I’ve been very satisfied with Zzounds. Got my last Strat and some cymbals from them. They also have a split-4 payment plan which I used for the Strat.
Q
Vintage typically translates to lower output pickups. IMHO that is a good thing; nicer clean tones. Means that if you want crunch tones, you get them by overdriving the amp or use a pedal, not by relying on a hotter pickup.
CookingWithGas that stinks but is not surprising.
I have two pedals on lone from my pedal geek friend in town, an OCD overdrive and a Plimsoul distortion both by Fulltone. The OCD is nice and smooth but I much prefer my Blackstone to it because it has more oomph at the top end when I dial the guitar volume to 10. But the Plimsoul is a great dirt box - like a Rat with a bit less harshness in the tone good stuff.
I will put in a plug for Sweetwater. Prices just as good as anyone’s and they have amazing customer service. After I put the order in for the Clyde, I got a phone call within an hour from a guy who is permanently assigned to my account to tell me they were back-ordered but it should ship in about 10 days. Last time I ordered something I got a follow-up call from him to make sure everything was OK. He calls every now and then to see if there’s anything I need, but no hard sell. I found them years ago when I was searching for a particular type of pick I couldn’t find anywhere else. They had them so I bought a gross.
In “random guitar shopping news” I managed to find the guitar that has eluded me for years… About 3 years ago, I saw an Ibanez EWASE-OBK - a black, matte-finished Exotic Wood model. I was not in the market for an acoustic, and had not yet been “bitten” by GAS.
The model has since been discontinued (circa 2008-2009) and is not commonly seen in stores or online.
Here is a link to a photo of the model. Not sure what about this specific guitar “gets to me” but that is the nature of GAS.
On Tuesday, I was at Guitar Center, and saw a brand new one, with a “CLEARANCE” tag, but noticed there was a small crack by the saddle - basically it was a mess and should not have been on the floor.
For some reason, I was curious if there were other “clearance” models out there, and found 4 at different Guitar Centers… called each one yesterday (I know, that’s cruel) and asked the “guitar person” to get the guitar in hand so I could ask a few questions.
Of the 4, one was rated 9/10, had good and consistent action, straight neck, no warps or raised saddle, no dings… shipping is free and I have 30 days to evaluate and return… $299…
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at phungi’s house this year…
Hello! I hope you can help a non-guitarist with his Christmas shopping. My wife really wants a new electric-acoustic guitar; she’s left-handed, and so far has been playing a right-handed guitar where she swapped the strings around. I’ve been looking online, and we’ve found two that she likes: the Ibanez EW20LASENT, and the Fender Sonoran SCENA Upgraded.
The Ibanez is beautiful, but appears not to have any markings for the frets, which would be a bit of an annoyance I suppose. The Fender is a Fender, which has a great reputation here in Brazil (because of import taxes, they’re prohibitively expensive – most everyone uses Chinese stuff. I should mention I’d be buying this in Europe and getting family to carry it here). The Fender is on sale and therefore cheaper. My wife also has small hands; the Fender appears to have a very slightly narrower neck.
I dunno – the only strings I play are mandolin and bass. Does anyone have any experience with either of these guitars? Any opinions? Thanks in advance!
Uh, obviously the link to the Fender should have been to the left-handed version…
I tried out a whole bunch of acoustic guitars and settled on the Ibanez EW20. Here’s a video of me playing it: Dust.
In the end I chose that one because I have small hands, and a lot of acoustic guitars have very chunky necks are quite uncomfortable for me to play. The Ibanez was perfect. Also, the preamp in it sounds pretty good plugged in. I wouldn’t worry about the lack of dot markers, because it’s still got the markers on the binding on the side of the fretboard. So you can still see what you’re playing.
I’m not familiar with the other guitar you mention, so I wouldn’t know how it compares.
Sometimes, I think I’m a woman with more money than common sense.
I bought a banjolele today. A vintage Maxitone banjolele. It looks like crap. It needs a new bridge and new strings. And I’m pretty sure the tail piece isn’t original, as it has slots for 5 strings instead of 4. And it needs a good cleaning.
But the neck looks nice and straight. The frets look good. The vellum looks ok. I don’t think I need to replace the tailpiece, I can just hook in 4 strings and leave one empty. What do banjolele strings look like anyways? Do you have to tie them on? How hard could it be to attach a new bridge and new strings anyways?
Right?
Right???
I am so screwed.
You needn’t worry, even if the fret markings are not on the fingerboard, they are always marked on the top edge of the binding. It’s an easy switch even if you’re used to looking on the fingerboard surface, and as an added bonus, you don’t have to crane your neck as much. ETA: Kim o apparently beat me to it, don’t know how I missed that, sorry.
You mean Chinese-made? There’s a chance that Fender is Asian or Mexican made itself - guessing by the price, I’d assume that model isn’t made in the U.S.
They’re actually both on the narrower side (44mm seems to be the most popular), so I think you’d be okay either way. I’ve found that the radius and neck profile have just as much an impact on playability as raw width. However, I will say that I don’t think I’ve seen a nut as skinny as 41mm on any acoustic.
Mine is just over 41mm. It’s an unusual neck - pretty chunky, with a pronounced V profile, but curiously closely-spaced strings, like an electric. It’s actually very comfortable to play.
However, I don’t think the model is available outside the UK.
As for Fender, I don’t think they have a much of a reputation when it comes to acoustics. I don’t mean they’re bad, just that you shouldn’t think “Fender, must me good”. The Fender acoustics I have played with in stores have been ordinary. And at these sort of prices, they will very likely be Asian-made.
No, I mean everybody here uses brands that are “Made in China” and where I can’t actually find the company homepage. Brands like Eagle, Condor, Tagima, and Strinberg. I’m used to respected brands (of any industry) outsourcing production to Asia or other developing countries, but usually I suppose they have a relatively high level of quality control to maintain their reputation for quality.
Here, for comparison, Yamaha is considered a luxury brand, especially for music electronics (mixers and such); and Behringer is considered high-end without being absurdly expensive. An entry-level Ibanez or Fender guitar here will cost something like US$700 or more. I find it especially surprising since music such a huge thing here; there are probably about as many genres of purely Brazilian music (samba, forró, axé, frevo, funk, chorinho, MPB, bossa nova, etc.) as there are genres of contemporary music in the West (rock, country, hip-hop, jazz, folk, etc.)
But I digress. Thanks for your input, Kim o the Concrete Jungle, ReticulatingSplines, and Ximenean! The Ibanez is looking like a very attractive buy. I’ll get it unless some more people come here and defend or support the Fender (go on! You could save me over $100! 
) in the next few days.
Guys? I seem to have some GAS.
http://entertainment.ha.com/common/search_results.php?N=53+793+794+792+4294954703&No=0
What do you think of those amps? And that Dobro?
I don’t see a dobro on that link, or any amps.
Ok, so I have my new banjolele home. I have cleaned it a bit. It looks like it was originally painted Pepto Pink, as the Maxitone sticker seems to be on the outside of the paint job. Unless whoever did it re-attached the sticker? Is that possible? It also has a Nashville style tailpiece, with 5 holes. Should I just use the same tailpiece? Or get a 4 holed one? And If I do reuse the tailpiece, how to I string it, just leave a hole empty? Does it matter which one?
Now, I know banjo bridges aren’t actually glued to the vellum, the tension of the strings just keeps them in place. What size bridge do you think I’d need? Do they come in standard sizes?
Should I just bring the damn thing in to the music shop and let them set it up for me? I’ve read that setup is everything in a banjo. I assume banjoleles are the same? It seems like a solid little instrument though, it doesn’t seem like it needs a lot done to it. It’s missing a clamp on one side. But I would think that is easily replaced. The neck is nice and straight. The tuners look good too. And the drum portion is nice and tight.
Here are some pics:
Here it compared to a soprano uke.
the Nashville style tailpiece
the head:
the strings that it came with:
I’ve decided to name her…wait for it… Maxine! 
OK, I gotta expose my ignorance: is a banjolele a small banjo, or a small ukelele with a drum-head body? Is it played with finger/thumb picks like a banjo, or strummed like a ukelele? I’ve read the wiki article and I don’t know enough about banjo to be clear about the difference. Thanks!
Well it’s fretted like a ukulele and has nylon strings like a ukulele too. You can either pluck or strum it. I don’t think it’s normally played with finger or thumb picks because of the nylon strings. I had planned on trying to learn some claw hammer technique on it.
Nor I.
I have always heard of them referred to as Banjo Ukes. My mom has one; has had and played a few over the years. They aren’t meant to be played like banjo’s - e.g., claw hammer - they are meant to be played like ukes, i.e., strummed with perhaps some arpeggios. The banjo body was meant to, no surprise, provide a banjo tone to someone’s uke playing. Maxine looks like fun.
As for all of your questions:
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definitely do research - I am sure there are resources online and/or in books
> a quick Google turned up: http://www.banjoukes.com/
>and: http://banjoukuleleforum.blogspot.com/ -
if you have ANY doubts about a decision or change you are making, take it to a luthier/repair person and at the very least review your intentions with them and get their input, if not have them do the work.
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if you want to PM or email me, I can check with my mom the expert to see if it makes sense for you to talk or email each other…
Oh, and as for me, I have a bit of time this week, so I am stopping by a vintage guitar store I haven’t been to yet. They seem to have some good inventory, so I am hoping it is fun…
You have to go deeper in. They’re not on the first page anymore. There’s some interesting looking Harmony Stratotones, though.
I used to have a Banjo Mandolin that belonged to my great-grandmother (I found it nearly impossible to play). Those kind of instruments were most popular in the early part of the 1920s. The following mp3 is an example of the kind of music they were used for, although I’m not entirely sure what was used on this recording: