ezbass

Standard, Goldtop. Beyond that I don’t know. Nice to see a set of proper Grovers on there.

Kimbara, ah yes, I remember them. One of the better Japanese copies IIRC. Good luck with the sale.

The tailpiece looks like an Aria, so I'm guessing that it's a Japanese copy, which isn't a bad thing in itself, there is a quite a market for Japanese copies, but not a Gibson IMO.

It always does . From my own POV, a new guitar always gives me more joy than an amp, so, if both need upgrading, I’d always go guitar first. However, if my current instrument played well and I liked it, I’d probably go amp and maybe some hardware upgrades for the guitar. I’ve had some stunning guitars and amps in the past, but my needs are more modest these days and my 2 electric guitars are a heavily modded Squier CV Tele and an equally upgraded Epiphone Casino Coupé. I only have a small amp these days, but it has the ability to line out to the PA or a powered cabinet (which I have), it’s a Fender X2 Super Champ combo, not expensive, but not bargain basement. After all the upgrades to the guitars, the X2 probably cost slightly less, but they’re all in the same, low-middle ground, price bracket.

Hmm. I one of those who subscribes to the theory that, outside of the player themselves, the biggest contributors to tone are the transducers in the signal chain - the pickups and speakers. The speaker is also reliant on being in an appropriate cabinet. I can’t help but think that a sub £100 amp won’t do a well built/equipped guitar the justice it deserves. That’s not to say that you can’t get a decent sound from a small amp, it might be the very sound you’re after, but I don’t think it’s in the same league as something more conventionally sized and with more power. Just my 2 cent’s worth, others may think differently. Go and try some ‘better’ amps when and if you can.

Hope that Santa brings you something sonically interesting.

Is the 12” speaker you have the one you’re running your Carvin through, as it may not be the amp but the speaker that is giving you the harshness. If at all possible, take you guitar and speaker to a store and try a couple of amp heads and a combo. This way you can see if it’s the guitar, speaker or amp. I’ve done this in the past and if the store doesn’t like it, then they’re not worth any business you might put their way.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... Well done, that man!

Well done, that man!

It seems that you can't go wrong with either a Boss OD1 or DS1 (or clones thereof). I have a Joyo USdream (a Suhr Riot clone) which is rather nice and is nicely volume control sensitive. However, I built a Fuzz Face clone a while back and I'm amazed at how 'unfuzzy' it can be at low levels or with control coming from the guitar's volume knob.

Good of them to reply. Cedar and Mahogany is pretty standard classical guitar construction.

I went through a spate of using them on electric, they were OK, but I went to to D’Addario XLs as ever, can’t remember why. I had a set on my Epiphone EJ200, they sounded nice, but the tension was a bit high for what I wanted and they started to go a bit ratty from strumming.

Can’t help you with a comparison I’m afraid, but my old SE was a nice comfortable handful, not a massive difference for their US offerings.

Although not absolutely necessary, if you want to play live at some juncture, you’ll want an amp. You can get away with modelling FX boxes into the PA and these are also ideal for playing at home, but it just isn’t the same as hearing and feeling a conventional amp behind you (opinions vary on this, so is really just my POV). In terms of recommendations, a lot depends on budget, followed by the kind of tone you’re aiming for. However, a good starting point would be a modelling amp, something like a Fender Mustang or Boss Katana, which allow you to tweak the different voices and include a bunch of FX too.

Fundamentally, any guitar is good for a beginner, whether a particular guitar is more suited to a certain style is another question. The ES335 is generally regarded as one of the best all round guitars made (certainly Gibson’s). However, it’s a big beast for some, so the 339’s reduced proportions makes it a great choice for anyone. Then we come to the Epiphone variant, which, due to its coil tapping, makes it even more versatile. The one thing it lacks to make it truly all round, is a vibrato system, but you can add a Bigsby (or a Stetsbar if you can source one) at a later date. I nearly bought an Epi 339 myself some years ago, but I’m a sucker for P90 pickups, so I bought a Casino Coupé instead. Since owning it, I’ve upgraded the pickups and added the aforementioned Bigsby (plus a few cosmetic touches). The one drawback of my Casino is that it’s more prone to feedback because it’s a full hollowbody, whereas the 339 isn’t because it’s a semi.

Great guitar with very friendly proportions. A friend of mine had/has one of these and I was very impressed by the range of tones. A good choice for your chosen genre IMO. Oh yeah,

Another Boss pedal worth a look at is the DS1, that’s the one Joe Satriani uses, or at least used, and he’s a Marshall type amp player. Another DS1 user, albeit modded, is Marillion’s Steve Rothery (although that’s probably into a Roland amp), I love his tone, especially on Easter.

No, not directly, but it gives an insight (albeit highly, negatively biased) into what the TS does. For Marshall type amps, something like a Boss OD1 is probably more appropriate.

In short, yes. You’re cascading one boost into another (distorting a distorted signal) and also driving the front of the amp harder. In addition, Tube Screamers are very mid centric and whilst often sounding great in front of a clean Fender style amp, adding them to an amp with more mids (typical Marshall type voicing) you’re getting a rather large hump, mid range in your EQ, which adds to that harshness you’re hearing. Rhett Shull recently did a video on TS boxes.

Sometimes the simplest things provide a fix. Glad you got it sorted.

If you tap on the add files box, you load photos directly from your photo library.

Take your guitar to a shop (if possible) and try a bunch for a potential budget. Usual suspects apply: Marshall, Fender, Blackstar, Vox, etc. Personally, I always seem to veer towards Fender, or Fender style amps, but that’s just my preference.

I saw that release the other day, still not particularly pocket friendly, but heading in the right direction.

I had a Tokai Love Rock many years ago, I only have good memories of it. However, I can’t help in terms of a comparison as I didn’t try Epi or Gibson LPs at the time.