***The Official Guitar Thread***

SexyGreyFox said:
This brings up an interesting stereotypical question which a lot of famous musicians have answered - how many of you here took up an instrument to hopefully get laid?.
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I picked the guitar up because 3 of my other mates did. It was around Year 10 of school, so most definitely to get ladies... not that it worked :(
 
2StepSteve said:
That was a very good deal.Laney really do make some fantastic amps. Shame they aren't made in the UK any more, but still.

I bet that 20 watt head sings! Guessing the attentuator comes in handy to keep the neighbours off your back :D
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It's pretty loud that's for sure... without the attenuator I couldn't really go above 1 or 2 on the volume or it felt like it was going to blow the windows out. Sounds excellent turned up around halfway
 
SexyGreyFox said:
how many of you here took up an instrument to hopefully get laid?
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Getting laid was so far beyond the realms of possibility for teenage me that I doubt it even crossed my mind. But I do remember what made me get one to take to university with me.

At the end of 6th form 'do' a mate of mine (we were best friends at Primary School, but his alpha male genes kicked in very early and our lives diverged rapidly) suddenly produced a guitar and did a rather unexpectedly good version of Stairway to Heaven. I'd never seen anyone play an instrument live before and was blown away at how impressive it was. So I ended up with a lousy Grattan's catalogue guitar and no clue whatsoever what to do with it for quite a few years. Where was the internet when I needed it (for guitar tutorials, not alternatives to the getting laid thing).

Never did learn Stairway to Heaven, but I do manage a passable solo Smoke on the Water now.
 
a1ex2001 said:
So I was talking to my other half about guitar purchases over the weekend having decided I needed to scratch the Les Paul itch I’ve had as long as I can remember and having accepted it would be an Epiphone or similar. When she said you should just by the real thing, that way you won’t get the itch to upgrade and the guitar might even go up in value. So after I picked my jaw off the floor I need to re-evaluate my options! I’m looking second hand and probably up to £1500/£1600 so what should I be looking at from the Gibson range? Is that enough money to get me something nice or do I need to up the budget £100/£200?
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I would got for old spec, that means no push pulled pots, no coil split or phase inverse unless you really want to.

Strangely recent years that means getting the Traditional and not the Standard (they tend to muck about with the Standard) but it depends on the year, sometimes the Classic.

Some years the Traditional are weight relief, some are solid, again, you need to do research.

off my head, avoid 2015 with the robot tuners with it's logo and asymmetrical neck carve, unless you like that . Go for late 90’s to early 2000’s if you want something older. They call that the good wood era. Then Gibson started to play with the spec a bit so you need to look carefully on a case by case basis. Tbh you need to judge them case by case basis.

£1500 will get you a Les Paul, I’d say a Traditional. But prices are going up, some people are asking £1800 now, I did see one sold on a forum for £1300 last week though. I suggest you sign up to The Fretboard forum as the sales section there are lower than eBay being no fees.
 
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Raymond Lin said:
This is a listing for a 2012 traditional for £1450 (starting as he states, I suspect you can haggle a little off)

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/disc...s-paul-traditional-2012-chapman-ml3-rc#latest
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It is scary how the prices have gone up the last couple of years, having a look around myself a traditional dies look a good option. Not sure why they have to keep messing with the spec lists with weight relief etc you’d think they would just stick to a winning formula!
 
a1ex2001 said:
It is scary how the prices have gone up the last couple of years, having a look around myself a traditional dies look a good option. Not sure why they have to keep messing with the spec lists with weight relief etc you’d think they would just stick to a winning formula!
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They started doing weight relief because in the Norlin era they were getting out of hand, like 10lb was normal, 11 or 12lb guitars were not out of the question.

Their naming really confusing, you'd think they leave Standard as Standard, and then any wacky ideas they would put it into something like the modern line.

Except they had Standard, Traditional, Classic Performance and whatnot all available at the same time. Out of all those only the Traditional is typically the old spec, the rest had weird switches, I think the Classic once had a boost switch where one of the tone knobs would be with a battery inside. I mean really?!

And yes, my CS cost me £2k all in after part-ex with the value of what I paid for the guitar that I part-ex with. It could cost another £1k+ more now to get it again.
 
Don’t think I’ve ever played a real Gibson LP! I’ve got an LP style Vintage V100...think it was under 300 when bought in 2013 and I can’t really fault it (needed some fretwork and set up when first bought) ..I need to have a go on a real LP sometime...


actually came here just to post this...only other time I’d heard Brian May as lead singer was on 39 on Night at the opera album, he’s a decent singer like!

 
uncle_rufus said:
It's pretty loud that's for sure... without the attenuator I couldn't really go above 1 or 2 on the volume or it felt like it was going to blow the windows out. Sounds excellent turned up around halfway
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It is crazy how much louder valve amps are. Even at 5 watt, it's loud!

The costing of Gibsons is just mental. The price hikes on the RRP have trickled down to the second hand market on models that were released before price hikes. It's all crazy. I can't see it reversing tbh.
 
My LP is a Korean Epiphone (from 1989 I think)... from what I've learned it's a bit better quality than the average Epiphone as it's from before they pushed the brand towards a more budget option versus the main Gibson guitars... but really I don't care too much, it feels good to play and sounds good

I've upgraded things on it a bit over the years, but the frets are getting a bit worn at this point so contemplating having it re-fretted... it would probably cost ~£200 on a guitar I only payed £300 for so I'm a little hesitant but think it will be worth it - I think I may actually get it redone with taller narrower frets while I'm at it as I think I prefer them
 
Raymond Lin said:
They started doing weight relief because in the Norlin era they were getting out of hand, like 10lb was normal, 11 or 12lb guitars were not out of the question.

Their naming really confusing, you'd think they leave Standard as Standard, and then any wacky ideas they would put it into something like the modern line.

Except they had Standard, Traditional, Classic Performance and whatnot all available at the same time. Out of all those only the Traditional is typically the old spec, the rest had weird switches, I think the Classic once had a boost switch where one of the tone knobs would be with a battery inside. I mean really?!

And yes, my CS cost me £2k all in after part-ex with the value of what I paid for the guitar that I part-ex with. It could cost another £1k+ more now to get it again.
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It is massively confusing there are definitely some nice traditional’s out there in the budget I’ve got which is good to know just got to double check things and I’m going to try and not rush into buying the wrong one!

I’ve nearly pulled the trigger on numerous Vintage V100’s and epiphones but the chance to own the real thing is too good to turn down. Only slight doubt I should I now include other things I’ve previously ruled out like PRS 245’s is there anything out there in budget that could tempt me if I played it? PRS guitars always seem to be beautiful and I’m a sucker for the bird inlays (yes I know they don’t make it sound better and won’t turn me into a guitar legend!)
 
a1ex2001 said:
It is massively confusing there are definitely some nice traditional’s out there in the budget I’ve got which is good to know just got to double check things and I’m going to try and not rush into buying the wrong one!

I’ve nearly pulled the trigger on numerous Vintage V100’s and epiphones but the chance to own the real thing is too good to turn down. Only slight doubt I should I now include other things I’ve previously ruled out like PRS 245’s is there anything out there in budget that could tempt me if I played it? PRS guitars always seem to be beautiful and I’m a sucker for the bird inlays (yes I know they don’t make it sound better and won’t turn me into a guitar legend!)
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You can get a used PRS SC58 or even a new PRS S2 245 or McCarty Single Cut around your budget.

But if you want a Gibson, nothing else will come close.
 
a1ex2001 said:
That is nice, like you say I’m not bothered about switches parts when the originals are included. The aged nickel parts look nice on that I’m signing up to the fretboard forum.
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Yeah, and the parts changed can be swap back easy enough. I prefer the top hat knobs anyway and personally i would leave them how he has them.
 
a1ex2001 said:
That is nice, like you say I’m not bothered about switches parts when the originals are included. The aged nickel parts look nice on that I’m signing up to the fretboard forum.
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Have you played a Les Paul. Why is it you want one?
I have an Epiphone LP Standard. Bought it 2nd hand quite a few years ago. It has a Seymour Duncan bridge pick up which gives a nice crunch. It was my first electric guitar and I have a bit of a soft spot for it but its a brute to handle if you are casually noodling around the house. I wanted one because Page was/is my ultimate guitar hero. I'd love a Gibson Standard or Classic but the money is crazy for a non-gigging or recording player. I've now got 4 of the classic electrics and a dreadnought acoustic. None of my guitars is a USA made £1000+. I've got mexican tele, strat and a Vintage SG that I picked up on Saturday to scratch an itch. I sway between them depending on what I'm trying to learn. I prefer the tele for open G and rhythm playing, strat for when I want to sound like Ritchie Blackmore or Rory Gallagher. The LP is great for that crunch that only a humbucker can give. The SG i'm just trying to bond with now.
By all means scratch your itch if you have the money but if it was me I'd be sure I got on with a LP before fully committing.
 
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