Tedly Nightshade Posted August 16, 2002 Share Posted August 16, 2002 Lee's really making me jealous with her '52 Les Paul... I have a strong feeling I would play a lot more electric guitar if I had something with more personality than the '80 Les Paul Custom I have here. The trouble is, I have to play it, it doesn't play me nearly enough. I've known and loved this guitar for a long old time, I think if it was going to play me it would have by now. Although I've put in hundreds of gigs and a million hours on that axe, these past several years it lives in it's case most of the time. The Les Paul neck is kinda cramped for my big hands. I really really like the feeling of my Collings acoustic, a handmade instrument only a few years old. I wish I had an electric just like that, with a jazz guitar type body. I was drooling over a Collings archtop until I found out they cost $15,000.... I feel that I'm shortchanging my inner guitar player here, and that maybe after all these years I ought to be playing an instrument with more character and personality, or rather having one like that play me. I got it bad, and that ain't good. A WOP BOP A LU BOP, A LOP BAM BOOM! "There is nothing I regret so much as my good behavior. What demon possessed me that I behaved so well?" -Henry David Thoreau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doc taz Posted August 16, 2002 Share Posted August 16, 2002 Hey Ted, at least you're not me. My dad's got this kick butt white Gibson LP Studio from 1994, and it's awesome as most good Pauls are, but what really kills me is that it's got Mr. Les Paul's John Hancock + personal note on it! Now he's got a real "vintage" in his hands... Not surprisingly, he won't even let me play it anymore, except for special occasions (like maybe for my birthday in October). I say just keep your Paul, and save for the Collings. Just my thought. sevenstring.org profile my flickr page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbrock1san.rr.com Posted August 17, 2002 Share Posted August 17, 2002 Start hitting the guitar stores and seeing what's out there that inspires you. It's strange, as a guitar player with some disposible income I should enjoy shopping for guitars more but I don't. I do like it when I find "that" guitar or piece of equipment that makes me happy but pushy salesmen, noisy stores, and buyers remorse have to be dealt with. Take youramp with you so you have some objectivety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Posted August 17, 2002 Share Posted August 17, 2002 I hear ya, Ted. I just whipped out my Epiphone Les Paul the other for the first time in a while, and I was amazed at how foreign the neck felt. But damn, the sound is just so nice . I've been playing on my Tele mostly for the past few years and recently on a Reverend Avenger. I would love to find a Les Paul like guitar with a bigger neck, as my hands do get cramped quite easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franknputer Posted August 17, 2002 Share Posted August 17, 2002 Ya man, go out & sniff around. See what you can find anfter a few trips around - you never know. I went out today & picked up an old Squier Bullet, of all things...looked like a bit of a dawg, but I was impressed with it's weight & sustain, and after playing it for about 10 minutes I felt pretty comfortable with the neck (BIG neck) compared to by PRS, so I had a go with it through a blackface Princeton. Damn, that thing sounded sweet! It wasn't real noisy, tone for days! It needs some TLC, but nothing that a trip to Ack Radio supply & a soldering iron can't fix. Been looking for a new axe - definitely NOT looking at Strats - short story is, I plunked down the cash on a $200 guitar that plays & sounds real nice. I've done this time & again - lots of shopping, checking out stuff that doesn't have the vintage appeal along with the goodies, and have often found "cheap" guitars that sound & play better than ones costing 2x as much. Moral of the story: It's the guitar, stupid. Just because it's 50 years old don't make it a good guitar, and just because some underpaid worker in another country built it doesn't mean it's crap. Seek that - and ye shall find the inspiration ye crave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedly Nightshade Posted August 18, 2002 Author Share Posted August 18, 2002 Very few guitars in my neck of the woods. When I get to the big city I'll check out all the nice vintage axes and see what kinda jazz guitars and stuff are around. Wonder what I'm after... A WOP BOP A LU BOP, A LOP BAM BOOM! "There is nothing I regret so much as my good behavior. What demon possessed me that I behaved so well?" -Henry David Thoreau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickerman Posted August 18, 2002 Share Posted August 18, 2002 The best shop in Michigan, Elderly.com has quite a few Collings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitefang Posted August 18, 2002 Share Posted August 18, 2002 I've always coveted a Les Paul, Ted. I preffered one over the strat not because of any quality concerns, but mainly the neck! The older LP's seemed to have a "faster" neck than the newer ones, and they were wider than the strat's, therefore more comfy for me. Your comment about them being too narrow took me by surprise. Some cats I know complained they were too WIDE! Goes to show ya how varied tastes can be. Whitefang I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedly Nightshade Posted August 18, 2002 Author Share Posted August 18, 2002 I have a Collings acoustic, I wish I had a neck just like that for an electric. It seems to be designed purely for tone, not for comfort like a Taylor or Les Paul neck, but now I'm used to it I can really romp like I can't on the Les Paul, even with big strings and high action on the Collings. I've been so frustrated with amplifying the Collings, any acoustic for that matter. I imagine having a big clear sounding electric that I can play ragtime type of acoustic parts on live, instead of fighting the amplifying-the-acoustic thing. Interesting that the older Les Pauls have wider necks... A WOP BOP A LU BOP, A LOP BAM BOOM! "There is nothing I regret so much as my good behavior. What demon possessed me that I behaved so well?" -Henry David Thoreau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Posted August 20, 2002 Share Posted August 20, 2002 Ted, have you tried Reverend Guitars? They make very nice and lightweight instruments that have amazing feeling necks. I currently use a Reverend Avenger and love it. They make a model with humbuckers that might do the trick for ya! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriel E. Posted August 20, 2002 Share Posted August 20, 2002 Ted: Check out Subway Guitars . They have some very nice but inexpensive archtops. Also, $15,000 is crazy but you can get REALLY nice custom-built archtops for $3K-9K by Buscarino, Mapson, Benedetto, etc. Hey, at least you're not after a cello. "You never can vouch for your own consciousness." - Norman Mailer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedly Nightshade Posted August 20, 2002 Author Share Posted August 20, 2002 "Also, $15,000 is crazy but you can get REALLY nice custom-built archtops for $3K-9K by Buscarino, Mapson, Benedetto, etc." The Collings archtop has no provision even to be electric! So that would be more. Definitely out of the question! I would love to hear who all is etc. and makes nice jazz guitars, doesn't need to be an archtop necessarily. "Hey, at least you're not after a cello." I think that a LOT! I've known folks with a couple half million dollar apiece fiddles... and they sound VERY different from the $5,000 ones! I wandered into a store and heard a teacher noodling around on a violin and was struck by the gorgeous sound, you know the kind of thing that makes violins sound like a good idea after all. I asked, "is that an incredibly expensive instrument, are you a fantastic player, or both?" Both. A WOP BOP A LU BOP, A LOP BAM BOOM! "There is nothing I regret so much as my good behavior. What demon possessed me that I behaved so well?" -Henry David Thoreau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriel E. Posted August 20, 2002 Share Posted August 20, 2002 Ted: I remember reading an article on Grover Jackson (Jackson guitars) where he was responding to criticism that his guitars cost $2K+. He said that guitarists have it easy. Classical musicians have to spend tens of thousands just for a passable instrument. As for the "etc." part, look at a PRS. Great for Jazz. Or the Carvin Holdsworth "Fatboy". "You never can vouch for your own consciousness." - Norman Mailer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phaeton Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 Here's a different angle... What would a '52 Les Paul cost to buy? Thousands, right? -compared to- Is it possible to go to some luthier and say "build me a guitar, with a neck like this, a body like this, a set of pickups like this, wired like this... etc.." Can you do that? Is it economically feasible? If you knew *exactly* what you wanted in a guitar, down to the very last drop of lacquer, is this the way to do it? Dr. Seuss: The Original White Rapper . WWND? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Flier Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 Phaeton, I've known a few people who've had guitars custom built, and it rarely turns out as expected, even if it might be a nice guitar (and sometimes it's not even really that). It's REALLY tough to actually know what a specific guitar feels and sounds like. I mean think about it - even if you knew for example that you wanted a Tele, and you knew it had to be a maple neck and what kind of pickups you wanted and all of that, the fact remains that if you pick up 3 different Teles of the same model they are going to be different. Let alone trying to imagine a guitar that doesn't even exist yet. If you have a ton of dough to throw around on such things, it could be fun to experiment, but if I'm going to spend that much money, I'd better know EXACTLY what I'm getting - as in I've sat down and played the thing, know what the neck feels like and what it sounds like. You just can't know that in advance, really. So... I would not take that risk. Not many luthiers are going to allow you to just refuse to pay for that custom guitar if you don't totally dig it! And anyhow you never know, you could stumble into something for 300 bucks at a pawn shop that is just perfect for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doc taz Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 Abso-mutha-f^&kin-lutely! If money were no object, then I'd go for a custom guitar (or two). Why waste my time with poring through racks of vintage guitars (not that I wouldn't want to), when I can just build (or have one built) something to my exact specs? Otherwise, just get a guitar with a nice build that has room for improvement. The Epiphone LP's are great examples, as are Mexican Fender Strats, etc. Replace the tuners, the pickups of your choice, and add strap locks (I would, anyway, some hate doing this to a vintage piece, which is partly why I'd much rather get a nice, new instrument), and you have a pro guitar at a not-so-pro price. The route I'd personally go at this point, is to go to a dealer like Warmoth. I'd let them do all the finishing/routing with the body and neck I want. The final assembly would be done at home. (It's not too much trouble to put on the tuners, brige, bolt on neck, and pickups with me, that's easy.) sevenstring.org profile my flickr page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedly Nightshade Posted August 21, 2002 Author Share Posted August 21, 2002 I actually would trust Collings implicitly to make what I like- maybe I just got lucky, but I ordered a guitar sight unseen (I played another of the same model, during the 30 minutes it was in the shop) and I just love it. I was playing it today with the B-Band pickup plugged into a suped up Gibson Goldtone, and it took every last drop of gain that thing had to make it substantially louder than the guitar is acoustically- but wow, I think I found a winner! That pickup has some objectionable excessive clarity in the highs that was driving me nuts through studio monitors and PA, even with a nice tube pre, but it sounds and feels just perfect through the Goldtone, and I can play it just like I would acoustically, not having to play to the pickup like usual. Sigh. So I don't have it quite so bad now, and that's good! Still I'll keep a weather eye out for an axe, as ever... I haven't found one I liked more than my '80 Les Paul in all these years, but I never looked at any of the real steep ones. I think the Les Paul is trying to woo me just now.. that works! A WOP BOP A LU BOP, A LOP BAM BOOM! "There is nothing I regret so much as my good behavior. What demon possessed me that I behaved so well?" -Henry David Thoreau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.