Guitar Talk

[Saibai]

Hello.
Looking for a new guitar, electric. I like Gibsons for their scale length, humbuckers (although not a fan of the 490R/498T stock pickups found on most of them), looks and decent build quality - referring to the late 80s/early 90s ones.

Leaning towards a Flying V - an ivory one, as they have the generally more desirable ebony fretboard. Hopefully I'll be able to save enough cash in time for my wife to bring one back from Japan in January. Yahoo Japan auctions (http://list5.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/ギブソン-本体-エレキギター-ギター-楽器-器材-ホビー-カルチャー/2084019020-category.html) have a lot of great guitars listed for so much less than what you would pay for the same one here in Australia. You can pick up a 90s ivory Flying V in near-perfect condition with hard case for around 70,000 yen...which is super-cheap by our standards.
SGs, even the 61 Reissue models are cheap too. I like Les Pauls too but not their weight.
The upgraded Firebirds (2010 onwards) are cool as hell too.
There's also an Eric Johnson strat on there for something like 115,000 yen...only strat that interests me atm.

Currently alternating between my homemade guitar for clean sounds and general duties and our drummer's SG for dirt.
Am verrry interested in building a custom Warmoth Jazzmaster too...

Any thoughts?


Also, found these strings and am ordering a couple of sets:
http://www.curtmangan.com
Curt used to be high up in Ernie Ball until he set up a string company of his own, these strings seem to be held in high regard and it's time to change mine soon anyway.

Found extremely good deals on strings at this website:
http://www.stringsandbeyond.com
For example, a pack of Elixirs can cost around 17USD here in Australia, whereas they've got them for 9USD. Most popular-brand uncoated strings are about 5USD on that site.
I've got a few different packs of strings in my cart (including those Curt Mangans) and it's still only 8 bucks shipping to Oz.

Sorry about the links to commercial websites, I have no vested interest in the above businesses.

 

[Saibai]

Got a gig coming up in mid November!
Need to get a strap by then, I took it off a couple of weeks ago and promptly lost it. I'd use the strap on the SG but it's permanently affixed with 5-yen coins for straplocks.

 

[Elmer Bud]

G`day Saibai

Be very wary of fakes .
The Chinese guitar makers are now extremely good at it . Once upon it was pretty easy to ID a fake but they have stepped up their game in recent times .
Google fake Gibson and stand back ...

http://fibsons.com/


EB .

 

[Saibai]

Gday Elmer.
Yeah the Chinese-made fakes are getting more prevalent recently. I'm not worried about the Gibsons on Yahoo Japan though, they're legit.
I'll be buying secondhand anyway - around 20 year-old models - and though they're getting good at fakes they haven't managed to fake one of those...they (the fakes) all seem to be brand new ones.
The only fakes I've seen on there are the Ibanez/Fujigen/Fernandes Gibson rip-offs the Japanese made in the 70s-80s...which were often more well-made than some of the American guitars that they were copying and in some cases have become collector's pieces in their own right.

 

[Elmer Bud]

G`day Saibai

Good your informed .
Tokai made some real nice fakes going back .Hope you pick up a great axe .
What sort of pick ups are you thinking about ?

Thanks for sharin

EB .

 

[Saibai]

Elmer, thanks for the well-wishes.

Pick-ups...now thats a quandary.
Had my mind made up on a set of Bare Knuckle Pickups (had not decided on which model) but right now I'm really liking what I see and hear of the EMG 57/66 set.
I was always attracted to the advantages of actives, but didn't want a generic metal tone (like 81s)...I really don't use neck pickups (If I was to make a Warmoth I'd probably route a neck pickup space on the body but not use it - just cover it with a pickguard).

So, to answer your question, I'd probably just get the EMG 57 bridge.
I have Seymour Duncan Slash Alnico Pro IIs in my homemade one at the moment, not bad but the bridge polepieces don't line up to the strings exactly due to suspect construction. Of the guitar, that is, not the pickups. Doesn't seem to really affect the sound adversely though, still OK or good enough for me at least.

 

[Saibai]

Well, my band had our debut gig 2 nights ago...went really well! Not perfect but nobody really cared/noticed any little screwups in arrangement as they were all originals (8 song set).

Got a great reception; made some fans and looks like we'll be invited back for more gigs, there and other venues. Had a heap of fun - felt very good when people cheered/whistled. Had some people coming up to shake my hand - "You guys are the frickin greatest, when's your next gig?"...one guy even insisted on getting an autograph (?), lol. I thought he was taking the piss at first but it must have been his first time seeing a band live or something, heh.

I had to use the SG, my regular guitar has been breaking strings...I've never broken a string until a few weeks ago when I broke two in one week, then another the next. The 5th (A) string twice and the 4th (D) once. Each time they broke right on the bridge. Strange as I have the fancy-wancy Graphtech saddles on that guitar...I checked to make sure there were no sharp bits, and added graphite to the saddle after the second break. I don't know why they have started to break all of a sudden, but didn't want to risk it playing live, so it became my backup. Pretty different feel and sound between the two - the SG does distortion better but the home-job has the Alnico 2s which I think have better clarity and a sweeter tone.

Anyway, will be working on more originals and hopefully have at least another paid gig or two during December. Would like to share but can't on this forum as all my band-related stuff has my real name attached.

 

[SkyHider]

W

 

[Saibai]

What's your pedal board?

TC/Fultone/Xotic

Hi SkyHider, just a Boss GT8 Multi-effects that I picked up cheap secondhand atm...doesn't even have DI.
Does the job though, I suppose. I still haven't tweaked any of the settings - just using the factory presets.

Got another gig in January, and working on getting good recordings for an EP for 2014.

Found out that Guthrie Govan will be coming to my country in mid-2014, considering flying to the (far away from me) city to see him.

Had an unexpected windfall (Merry Christmas to me!) and trying to decide what guitar it will go towards...a Warmoth custom? A Firebird? None of the above?

 

[SkyHider]

I

 

[Mattskibop]

What sort of music do you play?

 

[Saibai]

Hi Mattskibop!
I play in 2 bands, a ska band (not really my cup of tea genre-wise but they're a fun bunch of people), and an alternative? band...punk, some funk, rock, ska, blues influence.

This thread is a bit outdated now though...I've gotten a guitar or two or three since then.

 

[Swamp Thang]

For my own secret noise making sessions, I own a pair of Fender Stratocasters, one US made grey-bodied Strat with a rosewood fret-board, and the other black Mexican made version.

My drum tracks are generated by an Alesis SR18 drum synthesizer, and nothing beats a good jam when I am nice and buzzed on some good herb.