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- Thread starter GD Fan
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OP
- Thread Starter
- #62
Never had a Les Paul model before and I loved the value of the Harley Benton Tele so much that I decided to try a HB Les. Here it is fresh out of the box.
Ordered Thursday, delivered (free) on Saturday!
Incidentally, I'll be selling that MIM Strat in post #1 if anyone is interested. Gotta finance these new ones somehow...
Ordered Thursday, delivered (free) on Saturday!
Incidentally, I'll be selling that MIM Strat in post #1 if anyone is interested. Gotta finance these new ones somehow...
bloodshoteyed
Major Contributor
they're great for their price, got a red sc550-2 a while ago
Prana Ferox
Addicted to Fun and Learning
I've been clean and sober from buying guitars for a while, but before that I found some winners and losers on the GC used section. The good thing was they tended to have really cheap shipping, even for things the size of refrigerators. The bad thing was their staff was hilariously inept at identifying what they were selling, taking blurry postage-stamp pictures of the item, telling if it was in working shape, remembering to include included accessories, throwing everything unprotected in a box etc so sometimes you got a diamond in the rough and sometimes you got a turd. They'd take items back for a refund but you may have to argue with them to refund shipping.
I ordered an enormous bass amp/cab combo once and even called the store selling it, who swore it was in great shape. It showed up without an AC fuse. The local store would take it back, but they wouldn't give me a fuse, and said if I put a fuse in and it blew up it was my damage. It wasn't worth it so I dumped it back on them. It was also pretty common for broken / abused items to just go straight back on the website without repair or even changing the price / description; Talkbass had a blacklist page of stuff people had returned that just got relisted.
I ordered an enormous bass amp/cab combo once and even called the store selling it, who swore it was in great shape. It showed up without an AC fuse. The local store would take it back, but they wouldn't give me a fuse, and said if I put a fuse in and it blew up it was my damage. It wasn't worth it so I dumped it back on them. It was also pretty common for broken / abused items to just go straight back on the website without repair or even changing the price / description; Talkbass had a blacklist page of stuff people had returned that just got relisted.
Some good points about buying from guitarcenter used online. It's a good idea to always call the store and ask about the item. The guy told me that he could feel the frets on the Lead II that I ordered, but the guitar was in the midwest, and I'm on the Oregon coast, and already the fret sprout has gotten better. Still may take it to my local luthier to get them filed a bit. Still got a great deal on a guitar that I have already fallen in love with.
I was planning on buying a Hot Rod Deluxe to go with my Player Lead II, but the store had accidently listed a Fender Hot Rod cabinet as a Hot Rod Deluxe amp. So glad I called first. I thought $299 was a too good to be true price, and I was right.
Multicore
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You talked me into it and now I have a Wegen Fatone. It says on the package: "The 5 mm Fatone is especially designed for loud and bright sound on acoustic guitars." It's interesting but it's not louder than the 2 and 3 mm Dunlop Flow Gloss picks I've been using in recent years. And it has a dull sound relative to those. That duller sound has its uses but it's not always what I'm after. For example, not much happens when I strike 5th and higher harmonics. But it has an interesting grip with an indentation on one side, presumably the thumb side. This is valuable since I have a bad habit of gripping picks too close to the sharp end.
I compared the tone of my 2, 3 and 5 mm picks and thought, "I could make a YouTube Wegen Fatone review video." And then a couple of days later I thought, "Then I'd be one of those crashing bores who make pick review videos for YouTube." So there's a happy ending.
I spent a couple or three years delving into the mysteries of Gypsy guitars and still can't play anything resembling Gypsy Jazz for toffee but I have come to realise that (at least for the noises I like to make) the thicker the pick the better the control. And the better the control the better the tone. If your tone is dull then that's your fault – or rather, I find I can get any tone I want from a suitably thick pick, but not from a thinner one. Proper Gypsy picking (AKA rest-stroke picking which is what Wegens are made for) only really makes sense on a Gypsy style guitar with Argentines or my favourites: Galli 'Folk guitar' silk and steels. (Don't put these on any kind of 'normal' steel string acoustic*).
Having practised this technique for a while I find my Wegen indispensible for any kind of flat picking - even on 'normal' western style steel strings. But of course your mileage may vary depending on what you're after. It's not the meat, it's the motion, as the saying goes ... ;-)
I'm currently more interested in building guitars for fingerstyle playing so my Gypsy fetish has faded somewhat. But if I want to flatpick then the Wegen is still the thing ...
Phew! That was a close call ... ;-)
*) I would recommend experiencing a proper Gypsy (Manouche) style guitar even if you are not particularly interested in playing Gypsy Jazz. These instruments combine some of the best qualities of both classical, 'folk', and archtop guitars that can be quite inspirational.
Multicore
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There's still stuff the sharp pick can do the blunt Wegen can't.
Now I need to make the video to prove you wrong!
I've been hankering for any guitar I can pluck behind the bridge. I'm not sure that's gypsy jazz style.
Not traditionally at least. The tailpiece is often damped with a piece of felt and some players additionally wrap something round the strings behind the bridge to keep them from ringing. Sounds like you want one of Hans Reichel's creations ...
Multicore
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Yes, that looks like a lot of fun. There's a video on Youtube with the dude from Deerhoof showing the guitar he built when he was in a Derek Bailey phase with a pickup behind the bridge. And I'm keen on 1980s Fred Frith like in the film Step Across the Border. I don't want to play like Frith but I like the ability to add some unconventional elements to the thing.
The Name Hans Reichel is familiar. I suspect he's somewhere in my collection. My memory isn't good enough for this stuff any more. Even when I was still collecting I sometimes bought the same thing more than once by mistake.
Found it Guitar Solos 2 - Bailey, Frith, Fitzgerald, Reichel It's cool.
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Yes, one of those artists too obscure to even have much of anything available digitally. But I find it a good litmus test if any artist has collaborated with Fred Frith and/or Derek Bailey then they're probably worth a listen. I know of him mostly through his luthiery experiments. I have Guitar Solos volumes one and three digitally but volume two seems to have escaped me. £1.59 is a good price!
I must rewatch Step Across the Border again. To think it's over 30 years old now! A good film as I remember, not least for introducing me to the wondrous Iva Bittová. But that's for another thread ...
anmpr1
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Epi has really upped their game, and Gibson has really upped Epiphone prices! But you probably get what you pay for, more or less. 8 years a go I paid $400.00 for my Standard. Fit and finish was first rate, but the pickups were muddy, and pots started to act up.
Easily swapped them out for Hot Rodded Seymour Duncans, Mojotone wiring harness and Switchcraft switch. Transformed it for a couple of hundred dollars. On the other hand I have a two year old SG Standard with factory Alnico Classics and CTS pots..., sounds fine to my ears and has given me no problems.
I never thought I see the day when Epiphones were $1000.00+, but Gibson is positioning them to play in the same market as Mexican Fenders and PRS SE.
Prana Ferox
Addicted to Fun and Learning
I never thought I'd see the day when Mexifenders were $1000+ either, but the dollar isn't what it used to be.
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Agreed! I remember driving 90 miles to The House Of Guitars in a snowstorm back in 2009, where I bought a brand new candy apple red Telecaster for $399.
Now, if I were buying a Tele it would be a Squier Classic Vibe 50'or 60's (for a little more than I paid for that Fender 15 years ago).
dominikz
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I notice a prevalence of Strats in this thread which I just had to disrupt with a few more LPs. 
My main and favorite guitar is the 2006 Gibson Les Paul Studio Vintage Mahogany in Worn Brown with Gibson Burstbucker Pro pickups and 300k linear pots. I've replaced the stock tuning machines with Hipshot Grip-Locks (which are great) and I also shielded the cavities (which didn't do much, honestly). Over the almost 20 years I've owned it I also replaced the pots a few times and had to level the frets.
I've played *a lot* of LPs over the years and this one remains one of the best I've heard - even if most LP-aficionados might say it is constructed all wrong!
Another guitar I often use is the 2015 Gibson Les Paul Classic in Fireburst finish, with Gibson '57 Classic/Super '57 pickups. The neck profile on this one is very different (60s slim neck vs 50s neck on the Studio, but also wider than normal LP due to the adjustable nut). On this one I've replaced the G-Force robot tuners with standard Hipshot Grip-Locks, the 2015 adjustable brass nut with the Graphtech drop-in replacement, and the 2015 classic 2x volume (push-pull) 1x tone (push-pull) 1x active boost circuit PCB with the standard Gibson 2x volume 2x tone PCB. All of the 'modern' functions that came with the guitar originally were cool, but I decided were liability for live performances - which is why I did the replacements. I guess you could say I'm just a traditional guy (pun intended
)
The next one is an early 2000s Jackson Dinky DX10D, originally solid black, which I've heavily modified over the decades: stripped the poly black paint and repainted it in yellow/black tiger graphic, replaced the Jackson double-locking tremolo with a Schaller one, replaced the stock pickups with Seymour Duncan JB/Jazz, replaced the plastic pickup rings with metal ones and replaced all pots, jack and switch. This one I just use occasionally for the tremolo effects, and usually for a few songs when performing live because it looks cool.
And last (but not least), my late 2000s Martin D16RGT. IMHO a truly amazing-sounding guitar - though I'm far from an amazing acoustic player
I've also built a quasi-Telecaster from various parts and painted it metallic green - but TBH I never really use it.
My main and favorite guitar is the 2006 Gibson Les Paul Studio Vintage Mahogany in Worn Brown with Gibson Burstbucker Pro pickups and 300k linear pots. I've replaced the stock tuning machines with Hipshot Grip-Locks (which are great) and I also shielded the cavities (which didn't do much, honestly). Over the almost 20 years I've owned it I also replaced the pots a few times and had to level the frets.
I've played *a lot* of LPs over the years and this one remains one of the best I've heard - even if most LP-aficionados might say it is constructed all wrong!
Another guitar I often use is the 2015 Gibson Les Paul Classic in Fireburst finish, with Gibson '57 Classic/Super '57 pickups. The neck profile on this one is very different (60s slim neck vs 50s neck on the Studio, but also wider than normal LP due to the adjustable nut). On this one I've replaced the G-Force robot tuners with standard Hipshot Grip-Locks, the 2015 adjustable brass nut with the Graphtech drop-in replacement, and the 2015 classic 2x volume (push-pull) 1x tone (push-pull) 1x active boost circuit PCB with the standard Gibson 2x volume 2x tone PCB. All of the 'modern' functions that came with the guitar originally were cool, but I decided were liability for live performances - which is why I did the replacements. I guess you could say I'm just a traditional guy (pun intended
)The next one is an early 2000s Jackson Dinky DX10D, originally solid black, which I've heavily modified over the decades: stripped the poly black paint and repainted it in yellow/black tiger graphic, replaced the Jackson double-locking tremolo with a Schaller one, replaced the stock pickups with Seymour Duncan JB/Jazz, replaced the plastic pickup rings with metal ones and replaced all pots, jack and switch. This one I just use occasionally for the tremolo effects, and usually for a few songs when performing live because it looks cool.
And last (but not least), my late 2000s Martin D16RGT. IMHO a truly amazing-sounding guitar - though I'm far from an amazing acoustic player
I've also built a quasi-Telecaster from various parts and painted it metallic green - but TBH I never really use it.
dridel
Member
WoW! First thing I thought of when I saw your gorgeous orange guitar is a classic vintage orange Camaro SS. A buddy of mine had one in the 1980s and it was orange with black stripes and it was amazing. You might want to think about getting a orange Camaro to show off your guitar...My new Squier Limited Edition Paranormal Custon Nashville Stratocaster in Fiesta Red. A sweet mashup of a Strat and Tele! (with a long name)
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