# The Great Ongoing Guitar Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [January 31, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172 "2010-01-31T23:20:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 201
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4004 "2015-01-30T15:33:10Z")
Count me in with the “less is more” crowd when it comes to fancy looks on a guitar. [My LP](https://www.flickr.com/photos/ben1cs/5527838720/) is the love of my life, but in stock trim it was way too blingy for my tastes. The pickguard and gold-covered pickups came off right away. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4005 "2015-01-30T16:28:37Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > It’s the DBF (douchebag factor) - a guitar can be a work of art based on more than just the design, but man I hate it when they are douchey. > > It looks like something a Russian Oligarch would order, just because… I could totally see Prince making love to every woman on earth with the notes coming out of that guitar. If there’s a dude who could pull of that instrument, it’s him. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4006 "2015-01-30T16:49:24Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > I could totally see Prince making love to every woman on earth with the notes coming out of that guitar. > > If there’s a dude who could pull of that instrument, it’s him. I was struck by that thought as well: if anyone could do it, it would be Prince. He already played an all-gold-leaf Strat: > **[How Prince's all-gold Fender Stratocaster came to be](https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/pop-hiss/story/2010-12-14/how-princes-all-gold-fender-stratocaster-came-to-be)** > > This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. **Ranger Jeff** : I _hate_ the Martin D-100 and all of their big-deal anniversary guitars, e.g., the 1,500,000th Martin, etc. I hate that level of inlay and crap. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4007 "2015-02-01T14:33:52Z")
Thought you’d enjoy some really good guitar picking this morning. Jerry Reed and Glen Campbell burning up their strings on Guitar Man. The section starting at 2 min is incredible. I wish they would have done an entire album together. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4008 "2015-02-04T11:24:48Z")
Quick question. Would guitar or bass strings age sitting on the shelf? Is there any concerns with buying a six pack of strings? That would last 3 years with semi-annual string changes. That’s assuming of course they are stored indoors and in a reasonably dry environment. They are a little cheaper in six packs. My Fender short scale bass uses a special lightweight string. I thought it would be a good idea to get a six pack. Just in case they get hard to find. This is what came Factory installed on my Fender Bass. > **[1 Set Fender Extra Light Short Scale Electric Bass Strings Super 5250xl NPS...](https://www.ebay.com/p/1700125653?iid=190580471174)** > > Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1 Set Fender Extra Light Short Scale Electric Bass Strings Super 5250xl NPS at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products! ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4009 "2015-02-04T11:35:21Z")
When my bassist broke a string, it was the first time he’d put a new string on his 1962 P-Bass in over 20 years. Many players never change bass strings. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4010 "2015-02-04T12:09:55Z")
OK. I didn’t realize bass strings weren’t changed regularly like guitars. I’ll just get a couple spare sets then. Just in case they get hard to find. I noticed Sweetwater carries the bass but they don’t sell the Fender 5250XL strings. Which are the ones that Fender factory ships on the bass. Looks like I got mine just in time. Sweetwater no longer shows this bass anymore. I got the last one they had in stock. They’ve pulled all the web pages. It can still be found at other online music shops. I guess until the inventory is gone. I like these extra light bass strings. A friend had warned me that heavy bass strings can really shred the fingers. I don’t need that kind of grief. I still want to play my guitar too. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4011 "2015-02-04T12:37:32Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Quick question. Would guitar or bass strings age sitting on the shelf? Is there any concerns with buying a six pack of strings? That would last 3 years with semi-annual string changes. > > That’s assuming of course they are stored indoors and in a reasonably dry environment. I buy my strings in ten-packs. Many, if not most brands come in airtight pouches these days anyway. Never had any noticeable difference between new new strings and old new strings. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4012 "2015-02-04T12:47:16Z")
Good to hear OneCentStamp. I bought a bulk pack of Elixir NanoWeb Custom Lights (11’s) for my acoustic guitars. I go through those pretty quick because I have two acoustics that use them. I had wondered if they’d lose tone sitting on the shelf. I may start using 12’s (Elixir Nanoweb Lights) on one of my guitars for drop D tuning. My E string gets pretty floppy in Drop D when I use 11’s. Makes sense to dedicate one guitar to Drop D and my other for general playing. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4013 "2015-02-06T18:33:32Z")
Re the Johnny Cash song. I’m guessing a guitar of some kind but I wasn’t able to tie it down to any particular kind. Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4014 "2015-02-06T19:14:14Z")
[http://www.kitguitarsforum.com/archives/threads.php?id=3406\_0\_10\_40\_C](http://www.kitguitarsforum.com/archives/threads.php?id=3406_0_10_40_C) > [@](#): > > THis is my opinion of course, but as I understand it some of those I’ve known in the past, Red Foley to name one who used the Term often and with whom it was discussed, and Lefty Frezzell also used the term often, (And he was fron Texas!) BOTH of whom I was around and knew as a kid in the 50’s. > > “Flat-top Box” was used to describe a guitar that was NOT an “Arch-top” or “F-Hole”…the latter were very popular in the 20’s and 30’s…and into the 40’s with Western Music …IE:: Sons of the Pioneers". > > Mother Maybelle Carter played her archtop Gibson regularly, but many felt those guitars were just not quite “Right” for Mt. or “Early Country” music…and prefered the responce of the “Flat top”…and it was THEIR way of seperating the two… > > “Tennessee Flat Top Box” specificly refered to guitars made in the Hills and backwoods of Tenneesee that had a richer bass responce and brighter high notes than most other guitars of the time…and seemed to work better for the lead parts with what would one day be called “Blue Grass”. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4015 "2015-02-08T01:24:20Z")
**Sarah Jarosz’s unusual axes** I just watched A Prairie Home Companion (yes, watched! Video was streamed on [prairiehome.org](http://prairiehome.org) ). Chris Thile and the Punch Brothers were the house band tonight, with Rich Dworsky on piano as a 6th Brother. Anyway, Sarah Jarosz was a musical guest, and she played two really unusual instruments. The first looked like a flat-top f-hole guitar, but it had 8 strings, paired like a mandolin. I suppose that makes it a mandola or a mandocello. The other one was a banjo, with 5 strings on the peghead, and a 6th short string, where you usually see the short 5th string. The only 6-string banjos I had seen were simply a guitar neck on the banjo body. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4016 "2015-02-08T05:23:19Z")
I first learned banjo in C tuning. Later I switched to G tuning. The only difference is you drop the 4th string a whole step down to a D for G tuning. The chords are a little different. I guess with a 6 string banjo, you can be in both tunings at the same time. I wouldn’t pay extra for that capability, though. There’s a style of banjo playing called “Melodic”. Maybe an extra string might make that easier? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4017 "2015-02-08T11:26:36Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > **Sarah Jarosz’s unusual axes** > > I just watched A Prairie Home Companion (yes, watched! Video was streamed on [prairiehome.org](http://prairiehome.org) ). Chris Thile and the Punch Brothers were the house band tonight, with Rich Dworsky on piano as a 6th Brother. > > Anyway, Sarah Jarosz was a musical guest, and she played two really unusual instruments. The first looked like a flat-top f-hole guitar, but it had 8 strings, paired like a mandolin. I suppose that makes it a mandola or a mandocello. > > The other one was a banjo, with 5 strings on the peghead, and a 6th short string, where you usually see the short 5th string. The only 6-string banjos I had seen were simply a guitar neck on the banjo body. I Googled her name + instruments and found this: [http://www.americansongwriter.com/2012/04/sarah-jaroszs-string-garden/3/](http://www.americansongwriter.com/2012/04/sarah-jaroszs-string-garden/3/) Octave Mandolin and a custom six-string banjo. Cool. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4018 "2015-02-08T13:41:17Z")
> **[The Holy Grail of electric guitars? Auction of a Les Paul ax has split...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/the-holy-grail-of-electric-guitars-auction-of-a-les-paul-ax-has-split-six-string-circles/2015/02/05/e1355802-a553-11e4-a2b2-776095f393b2_story.html)** > > The auction of an ax once owned by Les Paul has sown discord in the circle of six-string experts. Fascinating, squabbling story about a guitar that Les Paul used and tinkered with - he tinkered with everything - and gave to his long-time Guitar Tech/Body Man who never got paid much and needs some scratch. But it is being marketed as a Holy Grail, so the clutch-my-pearls vintage guys are pointing out that it’s a Custom, not a Les Paul Standard which is what became the blues-rock Holy Grail. Sigh - it will fetch what it will fetch. Heck, Colts owner and guitar-collecting douchebag Jim Irsay is interested… ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4019 "2015-02-13T16:06:47Z")
Article with Ben Haggard. Currently the lead guitarist in Haggard’s band The Strangers. Interesting insight into Merle’s style of guitar playing. I think its one of the reasons his songs are so successful. I’m gradually learning lead and will keep this in mind. I’m a little envious of Ben. Imagine getting advanced guitar lessons from Merle Haggard. That’s quite a music education. > **[Ben Haggard's guitar augments father Merle's legendary sound](https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/peter-cooper/2014/08/21/ben-haggards-guitar-augments-father-merles-legendary-sound/14360109/)** > > Two Haggard shows at the Ryman will amplify a family's musical conversation. > [@](#): > > Instead, he praised his still-developing skills but shot looks at him when Ben delivered a hot lick that impressed with flash rather than with melody. > > “He says you should learn a song’s melody all the way through,” Ben says. “He says, ‘Anything you can learn about a song, learn it.’ He hates hearing somebody playing a thousand notes: He’d rather somebody play the melody, so the people can understand it.” > > Ben not only had to play melodies, he also had to replicate the highly advanced, signature guitar licks that greats Grady Martin, Roy Nichols and Reggie Young had played on classic Merle Haggard recordings. > > “Dad would talk about the songs, tell me who the players were and show me the right way to play what they played,” Ben says. “It pushed me to learn whatever they were doing. This was before I was in the band, when it was just me in the garage.” ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4020 "2015-02-13T16:17:13Z")
I see that Roy Nichols was Merle’s lead guitarist for twenty years. He retired in 1987 and died 2001. > **[Roy Nichols](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Nichols)** > > Roy Ernest Nichols (October 21, 1932 – July 3, 2001) was an American country music guitarist best known as the lead guitarist for Merle Haggard's band The Strangers for more than two decades. He was known for his guitar technique, a mix of fingerpicking and pedal steel-like bends, usually played on a Fender Telecaster electric guitar. Nichols is considered one of the founders of the country music subgenre the “Bakersfield Sound”, which includes such notable country artists as Haggard, Buck Owens,... Big shoes for Ben to fill. ---
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4021 "2015-02-13T22:51:15Z")
For anyone interested in what Eddie Van Halen might have to say about What It Means To Be An American, here’s a lengthy video interview with Eddie, conducted for the Smithsonian Institution: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXoHyiJUItQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXoHyiJUItQ) In the interest of fighting ignorance, maybe it should be noted that some of Eddie’s recollections after all these years are not actually supported by history (but hey, he only got sober a few years ago, so let’s cut the guy some slack). ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2015, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4022 "2015-02-14T00:18:05Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > [http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/the-holy-grail-of-electric-guitars-auction-of-a-les-paul-ax-has-split-six-string-circles/2015/02/05/e1355802-a553-11e4-a2b2-776095f393b2\_story.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/the-holy-grail-of-electric-guitars-auction-of-a-les-paul-ax-has-split-six-string-circles/2015/02/05/e1355802-a553-11e4-a2b2-776095f393b2_story.html) > > Fascinating, squabbling story about a guitar that Les Paul used and tinkered with - he tinkered with everything - and gave to his long-time Guitar Tech/Body Man who never got paid much and needs some scratch. But it is being marketed as a Holy Grail, so the clutch-my-pearls vintage guys are pointing out that it’s a Custom, not a Les Paul Standard which is what became the blues-rock Holy Grail. > > Sigh - it will fetch what it will fetch. Heck, Colts owner and guitar-collecting douchebag Jim Irsay is interested… Contrary to the popular mythology, Les Paul didn’t have all that much input on the Gibson Les Paul model guitar. The first time he saw one was when they had him check out the prototypes when they were selling him on the name/licensing deal. Itinerant tinkerer that he was, he had 6 suggestions for it. 1. Slant the bridge/tailpiece so the treble strings were shorter than the bass strings to improve the intonation. B. Tilt the headstock back 13° or so to keep the 1st and 2nd strings from popping out of the slots cut in the nut. iii. A flat top instead of the carved top. 4th. Metallic gold paint, because that would look more elegant than those Fender guitars that people were willing to be put on waiting lists for rather than buy an instock hollow body Gibson that was just hanging on a hook at a dealers waiting to be sold. 2. Low-impedance electronics. Maybe those shielded cables were less likely to collect hum than the standard Hi-Z ones were? [del]||||[/del] |. Not just black paint, but “Tuxedo Black” paint, because tuxedos were elegant. And with just a narrow spotlight oh him wearing a black tux and playing a black guitar, his dancing fingers would just stand out and amaze his audiences. Gibson nixed beefs iii and 0101. Les said, well, you keep me supplied with these new fangled guitars AND pay me to play them and I’ll let you put my name on them. Les cancelled the deal in 61 when the later renamed “SG” LP guitar came out. He didn’t like the double cutaway and mostly because he was divorcing Mary Ford then and he’d be damned if he’d let her get some of his money just because of his name. They fired up the deal again in 67 or 8 and the Les Pauls were released again. Sometime, around 71 or so, Les managed to convince Gibson to release the LP Recording model, which had Lo-Z electronics and a flatter carved top. It didn’t sell all that well, as I recall. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4023 "2015-03-02T14:54:53Z")
How stupid is Bubbadog? Well, did you know that Telecaster pickups won’t fit on a Strat pickguard? I do now. :mad: Back story - I have an old Squier HSS Strat that feels great, plays smooth but has some obviously low budget Pickups. HSS, the mullet of the guitar world with humbucker leads and smooth Strat rhythms. I decided to beef it up and started by swapping in a Seymour Duncan HB into the bridge. Loved it so much that I wanted to see what I could do to the Middle and Neck so I thought I’d see if I could get a Tele sound into it. I hand picked a couple of Tele PU’s and snatched them off Amazon. Weird thing is the pole positions are the same. The only reason it doesn’t fit is the telecaster PU mounting holes are spaced closer together than the Stratocasters. About an hour of attempting to engineer a solution I just said “chuck it” (OK yeah, maybe not quite that) and ordered a couple of SD Strat PU’s. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll find an old used or forgotten tele and hot rod it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172.md?page=200) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172.md?page=202)