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Post by grayn on Nov 7, 2023 18:10:23 GMT
I went out today, to try out some Guild semi and hollowbody electrics. An M-75 Aristocrat, a Starfire III and an X-175 Manhattan Special. It was a bit of a sense of deja vu, in that I have previously owned, some years ago, a Starfire III and an X175B. The M75 has the look of a glitzy Les Paul, with no sound holes but a hollow body. The pickups look and sound quite P90ish. I liked this guitar, it had some thick single coil tones and played very nicely. I wasn't totaIly sold on it's looks but would be very happy to own one. The Starfire III is an excellent, thin bodied semi, with some very snappy humbuckers. Guild's take on mini-humbuckers sonically, though I prefer these to most mini HBs I have heard. It was very well set up and played very comfortably. It's Bigsby's arm did seem a little low, which left little room for waggling. But it still functioned quite smoothly. The X-175 Manhattan Special came in a satin Golden Coast finish, which looks surprisingly cool. The pickups are DeArmond Dynasonics, which have a great, clear but gutsy tone. The tune-o-matic bridge seems to have roller style saddles, which seems ideal for Bigsby use and this trem works very smoothly and does dips and flutters in a lovely vintage style. The overall quality of build and hardware is really good and the ebony fretboard is smooth and solid. From the pics, you see it was the X-175 that came home with me. The only things I'll change are some heavier strings and put on a Vibramate string Spoiler. Overall a really lovely, hollow bodied guitar.
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Post by grayn on Nov 5, 2023 8:39:03 GMT
Used the D500 at today's jam session and it handled itself really well. Very loud. I mean... very loud. I was thinking it might be overly bright for the rhythm parts, but I was able to play soft through to loud, short and dry, or long and sustained, and all sounded good. Very pleased. We even do a bit of non-GJ stuff - some thumb-picking - and the D500 handled that very well, too. Great stuff. The D500 is definitely a versatile beast.
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Post by grayn on Nov 3, 2023 7:34:31 GMT
I think it has a wistful quality, which seems appropriate. Using old recordings of John, that wouldn't have made it onto a Beatles album and giving it some 21st C treatment, is bound to be quite limited. I guess massive Beatles fans will love something new. IMO, The Beatles were the greatest pop group ever by some margin but I don't think these add to the legacy but do serve as curios for the fans.
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Post by grayn on Oct 29, 2023 6:32:00 GMT
Nicely played again, delb0y. Great tune that. TBH, I think your style of playing suits the D500. I mean that you don't adopt the hard picking technique and the D500's fuller tone suits the finesse you put into your playing. Both do sound very nice though.
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Post by grayn on Oct 24, 2023 6:29:30 GMT
If you can find one, a Yamaha CSF100K is a lovely, all Koa guitar.
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Post by grayn on Oct 16, 2023 19:28:04 GMT
I changed the D'Addario Chromes for Thomastik Bebop round wounds, about a week ago. I find flat wounds too plinky for chords. I had heard very good things about the Thomastiks but at first, was a little underwhelmed with them. Now I have been playing them for a while, they have grown on me. Very even sounding and quite vibrant. Definitely a good change. On my amp, I have switched from the clean to the dirty channel but with the gain very low. I find the tone has warmed and thickened up, to give me that clear but characterful jazz tone. what about some recording for us? Mmmmmm...., I'll work on that.
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Post by grayn on Oct 15, 2023 6:12:11 GMT
I changed the D'Addario Chromes for Thomastik Bebop round wounds, about a week ago. I find flat wounds too plinky for chords. I had heard very good things about the Thomastiks but at first, was a little underwhelmed with them. Now I have been playing them for a while, they have grown on me. Very even sounding and quite vibrant. Definitely a good change. On my amp, I have switched from the clean to the dirty channel but with the gain very low. I find the tone has warmed and thickened up, to give me that clear but characterful jazz tone.
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Post by grayn on Oct 12, 2023 6:52:54 GMT
Nice playing delb0y. The sympathetic string ring doesn't really bother me, as I play really hard on single notes and do a lot of muting on chords. But I see how it could get on your nerves and your remedy seems a good one. I always thought the ringing would be between bridge and tailpiece. I wonder if the longer scale and tighter tone on the oval hole contributes to no ringing?
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Post by grayn on Oct 7, 2023 6:49:06 GMT
Wonderful guitar! Congrats! What amp are you going to use with it? At the moment, it is going through an Orange CrushPro CR120C. Which, on the clean channel, with some spring reverb, sounds really nice. Trouble is, it is a very heavy 2X12 combo, so I intend getting a smaller amp, with the DV Mark Jazz 12 Combo being at the top of my list.
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Post by grayn on Oct 6, 2023 16:58:43 GMT
Well, after many years of looking into and nearly getting a hollowbodied jazz guitar, I finally succeeded and brought one home with me today. I went over to Frets Guitar Centre, in Cleveleys, to try out 3 jazzers in my price bracket. I mostly went to try out an Eastman AR580CE but they also had some cheaper models I wanted to compare with. These being an Epiphone Broadway and a Hofner HCT-J17. The Broadway is quite a handsome guitar, with some decent build quality. The Hofner does look quite cheap, close up. And it is the lowest priced of the three. But I really liked the pickup on it, which had a full, clear tone. All 3 guitars were pre-owned and I could have bought both the Epi and the Hof, for the price of the Eastman. But as soon as you pick up the Eastman, you can see and feel why. The AR580CE oozes quality, with it's spec and build/finish qualiIty. It has ebony fingerboard, bridge, pickguard, tuner buttons and tailpeice; quilted maple binding to body, neck, head, f-holes and pickguard. Other features include a solid spruce, hand carved top, Gotoh tuners, pearl split-block markers on the fretboard, a Seymour Duncan Jazz pickup, a Switchcraft jack socket and a brass underside to the ebony tailpeice. Yes, this Eastman is a real looker, with it's honeyburst body and beautiful overall finishing. More importantly, it plays very smoothly and comfortably and the Seymour Duncan pushes out a very full, sweet tone. The 16" wide 2 9/16" deep body isn't the biggest but I see/hear that as an advantage. Acoustically it has a well balanced, very well defined tone. Not swamped by the bass, a much larger body might produce. This amps up well and again, has lots of vibrant, well balanced tonality. The guitar came with some brand new D'addario Chromes flatwounds on. I like these, they feel good and are surprisingly vibrant. Though I may, in the future, try out some Thomastik BeBop round wounds. So, I am improving on my chordal range and structure and enjoying that mellow, single lines mood. Just need to up my game, to make the most of this Jazz box.
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Post by grayn on Sept 26, 2023 12:57:40 GMT
Here's a nice video of Minor Swing, played really nicely and without some of the hyper gymnastics, many modern players tend to use. It's played on the Altamira M01, a lowish priced GJ guitar.
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Post by grayn on Sept 25, 2023 8:58:33 GMT
Nice starter lesson delb0y. Could be done on any guitar but it's fun to have the excuse to get something different Altamira M20.
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Post by grayn on Sept 23, 2023 9:35:53 GMT
I must admit, I do fancy an oval holed model as well. I'll be keeping an eye out for preowned stuff and am going to the Pudsey guitar show soon, so who knows? I bought a small pack of Dunlop Flow 1.14 picks and they have become my go-to pick for G.J. Love 'em.
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Post by grayn on Sept 22, 2023 19:59:20 GMT
Yeah, pretty good,delb0y. Some nice runs there. How would you compare your oval and d hole guitars, sonically and feel wise? This Eastman has some charm.
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Post by grayn on Sept 22, 2023 12:49:55 GMT
Referring to previous posts, here is little Jimmy Rosenberg (aged 11) playing on a Washburn electro.
Some player.
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