Ancient Mariner

Looks good, though (possibly because of the carve to the top) a slightly different shape from std.

I went shopping with a friend for a guitar last summer, and we tried a bunch of different instruments including Yamahas, Takamines and Faith naked series. The Faith instruments were head and shoulders above the other guitars *in their price range* and some much more expensive Takamines. I forget whioch model particularly impressed me, but I've only played a couple of acoustics that were as responsive and pleasing as that one (including the Suzuki that I've owned from new since '82). Are you sure the bodies are unfinished? I understood they were 'naked' in terms of having no adornment and decoration, and the ones I played certainly seemed to have a normal, thinnish finish on.

I'm a little late to the party, but a speaker swap would be the obvious thing, depending on finances something like a Jensen P10R or P10Q. I used to use a couple of home built amps around 10-20W depending on valves fitted, and found that a Jensen P10R really dropped the volume compared the the Celestion G10-35L I'd previously used, which was not a particularly efficient speaker. The Jensen alnico should also be in keeping with the overall character and tone of the amp.

Matamp *used* to make the cabs for Orange.

The other obvious place to go is Warmoth, but I'm sure Mantons would be great.

Good for £16. Enjoy.

For me, different saddle types give different strat tones (others may hear differently!). Bent steel saddles provide the most twang and snap, cast steel soften the bright edge and give more sustain, saddles with peizo pickups built in can get a bit 'thuddy' and lack attack. My favourites are cast stainless steel, and if properly smoothed, don't cause string breakage (the main selling point for graphite saddles). If you don't mind ordering from the US and enjoy the idea of a wide variety of parts, have a look st the guitarfetish website (www.guitarfetish.com) for all kinds of hardware.

This could be useful. Probably time to unload my Heritage and JJ guitars, especially as I hardly play and when I do it's acoustic these days.

Just had time to work through them all - you gents have good imaginations (and put LOADS of hard work in). Lowdown's was fave for me, but Skol303 was in a close 2nd place.

That was interesting Kevin. IIRC the original actually had a fuzz built in, and I'd thought the custom shop model reproduced that, but obviously not. Fantastic job on the finishing, though I'm not so sure about the Fender Custom shop stickers even though you explained your stance to someone in the thread. Anyway, glad you're happy with your guitar.

[quote] 'May contain a fragment of The True Cross' -type bump "Dear Mr Del Var I am instructed by His Holiness to inform you that your 2x12 cabinet (unloaded) is referenced in the following documents as possibly containing a fragment of the Crux Veritas and therefore possessing Holy Qualities. (i) The fourth letter of St Nicodemus to the Romans AD 47 (ii) Appendix XXIV of the minutes of the second Nicaean Council of AD 787 (iii) Expenses claim form submitted by Cardinal Beppo of Mantua circa 1443 His Holiness wishes you well and eagerly anticipates hooking up for a sherbet when he comes over to view the cab. Any chance you could move a bit on the price? The Vatican museum is a bit strapped ATM. Yours Father Fegato Veneziana Papal Private Secretary[/quote] On this basis I'd request it for use in church, but I suspect it's a fake.

A silver-face reverb deluxe would do well, and many times I've wished I'd bought that instead of my AC30. My take is that you want something you can push *a little* so you can have bell-like tones and some compression to give more sustain. Lots of good reverb pedals around, and IIRC even some reverb tanks containing a spring.

A little late to the discussion, but it depends on the tones she wants and the speakers you push it through too, but like Skank said, if it's any kind of clean tone she wants the forget it for gigging volume. Might be worth looking for a Marshall 18watt clone that you can run through a couple of G12Hs in a 2X12. It will do cleanish, and offer classic rock tones too, plus distortion if pushed with a pedal.

The Jekyll & Hyde is a great pedal, but not 'british' by any stretch of the imagination.

You could try A Joyo/Harley Benton British Sound - it's an analogue model of a Marshall amp (clone of a Tech 21 chcracter pedal) and is the most British sounding overdrive that I've ever found. I'm trying to flog one right now - great condition & boxed - £22 shipped. Demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pluUrclGLB4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuMK3xZ033Y

A DI box is really needed for electric guitar, because that sounds utterly terrible direct to PA (basically, guitar amps & speakers very heavily re-shape tone). For electro-acoustic then straight to desk is fine. There are [url="http://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Behringer-DI20-Ultra-DI-Box/297"]DI boxes designed to convert from an ordinary 1/4" jack guitar lead to XLR[/url] for balanced send & return, and those are useful for longer distances & reducing hum (they often have a ground lift switch fitted too, to remove ground loops). Most mixers will have inputs for both XLR and 1/4" jacks. If your mixer isn't far away from you then just plug straight in and don't worry.

A recent pic of the JJ goldtop (I had to take some more to put it up for sale).

[quote name='gafbass02' timestamp='1395563454' post='2403618'] By coincidence, the same week I ended up with this 70's (no idea when, poss 78?) Hondo deluxe series 734 SG. It's beautifully set up, and sounds HUGE! I cleaned up the fretboard and gorgomyted the frets, stuck on blocks and strap locks and that's it. It's amazing. Brutal sound with very smooth cleans. Really surprised me, I always thought of them as junk. [url="http://s34.photobucket.com/user/gafbass02/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image-10.jpg.html"][/url] [/quote] The pickups are probably Dimarzio Superdistortions, which was an unfortunate name for a nice, slightly hotter than standard (for the time) humbucker. If the wood is good and the guitar made OK then it should be fine, as you've found. A lot of Hondo stuff WAS junk, but not all by any means. BTW did you get your wiring done OK? I hadn't forgotten, but haven't been to Cheltenham in a long time.

A wee while back now, but: And a year later.

There's a 10" version of the emi Cannabis Rex speaker that will do the mellow and full tone you want. Dropping the voltage a little to the output stage of the amp will soften things a bit too, though you may not get any more sag - as said, that's not really something that happens with class A amps, even run flat out. TBH Class A seems much better clean and AB better dirty (there are some exceptions) to my ears.

[quote name='thehillscorporation' timestamp='1400839448' post='2457384'] Sorry, don't see the relevance of your first post to mine. Maybe I'm just being thick? [/quote] Its the same link.

I've never tried the 10" version. The G12M comes in several varieties, but the standard 25watt edition is a nice medium efficiency speaker, with loose bass, warm mids and a top end that can sting/sound harsh if pushed that way. Breakup is usually fairly early (a 6V6 run hard is enough, though from the description of how loud these amps are, they're not putting out near 5W) and sounds good, but can get a little muddy. It's a real classic speaker. If you want more warm fatness then an [url="http://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?id=EMIREDRFANG10&browsemode=manufacturer"]Eminence Red Fang 10[/url] would be good (the 12" redfang is like a slightly smoother Celestion blue) but will cost close to what you paid for the 2 amps. *edit* There's a couple of G10-20s (forerunner of the L35) on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FENDER-10-SPEAKER-CELESTION-G-10-20-1979-MARSHALL-8-OHM-/291149809893? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FENDER-10-SPEAKER-CELESTION-G-10-20-1979-MARSHALL-16-OHM-/291149809554? I also have an older celestion vintage 10-40 tucked away that I don't use. It's quite a loud speaker, but has the characteristic upper-mids spike like the vintage 30 that can make for brain darts through the ears.

Be warned though, Jensen style alnico speakers like that can be very bright, and also very inefficient turning power into volume. Lots of chime, certainly, but they need careful EQ.

FWIW the Tube 10 is a very budget speaker, according to a conversation I had with Celestion a few years back, while the Ragin Cajun is a nice speaker, though a bit stiff for a 5 watt amp. I'd look for a celestion G10L35 (out of production, so ebay only) as it works very well with a smaller amp. I had a listen to the demo above, and the RC sounded muffled and a bit congested to me , while the celestion was much crisper and more open. Hard to tell what they really sounded like without being there.

A strat would certainly be a good option. There are a huge variety of different models around, and it might be worth looking at one with dual P90s, as well as the more classic designs with 3 singles. I'm a strat player - it's my natural guitar. Consider also a Les Paul Junior, again with P90s. It's simple, much lighter than a standard Les Paul and should give that clear, direct sound that you like. If you were happy to stay with a Tele design then look up the Cabronita - Gretsch style mini humbuckers for a very different tone to a traditonal bucker. If you're willing to go a little off-piste then have a look at JJ guitars Jewel http://www.jjguitars.com/jj_jewel_guitar.html Twin P90s in a doublecut body, but with Gibson scale length. I have a JJ Goldtop special (twin Dimarzio mini humbuckers, splittable to single coils too - might be moving it on shortly too) and it's a very playable, lightish guitar with a nice chunky neck. Made in the UK too.