Your favorite guitar

I dont know why, but I could never play with an SG. They just feel weird to me. I'm a Les Paul guy

That being said. It's time for the boring story of how I got my favorite guitar. Once upon a time I bought a Les Paul Studio with a nice mahogany finish. Loved it. In my opinion, with the 498T at the bridge, the is no guitar that comes near it for heavy tones. It fell off the stand one day and the neck snapped, right at the head where the joint is. This is a major flaw with Les Pauls. A mahogany neck with a 17 degree angle at the head is a recipe for disaster. I had it glued, it broke again. I glued it myself, it broke again, and then three times more I took it to a guy, and it just doesn't hold. It's holding with splints right now, and it's in the process of breaking again.

The fifth time it broke, I swore off LP's. Being a somewhat active musician, I needed something more reliable so I purchased this:


Fender Jaguar, Made in Mexico, maple Neck (pretty much unbreakable), high output pickups (fender encorcer). I figured it would do the trick. I played it for a year. It was... OK. For heavy tones though, it was no Les Paul. I missed that tone. One thing lead to another and I decided to sell it. In my add I said ''reason for selling: I accepted that I am a Gibson guy''

And then, someone replied and said ''Its funny you say this, I have a Gibson that I want to sell because I have accepted that I am a Fender guy."

Just like that, in a weird twist of fate, the universe had offered me a second chance at a Les Paul. Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you, my favourite guitar:



This is a 2006 Les Paul BFG, in a tobacco burst. They originally come with three knobs and a killswitch, but this one was rewired to be like a LP Standard. They also changed the gibson tuners for grovers. It came to me with a Classic '57 pickup in the bridge position but I felt it was just not hot enough, so I took it out and put in my 498T from my LP Studio. This means I get heavy ass tare your face off tones at the bridge, and some very smooth sexy round tones from the P-90 at the neck. I couldn't be happier. I traded a Mexican Fender Jaguar for an American made Gibson Les Paul. SCORE!

Let's hope I dont break this one!

 

Nice score!


Just so you know... " It fell off the stand one day and the neck snapped, right at the head where the joint is." Gibson doesn't do a joint there at the headstock, it's one piece of wood. If they have changed in the last few years they need to just go out of business... Gibson's really going down the shitter anyways. (No offence, they were once on top)

As far as that repair went, the second time it came apart it needed to be splined. They can not break again after that.

 

My 1934 Gibson that my Father gave me after it survived a tornado.

 

Well I'll be damned! I was sure the headstock was a seperate piece. Turns out (I think) That the neck it all one piece all the way through and they add ''wings'' to the headstock.

As far as repairs go, there's splints in there right now and it's starting to break anyways. I dont know that I agree with the way that the guy did it though. You seem to know your stuff - are you a Gibson tech or something?

Also, if you say gibson is going down the toilet, what do you like when it comes to electric guitars?

thats awesome. I'll admit im pretty jealous that you have a 1934 gibson. it must be something. I'd love to see pics.

 

yep

Gibson has put their name on a whole lotta crap for more than a decade now, as has Martin, however Fender just might top the list...:biker:
There isn't hardly an american name brand out their that hasn't been sold to a multinational that hasn't ended up having the shit manufactured in china or elsewhere employing the cheapest materials and labor on earth.

Wait though, that mahoghany body on yer new Epi lp?
Even though its not real mahogany,( prolly luan) you could not buy the wood to build one yourself for the price of that entire guitar...puzzle on that for a moment peeps! :dizzy2:

A'ight, rant over. :daisy:

ZW

 

Oh sweet...

pics please?...:toetap05:


Zw

 

Gibson has had several different ways of making necks, but having a glued on headstock wasn't one of them. I used to teach guitar building back in the 80's -90's and have been a store tech a few times, but I'm not a Gibson tech. I've repaired a bunch of headstocks in my day... a whole bunch. I used to tell stories about them. :rofl:

The reason I say they, Gibson, is going down hill is they are just cutting to many corners, and seemingly getting away with it... There's very little fundamental difference between a USA Gibson and a top of the line Epi other than cost and country of origin. Same with Fender USA vs. Fender Mexico. It's not like those companies are trying to make supreme instruments anymore, they are making profits for investors. (not trying to get all political and shit but it's true and you can see it in any product. Pride is gone)

If I were in the market for another guitar I doubt I'd be looking for new because nobody uses seasoned wood anymore. If it "had to be new" for some reason I don't know. I would probably just find something I liked visually, that had good wood, balance and decent fretwork and customize it from there. (or have a trusted tech customize it if not qualified yourself) The last "newish" guitar I bought is an Ibanez Artcore 335 copy, it was used when I bought it but it's only a few years old... Well built guitar. I like it as much as any real 335 I've ever played.

About 5 years ago I was still active in repair and customizing, I actually found some nice "Fender" stuff labeled Squire as far as the wood goes, and I built my existing bass around an Epi EB0 neck and pickup... 30+ year old mahogany body though

 

Out of those that I've owned or played semi-regularly, my fav electric has been



My fav acoustic has been my brother in laws Takamine, don't know the model though. Such a beautiful sound

[i can't find an image for Takamine that doesn't stretch the thread...but trust me they are amazing.

And my fav signature guitar is hands down:

 

Gibson LP Studio. That was the best. Favorite guitar I ever owned.

 

man, 70's Epiphone, Guild, Ibanez,..those were some of the best imports ever.

 

Yea, I agree, those are pretty much all I play now, Epiphone. I would love to have all vintage equipment from 60s or 70s. Amps, guitars, pedals, analog recording... I used to own a vintage Laney. It had a wonderful Black Sabbath type sound. I got out of music for a period of time, and sold everything. Big mistake!

 

Yep.
It's weird how most people dont like the 498T they come with. I think that pickup rules.

 

Heh, we had no Idea back then how good we had it..
example;
mid 70's I used to go through 100$ blackface twins and Bandmasters like they were nothing...check 'em now..:svengo:

 

I'm gonna be posting pictures of the current repair near the end of the week when I get home, see what you guys have to say and if you think anything can be done.

 

update to my post from last year...current line-up is a '79 Guild D-15 cherry mahogany acoustic, a guild D-4 natural spruce top acoustic, a '60 Custom shop Strat, a '57 Les Paul Goldtop Historic, a '58 Les Paul Flametop Historic, a '60 Les Paul Special TV model Historic, a National sytle O resonator, a Fender Blues DeVille amp, a Fender '63 Vibroverb amp, a Marshall handwired '62 blues Breaker amp, an 1896 Washburn round-back mandolin....and......whatever I happen to buy this week..lol

 

thats insanity.

Since we don't have a ''your favourite amp thread'' I'd like to use this one to mention my 1973 Traynor YBA-1 Bassmaster and my 1974 Ampeg V4.

That traynor is 45 watts and louder than any amp I've ever owned. Asides from the v4 of course, which will gladly rip your face off without even breaking a sweat lol.

 

I have a 1981 Musicman 50w.... Mmmm such a sweet tone

 

Oh, you mean my stereo setup circa '87 - '92, an Orange halfstack and a Sound City 120... with a Roland E-501 Chorus Echo between them :2thumbsup: Yeah, I remember that shyt.

 

DAYUM!
haha

I played with an orange half stack for a while. I loved it. Those V30's really have nice Mids.

I had a HIWATT custom 100 for a little while. If I'm not mistaking they are very similar to the sound citys. I didnt like it that much to be honest. I would have loved to keep it, but I was broke and felt it was just too clean at useable volumes so I sold it and kept the traynor.

I felt like it didnt really have any character. It was just a very good, loud, clean amp. I loved the fact that it made any pedal you put in front of it sound good though. I would love to try a custom 50 one day. It probably breaks up way earlier...