gets a lot of love. Apparently, Mesa used to do a SS amp, but now discontinued. 

Not me, I’ve just tried a whole bunch over the years. I think any audible tonal quality perceived by bouncing a pick will be negated once held. However, if it works for your friend as a selection process, then it’s good for them. We all have our own ‘things’.

Hard to say, it could be just the finish cracking (and probably is), but it might have gone deeper. The cracks on the back bother me as there is the chance of snagging your hand, whilst playing . Seeing that there is some fret wear there too, I think you should take it to a tech to appraise and if they think it’s sound, get it stripped or refinished and have the frets recrowned.

Try tinning the twisted wire with solder beforehand if you can manage it (I saw this might be an issue).

Is it a solid core or multiple fibres? If solid core, I'd strip twice as much as you think you need, bend it in half and twist from left to right, to present a textured surface to the screw. If multi core, strip a good length and, again, twist from left to right, this should stop the twist from unravelling. 

35 minutes ago, Rosie C said:

I used my SB-2 and it sounded OK.

I think that’s your answer. I can’t imagine one passive DI box being that much different from another (happy to be corrected here), any differences should be fixable in the eq section of the DAW.