mcnach
-
Posts
10,976 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
3
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Shop
Articles
Everything posted by mcnach
-
what??? I'm a big fan of purple and maple!!! where did you find that? I love it!!!
-
Yamaha seem to manage to make decent instruments regardless the price point, that's true. I was selling a cheap strat once. It was not bad but it was far from being amazing and I never gelled with it. This guy came to try it... I almost kicked him out and kept the guitar! In his hands it sounded fantastic, nothing like what it sounded with me
-
J&Ds are great value. One think I loved was that they made a few instruments with a lacquered neck which is my preference and you don't find them often in the cheapest ranges. In addition, the Jazz neck was narrow as you'd expect but a bit deeper than usual, which suited me nicely (I don't like slim necks)... it was great! As always, with the cheaper instruments it is worth being able to set it up yourself and do a few minor adjustments. If you are handy with setups, you can't go wrong with these... and your Tele looks fantastic too. Differences between the J&D and the Tokai... very small differences, but enough to make me think they're made from a different 'template'? The scratchplate looks very close but the curves are ever so slightly different in places (such as a sharper corner on the top right of the bridge), and position of the screws. The first one I noticed was the ones flanking the tone control, they look pretty much aligned with the middle of the tone control on the Tokai, but a bit higher on the J&D. There's also the bottom of the neck, it's a bit longer and squarer on the Tokai. Different strap buttons... I thought I noticed more differences but I am looking at them now and I'm really struggling Some of those things (curves) could be the different angles in the pictures but the screw alignment and bottom of the neck looks real to me... I don't know, it's very very close indeed but I'm not sure they represent the same instrument. Even Tokai have different takes of the same instrument at different price points. I saw a nice black/maple Tokai at just over £200 which sounded good (last one I saw was more like £500) but it turned out to be one of the cheaper ones. If I'm buying 'bottom end' I might as well go with J&D or SX then
-
Ugh... what a terrible demo! That distortion pedal direct into desk sound and a P90 *humbucker*? I could do a better demo playing a broom plugged into a dustbin.
-
I'm no longer looking to buy, but I still look and came across this interesting variant by Stagg. Now, every bass (never tried Stagg guitars) I tried by Stagg was ok, it worked, but I never really like them... but this thing has a very interesting design and if I see it in the flesh I will have to give it a try. That P90 on the neck is an interesting take too. It may just make it sound distinctly enough to justify buying one if I see them around 😛 Around £150-160 (also in sonic blue, natural...)
-
I heard some once referred to Jimmy Page as the guy who sold most Les Pauls while using a Tele
-
I had a J&D bass, it needed some minor work (unsurprisingly for the price point: sharp fret ends, one tall fret and nut slots a little low on a couple of strings), but it was pretty good considering the cost. It took me all of 20 minutes to get it playing nicely (took it to rehearsals straight away and played a few gigs with it), and a bit longer to permanently deal with those issues. I'm not sure the Tokai is the same bass, I can see a few small differences. There are a lot of similar guitars out there, and you are right 'though, some of those must be made in the same factory. It doesn't mean they're built to the same specs, however. Hmm, so many guitars, so little time.
-
what???
-
Oh, I'm even more excited now!
-
It's supposed to be a bit like candy apple red... I was going for black/maple or natural/maple but this caught my eye Let's see how it works out. For £139 I'm ready to do some minor fret levelling and nut work etc.
-
I've just ordered a SX Telecaster. Let's see if it is similar in quality to other SX guitars I've played (and the one I've got)...
-
Of course, I still use my P90 equipped guitar, you learn to find the best angles in the room to use it I was just adding the Variax comment as a 'curiosity'. It was a great sound! Shame the guitar was nothing special, and ugly too. -
On the subject of hum... I used to have a Variax guitar. Their P90 emulation was very good and completely silent (when you want it to be!). I've often thought of getting another JUST for that sound.
-
P90s downside is how much they can pickup hum... but their sound is righteous. Sorry, I cannot recommend any particular pickups for your purposes, I just wanted to encourage you in the direction you are taking
-
Oh yeah, Farida make some decent instruments too, one more to consider, thank you! I've been considering SX too. I was a big fan. When I sold most of my stuff, the two guitars that survive the 'purge' were my Fender Sambora Stratocaster and a SX Les Paul style with P90s... the SX was surprisingly good. Just a couple of tiny cosmetic marks, a couple of sharp frets, and that was it. Even the nut, despite being cheap, was cut adequately. I did nothing to it and was compared favourably to a Gibson Les Paul Junior one time I took it to a guitar bash type of event.
-
Thank you It looks like it sold already, but thank you for the offer, it's very kind of you!
-
It looks like it sold already, but thanks! I have actually played a Fenix Tele and a Strat, they were pretty decent.
-
I'm more than happy second hand. I used to own a Japanese Squier, black/maple, and it was just superb. Like an idiot I sold it a few years ago... it was the best Tele I've ever played. Previous owner(s) had used and abused it, it had lots of dings on the body and some on the neck,, but nothing affecting playability. In fact, it was so nice to play... ugh. I wish I could buy it back. One instrument I really regret selling. My favourite Jazz is a Korean one with plywood body. I replaced the pretty bad pickups with something decent and it's been a fantastic bass. The Tele is pretty much going to be a home use only, for recording demos and ideas etc, it doesn't need to be the best. As long as it's a decent build, I'll make it play nice.
-
That's the HB I would go for, if I go HB.
-
A G&L would be sweet. They don't make a bad instrument. That red one looks amazing!
-
Good call. I've owned a handful of Vintage instruments, and while more than half had some minor cosmetic faults they were very nice to play.
-
Very nice! And £150??? that's great! The Thinlines certainly got my eye, although I really want standard Tele pickups, so my finish choices are reduced. But this one is not bad:
-
Indeed, I have my eye on those too but my experience with the Affinity range has been quite variable. That's why I'm leaning towards the CV range, as every single one I've tried was nice. The guitarist in one of my bands has been using a CV for years, natural/maple, classic looking, feels and sounds great. But the Affinity is attractive too. Some cool colours as well (bright red and orange), although with rosewood fingerboard...
-
This is exactly what I did. I was at Guitar Guitar and explained to the assistant what I wanted. I got the bass specs as close as possible on the configurator, which produces a string of characters defining that particular configuration. Then at the shop I went through every departure from the one in the configurator. The assistant got to Sandberg, we discussed a few of the alternatives, agreed on a price, and the order was placed. Pretty easy.
-
Just that. Since the lock down I've been playing guitar more and... I keep wishing for a Telecaster. Instead of that, I bought a PRS SE I found locally as I was missing the dual humbucker thing (I sold all my guitars except for a Stratocaster and a P90 Les Paul type).... and I still want a Tele. I think I'll probably get a Squier Classic Vibe, but there's a few other cheaper alternatives and I'm wondering if any of them are decent. In particular the Harley Benton ones look good and people seem to like the basses. Any experiences? Gotta be maple fingerboard, ideally lacquered/tinted, but definitely maple regardless. November 2020 edit: Metallic red SX and metallic purple Classic Vibe Squier ended up being the winners... but quite a few other cool alternatives out there.
