DeepEnd

On 4/17/2024 at 10:05 AM, daddymack said:

The Epi dot is their 'bottom feeder'. The Epiphone Sheraton is actually the better 335 style, not their ES335. I would put a Sheraton up against the Guild Starfire I any day of the week.

Then you probably hate the Sire Larry Carlton too. 😉

Still way better than anything I could cobble together.

On 4/20/2024 at 4:33 PM, kwakatak said:

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU*****************!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TLDR i dropped it. I was ALMOST done with a step that causes me nothing but stress. The bit grabbed and it flew out of my hands. Now I need to call my therapist and work through the 7 stages of grief. 

Sorry to hear it but I have faith in your abilities. 🫣

Yeah the fact that you're talking about bridge pins suggests this is a steel string guitar. You need wire and especially the correct kind of wire. Even if you could make your own guitar strings it wouldn't be worth the effort.

A great deal is going to depend on what you mean by "budget." Epiphone makes their own model of the ES335 called--wait for it--the ES335. It sells for around $600. It won't have P90s but it'll be pretty much as close as you can get to a "real" ES335. There's also the Epiphone Dot but I don't think it's a current model so you'd need to find a used one. As mentioned, Ibanez is always a good option. Never played a Gretsch and my only experience with Guild is their acoustics. Best of luck with the search.

On 4/5/2024 at 6:45 PM, Misha said:

I hope I won't lose or break any!! 

You might lose one but it should be fairly difficult to break a brass bridge pin. BTW, put me in the column that says bridge pins don't have that much effect on tone. YMMV.

Again, this is a video of a worship service but if you scroll down to where it says "April 7" and skip to about 33:30, you can view my original, "And They Laughed." https://maplewoodumc.org/worship?sapurl=Lyt2bnd3L2xiL2xpLyt6M3dta3RqP2JyYW5kaW5nPXRydWUmZW1iZWQ9dHJ1ZSZyZWNlbnRSb3V0ZT1hcHAud2ViLWFwcC5saWJyYXJ5Lmxpc3QmcmVjZW50Um91dGVTbHVnPSUyQnozd21rdGo= (BTW, that's Mrs. DeepEnd guest preaching. Our pastor is on vacation.)

As with most things, there's a guitarist out there somewhere who will believe it. Acoustic folks have been known to wax poetic about bridge pin material. 😉 I came up with my own innovation years ago, magnets to stick on the tuning machines to add headstock mass and "energize" the strings.

I played around some more and finally settled on tuning both the 1st and 6th strings down to D. First, it makes the low end fuller, and second, it's easier to play melody--at least in this case--with the first string at D (E with a capo at the second fret). Definitely fun.

On 3/22/2024 at 12:50 AM, Misha said:

I'm not sure if it's an OM-15 or a 00-15 because I'm not sure that there is a difference between both! I don't think it's a 000-15 but I could be wrong! . . .

An OM and 000 are roughly the same, a 00 is smaller. Here's Martin's official take: https://www.martinguitar.com/blog-categories/tips-tutorials/blog-040320-understanding-guitar-body-sizes.html

garthman - Well done. I can't recall whether I've heard that one but if I have it's been a while. I've been intending to post something so I'm glad one of us did.

The praise band plays a song occasionally that involves a constant C chord on the verses. I usually play it in open C so I can play rhythm and melody at the same time. Sunday, the remaining songs were in either Bb or F. I figured I could tune to open Bb and use a capo for C. From what I can tell, there isn't a standard open Bb tuning but I settled on F Bb D F Bb F. I thought it worked well, although if there's a next time I might drop the 1st string to D instead of tuning up. I like the sound with the 6th string tuned to F though. Anyone use open tunings regularly? If you use open Bb, how do you tune or what tuning would you use?

On 3/10/2024 at 4:16 PM, Byrdo74 said:

I just got a thin body Galveston resonator with lipstick pickup for 299 nzd (pissant currencycompared to bidenbucks) and it's AWESOME. I need to get my acoustic chops after being stuck with a dead string cort dread and it's perfect. Definitely gig and record worthy!

Congratulations. Happy New Guitar Day. 

 Congratulations. Happy New Guitar Day.  I've always liked the look of mahogany topped guitars.

Hi and welcome back.  Congratulations and Happy New Guitar Day. 

I'm notoriously cheap and you already have an amp so I'm going to suggest just adding a mixer. The current version of the MiniMax head is rated at 600W into a minimum of 4 Ohms. The previous version is 500 Watts. You didn't specify which you have but either should be adequate. The speaker outputs are wired in parallel for both so two 8 Ohm cabs ought to be fine as long as your speakers are in good condition and will handle your amp's output, and/or you don't get silly. If they're 4 Ohm cabs you'll need to wire them in series. We can discuss that separately if necessary. If you want to stick with Peavey, you can get a 6 channel mixer for $200 and you're set except for mics, cables and whatnot. https://www.sweetwater.com/c264--Analog_Mixers?all&sb=low2high&params=eyJmYWNldCI6eyJCcmFuZCI6WyJQZWF2ZXkiXX19

6 hours ago, daddymack said:

Trigger would like to have a word, sir....😉

Sure but the average owner isn't going to have access to the same resources Willie Nelson does. In the vast majority of cases, a beat up guitar is just going to be a beat up guitar.

Check how far the strings are from the frets, especially where the neck meets the body. The gap should be a few 32nds of an inch. While you're at it, check for a gap under the bridge and between the neck heel and the body. The latter is especially bad news. Look at the guitar edge on and notice whether the top is flat. If it slopes downward from the neck/body joint, keep looking. Similarly, look for a pronounced hump in the fretboard where the neck meets the body. A slight hump is normal but a large one is a sign of trouble.

One more thing, look at overall condition. A guitar that looks like it's been abused probably hasn't received much TLC.

The factory strings are 12-53 https://artandlutherieguitars.com/product/roadhouse-bourbon-burst Probably phosphor bronze.

On 2/25/2024 at 6:22 PM, Misha said:

. . . Several places have Sigma guitars. They look good, I don't know if they are made by Cort. . . .

The vast majority of Asian made guitars are made by either Samick or Cort so it's entirely possible.

On 2/25/2024 at 6:56 PM, Misha said:

I could also look at Lag guitars. At least two shops have them but one is 3 hours away! (But the roadtrip would be nice!)

What means "Open Pore back and sides" ??? https://www.theguitarcorner.ca/shop/c/p/Lag-T170ACE-Tramontane-Auditorium-Cutaway-Electro-Guitar-x67437248.htm

As you guessed, it simply means a thin finish. Veneer is a thin layer of wood usually glued on top of some inferior--or at least less attractive--wood.

Congratulations. Happy New Guitar Day. 

On 2/13/2024 at 12:23 PM, garthman said:

Well, 5 minutes work with a touch of epoxy resin gave me over 4 years of use with the original tuners - and the repair was virtually invisible - with none of the aggro of finding good looking tuners that fitted.

Fortunately classical tuners are pretty much one size so the task would have been simpler than you might think. 😉

Congratulations. Happy New (cheap) Guitar Day. 

On 2/9/2024 at 7:31 PM, garthman said:

How much more stupid can this world become . . . . ?

On 2/9/2024 at 8:48 PM, daddymack said:

Sadly, much....

Alas, there doesn't appear to be a bottom, does there. 😟 Just when you think people can't get any stupider, they surprise you again.

Gotta agree with daddymack on replacing the old tuners but glad to hear you're still liking your Walden. Happy New Tuners Day.