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

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I thought the fancy stoptail was one of the things people really liked about them?

https://www.prsguitars.com/index.php/support/article/prs_stoptail

It looks great and I bet it is just superb from a sustain perspective, but I’d expect it to limit string choice somewhat as intonation does change quite a bit between brands and gauges (hence it being an adjustment in the first place!). It is purely intonation that worries me, I’d expect a company such as PRS to have the radius absolutely spot on, so setting the action to taste would arguably be a lot easier than usual unless the player had decidedly odd taste or wanted a very flat action for blues bottle etc.
 
There's an adjustable version of the stoptail for non-standard gauges apparently. Also not for people who like heavy gauges.

But the pre-intonated shape should be fine as long as you like standard strings I guess. Or at least close enough for tone deaf noodlers like me :)
 
It also depends on how far up the dusty end of the neck one ventures. I seldom go beyond the octave mark despite having a beautiful heel-less through-neck on the Yam! I never know what to do up that end!
 
It also depends on how far up the dusty end of the neck one ventures. I seldom go beyond the octave mark despite having a beautiful heel-less through-neck on the Yam! I never know what to do up that end!

Which reminds me of a story about when John Barbirolli joined the Hallé. He was auditioning the existing players and got to one of the bass players. He gave him some music to play in the instrument’s higher register. “Oh no, I’m sorry” the player said “I never go down there”. I’m assuming he wasn’t kept on.
 
Of course if you are pedantic enough everything is slightly out of tune. Although I suppose you could have one guitar for each key.

 
I really couldn’t be doing with that tailpiece, I’m *way* too OCD when it comes to dialing a guitar in for that!

From the page Matthew links: “Although it is pre-compensated for modern string gauges, fine-tuning is possible by adjusting the set screws at each end of the bridge.”
 
From the page Matthew links: “Although it is pre-compensated for modern string gauges, fine-tuning is possible by adjusting the set screws at each end of the bridge.”

Yes but they just rotate the bridge for a bit of fine tuning and it if you use funny string widths or very thick strings or a wound G string it will be off. Which is why they offer this version as an option : https://www.prsguitars.com/index.php/support/article/prs_adjustable_stoptail

But if you use standard strings it should be fine.
 
Yes but they just rotate the bridge for a bit of fine tuning and it if you use funny string widths or very thick strings or a wound G string it will be off. Which is why they offer this version as an option : https://www.prsguitars.com/index.php/support/article/prs_adjustable_stoptail

But if you use standard strings it should be fine.

Yes, you’re spot on. Intonation is very good on my SE though, certainly close enough given the whole temperament compromises that exist.
 
It puzzles me as I can’t recall a time when I haven’t had to slightly tweak intonation when changing string types on either guitar or bass. As an example my Yam needed a slight nudge just shifting between Ernie Ball 10s down to 9s recently. Not much, but I’d have been a little irked had I not been able to do it. It is usually the bottom E and the G that need moving too, not the whole lot. I totally get that it is a compromise though and I bet you gain in sustain and response having such a rigid solid and massy bridge.
 
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Here’s ‘Fat-ass Lester’. I just dug it out for a re-evaluation and it does sound superb, but balances on the knee like a balsa-wood stick connected to a paving slab. The resting on the left knee ‘classical style’ thing is a non-starter too due to the position of the jack plug. I think it needs to go as having to wrap my left thumb round the fretboard to keep it in place really limits what I can play! If I played standing up (and could cope with the weight, this is one of the more sought-after ‘heavy’ LPs before CNC chambering was introduced) it really is a stunner, but I just suspect Les Pauls just ain’t me.
 
That's an unusual colour on the LP - a really elegant looking thing. Lovely. Be a sin to move it on methinks.

It puzzles me as I can’t recall a time when I haven’t had to slightly tweak intonation when changing string types on either guitar or bass. As an example my Yam needed a slight nudge just shifting between Ernie Ball 10s down to 9s recently. Not much, but I’d have been a little irked had I not been able to do it. It is usually the bottom E and the G that need moving too, not the whole lot. I totally get that it is a compromise though and I bet you gain in sustain and response having such a rigid solid and massy bridge.

Decent article on bridges from an electric guitar luthier below. Goes into some detail on how the design and materials impact on the sound. Well worth a cup of coffee. (Also has some fine photography btw)

https://ruokangas.com/specifications/bridge-talk/
 
That's an unusual colour on the LP - a really elegant looking thing. Lovely.

Its a double or triple A flame ‘lemon’ finish I think in Gibson speak. It really is a beautiful thing and the picture does it no justice as the flame is deep and varies from viewing angle, from some positions you can’t see the book-match join and it just looks like one piece.

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Here’s an old pic that maybe gets the colour rather better.
 
Looks beautiful. Have you tried 90deg jack plug?
Lots of really old Les Pauls weren't that heavy, my 96 is only a pound heavier than my CP60 strat. I understand they have always varied quite a bit from example to example though. If you can find a nice lighter one I'm sure a trade could be done.
Have you tried 18 yo Highland Park?
 
I find some finishes on guitars notoriously difficult to capture in photos - that certainly looks to be one :)

There seems to be a whole host of things around refraction/reflection that give the finish that deep grain/mile-deep varnish finish - as well as making the colour shift anywhere from brown to red to yellow depending on the ambient light and viewing point. Makes them lovely things to look at, but damned hard to capture proper images of. I wouldn't mind some half decent shots of my own guitars. Has to be a mini-project in the offing there somewhere..
 
Lots of really old Les Pauls weren't that heavy, my 96 is only a pound heavier than my CP60 strat. I understand they have always varied quite a bit from example to example though. If you can find a nice lighter one I'm sure a trade could be done.

I bought it purely as an investment to be honest, so I doubt I’d swap it for another Les Paul, though I could be very tempted to swap it for something entirely different e.g. a 335. That might be interesting. There are lots of things I’d be tempted to swap it for to be honest, basically anything boringly traditional with similar long-term investment value (currently about £1.4k I guess) that I’d be more likely to dig out and play. I’d actually consider another Strat as I really want something with a whammy bar - I have loads of guitars and not one has one!

Have you tried 18 yo Highland Park?

No, just the standard 12 plus I tried a bottle of some non-dated edition in a opaque black bottle that Tesco had on discount a few months ago. Didn’t add anything to the 12 IMO, which I rate as a pretty decent £25 bottle.
 
2 good guitar ideas there, traditional seems the only way to hold value.

A late friend used to love Highland Park, I could never get on with it, I found the 12 yo ok but no more. He bought me a bottle of 18yo for my 60th and I was smitten. There's a great Youtube vid of a tasting done by the official HP taster. What an awful job!

 
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