EdwardMarlowe

This. All the this, in the world.

Almost everything I've ever done I've had a little bit of a rush. I've been teaching law for twenty years now; in about twenty minutes I'm going online to do a lecture for a class in Beijing on Chinese Data Protection Law - been teaching this for over a decade now, and I'm legit getting an adrenaline rush right now.

I do recall having mixed experiences, but I'm not fully ready to rule out the possibility that many of them were crap because they were budget, starter guitars built down to a price, rather than because of the plywood. (The Taylor pallet-wood guitar springs to mind here.) Not unlike the three-bolt neck on a 70s Strats got the blame for lesser quality in that period, when in reality it was far more to do with CBS's poor attitude to QA. A lot of high end semis use ply / laminate, partly because it's easier to mould, yes, but also because it's apparently less prone to feedback... What I keep coming back to is that with a Strat especially, the pick-ups are mounted in plastic, ultimately - the pick guard, which surely reduces the significance of the wood.... One thing I thought was fascinating was the Switch guitars. German company, I think. They were a bit HR Geiger in look for me, but the technology was a fascinating idea. They reckoned with the polymer they could cut out the organic variation common in wood guitars. By changing the make-up of the polymer from which they made their bodies, they could simulate different wood types, and once locked on something that sounded good, they could reproduce it every time, guaranteed. They bombed on the market, though. A mix of being too different on one hand and aesthetics on the other, I think - they had a very 80s Superstrat vibe at a time when that was very much not a big seller. Never got a chance to try one (never saw a lefty), but the concept was fascinating. In some ways, not a million miles from what Steinberger were trying to do with carbon fibre, or Ovation's fibreglass bowlbacks. It does make me wonder about the future of 3D-printed bits. If it played and felt the same, how many here would be up for a plastic guitar? I think it would be a hard sell to the mainstream, but for those who like something a bit different like Jack White's Airplane... They also sold the Switch guitars as environmentally friendly in the same era when Gibson were backing off some woods and experimenting with the 'Smartwood' guitar. Not sure how truly green the polymer plastic was - though the perception of plastic not being EF might have been a challenge for them. Interesting to see now there are more wood-types being considered - I remember seeing a Yamaha bamboo acoustic. I have a feeling though that aside from the odd exception, non-wood becoming a norm is a ways off yet. At least unless there's a new guitar hero of the level of a Hendrix emerges playing ply or plastic...

I think it's that "tonewood" notion again. Danos are made with cheap components and not some fashionable wood type, therefore.... I do believe far too many players hear a guitar by casting their eyes over the spec sheets. How many players have spent years trying to get their Strat to sound perfectly like Jimi's on the Purple Haze leads, only to discover he recorded that with a Tele? Or how many obsess over buying a Les Paul to sound like Page on Led Zepp I, when even Page himself can't remember which of those numbers he played on an LP and which were on a Tele? Don't get me wrong, if folks like and want to pay for a particular guitar, that's fair enough, but 'headstock ears' should at least be honest, shurely...

Totally get you on this. My own tastes are pretty caveman when it comes to guitars: I've tried but didn't cared for locking trems and active pups and such. Thing is, I gave them a go and decided they weren't for me. Aesthetically, I like my guitars to look like they could have been made prior to 1962, but even then I find the market very limited and closed minded - especially as a left handed player. (It's incredible how often some idiot these days still trots out the old lie about "guitar isn't handed", "you should find it easier with your dominant hand on the board" and such). Even within my own tastes, which do have their limits, I find the market narrow. I'm sick to the back teeth of hearing about "tonewood", or dogma that "guitarists should always buy the best [best meaning most expensive] they can afford." The worst I remember was when the first Variax was released, guys all over Harmony Central falling all over themselves to be the 3,009th say "Enjoy your toy" in sneering condescension. Even those who said they'd try one if they put fake pickups on it and made it look like a "real" guitar.... Honestly, I know Leo Fender had a time of it back in the fifties, but if he had to deal with selling something innovative to today's market, I don't know how he'd cope. Probably the one that drives me up the wall most is the abject refusal by so many to try something other than tubes - I've even seen many flat out reject the idea of even trying non-tube where it was guaranteed to sound exactly the same, simply because of, as you say, this misplaced notion of authenticity. The absolute worst are these fifteen year old kids who sound like their grandparents haughtily announcing "there's no good much like Led Zeppelin being made any more." You're bloody fifteen!!! Find your own thing, you have the time!!! MARLOWE ANGRY! MARLOWE SMASH! RAAAAHHHHHH! Ironically, I'm going to end up with tubes myself for no better reason than I can find a small, simple Champalike much cheaper than anything else I've looked at, but I always have an eye out for the price coming down on those Roland BluesCubes, or a chance to try one of those Session Blues Babies that claims to make SS sound like tube. If that works at the right price, I'll dump the tubes in a heartbeat. I'm already perfectly happy with SS for bass. I always have a laugh when some brand-snobs criticise the like of Tokai for not doing "something new", then when they do see something new (even from Tokai)....

I have a knee jerk hatred of people "clapping along". Comes specifically from musical theatre. At some point back when some genius thought it was a good idea to have the band play loudly over curtain call - so nowadays at most shows instead of applause, the performers get only the sound of a few hundred idiots clapping along mindlessly rather than applauding to acknowledge the performance. Grates on me every damn time I go to the theatre. As to youtube.... I did watch quite a few of the Chappers /Captain vids, went off them a bit after that silly kid got under his skin and he posted that video response that made him look, frankly, a bit sad. (Ignoring it would have been far more sensible.) TRogly's vids are interesting to see what's out there. Interestingly as I get older I have less and less interest in actually owning the vast majority of the high end stuff on there, but still fun to see it. Mostly these days youtube is my go to for diy tips, reviews of all kinds of consumer products, and so on. Been nice to keep up with my Sunday services via youtube during lockdown as well, as I'm still not going out much til I have my second jab. Look up the occasional music video, can be interesting for finding new European rockabilly acts. Watched a few good bits and pieces of content on there that I couldn't find elsewhere, including They Live, Psychomania, and the first two series of Auf Widersehen Pet just recently (the BBC were streaming the last two and the concluding specials, but the first two series went out on ITV - couldn't find 'em on the ITV player and damned if I'm going to subscribe to Britbox for anything....).

You're in good company if you have a touch of the stage fright; Brian Wilson was regularly crippled with it (to the extent of serious stomach cramps and vomiting) before he went on stage with the Beach Boys. It's one of the reasons he went off the deep end originally.

I remember when I first picked up a guitar in the early 90s, the number of experienced players then who used to marvel at the beginner guitars available in terms of quality, price and range then available compared to when they started. Now I find myself doing the same thing. In my early days, a beginner guitar was, for the most part, just that - the better ones might be something that could serve as a back up in case of a broken string if you played out. Increasingly now, imo, many beginner guitars (not the very cheapest, but...) are viable, giggable instruments that could serve well for years in their own right.

I'd agree with the suggestion of trying out as many different styles as you can. See what feels comfortable in the hand, and what you like the look of. (If you hate how it looks, that's not a great motivator to play it...). I'd also suggest looking into the JHS Vintage brand. Good range of takes on all the core classics, designed by Trevor Wilkinson, with street prices that make them, imo, often much better VFM than either the Squier or especially the Epiphone ranges. Their SG alikes are especially nice for the money if that's what wiggles your wire. https://www.jhs.co.uk/collections/vintage/type_electric-guitars

I can see the blade switch being a big plus point for those of us more F than G.... Wouldn't it also open up the option of all sorts of wiring too - like a six-way switch which out of phase/ coil taps and such in there? That could be pretty cool. I'd also be tempted to switch it out for two separate on/off minitoggles, though! It does take getting used to. I bought one years ago as a 'travel' guitar, as it's the perfect mix of being compact without being an unplayable, small scale. Funny thing..... I always considered them pig ugly. Not my first choice of guitar, but having experience of one and enjoying how it played I have a whole new appreciation of the design. Really quite nice to play, too.

Fair points made, though. I've seen other ingenious ideas in the past fall by the wayside for much the same reasons. Most of my pedals I've bought in the last few years have been £20 Chinese cheapies, and they're often equally as good sound-wise as those on which I spent far more. (We'll see how they last, but as I'm not heavy on them and don't play out these days....). I could see spending more this sort of money if I were regularly gigging, though they'd have to have the right mix of effects, and they'd really need to offer *all* the f/x I'd want (OD, clean boost, verb, slapback echo, and trem) in order to take advantage of the design - little point if there isn't more than one or two that appeal. It's interesting looking at it from the business point of view as you have, because it really does explain how so many great ideas just don't take off for reasons other than design.

For years I bought into all that "palette of sounds" bollocks until I realised I just don't love me no humbuckers, I'm' not a big Gibson guy at all, and I'd rather have three Strats with minimal differences that I regularly played than six completely different guitars most of which ended up wall-hangers. The thing is, though, player experience is a big deal. I'm equally crap on every guitar I lift, but I'll stand different with a Strat or a Tele or a whatever. Even a different colour can put me in a different headspace (hell, how and what I play is as much about the shoes I'm wearing and how rock and roll I feel. As a wise man once said, "Like Trousers Like Brain"). Difference is in the feel under the fingers rather than the sound - and I agree, sometimes just feeling a difference under your hands is all it needs to try something else, new, different, seem to improve. On the matter of PRS, while I absolutely admire their quality and skill, only the Mira and the Starla actually really appeal to me. I'm not a figured woods guy, or a HB guy. I do rate an SG over a Les Paul, so that might well help. I'm unlikely to buy any of them, but those are the ones I could see me lifting to try given an opportunity. Were I putting together a 70s-punk project, they're the kid of guitar I'd go looking for - a step away from the obvious classics, SG-like (an SG is the only type of guitar I've ever managed to get that big 'Steve Jones' Bollocks Les Paul sound out of) but with enough of a difference to not be beholden to trad guitar hero imagery... almost an edge of the Soviet era Russian electrics you see on youtube. Stuff in a couple of pickups with a bit of a Brian Setzer feel and possibly a Bigsby for that agricultural equipment as weapon vibe.... The other PRS I really like visually is that run he did on the Strat as a sig model for that young fella - Meyer? (No feelings on him either way, never heard any of his stuff tbh). Clearly built on the old 90s era EG bolt on range that were PRS' first shot at a budget line (how I chuckled at a 'budget' guitar at £900 in 1994!), but with a closer Fender look. I can't say I'd buy one (at that sort of money I think I'd rather a Fender Custom Shop - not so much for the brand as the control over the spec), but I'd love the chance to play one, and I actually really enjoyed seeing someone else so passionate and knowledgeable about guitars show off their take on such an established classic. I have no doubt the Fender CS team quickly acquired and dissected one to see what they could learn from an objective take like that. PS OP: If you like it and you won't miss the money, just buy the damn thing and enjoy!

Dano are interesting that way: they do seem to have created a niche for themselves with something that does buck the overriding trend. I guess part of that is people wanting their unique sound, part of it the effect of photos of folks like Hendrix and Page wielding one... One of my big regrets is that when I moved to London in 1999 and went looking for a new, budget guitar. I didn't originally want to bring over my US Fender as I started out in shared accommodation. Very quickly discovered just how limited the budget market was for left handers in those days (these days it's be Hellooo, Thomann...). When it came down to it, I could have had a Dano U2 for about £180, but ended up buying an Epi LP Std for much more. The Epi I still have - one of the later Korean models, very nice indeed, would be 'Epi Plus' stuff now. Thing is, I'm kinda over Les Pauls and humbuckers in general; I'd rather have that Dano these days. Ironically, the Dano would probably be worth more now too. Dano are back doing short runs now; some really nice guitars, but very few lefties. I do love their aesthetic - there's something very scuzzy rockabilly - punk rock'n'roll about them.

Bravo!

Idly google while procrastinating a hefty marking task this afternoon, I chanced across Munson Guitars based in Norfolk. https://www.munsonguitars.com/ Mostly a little too 'modern' for my tastes, but they look really nice. £1300 or so and upwards, list of custom options. What caught my eye and I thought some folks might want to know round here is that not only do they ensure all their models are available left-handed (the owner is a left handed player), but there's a really cool bit on the website where it encourages left handed players to play left handed - and offers a 5% discount on all left handed guitars across their range. If I had the money available to spend on a guitar, I'd be very tempted to jump on one for that reason alone. Impressive! I was originally going to leave the thread at that, but thought it would be cool to have a thread dedicated to markers who produce nice, left-handed guitars, as there seem to be a few of we southpaws around these parts...

Me, I'd love to see a high quality, solid body electric guitar.... made from plywood. I've come back to the material after years of looking down on it as a green, sustainable wood that actually looks great in the sort of furniture that appeals to me (mid-century modern; I hope to move house in the next few years, and my intention is to give it a very late 50s and earlier aesthetic). This has made me look back on the era of affordable, plywood guitars. When I first took up guitar in late 1991, plywood was the norm. Then Yamaha hit the marketing triumph of selling the Pacifica 112 with a natural finish to emphasise that they were solid wood, and everyone else soon followed suit. As I've come to find the ply aesthetically pleasing, I've come to wonder whether a truly great guitar could be made from it - an extension of the "tonewood is a superstition and nothing more" philosophy, I suppose. I'd love to see someone with crazy money have a Strat made from ply by Fender's custom shop, and then play it off against the one-piece, exotic swamp ash types. Of course it's not in the industry's interests at present to do something like that in case it undermines years of marketing expensive woods, but I can't help but wonder if necessity will bring it round again one day, perhaps from the environmental perspective. I mean, twenty years ago who expected bamboo guitars would be available now?

JUst spotted this after I posted: yes, it's very hard indeed to go past Vintage for a new guitar. Even these days when I'm looking at selling off a lot of what I have and buying just a few, nicer pieces, I'd still consider them. Hells, if they were better at donig left handers in their 'relic' type, I'd have a couple of those already.

Worth seeing what the kid's favourite players are and what they play; at that early stage, having a guitar you feel cool posing with can make a big difference in keeping 'em sticking with it, imo. An SG could be a good option there. I'd be inclined to buy carefully at the budget end with the guitar, and spend more money on the amp and maybe a couple of cool pedals - some of those £25ish Chinese mini pedals all over ebay, they can be very cool. If an SG style is what works, I'd be looking at the Vintage range. Their SG type - the VS6 - is phenomenally good for the money. A fair bit cheaper than Epiphone, and an Epi beater imo (qualifier: I've not had a chance to try the new headstock Epiphones). They have models from about £150 for the standard one up to some fancier vintage styles for £350ish. The RRPs are a fair bit higher than you'll find in a guitar shop. The vintage range takes some serious beating. The cheaper, Korean made Tokais can be worth a look too.

I started with 9 when I first played electric. I moved up to tens because I kept snapping the high e on a 9, and I liked that the 10s overall provided that bit more fightback. I've tried a lot of string brands over the years; as a non-pro and not gigging or playing out at all these days, I find whatever is cheapest works well enough for me. IMO, the chief thing with strings is to find a brand that works well for you in terms of durability and that don't snap all the time and whatever. Beyond that, I'm not convinced there's any difference made to the sound (unless a la Eric Johnson your dna has enough canine that you can hear a difference!). For my money, Ernie Ball, Rotosound, D'addario, Dean Markley... all decent, go for the cheapest one. I remember I stopped buying Dean Markleys years ago for no reason other than that I took offence at the tedious sexism in a lot of their advertisements, but the strings themselves were decent enough.

This is really coming together!

I have always worked on the basis of avoiding prescriptive fingering, and used whatever works... the most important point, surely, is how it sounds.... (unless, of course, you're in a tribute band and a particular physical movement is highly characteristic of the player you're performing as).

Not seen that particular brand before, but it does greatly resemble the Agile / SX types that were all the rage back in my Harmony Central days. Nicer headstock than many of the Far-East made guitars that are in the Gibson arena but seeking to avoid legal threats from the same. I don't think I've seen exactly that shape of fretmarker before. Clever choice - in the Gibson stylistic vein, but not one they have ever used, to my knowledge anyhow. I rather like it. Body shape looks quite close to the original save for the blunter horn.

I can't imagine Simple Minds will ever be forgiven where I hail from for daring to be "outsiders" with a view on "our problem"! That and Belfast Child was ,in the end, just a bloody awful song, bless them.

Yip, as said above, exactly like a five string bass - more low notes. As to Vai - technically a very gifted musician, though TBH not a player I take any pleasure in watching/ listening to. The Shred thing always left me cold. It's hugely impressive from a skill point of view, but as art it stirs nothing in me.

Nice. At one time I toyed with the idea of buying a used Tom De Long sig model and Hendrixing it; I'd definitely change the HB, though - possibly for a HB sized p90. I have a lot of love for the concept of a single pup guitar, though I don't current have one given the rarity of left handed models. Every time I see something like this, though....