***The Official Guitar Thread***

Baz

Baz

Soldato
Joined
9 Dec 2002
Posts
4,374
Location
Peterborough
Not been to the store, but I did buy a bass off them online. Arrived in the bare Fender box, clearly nobody thought double boxing it was a good idea. Opened it up to find a massive dent and crack in the back of the instrument where something had clearly whacked the packaging. Returned and ended up buying elsewhere, mainly due to them having no more stock rather than a lack of faith but still.

Not sure I would trust couriers shipping a guitar and amp - gonna make the trip to them as I want to hear/touch/feel it before buying.
 
Associate
Joined
19 Sep 2010
Posts
2,339
Location
The North
So, got some work done on the Harley Benton kit this week, fortunately the weather round here was absolutely ideal for painting on Sunday too (humidity dropped right down to sub-60%).

So, first off the body. Reasonably well finished with a few machining marks but well sealed, just gave it a run over with some 600 grit before any paint to tidy up the marks. The ground wire hole is a very rough job, but that will all be hidden under the bridge plate. 3 piece body, looks and feels like basswood to me.


Had to fill in the drilled pickguard holes as they were a mile out from the included pickguard, and even more so from the replacement I'm going to be using. So, toothpicks and wood glue to the rescue! Cut back and sanded flush before paint.


Pickguard fitted - nowhere to drill for one screw above the controls, debating just leaving it off as it makes no difference or gluing a bit of scrap wood to the cavity to drill into. Will figure this out later down the line.


Headstock, shaped! Going to an early 60s colour scheme but wanted to strink the headstock a bit. The body is very lightweight so trying to avoid any neck dive issues. As such, used a template for an American Deluxe size headstock rather than a vintage sizing.


Primer!


And colour coat, Shell Pink nitrocellulose. Used a full fin of both colour and clear coat and it's looking good with a decent shine to it. Now to leave it for 3 or so weeks to fully cure before wet sanding and buffing.


Still got work to do on the neck, need to get a decal made up and give the whole neck a quick dusting of clear, with more coats to the headstock front. Going to leave the back a satin finish like the modern Fenders as I love the feel of my Player Jazz.
 
Associate
Joined
20 May 2007
Posts
866
Not been to the store, but I did buy a bass off them online. Arrived in the bare Fender box, clearly nobody thought double boxing it was a good idea. Opened it up to find a massive dent and crack in the back of the instrument where something had clearly whacked the packaging. Returned and ended up buying elsewhere, mainly due to them having no more stock rather than a lack of faith but still.

Whereas I got a Kramer from them back in March which came double boxed.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
29 Mar 2003
Posts
56,809
Location
Stoke on Trent
I'm rather impressed, I bought the Desert Flame Burst Its more a brown burst that red and the neck is dark. Sound great and feels nice.

I'll post a few pics later.

I've got to say I've been buying and playing classic guitars for 50 years but that looks awesome, I'd love a blind test with it.
About 10 years ago my mate invited me up to his to blind test 3 guitars and the one I picked out was an Ace Frehley Gibson Les Paul £200 Chinese copy while the other two were £1500+.
It played, sounded and looked excellent.
 
Soldato
Joined
22 Nov 2007
Posts
4,097
Going down to Brighton for a couple of days in a couple of weeks. I emailed GAK to ask if i can demo a couple of guitars. Both of them are out of stock, but the guy asked me he could order them in but it would be 10% deposit on each guitar. One is £999 and the other is £1300.

Damn that is an expensive price to pay to try out a guitar!!!
 
Soldato
Joined
14 Dec 2005
Posts
5,007
?? How does that work? You get the deposit back after you’ve tried them and decide you don’t like either?

Gear4Music do a 30 day no quibble return policy...need to pay for it obviously but u have 30 days to try it at home...obv need to be careful, don’t wear tops with zoos etc to avoid scratching

you can even pay a bit more (think it’s ~5%) then you get 180 days to return!

that’s a nice looking guitar @Mr.E.
 
Soldato
Joined
14 May 2007
Posts
2,642
Morning Chaps,
I was saving for the Cort x manson guitar but alas i've replaced my bathroom so budget has all but vanished! I have had a look online and whats available at the really low end of the market. There's a few that have caught my eye:
Jackson Js22 - this is £200ish but has a whammy bar which i don't think i'll get use off. https://www.andertons.co.uk/guitar-...2-dinky-in-metallic-blue-w-amaranth-fretboard
Schecter C-6 / c6 deluxe / plus about 250-300
Jackson JS32 without the whammy bar
Not expecting any of them to be great but they all seem to get alright reviews. The kinda of style guitar i want.
 
Associate
Joined
29 Jan 2018
Posts
322
I was looking at guitars like those Schecter and Jackson ones, in the end I got a Chapman ML1 modern for a sale price. It's a bit different, has a nice finish, is nice to hold etc.
 
Soldato
Joined
14 Mar 2011
Posts
5,421
Ah that's the one people keep losing their minds over on Facebook...

How is the jamming functionality? Wondering if its better than the Trio+ but everyone who demos it online seems to just focus on the different tones/effects and how the amp sounds
 
Caporegime
Joined
20 Oct 2002
Posts
74,197
Location
Wish i was in a Ramen Shop Counter
Ah that's the one people keep losing their minds over on Facebook...

How is the jamming functionality? Wondering if its better than the Trio+ but everyone who demos it online seems to just focus on the different tones/effects and how the amp sounds

I’ve not tried it yet, only got it at lunch time, no customs! But first impression it’s well built.
 
Caporegime
Joined
20 Oct 2002
Posts
74,197
Location
Wish i was in a Ramen Shop Counter
Ah that's the one people keep losing their minds over on Facebook...

How is the jamming functionality? Wondering if its better than the Trio+ but everyone who demos it online seems to just focus on the different tones/effects and how the amp sounds

Just had a quick go before dinner. Brilliant. It’s like a THR but better. I love the app integration and intuitive of it. Turning on pedals is easy, changing amp too is easy. If you don’t want you can just turn the amp selection knob on the Spark and that also changes the amp in the app too!

i also had a quick go on the backing track, works brilliantly. Set tempo, play a bit and it’ll generate something for you.

I have spent about the same money on Marshall Acton and this makes that look over price. Sounds great as a Bluetooth speaker too.

ldugzFl.jpg

ukv301y.jpg
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
8 Mar 2005
Posts
3,619
Location
London, UK
It's the app integration that elevates it. I'm a terrible guitar player so the ease to jam to a beat with chord prompts, I know will help me. I'll have a proper play tomorrow
 
Back
Top Bottom