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Guitar talk: acoustic, bass, classical, twelve string? You name it!

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Tony L said:
They are expensive, but they have a reputation for lasting pretty much forever. I guess different rules apply to flats as you aren't chasing the bright zingy sound of new round-wounds at all, so as long as the tension doesn't go up too much (which it doesn't seem to) then they should be good for many, many years. The set on my fretless have been on for a few years now with no issues, though I don't play it much as I'm still pretty crap (I'd probably be better with a lined fretless to be honest, mine just has dots on the binding, which clearly isn't enough!).
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The Elixirs on my ACG fretless have been on for around a year now. Despite some heavy, summer, sweaty playing and even a few gigs, they sound fresh as a daisy.

Tony, btw, if you play unlined fretless all the time, going back to lines or frets feels weirdly counter-intuitive. Muscle memory takes over from sight cues.
 
Just stumbled across a few YouTubes about 'Chibsons' - Chinese copies of Gibson Les Pauls - wherein Americans are getting Gibson-beating guitars for the princely sum of $400 or less, where the equivalent from Gibson comes in at $2800 ....

One speaker who can build them says he can't even buy the wood for that money in America....

Search 'Chibson' on YT
 
Tim Jones said:
The Elixirs on my ACG fretless have been on for around a year now. Despite some heavy, summer, sweaty playing and even a few gigs, they sound fresh as a daisy.
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Just landed a nice second hand Fender Jazz (a 2005 AVRI 75 in natural with rosewood fingerboard, fretted) and it came fitted with a fresh set of stainless Fender flat-wounds which seem very good for not a lot of money. I'll certainly leave them on as it plays/sounds great. I'm amazed by how much treble bite they have, though I assume they'll dull down a bit with time.

PS Aware of the 'Chibsons', though can't see any appeal over Epiphone or Tokai - there are a lot of very good cheap copies around and I'd far prefer to have a known quantity.
 
formbypc said:
Just stumbled across a few YouTubes about 'Chibsons' - Chinese copies of Gibson Les Pauls - wherein Americans are getting Gibson-beating guitars for the princely sum of $400 or less, where the equivalent from Gibson comes in at $2800 ....

One speaker who can build them says he can't even buy the wood for that money in America....

Search 'Chibson' on YT
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The Chinese counterfeit guitar unboxings and reviews I've seen on youtube have been very critical of the instruments' build quality, even for the money.
 
Tony L said:
Just landed a nice second hand Fender Jazz (a 2005 AVRI 75 in natural with rosewood fingerboard, fretted) and it came fitted with a fresh set of stainless Fender flat-wounds which seem very good for not a lot of money. I'll certainly leave them on as it plays/sounds great. I'm amazed by how much treble bite they have, though I assume they'll dull down a bit with time.
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I just can't get on with flats, even on a fretless, they feel too weird. 20 years ago, almost no one used them, and then there was a kind of vintage, have-to-play-a-knackered-Precision post grunge thing that happened.

My favorites are always heavy gauge, slightly tired rounds. They will dig in and mark a fretless rosewood board, but ebony seems fine.

Those AVRIs are great, albeit mildly overpriced. I sold my genuwine 78 US Jazz a few months ago and have regretted it ever since. I know it supported Jeremy Hunt :D
 
After many years of trying to figure it out I've come to the conclusion that flats are the secret to the bass sounds I really like (pre-Marcus Miller electric Miles, Krautrock, early 70s funk, reggae etc). A bit of the secret anyway, the other aspects are a slightly overdriven tube amp (which I don't have) and great playing technique (ditto). I was a typical bright round-wound and plec indie player back in the '80s but I've now migrated completely to flats and fingers, I just need to get better at it. I'm loving the Jazz Bass, feel a bit guilty cheating on my trusty Shergolds, but the scope of sound available is just in a different league, and I love the neck (the mid 70s Jazz profile that goes really narrow at the nut). I love playing flats too, just so easy to slide without the finger-scrape.

PS I paid £1k for close to mint with the Fender case, I doubt it will lose on that. They are definitely a cut above the American Standard range IMO and I strongly suspect American guitars will cost more Brexit£s soon, in fact they are going up noticeably at present. Couldn't see anything I really wanted in the real vintage area, though I would like one one day/would maybe buy the right one at the right price as an investment (same goes for say Wal or Alembic).
 
Never tried flatties on any bass. Probably need to try on the fretless Stingray at some point. Still a trad roundwound fan currently DR Fat Beams on the Wal 5 and DR Nickle Lo Riders for the fretless. The Status is running Hotwires double ball which are ace for the Mark King thing.
 
Yank said:
The Chinese counterfeit guitar unboxings and reviews I've seen on youtube have been very critical of the instruments' build quality, even for the money.
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I have no idea what you mean (personal highlights are at 06:45 and 10:25)

 
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ps. any guitarist after a nice analogue delay pedal to use with the class Les Paul + Marshall combo...buy a second hand Way Huge Supa Puss for £100. It's all the fx you'll ever need for classic rock

Also, if you want a cheap classic late 70's Marshall, buy a 2104 (2 x 12" combo).
Weigh a tonne so alot pass them by and go for the head which can cost up to 3 times as much. Unassuming rock machine...

P3070495.jpg
 
In contrast, this guy seems quite impressed; and quite scathing of the Gibson he bought for ten times the cost of his Chibson ...



... but he didn't go through aliexpress, I don't think
 
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formbypc said:
Just stumbled across a few YouTubes about 'Chibsons' - Chinese copies of Gibson Les Pauls - wherein Americans are getting Gibson-beating guitars for the princely sum of $400 or less, where the equivalent from Gibson comes in at $2800 ....

One speaker who can build them says he can't even buy the wood for that money in America....
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I bought one and it's a pretty good guitar IMHO - which is more than I can say about the person playing it. I paid extra for a one piece body and neck, maybe they pay more attention to the build with one of those (though I doubt it). Perhaps I was just lucky.

I also asked for all metal tuners rather than the naff green ones that were being supplied as standard.

Total cost including the extras, a hard case and shipping from China was around £250.
 
Hello fellow guitar lovers. I've just posted an ad in Classifieds for my 1x12 35W Valve Combo. Thought someone may be interested. It's on Gumtree at the moment and eBay awaits.
 
Is a Yamaha BB200 bass any good? I've been offered one in good nick for £200. I've not played for thirty years or more but this thread has got me fancying having a go again. What would be a good amp for messing around in the garage? I've thought about plugging it into my BK XLS400.
 
BB200 looks like a pretty basic Precision-influenced bass, but being a Yamha it should be decent, they just don't make bad instruments IMO. I've no idea of value, a lot depends where that particular model was made (Japan being the preferred choice). I'd have thought if not made in Japan it was overpriced.

A hi-fi sub would be useless I'm afraid, they just cross-over too low you'd just get a low frequency thud with hardly any note. You'll definitely need a bass amp. Worth checking out the local high st Crack Converters etc as whilst usually full of junk guitar and bass combo amps do often turn up for very little money.
 
BB200 is decent bass it is rather 80s in its' tone though. That is, it sounds like you're hitting a low piano string at times instead of the gnarly grunt you'd get from a traditional bass. If you play in an 80s cover band it would be perfect, if you are a trad rock or stoner rock person, it will maybe sound a tad "polite". The BB200 is more "hifi" in it's tone that a trad bass, if you like that then, you'll probably be very happy.

Anyone who wants a serious Les Paul for relative peanuts, certainly easily better than a Gibbo standard, buy a 90s Tokai Love Rock, usually around the 400-500 quid mark.

Oh and snot green tuners are the bomb, those awful metal ones they use on Customs are truly horrible and destroy the old gal's sense of style.
 
Figured there may be a few musicians on here, or happy sunday strummers, so was curious what everyone plays?

I figure its Audio related right?

After just buying myself a Christmas present of a Gibson Hummingbird Vintage at an amazing price, which has blown my mind, I wondered what everyone else plays?

Pictures would be awesome! I'll take some tomorrow if there is any interest in the thread...it might just crash and burn :)

So my list

Martin D18 2012
Martin MIA POW
Gibson Hummingbird Vintage
PRS SE Custom 24 (with Vox amp)
 
uncl_nigel said:
Yamaha folk pre-equipped with a battery powered mike.

Ever so modest but nice tone
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I do like some of the vintage Yamahas, their FG series were pretty good for the money. I had a twelve string one of those once - sold it though as i think it belonged in a church :)

Never been a fan of using pickups in an acoustic - like that 'space' has been crafted and designed, and then it gets filled with some cheap plastic tosh!
 
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