Lets look at our guitars thread
Discussion
sutoka said:
I've bought and sold dozens of USA Fenders over the years and I'd say it's worth a grand all day long, unusual body colour headstock which not everyone likes and the colour would put a lot of people off but well loved and played USA Strats sell for at worst £700 and I've sold some very well loved ones examples for just under £1k but they were Black, Sunburst or Candy Apple Red. At best 90's ones in good to excellent condition sell for anything up to £1250.
Gone are the days when you could pick up a decent used USA Stratocaster for £450-£500. In about 2006 I bought a well worn Highway One Stratocaster with the thin paint finish and Seymour Duncan hotrails for £185.
Wouldn't worry too much about the lacquer unless someone was planning to keep in in the house in a case. If your planning to play it then a scratch or nick isn't going to be a big deal.
Many thanks! Gone are the days when you could pick up a decent used USA Stratocaster for £450-£500. In about 2006 I bought a well worn Highway One Stratocaster with the thin paint finish and Seymour Duncan hotrails for £185.
Wouldn't worry too much about the lacquer unless someone was planning to keep in in the house in a case. If your planning to play it then a scratch or nick isn't going to be a big deal.
Edited by sutoka on Tuesday 5th January 05:51
Turn7 said:
50s neck, like a baseball bat isnt ? I had an LPJ with that neck.
It is not too chunky, just a nice handful. My '90 Standard has the slim taper, I am not sure which I prefer. The best playing Les Paul (for my tastes anyway) I have is an '04 Special, which is at the bottom of the Les Paul hierarchy, this may be due to the lack of maple cap and the much lighter weight, I don't know.gazza285 said:
Turn7 said:
50s neck, like a baseball bat isnt ? I had an LPJ with that neck.
It is not too chunky, just a nice handful. My '90 Standard has the slim taper, I am not sure which I prefer. The best playing Les Paul (for my tastes anyway) I have is an '04 Special, which is at the bottom of the Les Paul hierarchy, this may be due to the lack of maple cap and the much lighter weight, I don't know.Turn7 said:
Im loving my Epi pro plus more than the Gibson LPJ to be honest, much sweeter to play.
I tend to buy second hand, mainly Gibson, Gordon Smith, Gretsch, and Fender, with the ocassional flurry into vintage Japanese or European brands. Even if I buy a guitar I don't bond with, I'll keep it for five or ten year, then usually sell it on at a profit. I tell the wife they are my pension fund...gazza285 said:
cheers dude.... now ive messed around and adjusted the truss rod i'm getting to grips with it.... incredible guitar.. for a concert body the projection and rich deep tone are superb....les paul looks ace pal.... must admit though... i only have one les paul... can't say i can ever see myself needing more than 1!.....i've gone off on tangents buying esp 8 strings, schecter 7 strings and so on for different textural [possibilities...the idea of another les paul would feel like duplication to me if i'm honest...
tuscaneer said:
cheers dude.... now ive messed around and adjusted the truss rod i'm getting to grips with it.... incredible guitar.. for a concert body the projection and rich deep tone are superb....
les paul looks ace pal.... must admit though... i only have one les paul... can't say i can ever see myself needing more than 1!.....i've gone off on tangents buying esp 8 strings, schecter 7 strings and so on for different textural [possibilities...the idea of another les paul would feel like duplication to me if i'm honest...
I was quite happy with owning just the '90 Standard, but the top on this one, and the price made it hard to resist.les paul looks ace pal.... must admit though... i only have one les paul... can't say i can ever see myself needing more than 1!.....i've gone off on tangents buying esp 8 strings, schecter 7 strings and so on for different textural [possibilities...the idea of another les paul would feel like duplication to me if i'm honest...
I'm usually the first to ask the question why someone has multiple Les Pauls (or multiple other guitars for that matter), especially if they aren't gigging and need a few back up guitars. However, I've found myself with 3 of them. 
My excuse is that the oldest is kept for sentimental reasons (a 30th birthday present Epiphone) though I don't play it much due to the weight, the Gibson Gold Top because I wanted something with P90s and it was the stripped down (and also light) 'Tribute' version.
The last one is harder to justify, because on the face of it I've just bought a different colour version of the Gold Top, but with only the bridge pickup. However, it has a really fat neck, unlike the other two and actually does sound different to the Gold Top on the bridge P90. It's a Gibson LP Junior.
I've found that having a mix of slim, medium and fat necks seems to help my hands. Just changing between them helps if my hands start playing up...much better than stopping for a few days I used to do when the problem first started.
For similar reasons I'm now looking at putting a back up Strat with a fat neck together as my 1982 JV Squier has a slimmer neck.
Of course there was a time when the Squier was my only guitar (for about 13 years until I got the Epiphone)...I wouldn't have believed I'd have so many guitars 25 years on.
The Epiphone:
The Gold Top and Junior:
My excuse is that the oldest is kept for sentimental reasons (a 30th birthday present Epiphone) though I don't play it much due to the weight, the Gibson Gold Top because I wanted something with P90s and it was the stripped down (and also light) 'Tribute' version.
The last one is harder to justify, because on the face of it I've just bought a different colour version of the Gold Top, but with only the bridge pickup. However, it has a really fat neck, unlike the other two and actually does sound different to the Gold Top on the bridge P90. It's a Gibson LP Junior.
I've found that having a mix of slim, medium and fat necks seems to help my hands. Just changing between them helps if my hands start playing up...much better than stopping for a few days I used to do when the problem first started.
For similar reasons I'm now looking at putting a back up Strat with a fat neck together as my 1982 JV Squier has a slimmer neck.
Of course there was a time when the Squier was my only guitar (for about 13 years until I got the Epiphone)...I wouldn't have believed I'd have so many guitars 25 years on.
The Epiphone:
The Gold Top and Junior:
OldSkoolRS said:
I'm usually the first to ask the question why someone has multiple Les Pauls (or multiple other guitars for that matter), especially if they aren't gigging and need a few back up guitars. However, I've found myself with 3 of them.
I don't think I've ever needed an excuse for multiple guitars but I've always got a justification ready! Mostly it was to avoid having to retune every time I wanted to play something different, especially tuning down or having to change string guage.Strat - tuned Eb - 10 gauge
Epiphone LP Junior - tuned E standard - Single P90 for rhythm - 10 gauge
Gibson LP Standard - tuned E Standard - for solo / noodling - 9 guage
Gibson Explorer - Tuned C standard for metal - 11 guage
Acoustic guitar sits in the living room for aesthetics and a bit of practice in the house.
New acquisition for me - saw this on Facebook of all places just before lockdown 3 was announced. I've always wanted an SG but never really gelled with any that I'd played. Decided to just go for this as it was local and at a good price. Its a 2008 SG Special in worn brown.
Annoyingly, it is probably one of the best guitars I've played in a long time, including my more expensive Gibsons and Fenders. Its got a lovely neck profile, chunkier than I was expecting and comparable to the 50s neck on my Les Paul. Most importantly it has a satin neck, so its very nice to play. I much prefer satin to gloss, which discounts a lot of Gibsons. Took quite a bit of setting up as the previous owner had it in drop C, but got a really nice action on it now. Even acoustically its very resonant.
Sounds great too, think its got a 490R and 490T pickups. It does need need new pots though, the ones that are in it seem to do virtually nothing, either on or off, but that's the only fault. Very pleased, and a convert to a good SG!
Nice SG. Mine had a similar issue with the volume and tone controls, but being a later one it had the PCB inside. I re-wired it with standard pots (500K) but I think I used 0.022uF for the bridge tone and maybe 0.015uF on the neck. I did the same on my Epiphone LP and it gives a more gentle roll off for the tone, so I find it's bit more useful.
I also wanted a fatter neck, but at the time the other (used) option was a very tatty black 2010 (ish) SG Standard, so I thought £50 more for an immaculate Cherry SG Standard which had the more typical slim taper neck...that was also why I ended up getting the Junior with the chunky neck.
I also wanted a fatter neck, but at the time the other (used) option was a very tatty black 2010 (ish) SG Standard, so I thought £50 more for an immaculate Cherry SG Standard which had the more typical slim taper neck...that was also why I ended up getting the Junior with the chunky neck.
SD_1 said:
New acquisition for me - saw this on Facebook of all places just before lockdown 3 was announced. I've always wanted an SG but never really gelled with any that I'd played. Decided to just go for this as it was local and at a good price. Its a 2008 SG Special in worn brown.
Annoyingly, it is probably one of the best guitars I've played in a long time, including my more expensive Gibsons and Fenders. Its got a lovely neck profile, chunkier than I was expecting and comparable to the 50s neck on my Les Paul. Most importantly it has a satin neck, so its very nice to play. I much prefer satin to gloss, which discounts a lot of Gibsons. Took quite a bit of setting up as the previous owner had it in drop C, but got a really nice action on it now. Even acoustically its very resonant.
Sounds great too, think its got a 490R and 490T pickups. It does need need new pots though, the ones that are in it seem to do virtually nothing, either on or off, but that's the only fault. Very pleased, and a convert to a good SG!
Here it is with the other SG's I've got.
vdn said:
Any help / advice appreciated.
The other half was gifted a Made In USA Strat back in the 90’s. It was brand new at the time and has been kept well in a hard case. Played every so often and never gigged.
We’re trying to get an idea on value (not selling but interested) and also, advice on a specific issue I’ve seen. The neck shows signs of surface cracks... are these lacquer cracks only or a sign of something else? Pics below.
Some ‘relic’d’ Fenders come like that from the factory and it’s seen as a custom/premium/desirable feature...see here, about 2 minutes in:The other half was gifted a Made In USA Strat back in the 90’s. It was brand new at the time and has been kept well in a hard case. Played every so often and never gigged.
We’re trying to get an idea on value (not selling but interested) and also, advice on a specific issue I’ve seen. The neck shows signs of surface cracks... are these lacquer cracks only or a sign of something else? Pics below.
https://youtu.be/M5-wzopnZqA
Gassing Station | Music | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff