I play a 1972 elektra. I have to say that this guitar is ultra sweet! never goes out of tune. at all. never. ever. made of actual wood. not an incredible amount of sustain, but I always use distortion anyway, so that doesn't even matter to me.
i got bitched out by a luthier.
Started by mashed tates, Aug 22 2005 09:01 PM
49 replies to this topic
#31
mothrock
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Posted 24 August 2005 - 10:22 AM
I wish d.o.nald wasn't sick so he could weigh in on this
I play a 1972 elektra. I have to say that this guitar is ultra sweet! never goes out of tune. at all. never. ever. made of actual wood. not an incredible amount of sustain, but I always use distortion anyway, so that doesn't even matter to me.
I play a 1972 elektra. I have to say that this guitar is ultra sweet! never goes out of tune. at all. never. ever. made of actual wood. not an incredible amount of sustain, but I always use distortion anyway, so that doesn't even matter to me.
you're a signature.
#33
aaronburke
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Posted 24 August 2005 - 11:32 AM
definitely! that guitar was fun to play,
the neck played really well.
the neck played really well.
#34
mashed tates
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Posted 24 August 2005 - 01:01 PM
brunalpine...and to whom it may concern...
here's the thing that really chaps me up. at home, i have a PRS hollowbody II McCarthy. it's the most valuable thing i own. i paid an absolute assload for this guitar. the thing is, i did study jazz when i bought it and played blues frequently as well. the guitar is incredible. it plays better, sounds better and feels better (for me) than any guitar i have played before or since in the ten years i've been playing. but realistically, why the fuck would i take it in to beck's to get worked on and get parts replaced? the only guitars i've ever taken in for work with the exception of my hollowbody's set up were all my "crappy" asian guitars. i seriously doubt most of the certified gibson hardware goes on real gibson guitars. if you pay 3000 bucks for a guitar or more even...everything on the guitar is (or at least is meant to be and should be) top friggin notch. hey brunalpine, can i get you started on amps?
here's the thing that really chaps me up. at home, i have a PRS hollowbody II McCarthy. it's the most valuable thing i own. i paid an absolute assload for this guitar. the thing is, i did study jazz when i bought it and played blues frequently as well. the guitar is incredible. it plays better, sounds better and feels better (for me) than any guitar i have played before or since in the ten years i've been playing. but realistically, why the fuck would i take it in to beck's to get worked on and get parts replaced? the only guitars i've ever taken in for work with the exception of my hollowbody's set up were all my "crappy" asian guitars. i seriously doubt most of the certified gibson hardware goes on real gibson guitars. if you pay 3000 bucks for a guitar or more even...everything on the guitar is (or at least is meant to be and should be) top friggin notch. hey brunalpine, can i get you started on amps?
#35
Colin
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Posted 24 August 2005 - 01:50 PM
The neck feels ok, but I hate the frets on it. They feel both too big and rough around the edges to me. The body is too light and the contours aren't that comfortable. Remember how noisy and microphonic the stock pickups are? The tuners are shite. And then there's the tremelo.definitely! that guitar was fun to play,
the neck played really well.
Haha, you can tell I knew a lot about what I wanted when I bought it many years ago. I'd give it to you if I didn't have to ship it. It sits in my cabinet at work in case I'm here late and need to blow off a little steam.
#36
aaronburke
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Posted 24 August 2005 - 02:06 PM
well yeah, i was only speaking of the neck.
everything else, especially the pickups,
was not of a good quality. the amount of
feedback and dirty noise from the pickups was unbearable.
everything else, especially the pickups,
was not of a good quality. the amount of
feedback and dirty noise from the pickups was unbearable.
#37
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Posted 24 August 2005 - 08:31 PM
My basic gripe with top of the line Fenders and Gibsons is just that there's no value there. And so much is personal preference. Some people walk into a house and say, "I hate the carpet and the wallpaper, no way I'm buying this house". I look at it like, "I already know what kind of paint I'm putting on the walls, + what kind of flooring I want. And I know it ain't gonna be in any house I see, I'm going to have to put it in myself". So I'm looking at the structure, + whether I'm willing to do what needs to be done. Same with guitars.
I happen to prefer an LSR Roller nut, Schaller locking tuners, + Schaller straplocks. There are certain colors + shapes I hate. So there are things on production guitars [I'm ruling out a custom order] that I just don't care about. They can brag about their nuts [well, who doesn't], their 18:1 tuners, blah, blah, blah, but I don't care, because they're coming right off. All I'm looking at is quality construction. I don't want frets snagging me, I want a smooth, even fretboard, no laminated wood bodies, that kind of thing. And I don't want a big, chunky, 20 lb. neck. So if I personally had to buy a guitar as-is and play it forever, I could find maybe 80% of what I want in a Custom Shop guitar for $1500-$3000. But I don't have to. I can buy a guitar with the basic, quality framework I'm after for less than $400 all day long, put another $200 into it, + I'm gold. My point is, the high end production guitars may have what you want, but the price is just out of control silly. No value.
I'll say just a couple things about amps. Here's what I've had, off the top of my head:
Blackfaced Twin Reverb [i.e., Silverface modded to Blackface specs]
65 RI Twin Reverb
Vibroclone [Fender modded to Vibroverb specs, cause there aren't many Vibroverbs around as they were made only briefly]
Ampeg Jet II [J-12T]
Matchless Chieftain
Laney LC-30
Hughes + Kettner Duotone
Holland [Bassman clone, I forget their designation]
I've never been able to get a Fender amp to sound good to me. I've seen + heard other people do it, but I can't. Apart from that, all of these amps sounded good in their own way, but again, there's the value issue. Matchless is just plain overpriced. I can get 95% of the way there for 40% of the money, so it just ain't worth it. I still have the Duotone + the Ampeg. The Laney was awesome, I miss it.
Here's the biggest secret for musicians, in my opinion, along with Japanese guitars, which isn't really secret anymore, Korean guitars, which is still secret, and many of the Chinese guitars, which is even more secreter: Hughes + Kettner. The Tube series--Puretone, Duotone, and Triamp, if you're ridiculous. Nobody knows about this brand, so they have no resale value. You can get a Duotone, MSRP something like $2800, street, like $2200, for $700-900 on eBay. And I know because I bought the combo AND the head.
Here's the other big secret. Vox just consolidated their manufacturing, so they don't make the chassis in one factory, the cabs somewhere else, assemble them somewhere else, etc. That new Custom Classic series is made in one factory [guess where] and they're dirt cheap [by Vox standards]. The AC-30 combo is $950 [not wih the Celestion blues], the head's $850. That reminds me--Weber VST is the place to go for speakers. $300 for a Celestion Blue or $120 for a Weber Blue Pup on eBay? Once again, as with pickups, and all other music-related magnets--AlNiCo, AlNiCo, AlNiCo. Just say no to ceramic. That includes Ferrite, Samarium-Cobalt [regardless of the marketing Fender snows you with--it's just another way for them to cheap out on you], and anything else that's not AlNiCo.
The place they cheap out on budget amps is the cabs--particle board. And you can't really fix that problem without having a custom cab made, which brings you right back up price-wise, so it's best to start with something good.
As for vintage amps? Don't make me crazy. A 35-year old amp does not sound like it did 35 years ago. Pot and resistor values drift, cones get worn out, and then there's tubes, by God. A new AC-30 is going to sound more like a 65 AC-30 than a 65 AC-30, if you get me.
F that Luthier. You're not going to get anywhere with your Korean guitar? What would he have said to Kurt Cobain walking in with his shitty, bottom-of-the-line, 3/4 scale, beginner student-level Mustang. Before Nirvana, pawn shops couldn't GIVE those things away. Anyway, I'm a shitty guitar player, whether I've got a $1400 G+L plugged into a $3,000 Matchless, or a $200 80's Yamaha plugged into a $100 Ampeg.
I happen to prefer an LSR Roller nut, Schaller locking tuners, + Schaller straplocks. There are certain colors + shapes I hate. So there are things on production guitars [I'm ruling out a custom order] that I just don't care about. They can brag about their nuts [well, who doesn't], their 18:1 tuners, blah, blah, blah, but I don't care, because they're coming right off. All I'm looking at is quality construction. I don't want frets snagging me, I want a smooth, even fretboard, no laminated wood bodies, that kind of thing. And I don't want a big, chunky, 20 lb. neck. So if I personally had to buy a guitar as-is and play it forever, I could find maybe 80% of what I want in a Custom Shop guitar for $1500-$3000. But I don't have to. I can buy a guitar with the basic, quality framework I'm after for less than $400 all day long, put another $200 into it, + I'm gold. My point is, the high end production guitars may have what you want, but the price is just out of control silly. No value.
I'll say just a couple things about amps. Here's what I've had, off the top of my head:
Blackfaced Twin Reverb [i.e., Silverface modded to Blackface specs]
65 RI Twin Reverb
Vibroclone [Fender modded to Vibroverb specs, cause there aren't many Vibroverbs around as they were made only briefly]
Ampeg Jet II [J-12T]
Matchless Chieftain
Laney LC-30
Hughes + Kettner Duotone
Holland [Bassman clone, I forget their designation]
I've never been able to get a Fender amp to sound good to me. I've seen + heard other people do it, but I can't. Apart from that, all of these amps sounded good in their own way, but again, there's the value issue. Matchless is just plain overpriced. I can get 95% of the way there for 40% of the money, so it just ain't worth it. I still have the Duotone + the Ampeg. The Laney was awesome, I miss it.
Here's the biggest secret for musicians, in my opinion, along with Japanese guitars, which isn't really secret anymore, Korean guitars, which is still secret, and many of the Chinese guitars, which is even more secreter: Hughes + Kettner. The Tube series--Puretone, Duotone, and Triamp, if you're ridiculous. Nobody knows about this brand, so they have no resale value. You can get a Duotone, MSRP something like $2800, street, like $2200, for $700-900 on eBay. And I know because I bought the combo AND the head.
Here's the other big secret. Vox just consolidated their manufacturing, so they don't make the chassis in one factory, the cabs somewhere else, assemble them somewhere else, etc. That new Custom Classic series is made in one factory [guess where] and they're dirt cheap [by Vox standards]. The AC-30 combo is $950 [not wih the Celestion blues], the head's $850. That reminds me--Weber VST is the place to go for speakers. $300 for a Celestion Blue or $120 for a Weber Blue Pup on eBay? Once again, as with pickups, and all other music-related magnets--AlNiCo, AlNiCo, AlNiCo. Just say no to ceramic. That includes Ferrite, Samarium-Cobalt [regardless of the marketing Fender snows you with--it's just another way for them to cheap out on you], and anything else that's not AlNiCo.
The place they cheap out on budget amps is the cabs--particle board. And you can't really fix that problem without having a custom cab made, which brings you right back up price-wise, so it's best to start with something good.
As for vintage amps? Don't make me crazy. A 35-year old amp does not sound like it did 35 years ago. Pot and resistor values drift, cones get worn out, and then there's tubes, by God. A new AC-30 is going to sound more like a 65 AC-30 than a 65 AC-30, if you get me.
F that Luthier. You're not going to get anywhere with your Korean guitar? What would he have said to Kurt Cobain walking in with his shitty, bottom-of-the-line, 3/4 scale, beginner student-level Mustang. Before Nirvana, pawn shops couldn't GIVE those things away. Anyway, I'm a shitty guitar player, whether I've got a $1400 G+L plugged into a $3,000 Matchless, or a $200 80's Yamaha plugged into a $100 Ampeg.
#38
ShawnPhase
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Posted 29 August 2005 - 08:12 PM
elektra basses are THE BEST. those really weird ones with the built in distortion and modules and shit...man. those things are pricey, but way worth it.
#39
Hooray For Everything
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Posted 30 August 2005 - 10:23 AM
a delighful thread....
I bought a early 60's Silvertone Parlor Acoustic a few months ago at a Thrift Store for $27...
When Jeremy Randall (Reluctant Messiahs/Rum Tenor) plays his John Fahey'd-out version of You Are My Sunshine, it sounds like a million bucks....just like an old rekkid...
A lot of these same 'rules' go for drums...
listen the mp3 on our myspace thing & tell me what year my drums are, what size my kick is, my snare, what brand....etc......
or click here
I bought a early 60's Silvertone Parlor Acoustic a few months ago at a Thrift Store for $27...
When Jeremy Randall (Reluctant Messiahs/Rum Tenor) plays his John Fahey'd-out version of You Are My Sunshine, it sounds like a million bucks....just like an old rekkid...
A lot of these same 'rules' go for drums...
listen the mp3 on our myspace thing & tell me what year my drums are, what size my kick is, my snare, what brand....etc......
or click here
"HFE...sometimes you seem serious when you are joking and jokey when your serious. You make me laugh and sob all at once. Bless you, and bless the great asshole in the sky that shit you out onto earth. Thank you...thaaaaaaank you. " - bb
"Real love amounts to withholding the truth, even when you're offered the perfect opportunity to hurt someone's feelings." - DS
"one persons harassment, is just another person trying to get there shit back, ever think-a that?"
"THIS JUST IN: SHANE KENNEDY LIKES NOTHING.
SHOCKER." - Mig50
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." ~Dr. Seuss
"Real love amounts to withholding the truth, even when you're offered the perfect opportunity to hurt someone's feelings." - DS
"one persons harassment, is just another person trying to get there shit back, ever think-a that?"
"THIS JUST IN: SHANE KENNEDY LIKES NOTHING.
SHOCKER." - Mig50
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." ~Dr. Seuss
#40
capharnaum
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Posted 31 August 2005 - 09:49 AM
alright.
this band i was in (a few years back)
wrote a song about the man in question
based on a fucked up visit we had with him.
sorry about the sonic quality
but i thought this might be pertinent to the thread
last of the giveashits is the track
enjoy! (hopefully it works)
trois pistoles
this band i was in (a few years back)
wrote a song about the man in question
based on a fucked up visit we had with him.
sorry about the sonic quality
but i thought this might be pertinent to the thread
last of the giveashits is the track
enjoy! (hopefully it works)
trois pistoles
#41
Metal Dream
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Posted 31 August 2005 - 11:05 AM
That's cool stuffalright.
this band i was in (a few years back)
wrote a song about the man in question
based on a fucked up visit we had with him.
sorry about the sonic quality
but i thought this might be pertinent to the thread
last of the giveashits is the track
enjoy! (hopefully it works)
trois pistoles
Thanks for the link Fred
#42
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Posted 31 August 2005 - 02:43 PM
RIP trois pistoles....or so i thought....but alas, myspace can erect anything from the dead...
too bad the little music thing doesn't seem to be working, otherwise i could drown myself in the fabulous nostalgia of malibu houses and greasemonkey suits...
-adrienne.
too bad the little music thing doesn't seem to be working, otherwise i could drown myself in the fabulous nostalgia of malibu houses and greasemonkey suits...
-adrienne.
#44
Guest_jaelita_*
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Posted 01 September 2005 - 12:13 PM
I coulda told you to watch out for Beck, he does have a female repair person now so maybe one day he won't be an asshole 
#45
Kristopher
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Posted 01 September 2005 - 09:32 PM
I'm in the process of buying a '79 Precision bass and considering who/where to take it. Anyone take anything the Bass Place?
Former bass player for Ecchoing Bleu, current bass player for Adam's Evil
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