Lets look at our guitars thread

[Tupe]

OldSkoolRS said:

Tupe said:

Some lovely guitars on this thread. This is mine a Gibson J-45 Custom Shop Pure voice. It gigs at least once a week, sometimes twice, and has been used and abused, toured Germany a few times, dropped and sat upon in the case,it is dented and scratched, dinged and beaten. Has a wonderful tone that it is just now growing into

That's nice Tupe and good to see it's out getting used as well. The only one I'm a bit precious about taking out gigging is my Rickenbaker (as I bought it in memory of my Dad...rare Pillar box red model). Even that has been out with either me or my wife keeping an eye on it when not on stage.

I imagine you and the Rickenbacker, like me and the Gibson, would be a bit distraught if something happened to it, but I have no emotional connection to mine other than from the moment I struck one chord on it I knew it was the sound I wanted. As for it breaking or being stolen.. It is a tool, and it is heavily insured..

[OldSkoolRS]

A couple of mine I'm a bit attached to for silly, sentimental reasons, but others are like yours and just a tool.

Speaking of one of the tools; I was restringing my main gigging Strat today and was surprised how the frets are wearing. I only built it a couple of year back but I think I'll have to do a fret dress on it soon; some divots on the first 6-7 frets and the upper ones have gone a bit flat on the tops, presumably due to lots of bending. It does get played a lot though.

[counterofbeans]

[singlecoil]

^^ What's next. Got to be a Rickenbacker 12 string I reckon. And a Fender Twin. Followed by a full stack. And a pedalboard.

[counterofbeans]

singlecoil said:

^^ What's next. Got to be a Rickenbacker 12 string I reckon. And a Fender Twin. Followed by a full stack. And a pedalboard.

Cherry red 335. Eventually.

[AndrewGP]

AndrewGP said:

Animal said:

AndrewGP said:

New one for me, a Squier Paranormal Series Stratosonic, bought on a bit of a whim but first impressions are good and it's a lot of fun. First ever Squier I've had too, after lots of Fenders. Build quality is really good, no major fret issues either. I'll be sanding down the neck from the factory gloss finish to a more satin one and possibly swapping out the pickups for genuine set of P90s, we'll see.

What are you going to use to sand down and refinish the neck? I've got an ESP Ltd EC (Les Paul-type thing) and I love it, but not the gloss neck!

Yes I much prefer a satin neck too, it makes a huge difference!

Initial research seems to suggest steel wool or 2000 grit sandpaper is the way forward after taping the headstock and heel off with painters tape or similar. As Animal above says, it's just taking the shine off, not the whole finish so no need refinish with anything else. I'm going to remove the neck too as steel wool filings play havoc with the pickups. I'll report back when it's done.

Well it took a while but I finally got round to making the neck finish satin.

I'm super pleased with the results I used a 1500 grit sanding sheet here and took it nice and slow after taking time to mask it off properly and in the right places. The finish is incredible, so much better than the gloss and feels very similar to my Fenders.

[M5-911]

AndrewGP said:

Well it took a while but I finally got round to making the neck finish satin.

I'm super pleased with the results I used a 1500 grit sanding sheet here and took it nice and slow after taking time to mask it off properly and in the right places. The finish is incredible, so much better than the gloss and feels very similar to my Fenders.

Nicely done. Looks like it was made that way originally. How is the sound of the instrument?

[AndrewGP]

M5-911 said:

AndrewGP said:

Well it took a while but I finally got round to making the neck finish satin.

I'm super pleased with the results I used a 1500 grit sanding sheet here and took it nice and slow after taking time to mask it off properly and in the right places. The finish is incredible, so much better than the gloss and feels very similar to my Fenders.

Nicely done. Looks like it was made that way originally. How is the sound of the instrument?

To my ears, very nice! If you’ve watch the reviews of the Statosonic online you’ll see the pickups aren’t actually proper P90s, but they’re close and I think they strike a nice balance between single coils and humbuckers. There’s a video on YT by the Guitarista where he swaps out the pickups for genuine P90s but the difference is subtle at best. Hence I’m keeping the stock pickups.

In addition to sanding the neck, I changed the tuners for better quality Wilkinson vintage style ones and I also swapped out the tailpiece bridge inserts and studs as the stock ones didn’t fit well together and caused the bridge to tilt forwards knocking out the intonation. Now that’s fixed, I’ve done a full setup on it tonight and I’m now really happy with it. I bought it as my cheap travel guitar to take with me when I’m flying and due to its low weight, versatile tones and all round bang for the buck, I think it’s going to be great.

[sutoka]

Paid £200 for this 2003 Fender Mexican Strat about 18 years ago, over the years I added some USA pickups, Black pickguard and a Lancia HF sticker



Then last week I saw this 2002 Fender USA Highway One in fetching green over in Waterford, Ireland for £500. I thought it very reasonable as they are touching a grand over in Blighty. The finish was in excellent nick, seen a few HW1 over the years and they have looked properly battered.

[M5-911]

What has happened to the last 2 posts about that "Martin"guitar???

[Rod200SX]

Did a trade with my LTD ec100 for this. Wanted one for a while and this appeared an hour away from me. Bridge pickup has been swapped with an EMG 81 but the guy gave me the retro emg that came with it. Super fun thing, the sustainiac is awesome and the floyd is behaving so far, I think shecters floyd specials are a lot better than most.

My first strat shape in probably 20 years or so, liking it so far. The neck is fantastic.

Colour is a nightmare to photograph, looks different in every pic!

[M5-911]

Rod200SX said:

Did a trade with my LTD ec100 for this. Wanted one for a while and this appeared an hour away from me. Bridge pickup has been swapped with an EMG 81 but the guy gave me the retro emg that came with it. Super fun thing, the sustainiac is awesome and the floyd is behaving so far, I think shecters floyd specials are a lot better than most.

My first strat shape in probably 20 years or so, liking it so far. The neck is fantastic.

Colour is a nightmare to photograph, looks different in every pic!

Sorry for my newbie question. What kind of music do you play with an instrument like this one? heavy metal?

[Rod200SX]

M5-911 said:

Sorry for my newbie question. What kind of music do you play with an instrument like this one? heavy metal?

No worries, yep this is ideal for metal. The original pickup would've been a bit less focused but it is a shredder.

[Yahonza]

Another Fender Strat Highway 1 - I really like this guitar.

[M5-911]

Yahonza said:

Another Fender Strat Highway 1 - I really like this guitar.

And left handed. Love it!

[sutoka]

Yahonza said:

Another Fender Strat Highway 1 - I really like this guitar.

Few people I've shown my 2002 Green HW1 too have said "oh they are better than a USA standard"

I have owned both and I think the HW1 has hotter pickups.

[rsbmw]

I just picked up something a bit special ESP custom shop snapper. Not taken my own pics yet so this will have to do

[Stealthracer]

My latest project. New and unfinished T-style body, clearcoated by my goodself. Since this photo was taken the last two coats have gone on, just needs a light sand and polish, then it's ready for its new owner.




Just made a start on a Strat in the same colour.

[President Merkin]

Any love for these? Picked it up a couple of years ago It's a Palo Escrito Tele. At heart it's a MIM 60's player with Palo Escrito top. AIUI, Fender picked up a single batch of wood with permission & got somewhere around 800 guitars out of it. Never going to be an especially sought after thing, despite the rarity but it is a looker imo. I've ditched the ashtray & changed the pickups for Texas specials.

[Stealthracer]

Great top PM - and bookmatched I see!