EdwardMarlowe

Interestingly, I've changed, like Hendrix, over the years. Started out preferring rosewood on a Strat, the 62 vibe, but I've come now to much prefer maple. Every so often I'm tempted to buy a Fender 50s soft v maple boarded neck for my old (1994) MIA Strat, but even if a 42 nut would suit me much better than it's 43mm, I'm a bit superstitious about changing the neck on a stock guitar like that let it's never the same again... The Big Plan over the next few years is to buy a Tidepool Player with maple, and *maybe* (if I can try one and like it before they get popular and shoot up in price!!) a Shijie in Daphne Blue with their baked maple neck... covers all options. I was impressed when the Player series was launched and they seem to have what I particularly have always wanted on a neck - glossy fingerboard, satin back. I've been tempted to have the rosewood on my 94 glossed, like a French polish or something, but I've always felt the need to keep that guitar all-original. I even still have the ugly-as-sin square saddles on it!

Another lefty here. About twenty years ago I bought a Tanglewood TW15NS all-solid dreadnought. Sound has only improved with age. I want a smaller acoustic with a pre-war, Robert Johnson type vibe in the future; Tanglewood will be on my list to try alongside some Ibanez and Martin models. TW were considered "budget" when I was first playing closing in on thirty years ago, but they really have established themselves well, and they are better than many brands in terms of left-handed provision.

With lockdown right now, it's a killer for getting out and trying new things, but certainly if I was spending that kind of cash, I'd want to try in person first. At the end of the market, it's really about what you like rather than 'better'. If you can wait til there's a chance to try all in person, spending that kind of cash I would. It's a rare thing (seemingly much more common with acoustics rather than electrics, for whatever reason) to have the luxury of a significant budget and walk into the shop ready to try a range of stuff and see what works. I always wanted to do that one day with 'Lefties' @Holiday Music in Leytonstone, but alas they are long gone now.

For my money the Epiphones are now getting to a price where I'd probably rather buy a Gibson Les Paul Tribute if that's what I was going for. Be interesting to see how retail price on the top end Epiphones shakes down over the next few years.

To my mind, the only shame was they went from the dot inlays to the crowns. I preferred the dots. The unbound fingerboard is a lovely thing, though - probably because I'm much more of a Fender man, but I much prefer the feel of a well-shaped, unbound neck.

That was it, yeah! Big fan of kilts. Just have to remember to shift yer sporran to the side so as not to get in the way of the guitar...

That's the joy of giving them a new voice/ form. Does its former musical life imbue it with a certain mojo that makes 'pianowood' the new tonewood? These look and sound great. I've really taken to slightly offbeat ideas these days - it's much more interesting to me than yet another luxury re-imagining of a Les Paul. The Strat cum Tele is well cool.

Nice stuff!

Last week, someone I know in Washington DC was scrapping an old piano. 100 odd yeas old.... it seems after a certain point, age is no factor in the value of a piano. Which really made me think about the viability here of what you're doing with turning the wood into new instruments.

Very cool. Is the body-shape a nod to Burns? I like the carbo top. Interesting to see new materials being explored.

Your tartan is MCLeod of Lewis, I believe... I rather like it. Also known in some corners of Edinburgh's Royal Mile as "McLeod of Loud". Considering a kilt to match? Used to be a young shredder type that got a lot of coverage in the US guitar mags around the turn of the 90s, Blues something - Blues Saccercho, something like that? Had blue tartan guitars as he wanted a visual signifier people would associate with him. He kept insisting on calling it "plaid", though - Yanks, eh? Looking forward to seeing the rest of this build.

Nice work!

I have a vague memory from the early 90s of Gibson doing an HSH configuration in a Superstrat model - the M3? - They also did it in a Les Paul studio too... Those were wired if memory serves to allow amixof tapped and HB tones.... basically, Gibson were trying to sell a guitar that would also cover the Fender sounds... Yes, here we are: https://www.creamcitymusic.com/1992-gibson-les-paul-studio-lite-m-iii-hsh-translucent-blue-finish/ Something like that could be interesting, though obvs rearrange for SHS. The standard 3HB Gibson operation is a three way switch which offers neck, bridge and middle, and bridge. I remember John Squire's Seahorses guitars were two LP 3HB Customs; at least seeing them live, I never noticed any marked difference between the sound of those and a regular LP. Always been pretty convinced Gibson just put in three on those to compete with the Strat. Middle HB & BridgeSC would, I think, be the stand-out sound on what is being proposed here. Be interested to see it. Always fun to see something different. One of the Thin LIzzy guys - Brian Robertson, was it? - played a Strat with a SSH - standard sc bridge and middle, and a big, chrome PAF style HB in the neck position. I love it when somebody thinks outside the boxlike that. When I started, in my crowd, we all played almost exclusively on bridge pups. I was esoteric in preferring the bridge and middle on my Strat. Only really in recent years I've become more interested in how I use the pups as part of how I play.

Thanks. If and when, I'd probably pay to have it done rather than risk myself, but yeah, a new pickguard does look like probably the best option if I don't want an "unused hole". Either that or I suppose leave the switch in unwired. Thr push/pull post and standard switch might be the more practical option in the end - and I could always add a killswitch separately.

I'm something of a fan of the GFS / Guitar Fetish stuff. Had a few, been pleased with the service. THeir new Kwikplug system is pretty cool - that and the low price would tempt me to try two or three with very quick and easy changing (plug, screw & go). https://www.guitarfetish.com/GFS-Guitar-Pickups_c_7.html

That Schechter looks really nicely put together. The Dinky reminds me of Ibanez-based customs I used to see a guy in a Belfast Band playing, way back in the early 90s.... Rachel's Asylum was the band, later just "Rachel's", Guy went by the name of 'wild Bill', was a hell of a player. Same visually interesting combination - the stripped down, 'natural' look, but with the hi-tech SuperStrat vibe. Back when these were 'new' designs, it was a big departure from the dayglo pink / metallic paintworks that were all the rage. Worth trying something alternative with the pick-ups if the guitar is otherwise excellent. Guitarfetish always impressed me with the quality of their pickups - they have a huge range of HBs. Scroll past the ones obviously designed for rockabilly, and they have everything from PAF-types to double-rails to actives. Always very decent in my experience, and at the price you could afford to try a few. On that basis, their 'quickplug' design is an excellent option if available on the pups you like - easy way to try a couple of different options very quickly, just a couple of screws and a plug. Doesn't seem to have any perceptible effect on the sound. They also do pre-wired harnesses, which I've never tried personally but about which I hear good things, if you need to rewire and , like me, you'd rather not get things too complicated! https://www.guitarfetish.com/Humbucker-Sized_c_578.html

Nice looking guitar. Interesting thread... I've recently noticed the same difference in dimensions. My long-term acoustic, bought back in 2002, is a Tanglewood TW15NS LH... this one: https://www.eaglemusicshop.com/prod/left-handed-guitars/tanglewood-tw15ns-lh-guitar.htm I'm quite shocked by how much they are now - Tanglewood were not quite as big a name (more known as a sort of 'Tokai for acoustics') back then as they are now in that world - it was seen as a "budget all-solid" at the time. As I recall, the full retail was £300 / £330ish. I don't think I want to part with that guitar. Cosmetically, I'm not a fan of dreadnoughts, but it has a really nice sound, and it has aged well. Years ago I foolishly left it sitting out in warm weather and it developed a small crack in the top, but it can barely be seen, and the guys at a local guitar shop (used to be the Bass Centre in Wapping, then move to Whitechapel - alas now long gone, as seem to be very many guitar shops round here save the ever-disappointing Denmark Street) did a lovely job of patching the back to keep it strong without it affecting the sound in any way. Thing is, though, I'm very much jonesing for a pre-war type looking guitar with a smaller body, and the look of something that some old, dead, unheard of blues guy might have played. A lot of that sort of stuff does seem to have the 45mm nut. Clearly I do just have to get out there sometime and play some.... FWIW, my Tanglewood is a 43mm nut. With an electric, I much prefer a 42mm. I know my American Std Strat (1994) is a 43mm nut, and I find more recent, 42mm nut Strats noticeably more comfortable to play for a lot of stuff. I have long wondered, though, how far it's the nut width alone that makes the difference, and how much it's the actual neck shape... A modern or a 50s 'c', and a 50s soft-V are profiles I definitely find much comfier than others. It seems my hand works better with something slightly narrower at the nut **but** deeper front to back. Lesson learned from the Westone Thunder IA I bought some years ago -and which I am going to sell: it sounds (especially with the actives kicked in) like *that* LP/SG sound I could never find in an LP/SG, but it's not for me asa player - that very 80s, wide/flat neck. That Auden has lovely, clean, simple lines. I remember when Lowden guitars first became a big 'thing' (in NI, at least - their "home") in the early 90s, guitars like them and Takamine to an extent bringing this simpler, clean-cut look to things. Those Audens look really nice. The Emily Rose catches my eye in particular - the Neo versions look like a great price for this sort of high end acoustic. Given that the wife has (quite reasonably) suggested I concentrate more on playing a smaller number of guitars than having a pile of 'em around, I'm sort of torn between stretching to something high end like this with a pre-war vibe, and picking up something more budget from Thomann that's in some other ways closer to the spirit of what the likes of Robert Johnson actually played. Compared to back in the day when I started, the fact that I - as a left-handed player - have the range of choice I do now - is really quite something. It's still limited compared to you non-sinister types, but gone are the days when the words "no left handers" were almost guaranteed to be on the spec chart of any even slightly of-mainstream guitar I cared to look at. Enjoy that Auden!

Very similar in style. Never actually seen one of the higher end Thunder III models with the thru-neck in person. I have a lefty Thunder IA in the guitar, and the Thunder IA Bass, lefty again, a very early one with the MKI logo. At that end of the line they are bolt-ons, though mine are both the 'natural finish' version which was considered the one to have back in the day because from the front they were designed with a sandwiched body to mimic the appearance of the thru-neck. Never owned a thruneck of any sort, but I'd consider the right Ric as long as it didn't look too "Beatles".... Very well made instruments indeed, though not really my style these days, so they're going to have to go eventually. When we first got into guitar easy back in the early 90s,a friend had a Thunder I, the very basic passive version - essentially a p-bass set-up, sounded great. Back in those days when they turned up they could be had for half the price of a new Squier. Value seems to be creeping up now, I suppose a mix of the kids getting into the eighties aesthetic and the word getting out about the quality of Matsumoku guitars...

Tell you what strikes me might be interesting - and easily done without even changing the wiring as an experiment - moving the middle pup to beside the bridge. A *bit* like the new Squier "Contemporary Strat" https://shop.fender.com/en-GB/squier-electric-guitars/stratocaster/contemporary-stratocaster-special/0370230506.html , though those are wired slightly differently. Would be interesting to see how just moving the middle pup alone affected the tone.

Used to be a guy played in the Mike Sanchez Band maybe fifteen or so years ago, saw him using one of these JVs. I think the only one I ever saw in person. Stunning guitar. Looked and sounded every bit as good as the MIA 57RI one of the other guys was playing that night.

Is there such a thing as a two-way selector switch on a Strat? Once lockdown is done and I'm able to sell off a lot of gear, one thing I want to buy is a new Player Strat. I am, however, toying with the idea of a little switching modification. I was initially just thinking of an on/off push-pull pot, but.... I've always thought it would be cool to add three mini toggles as separate on/off switches. ~If I did do that, would there be a way to use a traditional selector-switch as a master/on /off - i.e. something that looked like the traditional pick-up selector, but worked as a two-way on/off?

Fender have some really nice ideas this time round - I've really enjoyed what they've come up with this 'virtual' NAMM. I'm particularly intrigued by the concept of those Strat models where they've moved the middle pickup much closer to the bridge and added in some interesting wiring options. At some future point, I'd love to have a Strat with the selector switch replaced by three mini toggles to give me an 'on/off' for each pup, so I can have any combo I want (adding in neck and bridge as well as all three on to the usual five options). Could be tempted to do that on the Tidepool Player I have my eye on.

Very nice. If I was going with one of those F type offsets, that's what I'd want - two p90s, simple set-up. I wonder did Fender ever see these, given their 2021 Noventa Series?

My Tele was a real discovery for me. Every othe guitar I've ever owned I sought out. This one.... I just happeneed to be in Resding on day visitng a friend who also plays,and is also a lefty. Much to our surprise, GuitarGuitar in Reading had two lefty CIJ Fedners in the window, both white - a 71RI Tele and a 68RI Strat. Needless to say, it would have been rude not to give them a go. So we went in and spent avery pleasant hour or so. Six months later, I had the scratch and the Tele wasstill there, so.... FWIW, if I'd had the money, I'd have bought the Strat too, such a gogeous neck profile, matches a 50s soft V for comfort for me, but there was just something really special about that Tele that got to me. If I can ever sneak it past the wife, I'm really keen now on the idea of a Classic Vibe 50s Tele rewired as a Broadcaster. The Gibson I still have a lot of affection for now is the LP Junior. In some ways, the ultimate utilitarian guitar for me would be a TV yellow one of those Teles Fender just grought out with the sole p90 in the bridge. I've never played a regular Esquier, though the CV version looks really nice. Don't think they have lefties, though. The other guitar I'd buy very quickly if they did a left hander is the Slick 59 model...

The p90 Goldtop ones are nice. If mine had been one of those (I don't think they did 'em lefty, at least not 22 odd years ago) I'd probably hang onto it. The LP is an odd guitar... a good few of my guitar heroes (Jones, Mick and Jones, Steve in particular) played one, but in my hands I find it's my CIJ 71RI Tele of all things that gets me that sound, never a LP! The best "Gibson" sound I ever had in a guitar is a Westone Thunder IA, with both HBs on and the actives engaged. It's one of the guitars that has come time to move it on, though.... I think I'll be hitting Reverb hard once we get to a point where I can let buyers come in to collect.