GeeJayW

Very sad to hear this. At his peak his playing was sublime and he was a very humble man.

RIP Peter.

Francis Rossi used his hand-painted green Telecaster for decades, though he sold it at the end of 2019.

I saw Queen in '74 (Sheer Heart Attack tour) as my first ever live gig. That red special sounded pretty awesome. Pretty sure he's used many guitars over the years, but I saw a video interview with his tech on YouTube and he said that Brian prefers his Red Special whenever he can and that he uses an old sixpence as a pick. Has a jar of them apparently.

Steve Howe has or had a big collection of guitars, but he's been using his Gibson ES175 since the 60's. Still has the original frets I think.

15 hours ago, ezbass said:

I had an early run McCarty once. Without doubt, the best sounding humbucker equipped guitar I’d ever heard (even with me playing it).  However, I ultimately didn’t get on with the ergonomics and it went in part-ex for my first quality bass.

Nice guitars.

I remember being in Sounds Great, Heald Green one morning (an excellent place to spend some time while the other half is shopping in John Lewis or Sainsbury's just up the road BTW). A guy had been playing a McCarty for quite a while before I popped upstairs to 'drool' at some of the acoustics. As I got back downstairs, the chap was just putting his wallet in his pocket as the guys were putting his shiny new guitar in its hard case. He had the biggest grin walking out the door, one I could only hope he still had when he got home and said to the missus....

No doubt her words were: "Ow much!!"?

11 minutes ago, Skybone said:

If I were in the market for a new guitar, I'd definitely look at an Epiphone LP, and budget for new pickups, or find a PRS SE Singlecut.

Out of the two, of probably lean towards the PRS, but I'd have to try out a few Epi's. 

I owned a few MIJ Tokai Love Rocks in the past, and they were LP beaters. I've also owned a few  late 70's Ibanez Artist double cuts. Ibanez reissued the Artist not too long back, which featured the 'Tri-sound' switching like the 70's ones, which offers sound options to the classic LP sounds.

The current Epi Les Pauls seem to to have a D shaped neck profile. This would put me off buying one, but you might like it. The one I had twenty-years ago had more of a Gibson 60's neck profile which felt better to me, though I've since got used to and prefer the 50's neck profile on my Gibson Les Paul Standard.

The wide-fat neck on PRS SE guitars would be on my list to try one out. Tokai make some nice LP style guitars as do Fernandes. 

The PRS that the OP has picked up already, looks like a very nice guitar. 

Nice, congrats on finding 'your' guitar. Enjoy.

49 minutes ago, tall_martin said:

Thanks!

I thought Gibson had put their quality woes behind them. Is that still a thing now?

The new studios seem To be similar prices to the used ones on eBay. 

I’ll have a think about a wait and a shopping trip if I decide to go for a Gibson then.

Do the prs not have a similar back angled headstock? Or are they just built stronger?

The prs is a fine looking guitar 😀

 

It's not Gibson quality that's the problem as such and for sure the current mob seem to be doing things better than the latter years of when Henry was in charge. It's just that in my view they seem to be more 'individual' than the PRS SE range seem to be. I've not played a bad Gibson, just find one that speaks to you, especially if you're spending more than a grand for one. I would be the same if I wanted a US PRS. A fair chunk of change, so I'd need to play it first before reaching for Mr. Plastic.

I came very close to pulling the trigger on a limited edition 'spalted maple' topped single cut PRS SE a few years ago. I'd gone looking for a Taylor acoustic (which I did get), but the PRS was very nice. The 245 I linked is what I'd get now, and have been mentally kicking that tyre for a little while now.

Gibsons have a one piece neck. The grain direction, the nut groove and the truss rod cutout combine to make a weak area. So they can break, sometimes even in the case. Mine has been fine, but it's a worry.

Pretty much all of the other angled headstocks I've come across have a scarf joint for the headstock. This is a stronger arrangement. I don't know of PRS headstock break issues.

I recently thought about getting another Epiphone Les Paul Standard (sold one in 2002 when I got my Gibson) to give my Gibson a break. Didn't like the neck on the current ones at all. Tried several didn't like any of them. On the other hand, they sounded ok.

So if buying new, I'd be looking at PRS SE 245 single cut:

https://www.gak.co.uk/en/prs-se-245-vintage-sunburst/930909?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzOfs0-7H6QIVyu7tCh1_6wXnEAQYBSABEgKskPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I wouldn't recommend buying a Gibson unless you can play it first and pick out a good one from a less than good one. I played quite a few Standards when I was looking for one 18-years ago and have played quite a few since. The only one I've liked more than the one I have was a '57 Goldtop Historic Reissue in a shop in Hamburg in 2009. Should have bought it, but didn't want to lash out two grand at the time. Even the Custom Shop Historics vary quite a lot between examples of the same guitar.

As for used Les Pauls, take care. There are lots of fakes out there. It's also common for Les Pauls to suffer neck breaks at the headstock. These can be fixed, but should be done professionally and does affect value. If you do consider going for a used Gibson, a lightly used Les Paul Studio may well fit the bill and shouldn't cost a huge amount. 

Sorry for prattling on, I hope it's of some value.

Good luck in your hunt.

Dire Straits is a great album.

I think my favourite track is Six-blade Knife, but all the tracks are good. The recording is superb.

Van Halen's debut album came out in the same year I think. Both somewhat different from each other and the stuff emanating from the  punk bands of the day.

I don't know much about basses. For Les Pauls, a guy called Tom Murphy worked in the Gibson Custom Shop and guitars 'aged' by him to look like an original 'burst' are very highly saught after and command a strong price (like £10k), even for guitars less than 20-years old. He did/does the lacquer cracks one at a time with a scalpel.

A company in the US called Historic Makeovers, will take your new, shiny £5k Custom Shop reissue Les Paul and a few thousand dollars, and tastefully scratch it, dent it, etc to make it look like an old 50's Les Paul.

Fender Custom Shop 'Relic Strats' look and feel like old Strats and from what I gather are quite individual unless they are a signature 'replica' model. Quite remarkable really. They have to carve a 'V' in the body under the pickguard to stop people passing them off as being originals.

The Fender Road Worn series are (I think) made in Mexico and the 'wear' is applied to a template, so they all look very similar.

If you like the look and feel of an old guitar like a Strat or a Les Paul, this route is way cheaper than the real thing.

Not quite my thing personally, but I get it if it's done well. If it's not done well, it's either sad or hilarious depending on your point of view.

At my Dad's funeral, we played 'Duelling Banjoes' from Deliverance to close the service. He loved that song and would have been smiling.

Nothing, though I can only stand so much of Mark King at one time. Don't think I've ever managed to listen to a whole Level 42 album right through in one sitting. 

Good job @Bilbo , Thanks. Chris Squire was a hero on bass, well in my book anyway.

Mood For A Day transcription can be found here...

https://lessonsthatrock.com/downloads/Y/Yes/Yes - Mood For A Day.pdf?x68250

I have a TAB version somewhere.

Been listening to it since '71. Still can't play it.

37 minutes ago, Frank Blank said:

Sung to the tune of A Groovy Kind of Love.

The above post should be included in FAQs or rules somewhere ...

Wanting a new bass, didn't have a clue. Do I get a used one, maybe go brand new?

It could be a cheapie, or maybe something dearer,  maybe that would sound much clearer, I don't know.

Go along to Bass Chat, asking for some news, I get a snarky kind of mirth!

(Sorry, I've no idea why I'm getting big text)....

Well, I'm new here and new to bass. I don't yet know what I want from a bass guitar other than wanting something that I can use to play in a lower register than I can with my guitars (which include Gibson, Fender and Taylor). So I bought a Harley Benton 450 Progressive for £129 delivered. I've had it a week and I'm very impressed with it. 

Over time I will find things about it that I love or hate. Things it can do or can't do. What's it like standing up, sitting down? Does it balance nicely, do bits of it get in the way or annoy me? Is it stable and reliable and if not what's changing or causing problems? Do I enjoy playing bass? Am I any good at it? Etc.

When all that has seeped in, I will be in much better position to know what to look for in a higher quality and more expensive bass, if indeed that's what I want.

As a basic and reasonable starting point for bass, I think that the HB bass I have is hard to beat. 

On the other hand, If you have clearer ideas of what you want and would rather have a higher quality instrument from the get go and can afford it; go for it! 

Either way, I hope you enjoy it.

On 04/05/2020 at 18:37, afterimage said:

Welcome  sounds like you got a excellent guitar 

For the money, it's surprisingly good. The pickup routs could be more accurate/tidy and the neck pocket may get a tweak one day. May also stone the fret-ends at some point just to get rid of some burrs. But as long as I fret it properly, it doesn't buzz. The active and passive modes are fine. Just need to get used to it and learn some lines. After playing it for most of the weekend, my Les Paul feels tiny...

On 05/05/2020 at 09:45, Bass Culture said:

Welcome aboard.  There's quite a community of us in Chester and its environs and quite a variety of gear too, so if you ever fancy trying a particular piece of kit don't hesitate to put the call out - someone local might have it covered.

Thanks. @lurksalot is my friend and neighbour. We were in a band together for a few years, mainly playing in and around Chester (Chester Bells and Flookersbrook when Lee Brooker was running them and some other pubs like Kings Head, Rugby Club beer festival etc..) plus some gigs further afield. Everyone was always friendly towards us, never had any hassle at all. Looking forward to playing some bass, but probably won't be gigging on bass though I guess should never say never...

On 05/05/2020 at 09:49, Frank Blank said:

Morning.

Morning!

OK Computer

How about this one....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Masterbuilt-Precision-P-Bass-Slab-Body-Quilted-Maple/183938004796?hash=item2ad38f373c:g:SrwAAOSwmd1dbOPc

Oops, did you say £600?

57 minutes ago, lurksalot said:

Hi Glenn 

welcome to the forum dude 

 

 

Cheers Kev and of course everyone else!

I nearly lost my front teeth at one pub gig when one of the punters knocked into my mic stand. SM57s are pretty tough in comparison to my top lip!

Loading up, going out, setting up, performing, watching your gear like a hawk in case someone either tries to run off with it or thinks they're Eric Clapton, knocking down, loading up, going home, loading out.

Can be a ball ache and all for less than minimum wage too. Can't understand why more folks don't do it to be honest!

Welcome. Only a few hours ahead of you on signing up, but a ways behind playing bass.

Did someone say guitars...?

Welcome.....

Hi guys, been playing guitar (poorly or about average depending who asks  ) for a couple of decades. Anyway, thought it was about time I had a go at bass, mainly for some recording stuff I'm playing with. I like playing blues and classic rock.

So last week I ordered a Harley Benton B-450 Progressive Series in white from Thomann, which arrived yesterday. Must say it's not bad at all. Neck is straight, relief is about right, A-string intonation needed a tweak and the action is OK. I'm currently using it into a mixer via a Zoom G5 multi-FX unit with minimal effects (Chorus seems a nice option) and then into Garageband on an iMac27. I don't have a bass amp right now, that may change in the future, may not.

FWIW, my favourite bass players include: Chris Squire, John Paul Jones, Geezer, The Ox, Nathan East and Tal Winkenfeld.

So, my journey to the dark side begins...

Cheers!