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Ordered a new Levy's strap from Amazon, along with the latest verion of Schaller's strap locks, the S-Lock, being modelled by my Gibson Les Paul Special.

#my guitars

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Got a new pedal, Fender "The Pelt" fuzz. Full of great fuzzy goodness... honestly, though, I can't get a bad sound out of this thing.

#my gear

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Got my Gibson Les Paul Special rewired with CTS 500K audio taper pots, Sprague Orange Drop .022uf capacitors, and Sprague treble bleed kits at Gamlin's Music Centre in Cardiff. The harness pictured was the prior set, which had replaced the original set, that had seen better days, and the technician had directly replaced all the pots, and left the ceramic capacitors. Needless to say, the technician who did the most recent work will certainly be seeing plenty more of my guitars, as he does high quality work, has a keen eye for detail, and most importanly sees how to improve something, not just replace the parts. Needless to say, I'm very happy, and Sunny has never sounded better.

#my guitars

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Took the cover off the bridge pickup for a bit of a Telecaster vibe… think I’ll get some tape to protect the coil, too. I really like the modified look, while keeping the sound the same, ideal, as its a noiseless set.

#my guitars

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Three day guitar safari in Liverpool over the weekend ended with my dad and I purchasing a Fender USA Stratocaster each, having previously had no real intention of buying anything. He's already started relicing his, as he sees his as a project, while I'll be doing less to mine. I did, however, start sanding the rear rout, although I will keep it looking a bit rough... I love a Strat without a backplate. I'm considering putting a Telecaster style pickup in the bridge, and I'm definitely keep to get it wired up with an S-1 switch.

#my guitars #guitars that are not mine

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I've wanted to try a Gibson Marauder for a while, and got my chance today. Worn frets, a somewhat unresponsive volume control, and a subdued bridge pickup would need addressing, but the neck pickup was alive, and it had so much character.

#guitars that are not mine

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Sisters... made in Nasville in 2005, 10 months apart. Les Paul Junior and Les Paul Special.

#my guitars

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So, most of my electric guitars have seen changes in the last few weeks... • The Epiphone Les Paul got new Gotoh locking tuners, and a Tone Pros bridge set • The Gretsch Pro Jet got a Duesenberg Les Trem II and a Schaller roller bridge • The Epiphone SG got the Les Paul's old bridge and stoptail, and its Grover tocking tuners • The Gibson Les Paul Special, the newest member of the family got a set of Gibson pointers on it (and I couldn't help but admire the very nice looking wiring) Plus all of them got new strings... I'm having a go at having each guitar strung with a different gauge, to try to find what suits each one.

#my guitars

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Tha family is together at last... all of my guitars, and my dad’s electric guitar (pictured last).

The cast, in order of appearance:

2005 Gibson Les Paul Junior

2011 Epiphone Les Paul 1960 Tribute Plus

2017 Gretsch G5435 Electromatic Pro Jet

2004 Epiphone G-310

2016 Epiphone Masterbilt Century Olympic

2009 Ibanez SX72

Hudson HD100A (year unknown, but probably 2011 or 2012)

1996 Ibanez TR-70

1981 Westone Rainbow I

It’s great to finally get my hands on the SG again, and it got some much-needed TLC, as well as new knobs. The Seymour Duncans in the SG may be a bit rust, but they’re some seriously rock and roll pickups.

#my guitars #guitars that are not mine

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The family will be complete for the first time ever, soon. Just waiting on my Epiphone G-310. A full stand is a thing of beauty.

From left to right:

2005 Gibson Les Paul Junior

2011 Epiphone Les Paul 1960 Tribute Plus

2017 Gretsch G5435 Electromatic Pro Jet

2016 Epiphone Masterbilt Century Olympic

2009 Ibanez SX72

Hudson HD100A (year unknown, but probably 2011 or 2012)

1996 Ibanez TR-70

#my guitars

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Bought a new guitar… a limited edition Gretsch G5435 Electromatic Pro Jet Fairlane Blue. Sounds fantastic, plays great, and looks spectacular.

#my guitars

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I found out the other day that my Bigsby B5 had arrived, and I’d been charged a customs fee. I picked it up earlier today, and fitted it as soon as I got home. Using the Vibramate adapter was a breeze, and fitting the B5 to it took minutes. Stringing the fucker was another matter. It took me the best part of an hour, as I refused to Google how to string a Bigsby-fitted guitar, and my endevour included the scrapping of a brand new set of 10-46 Ernie Ball strings in a fit of rage, meaning I used my spare set of 11-48 Power Slinkies.

Sounds great, despite the effort, and I’ll be less stubborn next time.

#my guitars #guitar parts

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I’ve had this kit guitar for over two years, and the other night, I decided to put it together a little, nothing permanent, just to get an idea about how it’d be.

Bolting it together, and looking at it properly, I’m a little shocked by the low quality. Fortunately, I was not the one who paid for it, nor was it any friend or relative, as it was part of a small shopping basket I was granted by a university program. It was purchased from Gear4Music, and was around the £100 mark. For that price, I don’t expect remotely costly components, or a particularly good fit, but I would expect a more reasonable starting point.

The first thing I noticed was the neck plate; the screws don’t properly line up with the countersink dips, meaning they can never be 100% tight. The second thing I noticed was that the pickguard is a really tight fit, and when I looked closely at the pickups, I saw that the holes for the pickup rings were not straight.

I should have known to expect less from a cheap kit, but I was still disappointed. Oh well, might prove to be an interesting experiment of seeing what I can do with a pretty shitty guitar.

#guitar parts

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So I got all the parts on the Junior, apart from the new knobs, but those are just new verions of the current ones. Gibson PRTR-010 2-ply truss rod cover, Gibson PRKP-059 knob pointers, and custom made white and black front pickguards made from 4-ply GIbson material.

I’m totally in love with the new look, and completely torn between the black and white primary’s for the pickguard; the black has a traditional-with-a-twist vibe, and has an air of a ‘70s Les Paul Special, while the white primary pickguard has a very bold Firebird kind of vibe. I’m so glad I got both done, because I can switch whenever I like.

#my guitars #guitar parts

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So the pointers for the Junior arrived the other week. I also ordered a new set of top hat style knobs, as the current volume one has a small chip, and it drives me crackers. I'll be doing all the stuff on the Junior at once, probably just using the entirety of one of my days off, because that way I get to watch it transform. What started off as a "maybe I'll get around to it" idea has become a reality, and I'll have a subtly custom-looking Les Paul Junior at the end of it.

#guitar parts

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Headed to a guitar workshop to get a custom scatchplate made for my Junior, earlier (because the two I ordered don’t line up). Turns out the guy had some 4-ply black/white material from Gibson, and enough of it to make both plates, so I was super happy. The place is literally run by two old dudes who’ve been in the business for years, one does all the material-based stuff, the other the electronics… they do pretty much everything one would ever need from a guitar workshop. I'm damn happy to have found the place.

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Late night browsing on Reverb. Whoops.

#guitar parts