EdwardMarlowe

content://com.android.chrome.FileProvider/images/screenshot/16091911806661275422068.jpg content://com.android.chrome.FileProvider/images/screenshot/16091912028751606406301.jpg content://com.android.chrome.FileProvider/images/screenshot/160919122066076764646.jpg Scguitars.co.UK Anyone had a chance to try one of these Chinese beauties? Lots of positive buzz around. I'm hoping they do lefties...

Ah - according to Wikipedia: "Lace Sensors are true single-coil pickups; however, internally they are different from classic single coils. The chief difference is that, like the pickups used on the Fender Jaguar, the coil is surrounded by metal barriers which are designed to reduce electro-magnetic interference such as power line hum. According to the manufacturer, these barriers also help concentrate the magnetic field, allowing weaker magnets to be used, which results in less string pull. Less string pull, in turn, means truer pitch and intonation, and superior sustain." So it's more a different means of putting together a sc pup... Looks to me like it broadly speaking puts the coil between magnets rather than wrapped around it... Seems Fender dropped them when they got their own Noiseless series developed. I remember a lot of Neanderthals howling that the Laces weren't "proper" pickups because they had no polepieces, but lace sis develop a "Holy Grail" model with fake polepieces on it for that market.

No sweat.

Wilkinson do seem to be the obvious go-to for quality bits on a budget.... I see quite a lot of that stuff on eBay if you hunt. Other option might be to buy a used Vintage or Squier guitar and strip the parts you need, sell what you don't. If there's a fair bit you wat to use that can see you come out ahead (I regularly see Squier necks sell for more than complete guitars!) but otherwise if it's only a bit or two I'd hunt Wilkinson. Amazon has a good range of Fender bits, nit sure if they have Wilkinson too.

Possible. He's always seemed pleasant enough, but he *is* pally with Prince Charles. Never trust anyone keen to hang out with royalty.

Never played a lace sensor equipped guitar. I do recall they worked differently to a traditional pickup - they weren't just 'hidden posts', but don't remember the details. How do they sound?

Nice. The bullet casing is a clever idea - it looks much more 'finished' than leaving a hole.

Interesting. Can't have been a product placement issue, as though pp is legal on UK TV since 2011, the BBC are still not allowed to do it (a big push for the legalisation was to bolster dwindling advertising revenues for commercial channels, while the Beeb of course retains a guaranteed revenue stream from "the unique way in which the BBC is funded, by you, the viewer". Could be snobbery, could be the 'right look'.... I wonder if it's also an endorsement thing. I remember hearing tell of how BB King would politely decline when invited to autograph Fender guitars because of his endorsement deal with Gibson. Some endorsement deals are more exclusive than others.

Personally, I'd avoid pricey replacement pups on a cheaper guitar where it's more of a hassle to revert to standard (contrast with a stat type...). Guitar Fetish - guitarfetish.com - do a nice range of fairly affordable pickups, including HB sized p90s and all sorts of oddball and Gretsch-types that might give you a different, more sc sound if you're looking for something other than typical HB mud. They do have a bunch of wiring diagrams or suggestions, though they also sell pre-wired looms which look pretty good. Another thing they do with a bunch of their pups is a lcik-system with a smallish jack where you jut click the pups into place without soldering... not directly tried them myself but heard good things about them - a pretty cool way to chop and change at the turn of a few screws if you wanted to try out as bunch of different pups...

A friend and I went sopping for a dirt pedal for her years ago. In the end it came down to the Coloursound fuzz, the Boss Blues Driver, and the Marshall Bluesbreaker II. All sounded good, but we agreed the best of the bunch was number 3 -which also turned out to be the cheapest. The great thing about pedals these days is that it doesn't cost much to get a pedal which is durable enough to last for awhile - around £20 now. And once it's durable, everything else is wholly subjective - from the cheapest £20 Chinese import mini-pedal to a £400 boutique, handmade job.

This raised a chuckle from me. Years ago, I went amp shopping, asked what the Marshalls were like, and the guy in the store - trying his sales pitch - gave me a full on "Oh, you'll love this, they're great for that Guns 'n' Roses sound." He looked aghast when I said "oh, oh dear. Have you got something else, then?" Horses for courses. My sonic tastes have moved sharply away from Marshall in the last twenty years, but I never found their quality lacking. Main thing I'd suggest is - if and when possible -go to a guitar store and try as many different amps as you can with *your* guitar. Some maps work great with some guitars, others less so. The Valvestate range are pretty good at capturing the "Marshall Sound" as far as I remember, though there are also plenty of alternatives out there, especially with modelling amps now. Buy the sound you like, though - don't fall for perceived versatility if you know for sure there's only one sound you'll ever use. Equally, the point above about 100watters is well made. Literally nobody needs 100watts nowadays. You'll only end up with an expensive looking bit of novelty furniture you can't play in the house. IMO, 5 tube watts (10-15solid state) is plenty loud enough unless you're playing with a drummer and no PA. I have one of the older Vox Valvetronix 120w models, size of an AC30, capable of 2 x 60w in stereo. I've never played it higher than the 2 x 1watt setting in the house. Big maps are overrated; in ten years time, I expect amps will start to disappear from stages, mostly replaced by preamp pedals into the House pa. Already happens more often than you'd think.

If I was going to rewire an LP, I'd set it up like a Gretsch, i.e. one volume for each pup, a single master tone for both, and a single master volume overall. As a rule, I tend to find a sweet spot with a tone pot for each guitar and leave it there; I'd much rather, one a tow vol guitar, have a third master volume so that I could find the right volume balance between the pups and then raise or lower overall volume direct from the guitar without having to go to the amp, or rebalance relative pup volumes every time. Not a fan of tapping pups and such - I may be a Stat fan, but there *is* such a thing as a guitar having too many options imo. Might be worth considering other options too, though- like a HB-sized p90. A lot of folks like the combination of a p90 in the neck and a bucker in the bridge. (Personally, I'd prefer the other way around, but that's to individual taste).

At that price, you could hardly go wrong. Probably be able to get most of your money back on ebay if you don't like it. Normally, the best way to sell second hand F types is part them out, but the HBs seem to hold a surprising amount of their new price as complete guitars on the eBay.

Oh, very much so. Sometimes, though, you get brief trends - like the Squier Protones and some others. At some point, though, I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and sell my Epi at market rate. That's the big drag of budget guitars - sometimes you do fall in with one that's really quite special, much better than the regular norm, but the 'brand' still limits its value. Same reason I thought Gibson made a big mistake with the Elitist / Elite series Epiphones. I'd have been willing to bet a lot more people would have bought an affordable "MIJ Gibson" than an expensive Epiphone.

I noticed recently that my old 1994 US Standard Strat would now sell for more than I paid for it (though not necessarily adjusted for inflation). Mine's a lefty, which makes it rare for that year - also, the left handed ones never had the anniversary badging that the "normal" version shipped with. What are the kids playing these days? I'm totally ignorant of the mainstream now. Used to have a really good handle on it via the NME, but I quite reading that in 2007 when it had become all synth bands I'd never heard / didn't like.... they left me, I didn't leave it... I think the last number one I could honestly tell you was Christmas 2009.... I'm hoping in the next few years that the Korean made Epiphones become a "thing" like the ProTone Squiers. I've got a beautiful one that I'm in two minds aboyt parting with, but if it made me a decent lump of cash to pour into a new Fender or a Korean Gretsch.....

Undoubtedly, pointy guitars are going through their "Les Pauls in the mid eighties" phase! The one part of the world that the eighties retro trend doesn't seem to have reached yet is guitars...

Pointy, Floyd guitars have been out of fashion for a decade or two now, so now is a good time to be buying used ones. Eventually they *will* come back round - everything does - and value will go up. In truth, I've never found the need for enough whammy abuse to put a two-point Fender trem out of tune (they hold up surprisingly well), but if you don't mind taking the additional time it takes to restring (which in any case decreases with familiarity), for what it does and the extremes it allows, the Floyd Rose is not to be sniffed at.

ezbass has it - a humbucker pickup.

The one thing that put me off the Yamaha was always the HB in the bridge, though a HB size p90 could be nice there.... For something more traditionally Strat-like, I'd also look at the Squier Std, or Squier's CV range. The CVs look pricey for a Squier, but bear in mind they're aiming much higher up the tree than the standard MIMs. They're also holding use values pretty well (lefties, at least). Have a look too at JHS's Vintage Reissue and Icon series S-types. Surprisingly nice guitars, at least as good as the CV Squiers and sometimes the entry level MIM Fenders too.

I'd adore a 6120, though I will eventually settle for a 5240, the Korean--built equivalent (basically the MiM Fender Equivalent in Gretsch terms). It's interesting how Gretsches have become the quintessential rockabilly guitars, though that's really more a revivalist thing. According to everything I've read from "those who were there", Telecasters were actually much more common right at the start.... Shows how you can't beat a good Tele. Even the leads on Purple Haze were recorded on a Tele! Which is a ways from rockabilly...

Yeah, inreality they're quite a lot cheaper than the Squier CVs which they at least equal.

I'm interested in hearing from people who gig about the relative importance of form and function. For example, friends who have played in pro bands have often mentioned the importance of having the right 'look' - both for themselves and their instruments - for niche scenes. No reason why you couldn't play rockabilly on a Dean ML through an AC30, for example, but a large chunk of that scene's potential audience will switch off if you don 't have 'the look'. Same for very many scenes. I do wonder how many people in these parts who actually gig choose gear and/or stagewear with audience expectation in mind?

Pretty much word for word what I'd have said. Were I looking a cheapish Tele with no mods to make to add to my armoury now I know what I want (and bearing in mind it would be slipping in alongside a CIJ 71RI Tele), I'd start by comparing a 50s CV Tele with a Vintage (JHS brand) V52 or V58 or V62 or V75 model. Aesthetically, the headstock on the Vintage guitars is less pleasing (simply because it's a lot more Strat than Tele), but those Trevor Wilkinson designs are cracking otherwise. https://www.jhs.co.uk/-4463/vintage-electrics/vintage-reissued-electrics Vintage also do some in a slightly distressed finish, if you fancy the novelty of a relic but don't want to pay out the big money: https://www.jhs.co.uk/-4463/vintage-electrics/vintage-icon-electrics TBH, if I was going to gig out regularly in rough venues or otherwise wanted a few guitars I didn't need to worry about much, I'd quite likely start with Vintage. Just a shame for me their left hander provision is limited, or I probably would pick up a couple for fun. If I wanted a Tele type just as an initial experiment to see if the basic style worked for me, I do hear good things about the HB. The Squier Affinity Tele, however, is surprisingly good for the money. String thru body, generally quite good pups in it. Every so often I toy with the ideas of buying one of these and a blank pickguard, and rewiring it as an Esquier. Always seemed odd to me that Fender don't do more with the Esquier design, compared to the big deal Gibson/ Epiphone have made of their singly pup guitars over the years.

Interested to see photos. I always thought it would be cool to rehouse a bunch of favourite pedals, give 'em a uniform look/size/shape and an air of mystery!

The "Single Malt" sound? It'd be interesting to experiment with for sure. Personally, I'd always planned that if I made it as a rock star I'd have a mystery pedal labelled "The Diagonal Steam Trap" which I'd stand on every so often. It would, by design, do *nothing*, but the aim would be to see if I could create demand for one or con people into thinking it was part of my sound.