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Post by grayn on Sept 27, 2014 21:14:23 GMT
I went out today, with the idea of trying out some telecaster style guitars and hoping one might come home with me. There were 4 main contenders, at the shop. A US, G&L Asat Special, in all black, with a maple fretboard/neck. This is a classy guitar, with all quality hardware. It played nicely and was a contender but I thought it's pickups were very close in sound/tone, to the P90s, on my Patrick Eggle, so didn't go for it. A G&L Asat Tribute, in a lovely, deep, translucent blue. These guitars are ridiculously cheap for their quality. Really well made, with most of the hardware, you get on the US models. A real player this, with great pickups, that have a smoothness and quality. By far the heaviest guitar, I played today, though. Another contender, this one. A Japanese, FSR, rosewood, Fender Telecaster. Again, a fine, very reasonably priced guitar, with a nice look to it. But it was probably my least favourite guitar, on the day. Nothing wrong with it, it just didn't speak to me. A US Fender Telecaster Deluxe. Now this guitar really does Fender proud. The highest quality guitar, on the day. Great build quality and very nice pickups. Even the control knobs seemed better than most. Yes, I liked this guitar but not enough to fork out it's price. I'm not saying that it isn't worth it's price. Just not to me. All morning, whilst trying the teles, I'd been oggling a couple of Italia guitars. A Maranello '61 and a Modena Semitone. I'd previously owned a Maranello '63, which was an excellent guitar and I have been a bit of a fan, of these rather different guitars, for quite some time. It was the Modena that really appealed. It even had tele style, control and bridge plates. With it's chambered, semi-hollow body, the Modena Semitone features a maple top finished in a high gloss red (looks more like dark orange), metallic, burst sparkle finish; a chambered, offset, alder body and a bolt-on, hard-rock maple neck, with a select, 22 fret, rosewood fingerboard. It is powered by an Italia Premier IPV bridge Humbucker and an IP9n P-90,neck pickup. It also has a 6 saddle adjustable bridge and Italia locking tuners. The body, neck and headstock are finished in a pearloid wrap and a high gloss finish. With it's superb build quality, highly comfy neck and very cool pickups, this guitar soon won my affections. The P90 has a classic sound, very clear, with a warm, slightly dirty edge. The bridge HB has a gorgeous, retro tone. Kind of 60s but a bit angrier. Pokey, rather than fat and smooth. And together, they just complete the picture, of a guitar with a quirky attitude both in it's looks and sound. Surprisingly versatile and very inspiring. I've been reliably informed that these Italias are made in the same factory (in Korea) as Duesenbergs. And it's also apparent that the pickups on this Modena are identical looking, to those found on many Duesenbergs. Just an observation. Anyways, this guitar is a whole load of fun to play and is probably the best Italia I've played, to date. I know their looks/design are probably a love or hate thing. I'm definitely in the former's camp.      |
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Post by earwighoney on Sept 28, 2014 8:40:12 GMT
Nice purchase. FWIW, I'm 99% sure the pickups are made by the people who make GFS pickups, that are reputed to be made by staff in the Artec Korean factory who make pickups for several brands. I've owned pickups by Fender, Gibson, Seymour Duncan, Dimarzio, Kent Armstrong, etc but the best pickup I ever owned was a GFS neck tele pickup. I parted with the pickup when I sold a terrible Tele, miss the pickup but not the guitar.
I picked up a new Tele myself recently, a Squier Joe Trohman which is a strange hybrid of a Tele Deluxe and Superstrat. It's pickups were poor and it's at the repairman to gut the electric for CTS pots and new pickups. I picked up a small valve amp recently, and with my new Tele they've done a pretty a good job in reacquiring love for playing the electric guitar. One thing I've found for me at least, the lure of GAS in the electric side of things seems to be more intense; there's the threefold contribution of guitar/amp/effect...
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Post by vikingblues on Sept 28, 2014 12:44:21 GMT
Interesting the way that works with guitars - go out looking at Fender and G&L and come home with an Italia. Bottom line is it's all about what "clicks". That P90 / 'bucker combo can work very nicely - some of the best electric sounds I've ever heard have been from that. I recall being tempted by Italia - but that was shortly before I switched to acosutic and never got around to trying one. But if a stock Italia is good enough for Chris Rea they must have something good going for them. Congrats on the purchase.  Mark |
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Post by grayn on Sept 28, 2014 15:43:12 GMT
Nice purchase. FWIW, I'm 99% sure the pickups are made by the people who make GFS pickups, that are reputed to be made by staff in the Artec Korean factory who make pickups for several brands. I've owned pickups by Fender, Gibson, Seymour Duncan, Dimarzio, Kent Armstrong, etc but the best pickup I ever owned was a GFS neck tele pickup. I parted with the pickup when I sold a terrible Tele, miss the pickup but not the guitar. I picked up a new Tele myself recently, a Squier Joe Trohman which is a strange hybrid of a Tele Deluxe and Superstrat. It's pickups were poor and it's at the repairman to gut the electric for CTS pots and new pickups. I picked up a small valve amp recently, and with my new Tele they've done a pretty a good job in reacquiring love for playing the electric guitar. One thing I've found for me at least, the lure of GAS in the electric side of things seems to be more intense; there's the threefold contribution of guitar/amp/effect... Interesting about the pickups, Wiggy. Thanks. Do let us know how your new tele turns out, after modifications. I know what you mean anout the GASing, for the unholy trinity (guitar-amp-effects). Having recently moved away from the spring-reverb soaked, surf tone, I've been using for the last year or 2, I've been working on a slightly, valve-overdriven tone, with a far more restrained reverb. I love the sound of a tremolo pedal. Fast and subtle, is my favourite setting. I also rate my BBE Soul Vibe, which is a univibe/rotary effect. Psychadelia rools. I try not to over complicate things but also, occasionalloy use some echo. |
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Post by grayn on Sept 28, 2014 15:50:50 GMT
Interesting the way that works with guitars - go out looking at Fender and G&L and come home with an Italia. Bottom line is it's all about what "clicks". That P90 / 'bucker combo can work very nicely - some of the best electric sounds I've ever heard have been from that. I recall being tempted by Italia - but that was shortly before I switched to acosutic and never got around to trying one. But if a stock Italia is good enough for Chris Rea they must have something good going for them. Congrats on the purchase. Mark You're spot on, Mark. I'd really gone to get the G&L Asat Special, with the Tele Deluxe as a possibility, if it had been worth the cash (to me). I've always loved the Italia designs and couldn't believe it when the Modena Semitone was so much fun to play. As you say, it clicked. And at a very reduced price, too. Now it's home, I'm loving the HB/P90 combo. It's so useable, with the material I'm working on, at the moment.  |
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Post by earwighoney on Sept 28, 2014 22:38:23 GMT
Interesting about the pickups, Wiggy. Thanks. Do let us know how your new tele turns out, after modifications. I know what you mean anout the GASing, for the unholy trinity (guitar-amp-effects). Having recently moved away from the spring-reverb soaked, surf tone, I've been using for the last year or 2, I've been working on a slightly, valve-overdriven tone, with a far more restrained reverb. I love the sound of a tremolo pedal. Fast and subtle, is my favourite setting. I also rate my BBE Soul Vibe, which is a univibe/rotary effect. Psychadelia rools. I try not to over complicate things but also, occasionalloy use some echo. I too love the sound of a good tremolo pedal, I have a EHX Worm and a Dunlop Tremolo. They both produce great sounds but I'm never sure what to do with them in a musical setting! What do you use for reverb? When it comes 'the son' aspect in the unholy trinity, the Ibanez amp I have doesn't have reverb. I bought it to replace a Fender Blues Deluxe, which sounds superb but is too loud for my needs. Eventually I will part with them both for a head and a 12" cab. For the 'holy ghost' part of the unholy trinity, I'm thinking of getting the EHX poor man's Klon Centaur (EHX Soul Food). The videos I've seen of it look quite decent, one of the more natural overdrive pedals I've come across (which isn't that many to be honest), but I think I've outgrown my earlier days of distortion (Proco Rat) and Fuzz (Big/Double Muff). I'll write more about the Tele I bought when it comes back from the repair hopefully by the end of the week. It has a superb neck, a slightly wider nut than normal, with a flatter radius and a nice neck profile. The body as well, has a contour like a Strat so it's comfy to play sitting down. It sounded pretty average plugged in but due to the price I paid for it, but I'm hoping new pickups, electronics will improve it's plugged in tone. |
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Post by grayn on Sept 29, 2014 8:00:27 GMT
Interesting about the pickups, Wiggy. Thanks. Do let us know how your new tele turns out, after modifications. I know what you mean anout the GASing, for the unholy trinity (guitar-amp-effects). Having recently moved away from the spring-reverb soaked, surf tone, I've been using for the last year or 2, I've been working on a slightly, valve-overdriven tone, with a far more restrained reverb. I love the sound of a tremolo pedal. Fast and subtle, is my favourite setting. I also rate my BBE Soul Vibe, which is a univibe/rotary effect. Psychadelia rools. I try not to over complicate things but also, occasionalloy use some echo. I too love the sound of a good tremolo pedal, I have a EHX Worm and a Dunlop Tremolo. They both produce great sounds but I'm never sure what to do with them in a musical setting! What do you use for reverb? When it comes 'the son' aspect in the unholy trinity, the Ibanez amp I have doesn't have reverb. I bought it to replace a Fender Blues Deluxe, which sounds superb but is too loud for my needs. Eventually I will part with them both for a head and a 12" cab. For the 'holy ghost' part of the unholy trinity, I'm thinking of getting the EHX poor man's Klon Centaur (EHX Soul Food). The videos I've seen of it look quite decent, one of the more natural overdrive pedals I've come across (which isn't that many to be honest), but I think I've outgrown my earlier days of distortion (Proco Rat) and Fuzz (Big/Double Muff). I'll write more about the Tele I bought when it comes back from the repair hopefully by the end of the week. It has a superb neck, a slightly wider nut than normal, with a flatter radius and a nice neck profile. The body as well, has a contour like a Strat so it's comfy to play sitting down. It sounded pretty average plugged in but due to the price I paid for it, but I'm hoping new pickups, electronics will improve it's plugged in tone. My amp is a Peavey Classic 30, an all-valve combo, with a fantastic spring reverb. The reverb on this is even better than the one I had on my previous amp, a Fender Princeton. The Classic 30 also has a dual channel choice, to switch from clean to dirty. I'm still trying to nail my ideal dirty sound (mildly overdriven) but got very close this weekend, with the Italia. I also like the Soul Food, EHX pedal but don't really need it, at the moment. For Trem, the fast, subtle setting is very useable, for slow, bluesy or atmospheric material. Slow, strong trem is more for very ocassional use. Look forward to hearing about your new guitar/mods. |
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Post by earwighoney on Sept 29, 2014 17:53:28 GMT
Heard a lot of good things about the Peavey Classic 30, that it produces a really nice warm clean valve tone, somewhere between a Vox and a Fender of sorts.
Good luck in finding the ideal dirty sound, I've found it's a near enough impossible thing to discover! The three fold combination of guitar, amp and effect throws so many variables it's almost impossible to find which component requires tweaking. Good to hear you're closer with the Italia though.
Thanks for the tips about tremolo.
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Martin
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Post by Martin on Sept 29, 2014 20:49:51 GMT
That Modena is gorgeous! Congrats Graham!  |
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Post by grayn on Sept 30, 2014 8:05:24 GMT
Thanks Martin.
Almost as gorgeous as that banjo, you are holding.
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Jo whoever he is.
