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Post by grayn on Aug 11, 2014 18:35:10 GMT
I'd prefer the ordinary version with a CD of the recordings, as I have no record player, these days.
I love Nick's music but feel it is a little over priced. Suppose I could put it on my xmas list.
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Post by grayn on Aug 11, 2014 18:25:55 GMT
I've owned a number of Faiths, including the Venus and I concur, they are brilliant. Congrats
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Post by grayn on Aug 3, 2014 16:14:15 GMT
Nice choice! Looks the part,and all that I see about it suggests it'll play the part too. The maple and the overall look are very similar to my Hagstrom, but I'd think with the solid taipiece you'll get more sustain than I do from a trapeze. The Kent Armstrong pickups are reckoned to be good, so hopefully you won't need an upgrade like I did ... pickup swaps not a straightforward DIY job with it being a semi acoustic. I believe it's quite a hollow body on the Eastman without the central block running from from the end block to the neck heel which a lot of this style of guitars have (like the Hagstrom) which should give you a much better un-amplified sound, and more of a hollow body voice. Yes - definitely a nice choice. Hope you have many years of great music making together. Mark thanks Mark. I wanted to check out the newer Viking P, with P90s but the nearest place was York and I haven't got time to get over there at the moment. I think I made the right choice with this baby though. Who knows what might come my way in the future though.
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Post by grayn on Aug 3, 2014 16:10:27 GMT
Love the 335 Grayn also a big fan of surf and hot rod music and have lots of sAmerican surf bands from the 60's and 70's Thanks for the vid 007, try this: soundcloud.com/graham-pike
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Post by grayn on Aug 3, 2014 11:52:50 GMT
Thanks guys. I know what you mean about the headstock, Keith. I don't think Eastman have set out to create an exact 335 copy, just used it as a massive influence. By going with their own headstock design, they've made a point, I think. If I was being picky, I'd like white/black rings, around the top of the vol/tone knobs, to match the lovely scratchplate. Also, although I prefer the 3-way switch where it, as opposed to being on one of the horns, I think it's a tad too close to the volume knob. Roll over Beethoven
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Post by grayn on Aug 3, 2014 9:15:07 GMT
I've been playing a lot of surf, over the last few years but more recently I've been getting into vintage Rock'n'Roll. I'd checked out a nice Gretsch or 2 but in my mind, they are more Rockabilly. Great music but I'm more into Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eddie Cochran etc. More rock and less billy. Anyways, after checking out a couple of nice Guild semis and a very nice Godin, I decided to go for a 335 style guitar. Round my way, for new guitars, that pretty much means Epis £300 to £500 or Gibbos at £1500 plus. Lucky for me, I found these Eastmans then. I'd owned an Eastman acoustic before and was really impressed how it punched miles above it's price tag. And I have to say, their semis do just the same. For only a few hundred more than an Epi, I've landed a really good guitar. Not that Epis aren't good, they are, but IMO, this Eastman takes things up a level or two. The quality of build and finish is just superb. I've really scrutinised the finishing and can only find one tiny flaw, which is a weeny bit of mottling on one side of the bridge pickup. The off-white binding is excellent, with black and white purfling to the front and a single black line, to the side, that makes the binding look even classier and stand out. The translucent red overall finish shows the wood grain and again, makes this guitar even more beautiful. It came set up with very low action and the neck is a pleasure to play. I may put some very slightly heavier strings on, next time. I like the pale green tuner buttons but the vintage tuners look a little cheap to me, though they do work well and the guitar stays in tune very consistantly. With the body and neck bound so beautifully, I think it's a shame the head wasn't also bound. But hey ho, it still looks good. Played through my Peavey Classic 30, with a little, valve overdrive, it just hits the spot, very nicely. After a couple of seesions at home, This guitar is feeling very comfortable and sounding even better. It was a great purchase.
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Post by grayn on Aug 3, 2014 9:09:06 GMT
Go for the tele Martin, it won't corrupt you, hopefully BTW that Hagstrom sounds and looks gorgeous. Anyways I've been really enjoying my mid-life crisis. And hope to continue growing old disgracefully.
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Post by grayn on Jul 10, 2014 17:17:48 GMT
What a looker - I'm not surprised you fell for it Graham - I love the look too. I've no knowledge of the control layout, though it looks interesting - what do all those knobs, wheels and toggle switches do? Keith It's one of the things I never really understood of guitars of such a nature (Mustang, Jag, JM). I have an electric guitar which has some switches and when I had the pickups replaced I had them unwired. Beautiful JM Graham. One of my all time favourite guitars for aesthetics. Probably the first guitarists of exception I spent a lot of time listening to and learning their music were Tom Verlaine and Richard LLoyd from Television who played JM's. I'm considering going for a new electric myself as my lovely old Hagstrom's not in the best of shape. It's a confusing world that I'm a little perplexed where to begin! Thanks wiggy. I've heard a lot of good things about Fender's Squier Vintage Modified guitars. Also the Modern Player series are very good. Hagstrom still make some very nice guitars, though they're harder to find. Their Viking semis are very nice. They also do an Ultra Swede, with 3 P90 pickups and a tremolo. Must try one, some day.
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Post by grayn on Jul 10, 2014 17:13:20 GMT
What a looker - I'm not surprised you fell for it Graham - I love the look too. I've no knowledge of the control layout, though it looks interesting - what do all those knobs, wheels and toggle switches do? Keith Thanks Keith. The switch on the top horn, is a 2-way and switches between lead and rhythm circuits. The 2 black sliding/circular controls near it, are tone and volume, for the lead circuit. The switch on the lower horn, is a 3-way pickup selector. The 2 rotary knobs, near the jack socket, are overall tone and volume controls. I always have all the tones and volumes on full, with the lead circuit switched in. I only adjust the pickup selector switch and that's almost always on both pickups, at once. Though I do quite like the neck pickup, occasionally. My ideal control set up would be. Just one overall volume control, with a 4-way pickup selector, so i could have both pickups on together, either in or out of phase, as well as neck or bridge, on their own. Hope all that makes sense. Graham.
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Post by grayn on Jul 9, 2014 17:53:33 GMT
The thing that caught my attention, with this particular Jazzmaster, was it's looks. The "oxblood" coloured body and head, with a tort scratchplate and creamy white pickups and "witch hat" knobs, just looked amazing. And boy was I pleased that it played and sounded just as good as it looked. I've had this guitar for a few weeks now and have played it every day, through my current amp of choice, a Peavey Classic 30. I understand that the guitar is made from all American parts but assembled in Mexico, to keep the price down. And they even included a very nice Fender hard case. I've owned a couple of Jazzmasters before, a Classic Player and a Blacktop. Both were decent guitars but this model stands head and shoulders above them. One aspect I was particularly pleased with, is the tremolo. It's as smooth as can be. Many Jazzmaster and Jaguar trems, I have tried, have always seemed rattley, especially when used vigorously. The Fender Troy Van Leeuwen Jazzmaster has a Mustang, brass-saddled bridge. The neck is C-profiled, with a 7.25”radius, bound rosewood, fingerboard and block markers. The pickups are American Vintage ’65 Jazzmaster single-coils. As with most JMs, you get a lead/rhythm switching, for variety. To be honest, I have it on lead all the time. I've always been a player, on basses or guitars, to have tones and volumes at full, unless they are active. I just tend to use the pickup selector and playing technique for tonal variety. I pretty much exclusively use this guitar for instrumental surf music. I use plenty of the Classic 30's, delightful, spring reverb (which is even better than the one I had on my Fender Princeton Re-issue) and a single repeat, slap-back echo, most of the time. I also occasionally add tremolo, rotary speaker effect and/or longer, multi-repeat echo. And within it all, the Fender Troy Van Leeuwen Jazzmaster just sounds wonderful. And for me, is the ultimate surf guitar. It doesn't quite have the full-bodied clarity, I got previously, from my Burns Marvin 64 but somehow, it just sounds more authentic, with a lush, sparkling tone. So yes, this guitar was a very good buy, for me.
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Post by grayn on Mar 9, 2014 5:35:20 GMT
A real Aladdins cave of wood and strings. Love those guitar shaped mandola thingies. Lovely pics. Congrats Leo.
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Post by grayn on Mar 9, 2014 5:30:39 GMT
It all sounds like fine music with fine people. You must be having a great time. Gretsch White falcon eh. Got to be the poseurs choice Thanks for the update and I hope all goes really well for the band.
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Post by grayn on Feb 26, 2014 13:12:45 GMT
I've owned a Mercury, a Venus and a Neptune, by Faith.
Top guitars IMO. i don't think you'll regret getting one.
Good luck.
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Post by grayn on Feb 22, 2014 9:36:55 GMT
I don't think this sort of music is cool or clever but I do think it's the direction some talented guitarists have gone, to express themselves. There is much in the performances to get your teeth into and anjoy. But as complete peices, they don't work for me. My preference is for a balancing of "conventional" and "other". It gives the brain a reference to spread out from. Whether you're going for something almost cinematic or raw emotion, I think it's worth considering that you are trying to communicate and the listener/audience should be considered, to some extent.
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Post by grayn on Feb 20, 2014 9:07:06 GMT
Thanks Keith. Most active basses have Volume, Pickup Pan and bass/mid/treble eq (5 controls/knobs in all) these days. It's amazing how much the wood effects the tone, on an electric intrument like this.
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