Guitars... what you've got / what you want

I play a sea foam green musicvox spaceranger in new standard tuning as my main electric. Can never get it playing quite the way I want but there’s history to it (musicvox guitars are ridiculous looking and often get used as prop guitars for faux-60’s kitsch media, and mine was) so I can’t just sell the thing. I do love the look of it, though, and it’s amusing that pretty much any music I play on it confuses people. Once I get a main electric I like more (probably a MIM Tele or Strat, we’ll see) I’ll string it up in Ostrich tuning or something (which I have a really beat up sub-entry-level Epiphone LP strung up in right now). Mostly I’ve been playing my Emperador acoustic tenor guitar, which is a very solid guitar in the fashion of Martin, who I believe ended up suing Emperador out of existence for hewing too close to the mold.

I love my O-15M so much

Today I was chatting acoustic guitars with a friend and advised her to get one of those extremely suburban Sigma guitars, they really are fantastic for the price, you kinda have to drive to the Casio dealer-style music shop to find them tho

went to a guitar store where my friend works and played $6500 Martin dread it's new but a painstaking recreation of an old model, torrified wood blah blah blah....holy shit that thing just sang, just gorgeous it was like in a chord every string had it's own place and clarity. sustained forever. I almost wish I never even saw it.

and it's not just the price tag fooling me cuz I had just played a $3500 Martin that was fine but I wouldn't trade it for my Yamaha

fuuuuck… I may finally be turning into a strat guy

Next stop, leather fedora and bracelets.

Jealous of the mid-century O-15, ngl. I have seen some very good vintage and recent Martins out there, but have not seen the one that would tempt me to empty my children's college funds to buy. Yet.

Fwiw I don't much like playing guitar, but when I do, my current acoustic workhorse is a midrange 000 copy made under the Recording King label (old brand once associated with Montgomery Ward, but at this point it's just a decal, not a romantic storied legacy). It works fine.

Next stop, leather fedora and bracelets.

My first guitar was an early 90s Strat copy. Fixed it up recently and replaced the dodgy pickups with Warman Vintage single coils. Sounds great. I would say to anyone, if you have some old budget Strat copy lying around in disrepair, don't necessarily write it off, fix it up and put good pickups in and it might sound way better than you'd expect.

I didn't have to plug it in but has anyone ever played an Ed O'Brien strat with the Fernandez sustainer?

kind of intrigued, but I was also really taken with the neck which is apparently a 56 neck, it's almost like a middle ground between a newer slim C and an old school vintage Tele/P bass baseball bat neck, felt really comfortable

Spottie - do you know anything about it?

I've played a friend's a few times - the neck feels really good, it's a V-shape on the thicker side, satin finish. The Sustainer is more useful than the E-Bow that sits in a drawer.

The pickups, though, always sound kind of dull to me. It's hard to put my finger on it but they're kind of flat and not zingy. Because of the way it works, swapping options are limited - the bridge has to be a single-coil sized humbucker of some kind, the neck has to be the Sustainer pickup.

Would something like this pedal do exactly what a sustainer pickup can plus a lot else besides?

https://www.tcelectronic.com/product.html?modelCode=P0EBA

I'm sure there's a lot of pedals that would do it

though having it a part of it guitar I think I would use it more

honestly though, I checked it out for the gimmicks but that neck was just great for me and like milo said it's got a great finish

though I was looking and apparently they are so committed to the "vintage" neck thing that there's no way to access the truss rod at the headstock, you have to remove the neck and adjust it from the bottom, which is just dumb. I'm all for vintage shapes but why continue with a clear design flaw that was remedied later?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZRwNgfsBjh/?utm_medium=copy_link

From what I understand you can move the pickups wherever you want, they’re magnetically attached to the body.

― papal hotwife (milo z), Tuesday, February 1, 2022 12:57 PM (five days ago) bookmarkflaglink

I'm kind of obsessed with this design:
http://schorrguitars.de/the-owl/

I could never afford it, and even if I could, I don't play out enough anymore to justify ever buying another guitar. It's a really good fit for me aesthetically and I love the idea of being able to play an entire set on one pickup just sliding it back and forth. OTOH, it seems really fragile and some fear of ripping that exposed wire would prob inhibit my playing.

I don’t have anything to offer on the Ed OB guitar but some guy was selling one used locally for less than normal and I thought about getting it just to try it and possibly flip it.

what do you guys think of this? definitely checks a lot of boxes I've been looking for, not 100% on the antigua finish but I think I like it?

but added it up and he's not even breaking even on the parts

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/msg/d/minneapolis-jazzmaster-telecaster/7442738271.html

(revel pickups is a local guy who has a great reputation for custom handwound pickups)

I would be hesitant to buy the home build of someone I didn't know and trust (assuming that's what that is), although the price seems reasonable if the quality is good. Also not crazy about the finish tbh.

FWIW, recently tried a new Guild D-20 (about $1700) and a new Martin D28 ($3000) and I liked the Guild better.

I would be hesitant to buy the home build of someone I didn't know and trust (assuming that's what that is), although the price seems reasonable if the quality is good. Also not crazy about the finish tbh.

― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Monday, February 7, 2022 10:30 AM (twelve minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

thank you for talking me down, I think I was trying to talk myself into the antigua finish. it's definitely a home build, he even says he painted it. i hadn't considered that yeah maybe he's not that good.

it's def the type of thing where the seller needs to let you come over for a thorough test drie and inspection but it could be great. ad is written by someone who sounds like they know what they're doing.

the finish could be nicer than fender's antigua which is hideous imo....another thing you'd need to see in person.

i mean i wouldn't rule something out for being a partscaster but i would probably grade a little more harshly if that makes sense

I think it looks cool personally. You definitely need to inspect up close to see that the neck is aligned well, the tremolo is aligned well and the electronics are all working, but if you can check off all of those I'd say you're good to go.

you have to remove the neck and adjust it from the bottom, which is just dumb

My bass is a 50s precision reissue has the truss rod adjustment at the end of the neck and of course is the only one of my guitars that actually needs a lot of truss rod adjustments, it's so dumb

Not trying to talk you out of it either -- def has a lot going for it as far as $1000 guitar goes, a lot of premium components there. I don't hate the finish either and would probably want to see that in person. Agree with folks who say it might be worth going to check out and really test drive.

I'd also just keep in mind that partscaster is always going to be tougher to resell (for the reasons we are discussing here). If you love the guitar and it checks your boxes and it's a good players' guitar, that's a perfectly good price for something you're going to keep and use.

https://reverb.com/item/34479830-jerry-jones-supreme-dual-neck-sitar-2000s-gatorburst

A couple of these Jerry Jones sitars have sold for $1700-2000 but come on Nu-Danelectro, reissue one of these for $800. Let me get high and drone on the sympathetic strings for hours.

oh that's one of the doublenecks, oops, I just want the single neck version

https://reverb.com/item/42053233-jerry-jones-master-electric-sitar-red-crackle-w-ohsc-super-clean-free-shipping?show_sold=true

finally getting some new pickups for that Godin oddball HSH Telecaster I posted upthread. (Godin pickups are terrible)

Anyway, read about Porter Pickups, they seem to get good notices online.

https://www.porterpickups.com/

I really hope these are as good as I think they will be, because this has so far been the best customer service experience I've ever had. They have this "Pickup Chooser" thing on the site, basically an email form where you upload a pic of your guitar, say what you don't like about the current pickups and what you want in terms of sound and what models you were thinking about.

anyway he actually called me on the phone and I think we talked for 15-20 minutes. I was thinking about these Wide Range Humbuckers, mostly because I love the look.

https://www.porterpickups.com/products/pickups/humbucker-pickups/wrh/

However, he said they really can't be coil split because they are offset magnets, so he's going to make me two different traditional humbucker models but he will use that open housing and raw open top instead of the exposed coils or Les Paul type covers.

and wrote back and said he'd knock $25 off the price of the three and send me a free t-shirt. really awesome guy hope I love the pickups.

Speaking of pickups, I've been finding my tele bridge pickup sound just a bit too harsh through my amp, and I can't seem to find a sweet spot of EQ where I still get some of that classic tele bite without it feeling like ear stabs. Anyone have thoughts on a slightly mellower but still classically tele sounding replacement bridge pickup?

neck pickup, my dude. that's what it's there for: bitey without being ear-stabby

if it made any earthly sense to rip out the bridge pickup and go neck-only, I would

The tone knob is your friend on a Telecaster. That said, many humbucker guitars don't need them and sound better without them in the circuit.

UMS please keep this thread updated when you get an install those pickups! i love the concept of doing a pickup consult and it sounds like the guy is really into treating people right. i would be very interested in working with him on replacement pickups for my squier venus if you're satisfied.

neck pickup, my dude. that's what it's there for: bitey without being ear-stabby

if it made any earthly sense to rip out the bridge pickup and go neck-only, I would

if it made any earthly sense to rip out the bridge pickup and go neck-only, I would

In general, I'd say with most guitars, Telecasters even more than others, depends on what type of guitar you got. Ashtray bridge? Swamp ash or Alder? Maple neck or rosewood. Is the guitar really light?

Lots of lower end Telecasters also have pickups that have ceramic magnets and not always the best pots and caps for sound. Sometimes if the pickups are not bad, you can really change the sound with that part of the wiring first.

There are boodles of options out there. I think the Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound telecaster pickups are pretty good and not crazy expensive. Obviously you can go from there into much more high end custom made things.

The guys I know around here that build guitars for a living tend to favor using Fralin's pickups in Telecasters, but they are hand made and are not cheap.

matttkkkk that is intriguing, tell me more. Is it a Musicmaster?

Love the pickup, don't love that glitchy saddle

Yeah that's a 78 MM, bought very cheap before they went nuts. The saddles are fine, I use wound G strings so it was a set-and-forget kinda thing. Neck is hilariously chunky so I love it.
https://i.imgur.com/nGp9oEe.jpg
Agree with earlnash, tobo73 it kind of depends on what bridge pickup you have - e.g. if it's a ceramic type one then something like an Alnico II Pro from SD might take the harshness out. Or you could go for a humbucker-in-single thing like a Lil 59 or similar. Or swap the bridge plate and go crazy, Charlie Christian, PAF, whatever!
ooh - these guys do a CC as a drop-in for Tele bridge - http://www.dreamsongspickups.com/en/content/charlie-christian-tele-bridge

My Telecaster has a K-Line Signature pickup set - I actually only use the bridge, if I wanted to put some effort in I'd take out the neck and rewire it to be an Esquire, I don't seem to like Telecaster neck pickups much. The K-Line bridge is full and not too bright.

Most online demos of them are in his guitars but he sells sets for a reasonable price IIRC:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGe1x_5-Bmw

https://k-lineguitars.com/store/Signature-T-Tele%C2%AE-Set-p148161198

very cool, mat3k4.

re pickups, I have generally been fine with the stock pickups in my various Teles. For my main Strat I changed to Samarium Cobalt Noiseless a while back and have never wanted anything else. That is my sound now.

In general, I'd say with most guitars, Telecasters even more than others, depends on what type of guitar you got. Ashtray bridge? Swamp ash or Alder? Maple neck or rosewood. Is the guitar really light?

Lots of lower end Telecasters also have pickups that have ceramic magnets and not always the best pots and caps for sound. Sometimes if the pickups are not bad, you can really change the sound with that part of the wiring first.

There are boodles of options out there. I think the Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound telecaster pickups are pretty good and not crazy expensive. Obviously you can go from there into much more high end custom made things.

The guys I know around here that build guitars for a living tend to favor using Fralin's pickups in Telecasters, but they are hand made and are not cheap.

― earlnash, Friday, 11 February 2022 02:17 (one hour ago) link

It's an '84 MIJ Tele, alder body, rosewood neck, no ashtray. The thing is, I like the twangy sound of a tele bridge pickup, at least when I hear other people play. Maybe I'm not used to hearing it up close. It also sounded better through the tweed-style amp I played it through in the store, and probably in their more deadened and acoustically better space vs my acoustically kind of fucked up basement, admittedly. My amp is a Fender Princeton 68 Custom RI. I recently changed out the speaker for a Creamback, which I thought improved but did not entirely fix my sonic issues. It's a weird amp, it has some great sounds but gets muddy if you turn the bass up much, which might be part of why it's hard to EQ out the harshness without losing the twang that I like.

The neck pickup is fine but it's not that twangy, and a little bit bland imo. I feel like there has to be a sweet spot of twang with some of the edge taken off.

Sorry correction, it has what I guess is referred to as an "ashtray bridge." It does not have one of those ashtray bridge covers which is what I thought you meant.

CAD - will keep you posted on the Porter pick-ups, really hoping I like them

The neck pickup is fine but it's not that twangy, and a little bit bland imo. I feel like there has to be a sweet spot of twang with some of the edge taken off.

― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Thursday, February 10, 2022 10:36 PM (six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

the sweet spot is probably called getting lollars or fralins or some other boutique tele pickups

or porters!

I've never bought/installed a boutique pickup, but I have this weird thing where I hate the name "Seymour Duncan" and love the names "Lollar" and "Frailin," just tasty names for some tasty tele twang.

Another thing I've thought about is doing a four-way mod and using the middle position. Right now the middle position on my tele kind of sucks.

using the series position I mean

Seymour Duncan is the standard for bass pickups imo.

my jaguar has seymour duncan antiquities which fucking rule, so do not count out SD. they're a big boring name in the pickup world but they know what they're doing.

If you'd like a less expensive "classic Tele" bridge pickup which sounds pretty great, I can recommend the Tonerider Hot Classic. I think it's the same factory that did the highly regarded original Classic Vibe pickups. They're under $50 new, or cheaper used.

certainly better than the stock 80s MIJs, I adore those guitars but not their pickups.