Guitars with a side of guitar.

[Medicine Man]

Just ordered myself a new guitar, an Epiphone Casino of Beatles and Oasis fame. Looks pretty decent, I the neck inlays, I'm finding the dots look boring as fuck. Tried one and sheraton ii at Dawsons in MancLand and I preferred this, seemed pretty loud acoustically in the shop so it should be good enough for practise that way. Should complement my Explorer pretty well for different styles.



For those interested I'm still cracking on with my guitar practising, still shit though. Turned out all my issues late last year playing power chords was purely down to the dogshit first guitar I had, easy as pie on my explorer. Even quite happy with E-shaped barre chords thanks to playing Creep.

You just need to whip the pick guard off it and sand that sucker down to its bare ass and Bam! Instant Lennon Casino.

[Me]

Nah, I have a strong dislike of natural finishes, Lennon can go fuck himself ¬_¬ Got it this morning, looks great, just going to take it for a setup tomorrow as the action is terrible. Ordered it online but it was the display model, so saved £20 on it. Took my Explorer for a setup last week too, the guitar guy was pretty much drooling over it, he loved the neck.

[Me]

Just got the epiphone back from the guitar tech for the setup and apparently its a piece of shit, found about 9 uneven frets all the way across the neck, would need a full fret job to cure it so he gave it me back for free. Luckily Andertons seem pretty decent about a return, taking it back right off the bat for a full refund and they sent me a shipping label for I won't need to fuck around with postage either. Unluckily they don't have any more so may need to get one somewhere else, not sure if I trust epiphone anymore though, the guitar guy said it happens quite alot with them. Anyone know of any other decent full hollow guitar like it?

[Me]

Replaced the Casino with a Gretsch G5422TDC, which is hopefully a bit of an upgrade ¬_¬



Hopefully this will come back from a setup fine.

[Burberry Knight]

Oooft, that's gorgeous, Me. How much did that skin you, if you don't mind my asking?

[Me]

£680, with 50% off the Gretch hardcase too. Thoman have it about £40 cheaper but I saved £60 on the case, plus I know Andertons returns policy is piss easy. It's pretty fucking sexy in real life too, has open tuners on the back which look cool. Its odd, it has the same basic shape and look of the casino, buts still looks much better, casino was pretty poor for £450, even the volume rollers didn't sit straight. Much happier with the Gretch.

[Medicine Man]

Well done!

[Mantis]

Gretsch are absolutely sublime guitars. I'd never buy one because it doesn't really gel with the style of music I play most often, but I've always thought they were gorgeous.

[Me]

Thanks lads, I was almost tempted by the White Falcon styled one, the open gold tuners on them look great. The black one is nice too with the white bindings on the F holes but I wanted this a look apart from my Explorer. Sounds pretty decent acoustically too, just loud enough for my thin walls.

[Scrappy]

So, after stalling and stalling I've finally got around to ordering this :



Comes Monday. My first time playing bass. Cannot wait. Bought from Andertons just for the safety. They're really good with customers, and I know I'm getting it in tip top shape. Probably will run to my local shop and get it set up quickly before playing as I've heard the action is super high.

[Scrappy]

Not the best picture in the world :





Played for three straight hours and now my shoulder hates me for it.

[Mantis]

Get a good amp, nothing ruins the feel of playing bass more than running it through a crap amplifier.

With a good one though, you can play one note and feel like you can move mountains.

[Scrappy]

Any recommendations?

[Mantis]

Depends how serious you're considering taking it in the future. If you're going to play with the intention of keeping at it then you might as well go for a decent valve amp right off the bat. But there are also solid states out there that are almost as good at a fraction of the price and you've still got the option of upgrading later.

I'd avoid digital modelling stuff though, they tend to sound awful when it comes to bass. Orange, Marshall or Fender are a safe bet depending on how much you want to spend; I've never been a fan of cheap Fender gear. Just make sure it's got a decent set of tone controls and perhaps a couple of channels.

[Scrappy]

Cheers for the advice. Definitely looking for more than just a bedroom amp. I want to eventually jam and maybe go onto playing gigs. Need to find an amp with a nice inbetween that isn't going to cost an arm and a leg.

Aside from that, a set up, I'll need some basic pedals and new strings. D'Addario mediums will be going on this, but it'll be my first time stringing a bass, hope i don't fuck it up.

Very much loving playing bass, though. My bass isn't as unwieldy as some I've played, and it looks blooming gorgeous. If I end up playing bass for a couple of years I can see myself upgrading, but for a couple of years it will be absolutely perfect.