That’s ok, that one has your name on it.
The other three have someone else’s name, and one was actually made by the name on the headstock.
Your Go To Guitar
- Thread starter Leedspool
- Start date
The other three have someone else’s name, and one was actually made by the name on the headstock.
When I setup our lead guitarist's ESP, I intonated slightly flat because of how hard he clamps down on the strings.
Col Mustard
Ambassador of Perseverance
naw... the human hand is capable of playing any instrument
from a mandolin to a double bass, with no problems.
It's just a question of wanting what that individual instrument can do.
From all your posts that I read, your four guitars do everything that you
need for your music, and you have little interest in anything else. That's
valid. Knowing what you want, and how to get it.
But if you step outside the box, and decide you want
what a particular instrument can do
for a particular song or set you are working on,
then you tell your hand to play it
and you practice with it until your hand complies.
That's my humble opinion.
Once your hand realizes that it's capable of playing what you need for your
music, you can proceed with what's really important.
To me, allowing your hand to tell you what guitar you will or will not play
seems like letting a three year old make career decisions for you.
I agree that some guitars might feel more comfortable than others, and I
believe that this concept is the subject of this thread. But that's what setup is
for, again in my humble opinion.
Last edited:
Odd, it seems..I couldn't sell my 2016 Gibson SG with Gator TSA case for $500.00, and I've already been offered over $1,000.00 each for the fakes even after telling people that they are fakes. Everybody who plays them loves them. I think the rather unorthodox aztec gold finish on the 2016 Gibson makes everyone think it's the fake...
I didn’t say anything about quality....positive or negative....just owning the truth.
If I made an awesome guitar, like your double neck, I’d own it too.
Col Mustard
Ambassador of Perseverance
If the guitar goes out of tune when you put your fingers on it, you are definitely
pressing too hard. My Gibson SG was the first electric guitar that I owned since
I was in my twenties, a long time ago. I spent my whole career playing acoustic and
bass.
When I brought the Gibson home, I thought there was something wrong with it.
I couldn't play in tune. But my long experience with badly set up acoustic guitars
had given me the "acoustic player's grip of death..."
and I was simply squeezing the Gibson too hard.
I swapped out the tuners because somebody told me Gibson tunes were crap.
This was bull
, but I didn't know. So I bought "better"ones, and installed them.I spent some more money trying to make the guitar play better, got an exper
setup job and a new nut. I was still throwing the guitar out of tune with my own
powerful grip, but I didn't know it yet.
Finally in desperation, I saw a couple friends of mine playing at an outdoor
restaurant. I stopped by, and listened to them. My friend Rod Capps is an
excellent guitarist, and he goes from acoustic to electric seamlessly in the
same set, and makes it look easy. I told him I had a new Gibson, and asked
him if he wanted to see it. Of course he did. He plugged it in and played it
and sounded great.
At that point, I knew it was me. There was nothing wrong with my guitar.
I had to teach myself to play all over again, this time properly with my thumb
behind the neck (as much as I could, overcoming bad habits)... Once I began
to keep my thumb behind the neck, I was able to play with a much more relaxed
hand.
Playing with a much more relaxed hand allowed my playing and my style to take
off, and soon I was playing parts I never thought I could. If you keep your thumb
behind the neck, the neck shape and the scale length become irrelevant, because
your thumb acts like a pivot instead of a clamp. That was the difference, and you
don't throw your guitar out of tune when your hand is relaxed.
You play with a light touch, and you have all the reach you need.
I have taught young women with small hands to play Fender bass this way,
and it works. If you don't believe me, watch some videos of Tal Wilkenfeld.
She was NOT my student, but she demonstrates the irrelevance of neck shape
and scale length in a very definitive way. Very small woman with very small hands,
playing beautifully on a 34 inch scale. .
Last edited:
I found that same issue , but I did
use a different playing approach, maybe what you’re saying I need to do also!
Cheers
Col Mustard
Ambassador of Perseverance
I believe you couldn't sell your lovely SG because you couldn't stop telling
everyone how much you hated it, and how much hassle you had trying to make
it perfect... That's like the opposite of salesmanship. *grins
If I hadn't been in the downsizing phase of my life, I would have snapped
that baby up. I respected all the work you did on it. Somebody got a great
deal on it, we all know who.
Interesting opinions and perspectives...
As I've gotten older, my way of going about things has changed. I used to approach things with a hammer, figuring I could beat a person/situation/guitar (perhaps?) into submission. Now, I'm much more easy going and focused. I've figured out what I want and what gear that I can get it from. At that point, I stopped the gear-quest and concentrated on just playing and enjoying not having to bludgeon my way through things.
But I had to learn it the hard - and expensive - way of course...
I had a Floyd Rose once. I was determined to make it work for me. I bought all the correct tools, shims, you name it - no cost was spared. I paid to have it setup by one of the masters at Charvel. I found the first fret height with the R3 nut too high for my liking and I found I pulled every note sharp. Went back, had the nut shelf machined, level, crown, intonation averaged to give the best possible intonation across the entire span of the fret-board...and I hated that guitar. I ended up selling it for next to nothing just to get rid of it.
After that, I began to take stock of my personality traits and looked really hard at myself. I sold off everything with a single coil or a 25.5" scale. I turned down the lead guitar spot for a monster country artist in 2007 when they had a lineup change, because I knew I wouldn't enjoy playing country music, despite the generous salary. I suppose I could have forced my way through it - play it until my spirit complies - but I think I made the right choice.
That's a really great observation and I'm happy that you see that choice for what it is. Our band's music is rather narrow in its scope and we are all rejects from other bands who came together because we wanted to play Judas Priest and Black Sabbath exclusively. Not only do my 4 guitars do that well enough, they also work full-time in the studio as well.
Interesting...and kind of getting back to what I mentioned earlier about wanting things to have a sort of natural flow, I don't want my playing to require training my hands to adjust to a given instrument. I prefer it to be natural. In my work as a studio musician, I must frequently play many different guitars for whatever the engineer may desire for a given project. I frequently play a very old Broadcaster (studio owned) that's quite popular for its tone and vintage vibe, but It still feels very foreign to me, for the physical characteristics previously described.
Although I truly LOVE music and the music business, my only source of income is session work, so making money is really important to me. To that end, I want consistency and familiarity in my guitars, which is why I have what I have. One strap for all 3 guitars. Same control layout. Setup exactly the same. Sound exactly the same. During recording sessions, I am uber-aware of the fact that time is money. Rather than check tuning frequently, I simply rotate to another guitar so I am always ready to go. Producers and engineers have commented on that approach favorably, so I have started doing the same thing live because I feel like I can better connect to an audience when i am not looking down at my tuner. People have also made very favorable comments on the visual aspect of rotating through what appears to be vintage Les Paul's, which is always rewarding to hear.
I am a rather reclusive introvert and I have come to embrace my idiosyncrasies. I do not tire of music that I like. I played 2-1/2 years in an Eagle's tribute band and never got tired of the songs. I never get tired of red raspberry jam on Dave's Killer Bread Good Seed Toast, which I have had every morning for over 40 years. I never get tired of playing 'War Pigs,' or chess, or driving a stick shift car (I've never owned an automatic ever) or anything else that i see as well and good.
I think it was @gball who once said "My SG's are the most comfortable to play, but my Les Paul's sound better..."
I think I can really identify with that....
This reminds me of riding dirt bikes, over compensate , and grip the bars with a death grip, you get arm pump, (not good) same aspect with the guitar!If the guitar goes out of tune when you put your fingers on it, you are definitely
pressing too hard. My Gibson SG was the first electric guitar that I owned since
I was in my twenties, a long time ago. I spent my whole career playing acoustic and
bass.
When I brought the Gibson home, I thought there was something wrong with it.
I couldn't play in tune. But my long experience with badly set up acoustic guitars
had given me the "acoustic player's grip of death..." and I was simply squeezing the Gibson too hard.
I swapped out the tuners because somebody told me Gibson tunes were crap.
This was bull
I spent some more money trying to make the guitar play better, got an exper
setup job and a new nut. I was still throwing the guitar out of tune with my own
powerful grip, but I didn't know it yet.
Finally in desperation, I saw a couple friends of mine playing at an outdoor
restaurant. I stopped by, and listened to them. My friend Rod Capps is an
excellent guitarist, and he goes from acoustic to electric seamlessly in the
same set, and makes it look easy. I told him I had a new Gibson, and asked
him if he wanted to see it. Of course he did. He plugged it in and played it
and sounded great.
At that point, I knew it was me. There was nothing wrong with my guitar.
I had to teach myself to play all over again, this time properly with my thumb
behind the neck (as much as I could, overcoming bad habits)... Once I began
to keep my thumb behind the neck, I was able to play with a much more relaxed
hand.
Playing with a much more relaxed hand allowed my playing and my style to take
off, and soon I was playing parts I never thought I could. If you keep your thumb behind the neck, the neck shape and the scale length become irrelevant, because
your thumb acts like a pivot instead of a clamp. That was the difference, and you
don't throw your guitar out of tune when your hand is relaxed. You play with a light touch, and you have all the reach you need.
I have taught young women with small hands to play Fender bass this way,
and it works. If you don't believe me, watch some videos of Tal Wilkenfeld.
She was NOT my student, but she demonstrates the irrelevance of neck shape and scale length in a very definitive way. Very small woman with very small hands, playing beautifully on a 34 inch scale. .
Cheers Mitch
I can't say for sure. I feel like my complaints about it were valid and the effort I put into it was necessary to make it usable. But I wouldn't feel right telling everyone how great it was when it had flaws and shortcomings. True, I would never be good in sales.
I didn’t say anything about quality....positive or negative....just owning the truth.
If I made an awesome guitar, like your double neck, I’d own it too.
I was just thinking outloud....You know, despite how heavy it is....it really is such a joy to play!!!
This my 2000 Gibson Les Paul Double Cut 24 fret Standard. I bought this and a PRS Artist Series the same day. When I got the Standard, I noticed something wasn't quite right about it, so I took it back and they told me it needed a neck rest, mind you, I only paid $1300.00 for it and I paid around 3K for the PRS, I told the dealer I had just bought it and a neck reset was unacceptable, after some debate, they got me another one. The only mods I've done to it is replaced the bridge pickup with a Tony Iommi signature and the neck with a 57 Classic plus, that made a wold of difference, the 57 Classis + is louder than the Iommi, but the Iommi has, believe it or not, has a warmer sound. The Standard out does the PRS hands down. This is the guitar I always pick up first.
eclecticsynergy
Ambassador of Electric Synergy
I have many guitars but this one has been my #1 for 32 years now - a PRS Standard that I bought new in '87. Wide spectrum of great tones, amazingly lively feel, ideal neck carve for my hands, perfect trem, rock stable tuning. Hasn't needed any adjustments in more than a decade. I own a number of guitars that are prettier and/or more valuable, but Midnight Angel is the one I reach for most often.
I've had two PRS's a 24 fret and the Artist. The Artist's came standard with a 5 way pickup selector knob, that didn't work for me so I replaced it with the standard 3 way toggle switch. It's also had numerous pickup changes, it came with the Dragon II pickups, but I found it rather thin and too hi end sounding for me. I settled on a 57 + in the bridge and a regular 57 in the neck, it's my back up to the LP Double Cut. The other guitar is use quite often is my 1976 Limited Edition Explorer, but I'm thinking of retiring it due to it's age.
RVA
Ambassador
Both beautiful! Questions:
- why does the 57 classic bridge in the PRS have a solid cover?
- when you say retired due to age, do you mean because it is vintage and valuable?
67plexi
Ambassador of Amps
A friend of my fathers gave me a 1958 LPS I call it the beater Burst it's a re fret jumbo re sprayed but that's the guitar I play
first thing in the morning that neck was made for my hand whoever rebuilt that guitar was a master.
My wife has been in Heaven for 2 1/2 years. My new wife was adopted her grandmother came out of the woodwork
after we got married thought my wife was pregnant. I'm in two bands our main band Gold Creek and Craig's band
they wanted me to fill in on lead guitar Craig is the President of the local motorcycle club so we play at the club house
I told Craig that I have been the bandleader Craig said go for it. The cool thing about the second band 5 lead vocalist
Keith my sound man 34 years told me about this woman Terra that just finished a US tour Craig talked about her also.
Grandmother told me I should play the guitar I play every morning at the clubhouse that night I said that guitar
has never been out of the house since I have owned it well I did. I couldn't get a bad note out of it.
I met Terra she played one set with us told me I have to be in her band sorry were a package deal
Terra has the voice we played six sets that night. Craig said we can play any song let's go on tour.
I have a new name for band two need to copyright it.
first thing in the morning that neck was made for my hand whoever rebuilt that guitar was a master.
My wife has been in Heaven for 2 1/2 years. My new wife was adopted her grandmother came out of the woodwork
after we got married thought my wife was pregnant. I'm in two bands our main band Gold Creek and Craig's band
they wanted me to fill in on lead guitar Craig is the President of the local motorcycle club so we play at the club house
I told Craig that I have been the bandleader Craig said go for it. The cool thing about the second band 5 lead vocalist
Keith my sound man 34 years told me about this woman Terra that just finished a US tour Craig talked about her also.
Grandmother told me I should play the guitar I play every morning at the clubhouse that night I said that guitar
has never been out of the house since I have owned it well I did. I couldn't get a bad note out of it.
I met Terra she played one set with us told me I have to be in her band sorry were a package deal
Terra has the voice we played six sets that night. Craig said we can play any song let's go on tour.
I have a new name for band two need to copyright it.
I am saddened to hear about your wife's passing, even a second time. Wishing you the very best...
I have way too many guitars, and I love them all equally.
I can't pick just one.
My go to guitar is the one that's out & sitting on a stand when I get the urge to noodle.
They rotate often, usually weekly.
Then you have to pick an amp, so that factors into the equation.
It just gets so complicated...
I can't pick just one.
My go to guitar is the one that's out & sitting on a stand when I get the urge to noodle.
They rotate often, usually weekly.
Then you have to pick an amp, so that factors into the equation.
It just gets so complicated...