:: overthinking:: oh, sure; that’s what we retro wine-snob guitarists want you to think. Seriously, Teles can handle so much, and yet so responsive if you know how to dial one in. Haiku guitars.
EtF, have you researched that guitar? Japanese Fenders of various periods are *legendary *to guitar geeks. They are what shook Fender out of its 70’s slumber of quality. Fender needed to offshore its lower priced lines and contracted with Fujigen. The guitars they got back shamed the U.S. Operations, to everyone’s benefit. It may be possible to learn the workers’ names - seriously, folks obsess about that stuff (see Abigail Ybarra, low-paid pickup winder at Fender whose custom winds now command premium prices).
yeah, Geena carbonated my hormones for a while there, too. Anyway, I would say that the baked electrics were a little more rigid, i.e., sounded/played a bit plinkier like I was playing a guitar made of denser material. But I am open to writing that off to confirmation bias. So yeah, a baked maple neck is a very stable material and less likely to warp, truss Rod or no.
The acoustics - I dunno; I take in the whole guitar and can’t isolate the parts. I have played some great guitars that have torrified tops and some not so great. I don’t hear that factor as an isolated standout feature. They don’t really capture the tone of an excellent old guitar. I don’t hear / experience that - that visceral rumble. Apparently the process yields a gluing surface with a lower shearing force; i.e., some glues don’t adhere as well and you can get bridge lifts. I believe the right glues have been sussed out. I think for a while you had wine-snobs wanting real hide glue and a baked top to evoke all that vintage-retro-hipster vibe and the combo wouldn’t stay glued.
Oh, no question. A Tele can sound like anything you want. And I never played a guitar that was so easy to pull squealing pinch harmonics out of. But my Tele didn’t fit my body, so I sold it, and now I’m all about Strats and 90’s Ibanez Talmans, which are just unbelievably comfortable guitars to play.
Yeah, that’s about as much as I know.
But now that I’ve thought about it, it turns out that nearly all the guitars I’ve got, from the '77 Ibanez Lawsuit Les Paul, to the Strats to the Talmans, were built in that same factory. I guess I need get as good at playing them as these guys were at building them.
I dunno, what I’m hearing just doesn’t strike me as a ringing endorsement, so far. Which, when you think about it, is a good thing - it leaves room for another New and Improved Gimmick to be introduced to spur new guitar sales next year.
Has anybody tried treating a guitar with high intensity gamma rays? I be that’ll make for Super Cosmic Radioactive Tone.
I have always loved Talman bodies - a truly well-proportioned curvy shape that was not done by Fender. So many shapes fail. Never got one but considered many times.
I had a second chance to go to a music store and pull a few guitars off the walls. Yep, I’ve just been used to playing a Rick. The Gibson and Fender necks were a lot thinner and playable than they were last week.
Also, I used to play a bunch of jangle pop and punk psychedelic way back, and I’m really looking for a guitar that will give out those chiming open chords and still has a pretty fast action. The guitar that rang the best was …pretty much every SG on the wall. The ES-349 that I *really wanted *to love …well, just sounded dead. The SGs also played a lot better. Oh well, so much for the semiacoustics; it looks like I’m going to buy a plank with a neck…
Is it possible, cornflakes, that the 349 was equipped with a set of flatwound nickel strings? It wouldn’t surprise me if those came standard on a Gibson semi, in order to satisfy the jazz/blues player who’d mostly be interested in pulling that axe off the wall. Those should sound a fair bit darker and less dynamic than steel cored strings would. If you’re really interested in giving the 349 a go, you could try stringing it up with some stainless steel strings and see if the jangle doesn’t appear.
Not that you should let anybody try to talk you out of an SG, of course. They’re great guitars, used by lots of great players, so you win either way.
SGs are great guitars. Even my faded SG was excellent. I had Pearly Gates in the bridge and Alnico Pro II in neck. I sold it to fund my Carvin DC127 and I wished I didn’t let it go.
Don’t matter now, I’m not playing anymore but it was fun.
They were roundwound strings, maybe a little old but still good. I think that having less string behind the bridge (i.e., a longer tailpiece) may have helped; it certainly helped with fretting and string bending on the SG. Also, the body of the 349 just sounded a little dead. I’ve heard from time to time that solid bodies don’t have that much of an influence on timber, but the thin mahogany body on SGs has always seemed nicely resonant to me. New strings might help the 349, but that particular guitar just didn’t do much for me.
SigMan, I hear ya. Way back, I had a Carvin CD150, the Les Paul Jr design. It had a great action and looked great. It also wasn’t a favorite (I had a Ventura 335 knockoff that took that spot.) Thinking about it, different pickups probably would have helped.
MyDC127 went through a lot of pups. It was made with Holdsworth then I replaced them with the Blackouts. Then the D’Activators and finally those red pups, the 80s Carvin M22s (T&V). Those were the keepers. The neck pup sounded like flutes, very mellow.
I bought the SG with the Pearly Gates and the Alnico II Pro and they were the sweetest sounding pups for the SG.
Wordman, do yourself a favour the next time you’re out noodling and try a few of the Rainsongs. I’ve tried a bunch of CF guitars and the Rainsongs are consistently the best ones I’ve played. I would dearly love to get the chance to play a Blackbird Lucky 13 but the closest I’ve come to that is Youtube.
cornflakes, have you ever tried out an Epi Wildkat?
Came across this youtube channel by Phillip McKnight addressing a whole bunch of questions about pedals, amps, and guitars generally. It’s a great resource for anyone who wants to learn a bit more about getting thier rig to sound better, experienced or novice. Enjoy!
Janis Joplin’s 1969 Gibson Hummingbird is up for sale.
100k seems way over priced. It’ll be interesting to see if it sells. 50k seems more realistic to me.
I dream of owning a vintage Hummingbird. But it won’t be In this price range.
Eric Clapton’s 2014 Fender Stratocaster is expected to sell for 20k. That will probably sell.
Janis’ guitar: unless there is some diehard Janis fan with money to burn*, I don’t see it going for close to that. A '69 Hummingbird is a few thousand bucks these days at best, so the Joplin premium in that wish/estimate is $95K+. She is beloved, but not as a guitarist, nor is that guitar associated with her in some significant way, such as watching her play it at a noteworthy concert. Heck, if she strummed it at Monterey Pop, maybe. Otherwise, I don’t see it.
*this is possible. You can never tell.
aceplace - you might consider trying a few newer Hummingbirds. 60’s Gibson acoustics are notoriously hit or miss, and mostly miss. They have adjustable bridges that were a bad design and which suck tone, the necks are thin to the point of yuck unless you are really into slim necks, and the overall tone of them are only okay. You have to play a bunch to find a good one. On the other hand, the Gibson Acoustic factory up in Montana figured things out some time ago, and for the past 15-20+ years have been doing a great job. Your average new H-bird is likely better than your average vintage.
(the same can be said for Gretsch guitars: the cool vintage 50’s ones are notorious for having questionable neck joints and easy-to-hurt finishes vs. the new ones build in Japan (I think) which are better made).
As for Slowhand’s guitar - meh. It may very well go for big $$ but that is just a racket. He, like Eddie Van Halen and a few others, have gotten so many guitars that they have played, signed but not played, strummed once but not signed, etc. that it is a joke, like some Saint’s relic that is being cranked out in a workshop behind the church. Clapton’s significant guitars are known, with one or two missing but which would command huge $ if located (e.g., the Les Paul sunburst from the Beano album, which has been missing since '66 but which is rumored to be with rich collector Dirk Ziff, and which Joe Bonnamassa has said he knows the location of…)
Man, I would love to own a Gibson, but can’t quite justify it. I’m sure my wife would say “If you want it, buy it” but I don’t feel that my playing at this point justifies it.
Anyway, back to Janis: I don’t ever remember her playing a guitar on stage. It doesn’t mean that she couldn’t play one, of course, but her shtick was her emoting while singing. A guitar gets in the way of the hair slinging, foot stomping, contortionist act that was Janis.
I’ve heard modern guitars are made better. Superior glues, precision machine cut parts and better finishes.
I’ve thought about going to the Gibson factory outlet in Memphis. I could play several Hummingbirds and find one I like. It’s only a couple hour drive for me.
The collector’s market can get crazy. I agree it seems likely Janis’ guitar won’t draw much interest. Unless an obsessed fan runs up the bidding.
Chefguy - there is nothing magical about a Gibson. They make good tools. They have extended the Slope-Shouldered Dreadnaught line - from the J-45, they have reintroduced the J-35, J-29 and J-15, made with different woods and at lower price points. I think the 29 and 15 use American Walnut, which is a much more renewable tonewood vs. mahogany or rosewood.
I have played a bunch and they are well-made guitars that deliver Gibson goodness and can be bought for maybe $1,300 in GC? And used J-35’s crop up on the Acoustic Guitar Forum’s classified regularly for affordable prices.
ETA: aceplace, yes that sounds smart. An excellent guitar that is also older can be a truly special guitar, but you have to invest time to understand how to pick them out, let alone how to value them. And celebrity-owned guitars are simply collectibles - might as well be a Mother’s Day plate or a Beanie Baby. Playing a few Hummingbirds at the Gibson outlet is a great way to get a feel for how they play and sound.
