Lets look at our guitars thread

[Baryonyx]

IainT said:

There are a lot of body-shapes/styles though, like the Thumb which I think looks great despite being titchy.

I suspect it might be an evil joke by guitar makers to wreck bassists backs though.

The Thumb is either bubinga or ovangkol though (and a select few were made in Walnut too). They sound suitably 'Thumby' and weigh quite a bit because the wood is very dense. I never thought the maple Thumbs (like the special edition basses) sounded authentic. Fantastic design though, when worn high to avoid neck dive.

[Mastodon2]

Evangelion said:

May I just point out that pickups are magnetic, therefore cannot hear wood, only strings.

The wood mass and density affects how the strings vibrate though. If all you could hear was the strings, there would be no tonal differences between say, Bc Rich's acrylic guitars and their wooden counterparts which are identically specced, bar the body material.

[Don1]

bloodfart said:

Bump.

Picked up a Jaden Rose S2

Awesome!

[davepoth]

Evangelion said:

IainT said:

Johnspex said:

Can anyone answer a question? why are basses bigger bodied than their six string counterparts?

I'd always assumed it's something to do with the resonance - needs more wood at the lower frequencies.

May I just point out that pickups are magnetic, therefore cannot hear wood, only strings.

I believe it's more to do with balance than anything - if the neck of the guitar is much heavier than the body the guitar will nosedive if not held, much like an SG does. With a weightier body balance is maintained and the guitar is easier to handle, even though it might be heavier.

[Baryonyx]

bloodfart said:

Bump.

Picked up a Jaden Rose S2

Any other photos of the one on the right? What is it?

[Justin Cyder]

1960 Strat slightly broken. New jack plug £3.50 1960 jack plug £50. I imagine this is how Porsche owners feel when they need brake pads.

[B17NNS]

Justin Cyder said:

1960 Strat slightly broken. New jack plug £3.50 1960 jack plug £50. I imagine this is how Porsche owners feel when they need brake pads.

Tell me about it. Les Paul Switch tip. It's a 5p piece of plastic. Epiphone switch tip on e-bay 99p. The Gibson version (no doubt hand crafted in the USA ) £6.99

[Evangelion]

B17NNS said:

Justin Cyder said:

1960 Strat slightly broken. New jack plug £3.50 1960 jack plug £50. I imagine this is how Porsche owners feel when they need brake pads.

Tell me about it. Les Paul Switch tip. It's a 5p piece of plastic. Epiphone switch tip on e-bay 99p. The Gibson version (no doubt hand crafted in the USA ) £6.99

It's all part of the hype. Why else do you think you have to pay an extra $1000 (£1000 by the time it gets here) for a slightly different maple top?

[B17NNS]

Evangelion said:

Why else do you think you have to pay an extra $1000 (£1000 by the time it gets here) for a slightly different maple top?

'cause it's flamey dude! Check out ma flames

To be fair I've had a few Les Pauls in my time and own a few now. I've never lost a penny on one so I can't complain. If you can afford the initial purchase it's a free instrument going forward. An LP is a bit like a stainless sports Rolex. Once you're in the club, unless you want to upgrade, the membership subs are nothing.

Edited by B17NNS on Friday 11th April 01:04

[Evangelion]

That's true, I've had three Les Pauls, and made a profit on two.

[BorkFactor]

Evangelion said:

May I just point out that pickups are magnetic, therefore cannot hear wood, only strings.

Eh? You aren't saying wood has no effect on tone, are you?

Apologies if I picked that up wrong.

Also, does anyone know about Les Paul pickup switches? Mine seems to move around a lot on the Gibson which is annoying, the Epiphone never moved once in the 8 years I had it!

[bloodfart]

Baryonyx said:

Any other photos of the one on the right? What is it?

The photo was nicked from the seller, but it's another (more expensive) Jaden Rose (S1 maybe). Not really clued up on these guitars really, but the S2 plays really well and was perfect for my requirements (a workhorse without a floyd rose - sick of the whole string changing ordeal!)

[IainT]

Evangelion said:

IainT said:

Johnspex said:

Can anyone answer a question? why are basses bigger bodied than their six string counterparts?

I'd always assumed it's something to do with the resonance - needs more wood at the lower frequencies.

May I just point out that pickups are magnetic, therefore cannot hear wood, only strings.

Sorry - badly phrased - the word I was actually looking for was 'sustain'.

Lots of factors on that though including density (as Baronyx pointed out with Bubinga basses), neck construction and joint to body, bridge attachment, etc.

[OldSkoolRS]

Mine isn't really of the class of most on this thread, but it was my 17th birthday/Christmas present back in 1982 and my first 'proper' guitar. In my ignorance I did various mods to it over the years and resprayed it a few times. I striped it down about 5-6 years ago and sanded it to bare wood to get it resprayed but then couldn't find any one to do it properly.

Anyway fast forward to this year and I've started going to a local 'rock school' and was given a contact there to get it done. I made good the mess I'd made of the electrics with a few new pots, switch and pick guard to replace the butchered one and dropped it off at the Luthier today. He's going to respray it in nitro back to the original two tone, stone the neck and then set it all up for me. I can't wait to get it back now.

I also have a cheapie Squier Tele that I bought to take with me when working away from home in a previous job, I upgraded the pickups on it and it's a surprisingly decent player considering the beer money price. I also have a mid 90s Ephiphone Les Paul that was my 30th birthday present, but again not up to the quality of the guitars on this thread.

This was my Strat when I got it back in 1982:



This was it today before I took it round to the Luthier. Note that the new scratchplate isn't actually any whiter than the original one, but the pick up covers and knobs have yellowed more over the years:



I'll post photos when I get it back; if I'm not too busy playing it.

Edited by OldSkoolRS on Friday 11th April 23:32

[AdeTuono]

AdeTuono said:

Justin Cyder said:

Are you sure? Because it looks like a cheese grater screwed on to an SG.

I don't really get artist models. It's not as if it's a short cut to being them even if that were desirable. I'd rather buy the guitar I want than someone else wanted, personally.

It's not unique to this SG; it's been installed from the factory on 335's, Firebirds, and variants on the Flying V and others.

As for artist models, believe me, I'd never get within 1% of Zappa's genius, even if I had the UMRK at my disposal. Or a bucketload of his DNA. However, his guitar tone when using the SG was unique, and if I'd like to replicate that tone, albeit all alone and for my own enjoyment, then this would seem to be a good way of doing so.

And anyway I haven't got a Gibson... (looks like I'm trying to talk myself into it, doesn't it? Fortunately, they seem to have sold out...Gibson only made 400)

Oh bks. Another one to not play....

[Posk]

AdeTuono said:

AdeTuono said:

Justin Cyder said:

Are you sure? Because it looks like a cheese grater screwed on to an SG.

I don't really get artist models. It's not as if it's a short cut to being them even if that were desirable. I'd rather buy the guitar I want than someone else wanted, personally.

It's not unique to this SG; it's been installed from the factory on 335's, Firebirds, and variants on the Flying V and others.

As for artist models, believe me, I'd never get within 1% of Zappa's genius, even if I had the UMRK at my disposal. Or a bucketload of his DNA. However, his guitar tone when using the SG was unique, and if I'd like to replicate that tone, albeit all alone and for my own enjoyment, then this would seem to be a good way of doing so.

And anyway I haven't got a Gibson... (looks like I'm trying to talk myself into it, doesn't it? Fortunately, they seem to have sold out...Gibson only made 400)

Oh bks. Another one to not play....

We had one of these in the studio all last week. Pretty tacky looking IMO, played nice though and sounded great. I play an SG special myself, so didnt feel that different. I prefer my pure sh*t-kicker spec though, no trinkets.

[Justin Cyder]

I was wondering where your right hand gets to play, what with the Bigsby & the switches and all. Looks cluttered.

[Justin Cyder]

Not mine, but I've just scored a loan of this for the weekend. It belongs to one of the chaps in the building, so we've swapped Les Pauls. I think I got the better of the deal.
All I know is it's a custom guitar. Nice abalone inlays, ebony neck, flame top & definitely chambered.

[EskimoArapaho]

And presumably a nice thin neck if the knobs are a deliberate choice?

[Posk]

'orrible nobs.