Gear Thread - Pics

Raymond Lin · 3 Nov 2015 at 15:23

The removable pick guard was the only good idea, the neck being the most disliked changes. It does mean you can pick it up super cheap at the moment.

I would like a reissue but already have a custom shop LP, shouldn't buy anymore gear this year. But your guitar reminds me what I want lol

Blackvault · 3 Nov 2015 at 15:27

Raymond Lin said:
The removable pick guard was the only good idea, the neck being the most disliked changes. It does mean you can pick it up super cheap at the moment.

I would like a reissue but already have a custom shop LP, shouldn't buy anymore gear this year. But your guitar reminds me what I want lol

Anderton's are doing 0% finance over 24 months, its how I'm paying for my Les Paul. Worth thinking about

What Les Paul do you have?

Also I'm running 11s top wrapped on my '58 and it sounds incredible, as I usually use 9s. That extra thump from the strings is great.

Raymond Lin · 3 Nov 2015 at 16:33

It's call a Class 5, there's a photo on the last page of this thread or the page before that, i have mine in 10's, actually all my guitars are in 10's except the Taylor which is on 11.

24 months interest free? That's an eternity... Will think about it, otherwise I am happy to buy used, there are lots of reissue around so see them come up for sale quite often, no rush.

Blackvault · 3 Nov 2015 at 17:36

Raymond Lin said:
It's call a Class 5, there's a photo on the last page of this thread or the page before that, i have mine in 10's, actually all my guitars are in 10's except the Taylor which is on 11.

24 months interest free? That's an eternity... Will think about it, otherwise I am happy to buy used, there are lots of reissue around so see them come up for sale quite often, no rush.

Like looking guitar. Aren't the Class 5's weight relieved by some margin over the usual relieving?

24 months is a long time but with no interest and only £113 or something coming out a month it is not too bad. There are a few used reissues about however nothing stood out to me and I wasn't really going to wait around until "the" one came up at the right price. I'm happy with the top on mine and it sound great.

Raymond Lin · 3 Nov 2015 at 17:39

Class 5 has 9 holes, everything else is same spec as a R0, down to the bridge, pick ups, long tenon, 1 piece back, etc.

I've just placed an deposit for a new tweed amp last week, 30 weeks wait so no new gear until then. New rule I just implemented

But your R8, damn!

SexyGreyFox · 8 Nov 2015 at 22:36

I had this new toy, gigged with it for the first time last night and what an experience.

Here's a small breakdown of what it can do with a free download.
For those interested it is called GR55 Floorboard so you can download and see all the stuff you can do with it.

At it's basic level you can plug your normal pickups into the unit and use it's amazing effects section.
Last night I didn't use my normal pickups but just used the GK3 pickup for my COSM guitar sounds and awesome they were to.
During the evening I played with Gibsons through Marshalls and Fenders through Twin Reverbs and they sounded very authentic also going a 3k PA system.
I also used Martin acoustics & Guild acoustics for a couple of songs.
The really amazing bit are the two synthesizer sections where I was able to have a Jon Lord type organ along with my heavy guitar sound and it sounded brilliant on songs like Burn & Highway Star by Deep Purple.
The song Mistreated used a Guild acoustic along with a Hammond Organ sound and I thought my lead guitarist was going to ejaculate when the heard the thick Hammond sounds behind his lead work.
Another song featured a big synth lead sound that had my bandmates and some audience in awe.
I have only touched the basics of this wonderful unit so here's some screen grabs of the software to give you a taster.

Lowe · 10 Nov 2015 at 13:11

Great fun aren't they? We've got 3 of them and whilst they don't get used that much it can be pretty funny watching audience reactions at performances when they're wondering where the sax solo is coming from haha

v0n · 13 Nov 2015 at 15:38

Roland's stuff never sounds right to me though. Most of their patches tend to sound like Argos synth, maybe except for string/guitar emulation, like nylon, bass or 12 string. Talking about 12 string, this month I followed Dimple into Variax territory (now that James Taylor Variax are discounted to £638) and I have to say, good effort on acoustics but god, a lot of instrument patches in Line 6 tech have absolutely terrible digital warble - do clean harmonics on 12th fret in 12 sting guitar mode and it just goes completely square. Same with lower registers from A to E string on most alt tunings. It's much worse than my Strat VG in that respect which is, strangely enough Roland technology from 2007 ...

Tk7 · 16 Nov 2015 at 16:35

Here's the latest guitar I built. Tele style, tuned to D with a single humbucker. Pretty pleased with this one considering the cost (~£130).

Got a bit of setup work to do. Intonation has just been done but I need to set the action, relief and lower the nut slots. It plays pretty well so far though, sounds nice too. I have other guitars for more standard stuff so I though i'd make one for a lower tuning. This has 11 gauge strings on it.

easyrider · 16 Nov 2015 at 17:34

Looks cool mate

Tk7 · 16 Nov 2015 at 20:03

Thanks...and yeah, it doesn't really spark the interest like that tasty Les Paul above but it was a bit of an experiment really.

I bought the 50 quid Thomann tele kit and made it from that. There's a few changes obviously, but the body, neck, jack plate, control plate and neck plate were from the kit.

The bridge was from a friend, off a US tele I think, but the pickup it came with didn't work.

As I said in my post I spent about 130, so an addition 70-80 on top of the kit.

The kit had a few issues:-

some lifting frets - I glued these down, I did consider a refret but it didn't warrant it in the end. I did level and crown them though

jack socket, pots and switch all pretty cheap - no surprise really but some stuff I had in stock, the switch I bought

tuners - very cheap and not worth using in my opinion. I used Wilkinson split post tuners instead, less then £20 and work great (my other partscaster has them)

I also carved out a body and forearm contour which worked out well. I have no issues with the standard slab body but figured i'd do it on this one. I also cut the headstock shape from the blank it comes with.

A fun project anyway, and the kit is good value for..£57 delivered I think. Just be prepared to sort a few issues out.

Jimbo · 20 Nov 2015 at 11:56

I don't understand why people spend 4k + on Gibson RI's its much more fun pimping your existing les paul. Heres my 2007 Classic Antique, complete with RS guitar works USA vintage 59 CTS pots and Bumble bees inside, (no metal plate here) And now ive installed a Faber ABR-N bridge and lightweight tail piece (aged) and Thumb-cutters. Sounds? awesome.

Shes not as red in real life, pics dont do it justice.

Raymond Lin · 21 Nov 2015 at 09:24

Tbf, you can get a R8 for under £2k used quite often. They do it because a used standard would still be £1k and by the time you added all the mods on, you might as well get a reissue and no matter what mods you do to it, it's not a reissue. Like it or not, rightly or wrongly, they are placed at a higher regards than a modern standard.

Dave · 21 Nov 2015 at 10:30

Tk7 said:
Here's the latest guitar I built. Tele style, tuned to D with a single humbucker. Pretty pleased with this one considering the cost (~£130).

Looks great. Tuned to standard D? I tuned my Strat down to standard D and love it - I imagine on a Tele it will give some nice low-down twang!

Jimbo · 21 Nov 2015 at 10:41

Raymond Lin said:
Tbf, you can get a R8 for under £2k used quite often. They do it because a used standard would still be £1k and by the time you added all the mods on, you might as well get a reissue and no matter what mods you do to it, it's not a reissue. Like it or not, rightly or wrongly, they are placed at a higher regards than a modern standard.

Well yes I hear you. Don't get me wrong reissue Gibsons are nice but some are not even close to original spec. Some of them even had false paper in oil bumble bee caps in, I mean they just put a striped cover on. Sound nothing like the originals. Saying that some are worth it and I would buy if I had the money, but like I say I love modding mine. The Faber ABR I put on gives it a lovely warm tone and sustains forever. Still got the original classic 57s pickups in there for now, but that may change. And I highly recommend RS guitar works vintage les Paul harness.

Raymond Lin · 21 Nov 2015 at 11:07

Tell me about it, every year Gibson says "it's the closest" ever, and then put the price up. For gods sake, they know what the original guitar spec, they've made them themselves! And they made the collectors choice which they say it is 100% replica (minus the BRW board), down to the number of winds on the pick ups. One thing about the USA line to the customs shop is the USA's neck are often a fraction steeper so the bridge pick up is higher from the body. Not sure why they do that.

My Les Paul was made in 2001, has the old ABR-1 bridge. The only guitar I would upgrade to is a R8/9 tbh.

Tk7 · 21 Nov 2015 at 19:56

Dave said:
Looks great. Tuned to standard D? I tuned my Strat down to standard D and love it - I imagine on a Tele it will give some nice low-down twang!

Ta! Yeah standard D. I did also play about with it in drop C for a bit which was very low. I've been so used to playing in E for so long it felt a bit weird. I used to be in Eb years ago and also had an Ibanez K7 that came in A so i'm no stranger to dropped tunings....but it's been so long.

I've also redone the switching since I first built it. The first position is still volume only but i've switched the pot and cap on pos 2, and the fixed cap on pos 3. Pos 3 is now a cocked wah sound like the Eldred wiring on some esquires. It's pretty nifty really, 3 good sounds.

robin7 · 25 Nov 2015 at 15:29

So my V30 arrived a few weeks and I've gigged her, recorded with her, and did a local tv show with her. All in all very pleased. So far I'm loving the two channel and one set of EQ goodness, I hate amps with tons of knobs (hence not wanting to use my old Marshall anymore). I need a new cab as my 4x12's speakers aren't the best with this amp. I recorded a few weeks ago with a 2x12 with Greenbacks and it sounded epic.

Here's a terrible quality pic of it.

Tk7 · 25 Nov 2015 at 20:58

Looks good Robin, i've watched a few review vids of the V30 and it sounds great. What cab are you looking at? 1 or 2x12?

robin7 · 26 Nov 2015 at 09:17

Tk7 said:
Looks good Robin, i've watched a few review vids of the V30 and it sounds great. What cab are you looking at? 1 or 2x12?

I'm after a 2x12, most likely with Vintage 30's, however the greenbacks I recorded with sounded awesome. I think for live playing the Vintage 30's will sound better though.

I'm moving down from my Marshall 4x12 which is just a pain to carry around to gigs when I have to take my own cab. Same as I moved down (in size) with my amp head. I realised the other day that (maybe I've been lucky?) I've never played a gig where my cab wasn't mic'd. So not sure why I've bothered all these years with big amps and cabs. Quality over volume now! Although the V30 is plenty loud!

Edit: I should add I was really attached to the look of panamaguitars road gear 2x12 cabs, with the slightly hyrbid v30's they have as an option. The tonewoods are so pretty and interesting. Just they don't ship to Europe and the UK sites are twice the price (still cheap for a cab but you know what I mean, just feels like a rip off.)

So I've been looking at some of the cheapish custom shop cab makers. As long as it's got V30's, it would be nice to have something funky and a bit different to what everyone else is using out there.