Guitar thread

That's pretty cool.

That's a beauty for something slapped together, and I'll have to steal that jig idea the day I learn to paint.

Awesome job on the parts-o-caster. I wish I had the skill to do something like that. I like Telecaster style guitars, but I am partial to humbuckers and flatter radius necks than what comes on most Fenders. I think I am going to score a Hell soon, maybe their Strat-type model. That should fit the bill for me.

So tell me about this thing I just agreed to trade about $175-$200 worth of parts for.



It's from a friend, to be delivered Saturday, with new strings and case. He said it's a "lesser brand" Ernie Ball that he paid about $375 some years ago.

My Google-fu is all over the map as far as info and pricing.

Any help from the masters would be great.

Well, it looks to be an Ernie Ball OLP Music Man EVH/Axis. Low-end guitar from Korea. I think the trade price is about right from what I've seen.

I think the post above this one has it down. I never got into the ergonomics of them, but I've heard them sound pretty sweet with little work.

Good enough for this noob.

Thanks fellas.

I had a Jackson for a while (forget the model one of them with an inverted head) that you would have loved then, there was nothing to that things neck, and It had huge frets. Not sure what I did with that thing, I went through about 15 guitars in 5 years at one point. Ahh the curse of working in a guitar shop....you rarely get a pay check because someone traded in some bullshit that you just HAD to have.

Sorry if I missed out, and I don't know if you are kidding about being new to the guitar, but I want to take a sec to tell you....and others that may have missed it.....about a couple of things that are great.

If you have a xbox, PS3 or now even a PC pick yourself up a copy of the Rocksmith game.....I would say even if you are Jimmy Page this "game" will make practice fun.

Second if you are still learning check out the Justinguitar on youtube, he will take you step by step (for donations only) from A to Z on the guitar, then if you want to take a brake and have a little fun and play something that actually sounds like something check out the marty (sorry don't know the rest) guitar videos on youtube. He will show you the most popular parts of some of the most popular songs. Sometimes I found it nice to go play the intro to House of the rising sun after you have been working on D,A,C,Am,E...bla bla bla....you can put all that together and it will sound like something...pretty darn cool.

They are huge fun, in the beginning it will hurt your fingers, but if you are thinking this is just too much take the guitar to someone that knows and have them check the action....sometimes a cheaper...or neglected (I cry at the Rick I went to look at) guitar can just be not worth it and it will never play right.

I have near zero guitar experience. Aside from a week in middle school music class and a toy guitar with a built in amp that I somehow hooked up to a home stereo as a kid...

That red thing is just a feeler to see if I'll stick to it.

I'm in the market for a very cheap amp. If anyone could point me in a direction on that it would be great.

Nearest music store is an hour away. There is a pawn shop about a half hour away I may check out. Otherwise it's Internet shopping.

Thanks for the practice tips. I'll look into those!

I'd go with mustang 1 if you are just picking it up and not sure you'll be sticking with it. They sound pretty good, cheap and are easy to use. If after a year you are still playing you'll have a better idea of what you want and can get something nicer.

Epiphone Valve Jr is pretty cool too if you'd rather just get a tube amp to start with. Just going to cost a little more.

If you were closer I'd give you a good deal on my Fender G-Dec3 30 that just sits around collecting dust now that I picked up a Vox AC4TVH and cab. Used practice amps take a long time sell, they just aren't worth anything to most people.

For an amp I would look at one of the Roland Qube amps....very good, priced very well....I have a few different amps and one is a Roland 30x....that one amp will last you a VERY long time.

I've seen several companies that sell bodies and necks for most popular styles that would make it pretty easy to build your own at a pretty reasonable price. Finishing for me would be the big challenge, but given the relatively low cost, it might be worth it to try one. I've refinished furniture and that turned out OK, so I suspect the neck will be alright, but the body is the unknown. I'd probably start with a cheaper body to learn how to do the paint reasonably well, then get a better body and try to build something that matches what I have in my head it should look like.

jdg

Just picked up an Xaviere XV-500 Les Paul copy on a impulse buy. Always wanted to try a LP for an extended perior and see if it would stick so I figured I'd try this. Really nice guitar for the price and the pickups sound good. Frets are all well set, no sharp edges and intonation was pretty close. Action is a bit high and the neck could us a little relief but I'll get that sorted out this weekend. GFS pickups sound pretty good, real good actually. Really has some oomph that I'm not used to with my tele and strat.

The neck shape is different, seems flatter than I recall the 50's style LP neck I've played before. Gonna take a bit to get used to after playing my Telecaster for so long.

Only real complaint is the faded honeyburst finish I picked. It was on sale and I guess I didn't spend too much time looking at it online but in person it doesn't really look like an aged finish, more like plastic. for $190 to play some sloppy blues at home it's not a big deal to me though. I'll throw up some pictures later.

Girlfriend not too happy, I think I made matters worse when I justified it as cheap by saying I could buy 8 of these for the price of my Taylor...ooops.

Vox makes some very cheap little amps with a bunch of modeling effects built-in for around $100 at GC. Perfectly adequate for practicing, and you can get a lot of different tones out of them, which will keep things interesting while you're learning.

I looked a little last night and was listening on YouTube to some cheaper amps.

The Pignose kinda catches my eye, and I like the idea of mobility...

But there is more research to do when I have more time.

Thanks to all for the help.

marty swartz on youtube is the man! i've been playing acoustic since the late 70's . no way could i play a gig but wife like me to play around the campfire. i bought and epiphone dot this spring as my first electric. it plays very easy! I bought a brand new LINE 6 amp--SPIDER 4 15amp for $99 new. but they're $50 all over craiglist now that i've bought a new one. this amp has all kinds of settings. as much as i've always hated metal music, i've found it's really easy to play on this amp. it's way louder than you can play without ear protection.

Made some really good purchases today. Not really guitars, but I figured you guys would enjoy seeing them. Folks that owned a family music store they inherited from their dad. Most of these were instruments that the family played, though some of them got played very little. I haven't done the deep, deep research to find exact dates on them yet so dates are approximate. I don't want to get kicked into vendors, but most of these will either grace the walls of my shop for sale or be eBayed. These are just a couple quick picks as I wait for the homemade chicken and noodles to finish on the stove.

First up is a pretty cool Fender Coronado 1 bass, about 1970. The finish is really good and it plays great. There's some finish bubbles on the backside that I'll pay some attention to. I think it was cause by the bass laying on a vinyl strap in the case. I might end up keeping this as it's a perfect bass for me to be playing in my hellbilly bluegrass band.


Next up is a pristine Fender lap steel, late 1960's. It really is like new and includes the leg stands and the original QA tag. Should be fun to mess with until I get it sold.


This was what I really went down for. A 1970-71 Gibson A5 mando with the extra mickey mouse ear and body point. It's been played so it isn't pristine, but it is really nice and the cream of this crop. The most valuable instrument in the haul.


And this was just a fun one that I talked them into throwing in with the rest of the goodies. A Concertone banjolele from I'm guessing the mid 60's or early 70's. Nothing fancy and the fretboard has gotten dry. It does have some nice birdseye maple on the ring.


I missed my chance on a 1934 National Duolian I went to check out in the same town. The fellow was talking a thousand bucks when I visited with him on the phone. A good deal then. I met with him and checked it out and quite a bit of the finish was worn off, the fretboard had pretty extensive wear, and most of the finish was off the back of the neck. I offered him a thousand but he saw some of the pristine models online going for $2,500.00 and insisted that was what it was worth. Wouldn't listen to me about the pristine vs. all sorts of finish issues. Oh well. Maybe I'll get to buy it at his estate sale in a few years.

A banjo/ukelele ? Oh god.