EdwardMarlowe

Poplar does have the reputation, though Fender used it in Mexican made guitars for years on the bodies, so it can't be all that problematic! Bee interesting to compare it to laurel and rosewood. I've got both of those in fingerboards on different guitars, and I'm not convinced there's any particularly appreciable difference.

Thanks. Wow, looks like something much pricier - there's no obvious "budget" tell up against, well... something much pricier right beside it! Sounds like a HB type approach. Enjoy! How are you finding the poplar on the fretboard?

What is the gold top? Nice looking machine.

Tanglewood make a lovely acoustic. Their dedicated a/e models are also nicely appointed with the appropriate Fishman guts. The buzz about the Harley Benton brand seems to include their acoustics - I've yet to try one. Simon & Patrick make nice acoustics. Although there's still imo a bigger quality gap between the two ends of the acoustic market than there is with electrics now, I lean to the view that it's not as big as once it was. As with electrics, which you can get for two to three ton these days is ridiculously impressive compared to where the market was thirty odd years ago.

Nicely done. The paint job looks great - like a 'closet classic' relic.

I'm loving this all. For years I've wanted something very much like that for plugging in headphones or hooking up to the PC at home. I've not bought anything as yet because I'm not really interested in most of the potential they have - years ago, I bought a Vox Valvetronix (still got it). The original, blue cloth one, size of an AC30, 2x12. Thing is I only ever used one amp model, and I don't bother with the built in effects. Something like this, though, I might be more inclined towards as at that price, as long as the sound I want is good, it doesn't matter so much more of it is "wasted"....

Not new, no. I still can't get over how Epiphone prices have skyrocketed.... Never understood why Gibson would never produce a 'Gibson Japan' or similar, rather than keep pushing on with runs of YouWHATnow? expensive Epiphones (there's brand perception for you!), but they must know the business better than I do. Used, well.. Tokai you occasionally see a used bargain on one of the Chinese or Korean models, though Tokai seem to be increasingly rare over here now. I have a Korean Epiphone Std, a really nice one, from 1998 I bought new for about £350. I wouldn't be confident of getting north of £250 for it (hell, if it would sell for £500+ it'd have been on eBay long ago!). Vintage still seem to come in under £300 here and there used - I've seem some as low as £150 or so, but the brand is definitely picking up recognition. New, all three are much pricier than HB, though I'd consider them its direct competition still in term of instruments as distinct from price band... (back to the benefit of Thomann's business model for these!).

Could be. If this one was intended to be a more 'vintage' spec, they might have installed narrow / tall frets like Fender did way back when. Medium-Jumbo and Jumbo frets seem to have started becoming much more of a norm on everything into the 90s?

Edit: I misread your post, but you're right - the big plus of Shubb is all the spares available! https://shubb.com/support/ https://shubb.com/product-category/replacement-parts/ hubb.com/product/delrin-cap-dc/

Well, if you think about it, headphones are, ultimately, just a pair of stereo speakers. I've played my LP through my Vox bass amp. It does sound a touch different than via a guitar amp, but it works. Similarly, I have a Vox 2x12 stereo cab that I keep toying with the idea of trying out with a hifi. It will work. It'll sound different than a hifi speaker set, because it is voice primarily with a guitar's frequencies in mind. Same with headphones. I would expect guitar-specific headphones to be designed to specifically work well for the frequencies a guitar runs at, whereas hifi headphones are designed to cover a wider range of sounds well. TBh, though, I doubt I could tell you which was which in isolation. I'd expect to hear a *difference* against each other, but what sounds *better* will depend on the individual human ear, and the subjective preferences to which it is attached. All done and said, if I was sinking serious money into headphones dedicated to use with a guitar amp, I'd at least look at guitar-specific phones. If I wanted phones I could also use for more general purposes, I'd probably be looking at the hifi stuff. Both will do the job for a guitar amp just fine, they'll jut be voiced slightly differently.

I think it matters more for some types of sound. There's a Rick Beato vid on Youtube where he shows how, contrary to the popular opinion that "heavy equals teh tonez", if you're a shredder playing with a lot of gain and distortion, lighter strings actually give you a clearer tone. Maybe that's why Brian May plays, if memory serves, eights (how he doesn't snap strings all the time mystifies me, especially given what he uses for picks...). I started out with 9s. The first thing I did with my first electric was restring it (it was right handed, I'm a southpaw and Hendrixed it - left-handed guitars were a whole lot rarer, especially used, in 1991). I kept snapping the high e, so after a bit I started buying a separate 10 and putting that on for the high E. Meant it was a lot close what I was using for a B from a 9 set, and felt a little different, though no derogatory effect on the sound. Eventually I just switched up to tens all over, and have been happy with that since. Over time my pick of choice also went up from a .46 to, nowadays, anything from 1mm to 2mm, which works fine with 10s - guess I've figures out the right 'grip' as to not snap 'em all the time now.

Indeed. I'd be looking at a quality steel (or brass?) trem block replacement if it's the cheaper zinc type in there. Otherwise, don't see any need to replace the whole thing, unless you luck into a deal where the whole unit with a quality block is cheaper than the block alone.

Yeah, I spotted that bridge too. I did wonder whether Aria had done a series where they used better hardware, but you are probably right it's a later replacement. Which suggests a previous owner enjoyed this guitar well enough to take the time, effort and expense of that modification. There may be others - I would expect they at least did a good set-up on it, but I wonder too if any of the other big plus points you've noticed were down to the same owner's investment? Be interesting to have a look under the guard to see if there are any signs of anything being changed there.

Yes, Epiphone, Tokai and Vintage also all make a great LP type, but HB's vfm is such a no-brainer, that'd be where I'd start too.

TBh, I think for me personally the feel - and even the look of a guitar - makes as much of a difference, maybe, more, than the sound. When I life an LP style guitar, my approach, my own associations, both conscious and unconscious, with that style as distinct from a Strat, a Tele, my HB JA or MR Classic are so specific that I approach the instrument in a different way, and that every much informs what and how I play. There are guitars out there I could never play my best on because I hate how they look so much. (Though that can be overcome: years ago I bought a Steinberger Spirit as a travel guitar, before the restrictions changed and anything bigger than a violin case had to be checked in hold baggage - and although it was a purely utilitarian choice, an appreciation for how it actually worked so well gave me a new appreciation for its aesthetics.) Yes. Look and feel are, if anything, underrated as reasons to buy / not buy particular guitars.