EdwardMarlowe

Quite so. A warning to everyone who buys into the nonsense that acid can aid creativity.

It's interesting how often cheaper brands are actually donig something interesting moreso than the big boys. Partly this is, to be fair, due to the market being problem the most inherently conservatice consumer goods market there is, but a lack of p90s seems to me to be a real miss in Fender's Player line-up, for example. I'd love a Strat with three p90s (even three JM pups, which are not quite the same thing), or a Tele with one in the neck.

Stumbled across this website a couple of days ago - https://www.boobooguitars.co.uk/ They sell reject / seconds guitar body and necks (F style, typically) for a fration of the price of what they might other wise cost. Some have dings or knots in the body, but all seem fairly priced. For anyonel ooking for bits on the cheap for a project, especially soemthing like a Barncaster, worth looking at.

Yip. Cross between that and the Single-pickup Rickenbacher 425 model.

I love seeing pictures of cool oddball guitars. Things like the Squier Supersonic, for example. BEing as lefty they're rarely an option for me, but I enjoy that they're out there still. Here's the latest I've seen: The Lindo Rosetti. A lefty in that seafoan / surf gren woyld be very tempting! https://lindoguitars.com/product/lindo-rosetta-gloss-electric-guitar-black/

I've only used a very standard, two-finger wallhanger for one guitar before now (got three of them up on the wall, two in my ounge, one in the bedroom. Interested in those angled ones on a row - when we're able to move house, probably after the looming recession, I hope to have a home ofice I can keep my guitars in, and I'll want to hang them like that. (My current display ones are 'toelrated' having been instaleld in my bachelor days, but I don't imagine I'll be permitted more in 'public' areas of the current flat.

Glad you found one and like it! I stil think Vox made a huge mistake not keeping these on.

I'm hoping for a MIM version eventually.

Here's a secondary thought to the original question: for how many of us did these life-changing record experiences happen when the recod was just out, and how many folks had an experience more like mine, where the record in question was one that had been around for some years already? I think the luick of the draw had something to do with it for me - by the time I had turned sixteen, I'd already soured on mainstream pop and the metal genre, which I'd seen through as not only hopelessly misogynist, but contrary to all its claims also wildly conformist. I think prior to Nirvana andthe grunge revolution, around 98% of what I listened to was by atists who were either dead or otherwise defunct by that point (hanged later on, and I got to see a lot of reunion gigs by bands I loves like the Stiff Little Fingers and many more - even the Pistols themselves. THe Clash, alas, no - but I did get to see Joe with the Mescaleroes in 99, 00, and 01; in 01, last tiem I saw himj before hissad death, Strummer closed the set at Brixton Academy with a roof-raising cover of Blitzkrieg Bop, in tribute to Joey Ramone who had died only six or seven months prior. I thought I was going. Few acts could ever math that emotion. (The Pogues were one.... let's just say Christmas has lost a lot of its appeal sine 2011).

Left handed options for the standard Tele type seem to be limited to the black with rosewood and natural with maple 52 style. If anythingl ike as good as people say, at that money they're insane value. Certainly a great start point to see if a Tele is for you.

I wish my dog could talk, because with her ears she maybe can hear a difference I can't.... You'll hear a lot of talk about "tonewoods" with guitar. Now it's fair to say a mahogany and maple Les Paul sounds very different from an Alder or ash bodied Strat. Thing is, that Les Paul might also sound quite different from the next (suposedly same model) Les Paul, and ditto for the Strat... Wood is organic, and thus prone to variations - any two pieces of wood even from the same tree might not be quite identical. That said.... I personally hold to the opinion that with modern pickups (by and large much more consistent than they were back in the days when they were all handwound) and amplification, the electronics have far more influence on tone. Every minor change in spec will, arguably, have an effect on making up the overall tone, but for the most part it'll be the electronics, the amp, and any effects you use which will be the most signficant. I would say wood type makes a much bigger difference with an acoustic guitar sound, especially if miking rather than using a soundhole or under-saddle pick-up. It's worth noting that the early Led Zep stuff was a mix of Les Paul and Telecaster; nobody now knows which is which by listen ing to the records, and Page can't remember... The differences from one guitar to the next may be minimal for a listener, of course, but what I think can matter more is the look and feel to a guitar player. Frankly, how my guitar looks does matter to me; all other things being equal, of any two guitars I'll pick the one I like the look of most. When I play, some things I prefer to play on -hell, even some days I just prefer to play my Strat, other days my Tele. Both sound the same thorugh my amp and pedals to anyone else, really, but beause each "feels" (half of it psychosummatical, at that) different to me, I tend to play differently on each, so evne if a listener can't hear a difference, it does affect how I play and so I suppose you could say it affects how I sound in an indirect way. As a new player, I'd concentrate less on what a guitar is made from and more on whether you like the look, feel and sound. You'll naturally gravitate towards certain things. A lot of my guitar heroes played a Les Paul, but (Juniors aside)I just can't get excited by them any longer - I'm definitely a Fender man, and I can get the ' Steve Jones Les Paul' tone I want very easily through godo amp and my Telecaster. There are just so many different options with guitars and bits these days that I think if you tried all of them to see what is"best" you'd go mad. Try as much as you can, see what you enjoy, buy that. It might be the guitar your utter hero played, but if it doesn't work in you hands and you don't enjoy playing it, there's no point. As a last thought in this steam of consciousness, I can't help but wodenr why I've never read a discussion about the effect of the scratchplate material on the tone of a Stat - after all, the pickups in a Strat are fixed directly to the plate, not the wood....

I wonder is that why Clapton had the midrange boost 'always on' built into the wiring of his sig model?

I've only owned one guitar with actives - a Westone Thunder I A. The active boost seems to give the humbuckers a bit of a kick in the pants - makes them feel a little "hotter". It'sd not unlike using a midrange booster pedal to give the guitar a bit of extra kick fo a solo. It can also produce a more pleasing soyund to the ear if you like that midrange boost and you're not getting it from the pedal end. (Personally, I prefer passive pups and to tweak the tone at the amp end, but ymmv). The only real drawback with actives is that they can eat batteries...

If it's not too late.... I agree with ezbass. THe p90 is both narrower left-right and longer top-bottom than a HB, so it wouldn't just be a case of making the hole bigger, you'd need to fill it a bit too. By far simpler to go for a HB sized p90. The GFS Dream 90 is a very affordable and very good trad p90; if you want something a little hotter, try their Mean 90. https://www.guitarfetish.com/Humbucker-Sized-Guitar-Pickups_c_26.html In terms of wiring, I'd just buy a new loom from GFS and carefully store all the original stuff so you can return to standad if you ever want to sell.

I just wish I could try one - everyone I hear of who has tried them with an open mind seems to rave about them. If I ever gig again, I could definitely see gonig that way, unless I instesd went the whole hog and used an amp-sim pedal.... (which is fine unl;ess you have no monitors, I suppose).

A Colleague of mine is a skilled uke player (among other things). Goes by Professor Chris on Youtube. Good fun. I've been tempted to try a bit of uke, that might be away of doing it.

I was just six months off sixteen when I first acquired Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex PIstols, which definitely was a life-changer, even though I already had a copy of No Future UK (Castle Records; a compilation of outttakes, rarities, b-sides and some of the Spedding demos that preceeded Bollocks). Another game-changer at fifteen was 'discovering' Chuck Berry - Johnny B Goode being the record in question, which made me want to play guitar. Bob Dylan - The Times they are a Changin' when I was not long seventeen. Around the sx months eeither sie of me turning sixteen, I was turned ontyo a lot of great music by singles (re)released off the back of the Levis ads. Most notably, after Should I Stay Or Should I Go reached number 1 that way, the 1989 The Story of the Clash Volume 1 compilation was rereleased in 1991, and I remember that soundtracking my GCSEs. To this day, when I hear some of the tracks on that album I expect to hear next the song that followed it on the same disc.

Good point on the body shapes. I'm very keen on their Dirty Mustard DC junior type, which I know is different than the "rela" shape, but you only notice it when they are side by side. It's subtle. I kinds fancy the SC version as well (gives me memories of Ray Davies' SC Melody Maker that he was playing when I saw him on later, and I think TFI Friday, back in the 90s), but I'm wary of the body shape. Thomann seem to photograph their guitars at an agle which suggests they're much closer the original than might be the case. Not that I mind a bit of variation - if I was gonig to buy an LP type, actually one of my fist ports of call to consider would be an LTD/ESP type, as they do some models which are very much "could have been made in the 50s", but that sharp lower horn immediately screams what they are. I really like that they are so claerly not trying to 'pass off' as a Gibby at first glanc,e yet they also don't look "wrong". Some 'close to' LP shapes just look all wrong - the blunted lower horn on the later Agiles when they were all the rage, for example, looks just.... off. I wish they would just do a 'full frontal' shot on the website and then it's clear. The HB "Jazz" range looks really interesting - basically Gretsch styles. BE interesting to compare them to the 2xxx range Gretsches. Nonetheles, it's going to be interesting to see how long the buzz lasts. HB seem to be the latest 'cheap guitar craze' - I wodner if they'll be replaced like all the others, or if they will be like Tokai and stick around? A good range of cheaper guitars is essential to keeping the instrument alive, imo. I remember back in Belfast my guitar shop guy used to say the reason drummers were thin on the ground was that even the most basic of quality kits was four to five hundred, which in those days was enough to buy you a Mexican Fedner and and amp and a couple of pedals.... or not far off a used Les Paul (in late 90s Belfast, those used to sell all day for £600). Hek of al ot of kids who first asked about drums instead walked away with £150 worth of Squier and amp. Funnily enough, nearly bid on eBay on the DC a couple of weeks ago, guy selling a nice lefty one, but when I looked close he'd replaced the p90 with a HB. Do not like HBs, and Will Not PLay. Another affordable brand I have half an eye on is Slick Guitars. I really fancy one of the DC '59' models (bolt on maple neck, single p90, body the same shape as the symmetrical double cutaway Gibson Melody Makers). Greast reviews and write-ups, but as yet at least no left handers. I'd consdier converting and using a right angle jack if the socket was on the face, but fom experience having it on the edge is a pain in the bum.

I remember Malmsteen first appearing on the scene and being impressed by his obvious talent. Even if it wasn't my 'thing', I always rather enjoyed how he squeezed all that widdly widdly out of a (relatively) conventional Strat when he could have chosen any number of superstrat types that were arguably more suitedto his purposes. Much the same as if I were a great blues player, I'd go onstage with a Dean ML. Sometimes you have to stay within the parameters of audience expectation (no matter how good you sound, I know to the rockabilly set if you don't look the part, forget it...), but it can also be great to mix it up as well... For years, up to and including the "fooking fjury!" incident, I thought he was kind of an ass, but as I age I begin to wonder hoe much of that was playing a role. Wouldn't it be hilarious if he'd been trolling us all this time? (I once bought a leather jacket from the sound director who worked on the Sex Pistols' There'll Always Be An England 30th Anniversary DVD, and he told some fascinating stories of how Lydon switched between being an absolute sweetie who couldn't be nice enough to everyone to the Johnny Rotten persona assoon as the camera rolled.)

For some reason I thuoght he was already dead. Maybe confused him in my mind with Gary Moore (who, of cours,e for many years owned the Peter Green LP). Green was not directly to my tastes, but his skill was undeniable and it was a terrible shame that he suffered with mental illness, especially during such an unenlioghtened period as to how that was dealt with in the seventies. (My partner's late father suffered from severe schizophrenia which first manifested in the late seventies, and the way this was dealt with throughout the eighties and even into the nieties to some extent is heatbreaking to hear about.) While I can't claim to have listened to his newer material, thewre was something triumphant about the fact that he was able to return to performing later on, and gave so much pleasure to others from his music. I hope he at peace now - though I certainly also hope he's playing the hell out of some sot of ethereal guitar. Requescat In Pace.

So true. I remember when I started in 1991, all the guys weho'd been playing twenty years and more mavelling about how much cheap guitars had improved since their early days.... Now I'm donig the same thing. Seems to me the thing you have to watc h for these days is fast coming down to attention to detail in the build often moreso than quality of ingredients. It's also been interesting seeingb the plethoa of smaller brands forcing thed big boys to up their game at the lower end too.

Stringing I can do.... I've always shied away from anything where I needed to set the bridge in the right place for intonation and such (assembled and disassembled a couple of Stat types - easy peasy once the holes are all there!), but I can sure tune one! I've put that on my wishlist, hopefully when birthday timerolls around...

Started on nines, kept snapping the high E, so for years I played every guiitar I owned with a set of nines except with the high E substituted with a ten. WEventually switched to tens and have staqyed with them ever since on both scale lengths.

Interestingly, watching eBay, the bottom end Harley Bentons don't seem to lose much at all on their purchase price when selling used. Maybe a lot of folks want one, but want somebody else to set it up?

Pics of the new house you've had to buy to fit all these in?