SirGawain wrote:My grandfather gave me his guitar. It is a '56 Gibson Country and Western. More of an heirloom than a player, but I will get it out and mess with it from time to time.
Whoa...I'd love to see that. Snap a photo and post it here when you get a chance!
Ill throw up some pics when I get home this afternoon.
Hey Metal Jesus, I've been waiting for you to make such a video!
I think my most favorite looking Les Paul has always been the "black beauty" LP Custom. Black with white binding and gold hardware. I notice yours doesn't have pickup covers, did you or the previous owner take them off? Or were the pickups swapped out?
I like a Les Paul, I think they can sound fantastic. Put I really don't like to play them. I just don't find them comfortable at all. When sitting, they feel like they're always about to slide off my lap, and too far to my right. Standing, they're too heavy for me. I can really get into a 335 though, and I think I want to eventually get one (or the slightly smaller body version of one).
Ah, your acoustic is like an Ovation. I bought an Ovation acoustic guitar, the summer before last IIRC. I was playing an acoustic set and I just wanted something comfortable to play (I don't play acoustic much). Some people don't like the round backs, but they're so much more comfortable then a traditional acoustic body.
The thing about processors, multi FX pedals, and amp modeling is that most of the suck. And when they can be good, most people don't use them right so they end up sounding like shit. In a former band, I had a bassists that would use a POD. I originally hated the idea, but his tone was MINT. I'm not sure how the guitar version is, but I was impressed with the one he used.
What guitars do I own?...
Since I haven't been playing out or in a band at all in recent years, my go-to guitar has been a Fender Strat. It's a MIM model, but I've upgraded the pickups and it sounds mint. I've added a "neck on" switch (in a push-pull pot) so that I can have more pickup combinations. I really like Telecasters, so this was my way of turning my Strat into one.
My go-to metal guitar is an LTD MH-100. I got it in the early 00's, so the 100 model was a little different then than now. I've upgraded mine with two EMG 81's and a real Floyd Rose bridge (I wore the hell out of the licensed Floyd bridge that came with the guitar!) with a big brass block. The 100 model has a basswood body, so it's got such a perfect 80's metal tone with the EMG pickups. I wouldn't trade it for today's MH-1000. Unfortunately, it's gonna need a fret job soon. I've played the hell out of it, and wore the frets down pretty good. I've been trying to teach myself the art of fretting, but it's something that I'll want to perfect before attempting it on this guitar.
Another guitar that I've clocked a lot of hours on is my Epiphone SG, which I got for a good price when I was in high school. The previous owner changed the pickups in it, and I was never able to find a set for it that I liked. Until about a year ago when I put two DiMarzio pickups in it. I wired it up with two push/pull pots. One splits the neck p/u into a single coil, the other is a series/parallel switch for the bridge p/u. Now I finally like the way it sounds. I can get some great metal tones out of it, or I can dial it back and do some classic rock and lighter styles of music.
A guitar that I use to play a lot is my Squire Telecaster. It's some special anniversary edition that has a humbucker neck p/u and a pretty hot bridge p/u to match it. The thing is, it has the sickest Telecaster tones! The pickups might be a little hot, but the bridge still has plenty of twang and the neck p/u is soooo sweet. Unfortunately, back in high school I sort of played doctor with it and fucked the neck up. If I can learn to refret well, I could actually fix the neck (there's a hump toward the heel that I could sand down). Otherwise, I might just replace the neck and call it a day.
One guitar that I own that I'm constantly falling in and out of love with is an LTD MV-200. Not surprised if none of yous have heard of it, I think it was only in production for a few years. It has an M neck (without the reverse headstock) with a strat style body. It's a shorter scale than the M though. I know that it's the same scale as my SG, but for some reason it just feels even shorter. Certain things are great to play on it, but it's not for everything. I kinda like owning it though because it's like "No one else has THIS".
I have other guitar not worth mentioning. As you can see, I have all low end and mid range guitars. I've been playing long enough that I feel like I owe it to myself to have something more high end. Problem is, there's nothing that really interests me. I was considering getting an American Strat, but I'm not sure if I'd like it anymore than my MIM Strat. There's two guitars I have in mind that I'd want, but they're nothing that I could buy. I'm thinking about building a couple Warmoth guitars.
As far as amps go, my main rig is a JCM 2000 DSL. I use to have a Fender Roc Pro and a Peavey ValveKing (which I REALLY miss!). My bedroom amp for years was a cheap Fender Bullet Something. This past summer, my brother bought me a new amp as a birthday present (I bought him a sweet bedroom amp when I was working as a guitar tech - great discounts - so I guess he was returning the favor). It's a Peavey Viper Something or other. It's a modeling amp with all these built in amp models and effects. It sounds surprisingly well. It even has a USB interface to record with, so it's PERFECT for the bedroom. Or even if I wanna jam at a buddy's house, since bringing a small combo amp is a lot easier than a half stack.
Alright, I'm sure I've rambled on for longer than any one cares to read.
Okay. Here are some pics. My grandpa bought it brand new when he was playing in a band called The Muskrats . From what I can tell it is all original, except for some small damage on the back thats probably about an inch wide and 2 inches long. He stepped on it when he was drunk
aaron wrote:hey Ziggy, did you play in bands on LI? what bands?
Trust me, nothing you've ever heard of.
The only real band I have ever been in, aside from projects, was my high school and post high school band. We never got to play out, which is a damn shame. I had two recordings up on My Space back in the day, but other than that, the band was non existent. I like to one day, as a project, record all those songs so people can hear them. They're some kick ass metal jams. Which is kinda weird for me since I don't really listen to a lot of metal. But when I wrote songs for that band, I wrote mostly metal. Half the time it was straight up 80's metal, the other half of the time it was a weird blend between metal, hard rock, classic rock, and blues. A friend notoriously dubbed us "country metal". That description would give you a real bad idea of what the band sounded like, but I always thought it was funny.
I've been dying to play in a band again. And actually, my brother plays the drums. But we let life get in the way and never actually do anything, aside from projects here and there.
