Reply With QuoteSomething by Fender...
Go on, show us!!
Oooh! Tweed case and nitro - must be something nice.Originally Posted by weedram
It's arrived.
Now the agony. I don't want to risk a change of temperature causing finish checking so need to leave it a few hours to come up to room temp before I open the case.
IMG_1045 (1) by Alan Brown, on Flickr
Cheers,
Neil.
Something by Fender...
Go on, show us!!
It's a Fender then?
It is a Fender
And to me a very special one, undoubtedly the closest I'll ever get to my dream guitar, a 57/58 Mary Kaye Strat.
My conference calls for the day over, I was finally able to open the case.
IMG_1049 by Alan Brown, on Flickr
IMG_1047 by Alan Brown, on Flickr
IMG_1048 by Alan Brown, on Flickr
I found out a few months ago that Fender were going to build a limited run of 200 of the current American Original 50's Stratocaster model in Mary Kaye White Blonde with Gold hardware. I was able to demo one in a different colour at Andertons and having loved the way it played and sounded, place a pre-order for one of the ones allocated to them - and then wait.
My original plan was to go to the shop to checkout and play "my" guitar before buying, but as the delivery was delayed I cannot now travel to Guildford till late October. So I decided to have them send it to me. Boy am I not disappointed, she looks stunning, actually plays even better than the silver one I tried in the shop and while I have only had a few minutes to plug her in to my Blues Jnr, sounds amazing. I can't wait to get to know her properly.
That looks amazing!!! Congratulations!
Gorgeous!
I've always loved the Mary Kaye finish on Strats.
Cheers,
Neil.
Lovely guitar.
Here's the background:
https://www.fender.com/articles/gear...e-stratocaster
Eastwood Hooky 6 string bass - arrived today!
Well, this just landed. 8 strings...wonky frets....wonkier pickups - I love it!!
Some acclimatisation to be done I think. Playing my Jem after a spell on this feels like a ukelele neck!
That's interesting not seen that before. A copy of Peter's Shergold.
Eastwood Hooky 6 string bass - arrived today!
Bernard often used to use a Shergold Masquerader in the band back in the day.
Weird British instruments. I'm sure you will enjoy yours.
Cheers,
Neil.
You're mad!Well, this just landed. 8 strings...wonky frets....wonkier pickups - I love it!!
Some acclimatisation to be done I think. Playing my Jem after a spell on this feels like a ukelele neck!
I wouldn't know what to do with that thing.
I'm sure you will enjoy it.
Cheers,
Neil.
Chugging in drop E of course.
I see it's a Harley Benton. What's the quality like, and how was the set up out of the box?
Nice, reminds me of a Wal.
Eastwood Hooky 6 string bass - arrived today!
Have you ever found yourself thinking: "if only Fender made a Thinline Tele .. but with Jazzmaster pickups"?
Neither have I, but when I saw a demo of this one on the Andertons YouTube channel, I'd clicked on the "add to cart" button about 30 seconds in.
This is actually a Squier 'Classic Vibe'. I have a penchant for moderately inexpensive guitars of Far Eastern origin, and Classic Vibes are right in that sweet spot where impulse purchases that don't make your debit card wince can land instruments of thoroughly decent quality.
A bit like Seiko 5s.
There are two Classic Vibe manufacturing locations that I'm aware of, in China and Indonesia. My two Teles are Chinese and the construction quality is definitely higher than the Strat, which is from Indonesia. The frets are nicely finished and polished, the finish is mirror smooth and the attention to detail is pretty much impeccable - the Strat has one or two minor finish flaws, I had to polish the frets myself and a couple of the pickguard screws are slightly mis-angled. Picky I know (pun not intended).
I especially love the untinted neck finish on this one - it gives it a modern look and feel, as does the 22nd fret overhang like a US Std.
It doesn't sound like a Tele - the neck pickup is a little dark, and they're both quite powerful. But they respond quite nicely to tweaking the volume knob down. You definitely get a little bit of the Thinline resonance through the amp.
The neck arrived absolutely straight with 9s on, no relief at all. Despite that it does play nicely, but it will have 10s on soon.
I'm not fond of the traditional Fender bent steel saddles and I may swap them out for solid ones. But they work fine. The tuners are nice and smooth in operation.
And there's a lovely woody smell down the F Hole.
To be fair I'm chugging on the first 3 frets on that drop EChugging in drop E of course.
I see it's a Harley Benton. What's the quality like, and how was the set up out of the box?
Quality is great for the price. The pickups could be brighter, it loses the top E a little. Setup-wise it's pretty much fine, the action height is just where I like it and the fretboard is level. The fretwork is fine aside from one fret that's got a slight low point, which I can maybe sort. I did round the nut out a little as it was somewhat crudely cut and that helped with the tuning. The intonation needs some fine work on the low 4 strings but I am nitpicking here. All in all for the price it's far better than I expected.
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Great to see some slightly more unusual and very interesting guitars this week. Squier Classic Vibe & Harley Benton are cracking value for money.
I loaned my old Art & Lutherie guitar to a keen friend of my son's and... it has been some time now. I suspect it's not coming back
With that in mind, I stumbled (almost literally, it was hanging at the end of a shop's rack of display guitars like an afterthought) across this Yamaha APXT2.
It's a 3/4-sized electro acoustic. It looks comically small next to a full sized acoustic, and (like the shop manager) I almost ignored it. I was a little embarrassed to even try it.
But try it I did, and well, what witchcraft is this?!
It has a sound that would cause passing angels to weep with its melodious tones, and great artisans to honour it with majestic tapestries.
It really shouldn't sound this good. It is small. It is cheap. It isn't cheap, but it just doesn't cost a lot of money. Very few noble luthiers were likely inconvenienced by its manufacturer. Global abalone stocks remain undiminshed. And the price includes a built-in tuner and pickup.
I'm using the stock strings and pegs. It's amazing. And the size is just fine. A bonus even - it is so easy to pick up and play anywhere. I am amazed.
Did I mention my amazement?
Amazing.
Recently acquired this DC Phat with a Roswell stacked P90. Plays great!
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This is a Christmas present from my wife, so I haven't played it yet. Took it out the box to check it over, then back in the box for a few weeks!!
Very cool indeed!This is a Christmas present from my wife, so I haven't played it yet. Took it out the box to check it over, then back in the box for a few weeks!!
Just wondering if anyone has tried the Boss Waza air headphones? I spend a lot of time just noodling on my unplugged Tele due to noise restrictions etc. Theses seem to get great reviews but I'm struggling to stomach the price tag. Anyone used them?
I have them and thought I'd use them a lot, but in the end haven't got as much out of them as I'd hoped.
Good things: Very simple, sound OK, comfortable for short period, super fast way to pick up a guitar and play wherever you want, great for travelling.
Bad things: limited tone without a phone app which adds to faff, the head/speakers moving thing is great for 3 minutes but it drifts and gets annoying, long periods of headphone use is uncomfortable.
I use it to listen to jam tracks from the PC and play on top of. It's great at that. The other main use is when I'd take guitar to hotels with work for something to do - but I don't need that any more.
I prefer to use my yamaha THR10II with wireless jack and wired (more comfortable) headphones if I'm honest. I'm glad I have them, but only get used when I'm away from my study.
Thanks.
I ended up buying a pair and so far have not used them as much as I thought I would. I think the sound qualty is very good but the presets I have used seem to have some kind of fake reverb, I assume to try and give that kid of amp in the room effect, Im not too keen on it. I've not given them much of a chance though so will try and get a few hours in with them through the evenings this week.
Nice!
Changing the topic slightly.
I have a bit of time on my hands and thoguht I might try to get some guitar lessons. I'm not a beginner, but I'm not great either.
Ideally I'd like a mixture of theory and musicianship as well as some guitar skills.
Given the covid situation I guess lessons are online, so 2 questions:
1. are online music lessons any good?
2. any recommendations?
Try : https://www.justinguitar.com/
Basically free (with advertising) and there's a community there that can help you with specific questions.
Also just search YouTube for specific things - there are tons of very capable players and teachers on there now covering hundreds of topics from beginner to intermediate to highly advanced. Ask questions here as well if you like, of course.
I've also got a Yamaha THR10II. I more often than not plug headphones into it as I tend to play mostly after work and seeing as I finish work at 10pm it's a little late to be annoying the neighbours.
Tell me more. Any LP in a case that has the blanket must be interesting!
I like justinguitar, I also subscribe to activemelody - I'm good for online resources.
What I really want the motivation of a real tutor who can address my faults and challenge me.
This arrived today. It will be my last guitar purchase for a while, having gone from 3 guitars to 8 during lockdown! Might sell the bass because I’m not gelling with it, although suspect a 6 string bass would be more my cuppa.
This is a Brian May tribute model, and although it doesn’t sport the series pickup possibilities that Brian’s Red Special has, it does have the phase switches for each pickup. This allows you to get many of the out of phase sounds he uses on various tracks.
Yesterday I also received my Spark 40 which is app driven, has a great bass rich sound and is a lot of fun. You can simply search tonecloud for any tone, and try it or download it then modify it instantly. It does have limitations, but what it does it does very well indeed.
Combine these two and I’ve been playing some pretty authentic sounding queen tracks all afternoon! The BM75 plays great!
Did Positive Grid supply an earthed power supply, with 3 pin at the transformer?
Mine was originally supplied with an unearthed 2 pin (3 pin plug, but 2 pin at the transformer end) and the amp was very noisy.
I complained and they sent me a new earthed transformer. The amp is now properly quiet.
Yes it came with 3 pins on the power brick. I can see lots of folk on the Spark owners group saying the same thing.
Not quite on topic as it is not my guitar.
I took this pic on my phone at a gig last year (remember them?) The band had finished the main set and gone off before they came back for the encore .
The guitarist leant his guitar on the amp when he went off. I think that Guild guitar could tell a tale or two.
Fantastic photo and great story. That picture is worthy of hanging over the fireplace in any home.Not quite on topic as it is not my guitar.
I took this pic on my phone at a gig last year (remember them?) The band had finished the main set and gone off before they came back for the encore .
The guitarist leant his guitar on the amp when he went off. I think that Guild guitar could tell a tale or two.
Family is growing.
I always wanted to try stratocaster style guitar and when I saw this beauty I knew I have to buy it just because of the bright orange colour ��
That worn out old Guild reminds of a dear old chap I used to know who used to be into jazz and Samba and played out all the time.Not quite on topic as it is not my guitar.
I took this pic on my phone at a gig last year (remember them?) The band had finished the main set and gone off before they came back for the encore .
The guitarist leant his guitar on the amp when he went off. I think that Guild guitar could tell a tale or two.
He had a similar guitar (bit more paint on but well worn).
He taught me my first three chords A-D-E for which I am eternally grateful.
Thanks Jack!
Cheers,
Neil.
Gotta love that orange!! Enjoy it sir!!Family is growing.
I always wanted to try stratocaster style guitar and when I saw this beauty I knew I have to buy it just because of the bright orange colour ��
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Small mod on the BM-75 today, fitting a pair of vol/tone controls from Brian May Guitars. In a year or so I plan on buying the official BMG Red Special, but this is serving me well for now. I'm tempted to modify the wiring to run the pickups in series, if I can figure out the mods needed.
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That looks great and I would definitely recommend a BMG Red Special.Small mod on the BM-75 today, fitting a pair of vol/tone controls from Brian May Guitars. In a year or so I plan on buying the official BMG Red Special, but this is serving me well for now. I'm tempted to modify the wiring to run the pickups in series, if I can figure out the mods needed.
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Cheers
Neil
Hanging buddies
Hanging buddies
I'd be interested to know what makes you have there.
Cheers,
Neil.
Black is Jolana from Czechoslovakia. It's a copy of Gibson, at least 40 years old. Orange one is Crush by Orange.
Thanks.
I remember back in the '60's quite a few Guitars came over here from Czechoslovakia.
Crush by Orange - that's interesting. Couldn't really be any other colour could it?
Cheers,
Neil.
Nice! That PRS baritone looks fun, how does it play?New guitar day for me yesterday (the PRS) so I thought I'd post a SOTC as it were.
LtoR: A modified G&L ASAT Classic Tribute, Gibson LP Studio, Gibson LP R8, PRS 277 SE Baritone, G&L Legacy Tribute and a Stonebridge acoustic.
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That R8 is super ducky!New guitar day for me yesterday (the PRS) so I thought I'd post a SOTC as it were.
LtoR: A modified G&L ASAT Classic Tribute, Gibson LP Studio, Gibson LP R8, PRS 277 SE Baritone, G&L Legacy Tribute and a Stonebridge acoustic.
Cheers,
Neil.
Thought I'd reinvogorate this old thread with a new (to me) guitar I bought a couple of months back.
I like vintage style Fenders and this is a Classic series '70's big head stock model a la Jimi Hendrix in Olympic white.
It's ash bodied and has a nice thick U shaped neck on it.
A very nice player that sounds great and a welcome addition to the stable.
Cheers,
Neil.
That looks very cool. How does it play and did you have to do much to set it up when you got it?Thought I'd reinvogorate this old thread with a new (to me) guitar I bought a couple of months back.
I like vintage style Fenders and this is a Classic series '70's big head stock model a la Jimi Hendrix in Olympic white.
It's ash bodied and has a nice thick U shaped neck on it.
A very nice player that sounds great and a welcome addition to the stable.
Classic, love it!Thought I'd reinvogorate this old thread with a new (to me) guitar I bought a couple of months back.
I like vintage style Fenders and this is a Classic series '70's big head stock model a la Jimi Hendrix in Olympic white.
It's ash bodied and has a nice thick U shaped neck on it.
A very nice player that sounds great and a welcome addition to the stable.
Looks fab
What year is it?
Crazy that 1970s is now “vintage” but I agree - love the big headstock and looks great in white. Enjoy!
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