EdwardMarlowe

@Dolando - meant to say, love the headstock. Really nicely realised on this - immediately differentiates it from one of the established brands, as its own thing, but it also looks right. Too often I see very traditional / vintage guitar designs really nicely done, but in seeking to do their own thing, makers put a headstock on that just doesn't sit right with it. What you have here is a shape I'd never have thought of to put on this guitar, and yet it has thed right mid-20th century vibe to it to my eye. Really nice choice.

Basically the same principle as those Steve Vai Ibanezes - the Floral Gem, I think was the name? At least I'm sure I remember reading that's how they were done in the 90s. Facking LOVE this build, though. If young Robert Cray had had this to bash those vamps with in Sinners, he'd have walked away with a lot more than just a guitar neck in his hand.... @Dolando, are you building these for sale, or just a one-of? It's a stunning piece. I'd love to see one in a black guard on black body with red and ivory pinstriping...

I like this, kinda fun. I could see it working well with a big production stage show, like Taylor Swift sort of thing. (I'm not a Swifty, my niece is, but I have a lot of respect for TS as a successful artist.)

Nice stuff. I like the 'barncaster' vibe. These two are my favourites. I've adored the Gretsch BillyBob since I first saw it, but never encountered a lefty that shape that I could afford. Particularly love this version with the Tele bits, though. One of these with the Tele bridge and a Filtertron in the neck would be fun. The Firebird style would be very cool with a p90 or an Esquier set-up. An inverted, CBS style Strat headstock would be a nice visual vibe on the FB body.

#1 would look great done as a variant on a Gretsch-style hollow / semi hollow with a Bigsby, and a few nods to Ric style. #2 I love - a Tele shaped like a 4003! #3 is pleasing as well, but I think will need an elongated upper horn; as it is, it looks like it could balance funny, though that might be obviated by positioning the strap button on the back at the heel, like an SG. Love the approach overall of melding various classics into one design, very Fano.

I think that's roughly the equivalent level of my old Korean Epi LP Std from the late 90s. They were always nice guitars (the "Inspired By Gibson" series now even moreso, though that line adds a huge chunk to the price). Gibson's overall strategy for Epiphones has been interesting in recent years. The first attempt to create a premium line, the Elitist / Elite line of Epiphones made in Japan should have worked.... but they saddled them with a very ugly headstock, and I think the market just looked at them as "very expensive Epis" as opposed to "affordable Gibsons". Always wondered why they didn't just call them "Gibson Japan" and give them the "correct" headstock, though I guess the fear was it would threaten the parent brand, taking away sales of the US product to those who could *just* about afford a US Gibson, and wanted to buy into the Gibson name rather than the Epiphone. The "inspired" guitars are now the price I remember Gibsons being not so long ago. Eeps. Me, I'd love to see them introduce the Orville brand into the West as a sort of middle-ground between the two brands, but clearly Gibby's marketing department (who I'm sure know much better than me) opted against that. Great looking guitar, though, yours. Have you considered removing the pickguard? I did that on mine after owning it about five years. YMMV, but losing the guard made mine look even better, richer somehow. (Course, most of the guys who inspired my LP purchase did that too, so.... horses for courses). Epiphone are really redeveloping themselves as a higher end product now rather than "only" a budget line. Increased competition plus rising prices, I'm sure contributes, but it's nice to see. I have my eye on a new Epi currently, though not an LP - the Epiphone Blues King Studio, a very nice Robert Johnson esque parlour acoustic with a subtly hidden pickup system. Unusually they've been available left handed (though sold out everywhere currently) in both the burst and the black. Probably gonig to go for the burst, though I also have a wild notion to buy the black and get it pinstriped.

This is, of course, the joy of well built budget pedals.... it's fun to try more and experiment. Fuzz is an especially interesting one, that way. Probably one ofc the simplest effects there are, and yet it does seem to my ear at least that there's a lot more genuine variation in it than there is when it coms to the hundreds of different versions of other effects.

Despite JH Skewes being somewhere in the process of potentially being wound up if they can't find a buyer (perf the wishes of the late John Hornby Skewes himself), they have gone ahead with the launch of their pedal range, all available here: https://ivormairants.co.uk/collections/vintage-effects-pedals I'm waiting for payday to pick up one of the delay pedals for a slapback echo effect. A naughty part of me, though, is sorely tempted to buy a tremolo, a reverb, a fuzz and maybe a nice overdrive as well to create an all-one-brand board. Madness, obvs, but ....

Behringer can be fun. I like my Centaur! I know OP's request is sorted, but for anyone else looking for ideas, I'd also suggest Mosky, particularly the Big Fuzz: They have quite a few fuzz pedals, but this one would be my pick as it offers a couple of different runs at the obvious Big Muff sound (which went through several generations each having their own thing). Edited to add: it comes it at about forty quid as of November 2025, widely available on eBay, Amazon, and the rest.

I've often wondered whether buying a 12 with a laminate top might be helpful. I always had the impression they were a little less prone to bellying, but that may be pure superstition on my part..... (I know laminates are dismissed as inferior.... imo, somewhat in fairly. While the sound will of course never mature in the same way as a solid top, I've always held the opinion that if it sounds good, then it sounds good... it just won't change over time). Interesting that no brand ever seems to have quite solved this issue, though, that I'm aware of.... maybe to do with 12s just not being that popular now? I'd have thought one answer might be a carbon fibre top, but from what I've seen cf is still plenty expensive, so it's not going to recoup cost well at the budget level, which is in my experience much more forgiving and open to variation than much of the established market which can be very "two legs bad" about new ideas in guitar (anyone else remember the Variax??).

TBH, rather than mess about with the wiring, I'd look at buying a complete loom that's ready to drop in and just needs pickups attached. This sort of thing: https://www.bloodstoneguitarworks.com/shop/telecaster-wiring-loom At some point I'm considering a second Tele type (most likely a HB TE52), and I'll probably have a new loom custom ordered so I can have everything working as "normal" but with a reversed plate... no reall reason other than a point of difference with the cij 71RI, which is standard Tele set-up.

I had a Squier Standard Strat for a bit that I blocked the trem on. Decent guitar, one of the late 90s models. I just stuffed a synthetic wine cork between the block and the body; the difference it made in sustain and resonance surprised me a lot. My old 1994 US Std Strat does well on that front with the trem set up floating, though in recent years I've come to prefer my trems set flat to the body. I would love to try a fixed bridge Strat to compare to a blocked-trem. Apparently back in the eighties when Fender did the Clatpon signature model they did debate making it a fixed bridge, but Clapton wasn't convinced it would sound the same as a blocked trem. I'd love to see some hardcore research into trem blocks (anything on youtube on this? I've not quite found a good vid yet...). I've seen a lot of folks switch out the slim block in various Harley Bentons as a perceived upgrade, while others are very firm that it doesn't make the difference traditionally assumed.

Blue Ridge make a good looking instrument. Still got my fingers crossed they'll discover left handed players one day.

Off the top of my head, Keef, Dylan when he's in that mode, Joe Strummer, Johnny Ramone, Elvis.

This video from the Guitar Geek covers it pretty well. My own opinion is that Fender's target market for these is the player who absolutely will not consider a Squier, but who is on a tight budget that won't quite stretch to a Player.... basically the 2025 equivalent of those in the early 90s who couldn't afford an American Fender but would buy the bottom-rung Japanese Fenders because they were Fenders. (Easy to forget now that since they became much harder to get hold of in the West the MIJ/CIJ Fenders are highly sought after, but at one time they were "only" the MIM of their era.) Spec-wise, though, these are basically the old Mexican Standard spec, except with a two-post trem (I have a minor preference for the six-screw myself, but that stopped being a dealbreaker when Fender put the traditional-style saddles on the two-posts instead of the UAF block saddles like on my old American Standard. I've never wanted to switch them out on that because I've kept it all-original, but they really are ugly....) The 21 frets is great - I *wish* the Player series had 21 instead of 22. I never use the extra fret, and I don't like how it looks. Some (most of whom would likely never noticed the difference had they not been told) have sneered at the body being poplar, though Fender used that widely on its Mexican guitars from the mid nineties for about a decade. Looking at the elements of the spec on these that are different than the Squier, I think they're worth the extra - I'd likely buy one (though I'd maybe change the tuners for Fender's vintage-style drop-in replacements - Pro Gear? purely for aesthetics) but for the limitations of the range. The Squier CV is a great guitar and would be the obvious choice if the cash difference matters, and/or you desperately wanted a more vintage-specced guitar. The only thing stopping me picking up one of these Standards is that there are no left handers at all in the range. I'm actually more disappointed in this in relation to the basses. Eventually I'd like to be able to pick up a P and a J from the Player range, but the Standards would do just as well for me... plus the Standard J has the added bonus of a maple board with *dots* being an option. I'm well aware left handed guitars area minority sport, but it's amazing how many things Fender could have sold me over the years if they had been an option. As it is, I've increasingly been buying Fender-influences instruments from other companies.