Guitar talk.

jack · Post by **jack** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 3:48 pm

yeah, those are sweet guitars. you got a good pop. who knows his guitars.

stueym · Post by **stueym** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 3:57 pm

jack wrote:yeah, those are sweet guitars. you got a good pop. who knows his guitars.

Why thank you!

<bows from the waist>

Sober · Post by **Sober** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 4:11 pm

Is it a Mexi?

I need to get a nice acoustic. I had a $400 seagull for a couple months, and it was nice, but I want something nicer. Martin D16 or nicer. That puts me in the $800+ range automatically, which I'm fine with.

So.

Martin, Takamine, Taylor, Gibson.

That's probably all I'll look at. I just got a job at good ol' GC (yes, I'm officially a muppet), so now I have access to a much wider range of gear. I've liked a couple Takamines in my day, Martins are always nice, I have little experience with Taylor, and we'll see if any Gibsons come into a reasonable pricerange. I might spring for a D28.

The GC gig also means it's a million times easier for me to get SF'ers gear. Just let me know what you want, and I can arrange for you to pick it up from your local GC at my hook-up price. Neat, huh?

jack · Post by **jack** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 5:04 pm

of the 4 you mentioned, i'd say.........

takamine's are the best value for the money.

taylor's are the brightest sounding

martin's are the boomiest sounding

gibson's are nice but overpriced

D28 will set you back well over a grand. they retail for about $1500. you can get a nice takamine for about 500-600. pete townshend likes takamine too. taylor entry point, or like nice low end like the 300 series are minimum 800-1000. low end martin's sound fine and are pretty well made i think. personally, if i was looking, i'd probably be looking at taylor's because they are very well made and i like the bright sound. or i'd be looking for a used D28. The D28 might be the best acoustic guitar model i've ever played consistently, even going in and playing all the high end guitars in guitar center like i like to do, like the hummingbirds, and the Gibson J series.

Bjam · Post by **Bjam** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 5:36 pm

The Sober Irishman wrote:Is it a Mexi?

Yep.

Dan-O from Five-O · Post by **Dan-O from Five-O** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 6:20 pm

The Sober Irishman wrote:The GC gig also means it's a million times easier for me to get SF'ers gear. Just let me know what you want, and I can arrange for you to pick it up from your local GC at my hook-up price. Neat, huh?

Dude! I am sooooo taking you up on that offer when I get my tax return. Only a couple of month's to plan. Hmmm, what'll it be...what'll it be?

Sober · Post by **Sober** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 6:31 pm

I like takamine's for their electric sound, but their straight acoustic sound doesn't really wow me. The old 'takamine & co.' lawsuit guitars are hit-or-miss, but I really liked the good ones. My friend has an old D31 12th fret model, and playing that made me think "holy shit I need a nice acoustic"

My GC buddy is a Taylor freak, so I'll be checking those out, if only to appease him.

Oh, and just a warning, do not buy parkwood acoustic guitars. Unless you like crappy guitars and you don't like your money.

Henrietta · Post by **Henrietta** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 11:31 am

Scott has a great strategy when shopping for acoustics: Try out the most expensive ones (yeah, I know you can't afford 'em) in the store <i>first</i>, and then work your way down. That way, you've got the sound you're looking for already in your head when you do get to the cheapies.

(It really worked for me... my $900 Tacoma didn't sound as nice as a $2600 Taylor, but it easily matched the $1700 Taylor. Sure, the Tacoma wasn't an electric, but after a $150 trip to a top notch shop I walked away with a great acoustic-electric for a lot less cash. I've gotten a bunch of compliments from others who've played it, too.... )

ken · Post by **ken** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 1:36 pm

I agree, you have to play all the guitars you can find in and around your price range. You never know which one will feel like the right one.

Ken

boltoph · Post by **boltoph** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 5:40 pm

oops my post upstairs was a little....well...ehem....too late to delete now.

Well I have to say, one thing to be careful of is neck width. I mean from the E string to the E string, that width. (Also, notice the other neck width, from top of fretboard to back of neck, that comes in diff. sizes too.)

If you've got big fingers, you might not want one of those generally-skinny-necked Fenders. You might want to customize it with a wider neck. I'd play any piece of crap guitar forever as long as the neck felt good and the rest of it worked.

Gibsons and Epiphones tend to have the wide necks. I like my Hummingbird for this reason. But I have a Yamaha that has ye skinny neck...can't even play an A on that thing.
I also had an Epi Sheraton electric (semi-hollow), now in the hands of a one Johnsonic, and that thing had a wide neck as well, that plays beautifully. Slapped two Seymour Duncan PAF 59's on there and that thing screams!

I can't tell you sizes, but what I can say is, think about how the neck feels when you're trying out your new guitars.

And if you want an all purpose guitar, yer better off with something that combines both single coil and humbucking pickups, or has a coil tap switch. There's something beautiful about that two-pickup single coil shimmery clean tone...and there's something incredible about a humbucker at the bridge for distortion chords.

Sober · Post by **Sober** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 9:13 pm

Played a Gibson songwriter, and I wasn't overly impressed. It felt ok, and it sounded ok, but it didn't jump at me. The sound was just so... plain. I'm sure it would sound fantastic on a recording, but just sitting and playing guitar is what I really love to do, so I want something that's satisfying on its own.

Maybe I need to play it more to warm up to it, but the D28 wasn't blowing me away either, although I liked it way better. The HD28 is nice.

Wednesday I'll have an opportunity to play a bunch of Gibsons and Martins.

I've decided against all Taylors without even playing them, because I learned a few facts. All Taylors are finished with polyurethane, rather than laquer. That's an immediate disqualifier for any instrument I purchase, ever. Then, all of the guitars (as I understand) have bolt-on necks. I'm sure they're great and all, but those two factors have decided it for me.

So, if I can find an "TakaMartin," a real Martin, a Gibson, or something else fancy that I like, I'll be in business.

Oh, and while I love Fender, their acoustics suck.

Dan-O from Five-O · Post by **Dan-O from Five-O** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 7:29 pm

Whoops I did it again. I just got me one of these tonight. I picked it up from Sam Ash (Sorry Sober, it was there man. I had to have it) for $350. It was used, but shows no visible signs of it. New they're $550 and with the Tone Tubby speaker option it has, I've heard they're about $100 more. Someone said that on Harmony Central but I haven't confirmed that yet, maybe Sober can. Anyway it's an all tube 30 watt Class A amp. As a side note, things sure have improved since the time I suffered for a couple of years with a solid state amp, but real tubes still rule in guitar amps as far as I'm concerned. Class A amps allegedly push the power tubes at full strength all the time, regardless of the volume level. So the sweetness of a cranked amp can, again allegedly, be had at any volume. I'll let ya'll know my thoughts after I get to play it for a while. I'm worried about pushing the tubes like that all of the time and whether they will wear out faster so if anyone has specific knowledge about it I would love to hear from you.

Lastly, I have to tell all of you how much I love my wife. Seriously, she is the most accommodating spouse I can think of. I already had 3 pretty high-end amps, and now another one. This latest purchase was based largely on money from a gig I don't play until next weekend and yet, here's the amp. She always supports me in whatever equipment purchases I make, in everything I do in fact. I'm lucky and blessed to have her. I wish everyone could be as fortunate as I am, not just on being able to buy gear, just being able to find someone who supports your every move.

I just needed to say that publicly. It's the very least she deserves.

That and jewelry. More jewelry she says.

thehipcola · Post by **thehipcola** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 8:40 pm

That's awesome man. I recently played a gig with Brad Sucks on a stage where the backline was all supplied by Steve's Music (pretty major music retailer in Canada) and I got to play through this, on two separate nights. Now I'm tube crazy. Can't stop dreaming about 'em.

I had mad designs on trading in my Fender Deluxe 90 SS and adding a couple of hundred bucks...but then I found out the price. Needless to say, I was a sad man. It was a sweet sweet sounding rig. Bit too much for what I need, but I'd sure do my best to use it all!

Dan-O from Five-O · Post by **Dan-O from Five-O** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 9:35 pm

TheHipCola wrote:That's awesome man. Now I'm tube crazy. Can't stop dreaming about 'em.

It's the soft reddish glow, I'm sure it is. It'll get you every time.

EDIT: I have been playing this amp for a couple of hours now. Wow is the best thing I can come up with at the moment.

jack · Post by **jack** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 9:35 pm

for tube amps, you can't go wrong with a mesa. or a twin reverb.

just my opinion, but i'd never buy anything but a tube amp.

Dan-O from Five-O · Post by **Dan-O from Five-O** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 10:03 pm

Jack you've talked about your Mesa, and you've seen the picture of my Marshall. I would love to see your amps man. I've also got a Fender a Vibrolux and a Hughes & Kettner and a Rivera (front row bottom left).

Oh and I've got this dumb old thing sitting around collecting dust.

Kidding about the Dumble. My wife loves me but everything has it's limitations. I sure would love to get my hands on one though, just to see if they're anywhere near as good as what people say they are.

HeuristicsInc · Post by **HeuristicsInc** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 10:46 pm

TheHipCola wrote:I recently played a gig with Brad Sucks

Hey, I didn't know you played with Brad. Are you in "his" band? That's awesome.
-bill

thehipcola · Post by **thehipcola** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 8:12 am

HeuristicsInc wrote:
TheHipCola wrote:I recently played a gig with Brad Sucks
Hey, I didn't know you played with Brad. Are you in "his" band? That's awesome.
-bill

I am..and it's very cool. He's a great guy! We're having a good time translating it all live.

Dan-O, it IS the reddish glow...on that Crate I played through, it was grill on the front of the head so you could see all the tubes lit up. It looked almost sinister, and I loved it. Every last bit. I'm now on a quest to save up the cash so I can buy a tube something soon. As soon as I can. Sooner if possible.

boltoph · Post by **boltoph** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 10:49 am

TheHipCola likes his tubes, all lit up. Front and rear. Back to front.

Bitches, there are many kinds of tubes as well. Don't sell yourself short. They all sound different.

Used to play a Mesa Boogie Rectifer (until I had to sell it because I was broke). This had 6L6's. Second fav, Carvin with EL34's. Third, early 80's Marshall that I think has 6550 power tubes. I can't decide now, which I like best.

Either way, transistors and FET/Valves can all suck it.

bz£ · Post by **bz£** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 1:54 pm

I would like to have one of these one day, if they ever get around to selling them and if I ever get around to finding a real job with, like, a salary, and stuff. Totally untested, too; I have that much respect for the guy who designed the things.

Last I heard, which was almost a year ago, the 2x12 was expected to retail somewhere in the $800s, which is pretty reasonable.

Kamakura · Post by **Kamakura** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 2:26 pm

bzl wrote:I would like to have one of these one day

It look like they've stuck hubcaps on the front. The sound may be wow, but the look doesn't work.

I've got a Zoom Fire 30 which is cheap and with care sounds good too.

jack · Post by **jack** » Sun Feb 05, 2006 12:52 pm

Dan-O from Five-O wrote:Jack you've talked about your Mesa, and you've seen the picture of my Marshall. I would love to see your amps man.

i've got 2 amps that i've had for many years. before i bought either, i used to play out of a friends old (not re-issue) fender twin reverb when i was playing in an electric band. first amp i bought was the fender champ 12. awesome little 2 channel amp that combines solid state and tube. it's interesting what they say about it on harmony-central's review forum. some love it and some don't. i think it's a killer powerhouse little amp. great fender tube tone but small and portable, and this amp will crank on the gain channel. i paid about $200 used back around 1994 i think. dan torres has a couple really good mod kits for this amp and he raves about it.

the mesa nomad 55 i got as a birthday present from an ex-girlfriend (ex now not then). it's incredibly well made and versatile, having 3 channels with separate volume, tone, and eq for each channel. ken played it up in seattle and i was in the back row of the theatre and amazed at how good it sounded played clean.