Custom Guitar Sites

yeah, i knew how to get the pickguard off, but didn't know how obvious it would be to tell if they could fit humbuckers. I might just sell the Squier along with the amp that came with it (Strat Pak) and after i get my Gibson SG, buy like an Ibanez or something cheap to work on. I haven't really decided yet, but i love the idea for the Overrive module.

Originally posted by PonyOne
so you decided on the SG?

and if you do wnat to get a tinkerer, get a Kramer Focus, they're better than Squiers and cost $69

pretty much, yeah...there is one other guitar around the SG's price range that i might get, its a Gibson Les Paul DC 24. 24 fret neck, double cutaway les paul (looks sharp too).
here's a link to it.

http://www.music123.com/Item/?itemno=33291

I'll check out the Kramer Focus, see if i like it.

[Edited by Incidents Happen on 08-21-2002 at 11:45 AM]

Originally posted by Incidents Happen
[B...its a Gibson Les Paul DC 24. 24 fret neck, double cutaway les paul (looks sharp too)...[/B]

... uhuh, looks a whole lot like a Plain-Jane version of a Yamaha SBG! :D

You take a liking to the Yamaha's. What do you like about them? I've never seen one in a music store so i havent had the chance to check em out...

Don't just take my word for it. Read [u]all[/u] of this thread: to epi or not to epi, and then read the rest of this post....

When you find a guitar you want to own, for a price you're willing to pay, its worth it.

I strongly recommend making that choice with your eyes closed, and your ears and mind open. Back in 1984, I found out that my dream guitar was a Yamaha SBG 1000, not a Gibson Les Paul Custom. I still own the SBG, and its the one guitar in my collection that I will probably never sell.

The bottom line is: The guitar you have in your hands is the one you are thinking about buying. The name on the headstock may give you some idea what to expect, but the guitar you're holding may have been made on a bad day. Or a good one. You can't know that until you try it out.

My point is: don't make your choice based on reputation. One of the reasons I wanted a Les Paul was my admiration for Jimmy Page. LOL... a lot of his stuff was recorded with a Fender Telecaster!

You make your music with your rig. Its up to you to decide what that is.

I did a one-on-one comparison between a Gibson Les Paul Custom and a Yamaha SBG 1000 in 1984. The Yamaha won. I still have it. As I remember, it went like this:

[u]Gibson:[/u]

• seriously heavy
  


• mahogany neck, mahogany body with carved maple top
  


• single cutaway
  


• no strengthening at neck-headstock transition
  


• sloppy masking - black paint smears on the binding
  


• mother-of-pearl inlays on head & fretboard
  


• rough ends on some of the frets
  


• three-position pickup selector
  


• 2 Tone & 2 Volume controls
  


• 2 humbucker pickups
  


• tunomatic bridge with stop tailpiece
  


• action set 'medium' - a bit high for my liking
  


• playability: good - string spacing about the same as an acoustic
  


• sound: very good - smooth, dark, almost muddy on neck pickup
  


• price (in 1984 Canadian dollars): $1300 - case extra
  

[u]Yamaha:[/u]

• seriously heavy
  


• mahogany neck, mahogany body with carved maple top
  


• double cutaway
  


• 'volou' strengthening at neck-headstock transition
  


• excellent masking - no paint smears anywhere (black - same as the Gibson)
  


• mother-of-pearl inlays on head & fretboard
  


• all frets smoothly crowned, no rough ends
  


• three-position pickup selector
  


• 2 Tone & 2 Volume controls with push-push (like a ball-point pen!) coil-tap switches
  


• 2 humbucker pickups
  


• tunomatic bridge with stop tailpiece
  


• action set 'low' - no fret buzz anywhere
  


• playability: very good - string spacing a bit narrower than the LP
  


• sound: excellent - smooth, sweet, better clarity than the LP, still very ballsy when cranked
  


• price (in 1984 Canadian dollars): $640 - plush lined hardshell case included
  

A note about the neck-headstock transition: The part of the neck, where the nut is located, is a critical weak spot in many guitars. The layback angle of the head means that most of this part is cross-grain. The pocket cut into the head, above the nut, for the truss rod adjuster, further weakens this area. Gibsons seem to be particularly vulnerable in this regard. Ask any guitar tech about this, and you are likely to hear a lot of horror stories about Gibsons that 'lost their heads'. The Yamaha has a 'volou' (sp?); the neck 'flares' thicker on the back, adding a lot of strength to this area. It doesn't interfere with the playability at all. Its like the 'shoulders' of the head simply continue around to the back of the neck.

I went out that day to get the Les Paul Custom I had been dreaming of for years. I had no idea Yamaha made a similar guitar, but that's the one that came home with me. That was in 1984. I wrote this review in Harmony Central on 21 September of last year. After 18 years, its still my Brand X - the standard by which all others are judged, and none have been better for me.

Lord - I think that's a "volute" you're referring to. You should've been a Yamaha salesman !

Incidents - just a suggestion, make sure you play your potential new guitars thru a RI Deluxe Reverb ( yours or the store's ) so that you make an informed purchase. You may find that humbuckers sound a little "muddy" compared to single coils (Strat, Tele) through that amp. Don't settle on a particular guitar before you've tried some different ones. Take your time, try out as many as you can, narrow the choice down until you're sure you got the right one for you. Since you're trying to emulate Jerry Garcia's sound, you may find the combo of a Fender guitar and Fender amp gets you close. Try the Strat, try the Tele, try the SG, try the Les Paul - you get my drift - and good luck.

I tell you what lord, I've got a strat that I love, the next guitar I get would either be something like a tele, or, if I am feeling rich, a hollowbody like a Gibson es-175 (I say like, I'd be more likely to get something I don't have to sell my car for). However, the amount that oyu go on about that SBG, I seriously want to try one! By the way, I hear that the Yamaha "version" of the es-175 is pretty killer too... and not prohibitively expensive.

Well, i've tried a fender american strat, and at least the way it was set up, it wasnt that good. I liked the American Tele (natural ash), that was a cool guitar, but im getting out of the twangy fender sound, into more of an LP type sound, or even the solo-ey type SG.

Resale isn't really the key issue, but it's something to think about if you ever want that really nice custom built Alembic "Hippie Sandwhich" guitar you've always dreamed of, but was always several thousand dollars over your price limit.

True, but i think the SG and LP have more distinctive tones than say, a Fender Strat. Strats are a little less distinctive, mroe generic, as far as tone.