Brindleleaf

9 hours ago, garthman said:

Congratulations. Tanglewood guitars are very good instruments - I've never played a poor one.

It's a UK company that started out in the late 80's with instruments designed and Qced in the UK but made in Korea (I believe by Cort). Look out for some of the early models: Earth 100, 200, 500. Absolutely amazing guitars for the price.

 

Hello Garthman!

Yes indeed... I'm especially lucky because very few people in France have even heard of them. I bought the TW15NS (quite a premium model) today, and the guy didn't even really know the brand ("Don't know...someone gave it to me 10 years ago"). 180 euros for something in the Sundance range seems a good deal!

So the deed is done...came home with that one too, explained everything away to my wife (phew!), and really played them both properly.

They both feel kind of 'open' and 'relaxed' if that makes sense (especially that little parlor guitar). They feel and sound great... that's about all I need!

oh damn!

I'd heard a lot about these Tanglewood TW-73s, and I can confirm everything good you've heard! Yep I bought it!

Easy to play, great sounding, articulate, great bass response, sounds LOUD!  I've got a Seagull S6 that I picked up for my son (and then ended up getting back in a 'swap' from him when I realised that he was lusting after my (FAVORITE!) Yamaha and would end up playing guitar a lot more if I just gave it to him! ) 

The Seagull seems huge against the TW73 but that little parlor guitar is louder, and sounds so different.

Is it the mystical 'short-scale length' thingy that makes it so easy to play? (Or just the old crappy strings that I hesitate to change for the moment....!?

I feel as though I've fallen into a parallel guitar world...today I'm going to see a Tangelwood TW15 NS which has great reviews...again REALLY cheap, so two new guitars in two days?! ...sheesh!  (I guess the great thing about giving away your favorite guitar is the leeway that gives you in terms of really going out looking for something to replace it!

Hi All!

About a year or so ago I stumbled across a Yamaha APX 900 (under a pile of wood in a second-hand shop. I got it for 150 euros because it was scratched up.

It's 

It sounds fine acoustic, (without the boom of a bigger-bodied guitar) and really nice plugged in.

AND...

This afternoon I'm going to see a Tanglewood TW73 which is a parlor-sized guitar. I've heard great things about them and I have found one that is very reasonably priced, so fingers crossed!

I think I (kind of accidentally) played a cheap parlor guitar years ago when I was looking for a dread and nearly bought it, so I'm hoping this little Tanglewood can work some sort of magic on me... 

Oh that's terrible news. I have fond memories of Samilyn. My thoughts go to to her friends and family.

On 1/19/2021 at 6:24 PM, daddymack said:

you need to decide what exactly you want this guitar to sound like. Experiment more, strings are not that expensive, compared to a p-up swap.

Flat wounds have a 'duller' sound, better for chording/comping. 'Half wounds' get in between that dull/bright spot giving you a bit more ring on the 'G' and 'D' strings.

Using the .009s you have now, you have an unwound G, and it will be much 'ringier'. Try a set of .010 or .011 with a wound G...much less ring, without the 'dullness' of the flat wounds. I have 'customized' string sets by ordering wound .022 G strings and .013 B strings to add to standard .010 sets, and I really like the clarity...but I am not a 'jazz' player in the traditional sense.

Yes, thanks, you are right, and I'm doing that. (Hard to sneak a new guitar into the house, easy to get new strings  )

I think a large part of the problem is that I have no idea what this guitar CAN sound like. I have very little experience with electric guitars (I've only ever played the three I own, and only ever played them through my boss katana amp). 

Yep... certainly need more experience. I won't be changing anything too radical until I get that. 

So (preparing this in my head so it comes out smooth if I need to say it to my wife)..."The really experienced players that I know on internet all said I need to try lots of strings, spend a lot more time playing (and lass time cooking), and might need a valve amp in the near future" -- yep, she'll buy that if I can say it with a straight face 😁

Well, by sheer curiousity I'll have a look at these...but why the need to be similar to flatwounds?! 

I thought flatwounds were to avoid raking screech AND to limit harmonic elements, giving jazz players a purer control of the sounds they wanted.

Is that not just a jazz thing? I'm happy with rounds on acoustics and solid-bodies...why not here?

After posting the other day, I decided to spend some time with this Ibanez and see how it shaped up. I've only got the Slinky 9s only it that I threw on it when I suddenly and urgently wanted a change from the flatwounds.

It sounds fine...but nothing special. UNTIL I put it on the Acoustic channel with a clean booster. THAT sounds pretty delicious!

Mostly I was thinking heavier strings to see if it gave the unplugged sound a bit of grunt (it's pretty uninspiring with those 9s on).

Oh...And I'm edging nearer to getting those Stewmac A2s in it... now that I have a bit more experince with electric guitars, it's started to strike me as 'Nice, but maybe lacking in personality' if that makes any sense.

On 7/8/2020 at 4:45 PM, badpenguin said:

I have the Stew-Mac A2's and LOVE them to death! Worth every penny if looking for that older Gibson tone. (Mine are in a Eastman El Rey 3)

On 7/8/2020 at 7:24 AM, Emory said:

I have an Ibanez AS 95 (I think the S, the other sort of cutaway). Yours from nice era like mine with the lovely inlays, matching pickguard and that cool tailpiece. Very well made guitar. Wooden saddle... mine came with TOM on wooden base.

If you didn't want to pin the bridge, could always get in right place and put a few small Sharpie dots to mark.

If I could suggest an upgrade, it would be to get a pair of StewMac golden age humbuckers. Cost me about $100 for the pair shipped few years back. Made huge difference in sound. I cannot urge you more strongly to try this. Friend with ES335 said he liked my modded Ibanez tone more than his Gibby. And he is not a flatterer.

Great price you paid, too. Never sell it, my advice

Hi guys! And obvious anyone else out there with a hollowbody (or an opinion  )

I have been playing around with my other guitars a lot recently and have just 'rediscovered' this Ibanez. I originally put some fancy flatrounds on it, then, just for the heck of it, put some Ernie ball slinky 9s on it to compare it to my other guitars. 

Now I'm wondering what strings I should put on this. I don't want to play just jazz (if the stumbling, hesitant noises I make could ever even be called jazz), so I'm not tempted to put flatwounds on it again.

I was thinking of putting some 11s or 12s on it to try to give the unplugged sound some love (it's pretty un-inspiring right now with those dinky 9s on it). I've got other guitars that I am trying to learn the art of bending on, so I figure I can go as heavy as necessary for this guitar.

Does anyone have any reccomendations? A lot of Hollow-body advice on internet is really for jazz...

I've seen people talking about DR Pure Blues 10s or 11s..!? Otehrs say d'ario 'normal' 10-46s.

Any thoughts?

Edit: I see D'Addario EXL115 11-49s are less than 5 euros a set...might be a place to start...:)

8 hours ago, Aceman893 said:

Dammmit!!!!! Now I'm surfing Reverb and Ebay for high end Yamahas!!!!

Thing is, I only paid 85 euros for it...and could easily get double that if I sold it... but I find myself picking it up more than any other right now. Got to enjoy that enthusiasm whatever the 'price' of the guitar.

There's something about guitars without pick-guards...really like that look. Yours looks great to me.

I'd always heard good things about Pacificas....this one is really growing on me.

23 hours ago, mrbrown49 said:

They strings only need to sit in the slot about half way. They look ok from the pic. Don't want to go too low or you'll have more problems.

Check the nut action.  Hold the strings down just in front of the second fret. The strings should just clear the first fret.

Okay good..yep the nut action seems fine according to what you said.

I wonder if the kind of 'floaty' feeling might be because this Pacifica is the first guitar I've ever played that has a tremolo....does that 'give' a bit during bends and vibratos?

I just realized that 'strings floating around' sounds really bad...but it's not...makes me play LIGHTLY...which is interesting.

Yep...I came across an old 412 Pacifica a few months ago, I was planning on selling it....but it looks like it's going to be a keeper.

I DO wonder about the nut...I've only got slinky 9s on it and the A and low E string aren't even properly in the slot (see photos), which makes the strings feel like they are floating around... I'll be getting some files from stewmac I guess.

I mentioned in the NGD thread I made that it's the first ever strat I've played..and to be honest, it doesn't sound especially stratty when I play it. Not sure why...does anyone know anything about the PUs in these things? I keeps seeing Electronics : Yamaha. (Hmmm).

Wow..sweet looking guitar! Gratz!

It's even better that you saved her! 

2 hours ago, Gibson29 said:

Huh.  All I get are Sweetwater ads.  The Zager algorithm is strong in you! 😄

Lol. The sad price of a life of deception andpumped-up pride, I guess 😟

I have two ads for Zager sitting right there above these forums as I write this 895$...😐

Damn...I haven't been through the VOM1T stuff for years now...I'd forgotten how much I like it!

Deepend, it's great hearing your original stuff. Very poetic and lyrical.

And like Garthman's song, both are really authentic in the way you two deliver them.

Kwakatak - really well done. You make it sound sweet and look easy 😁

Gil..I haven't heard you for years, and your voice surprised me. For some reason I thought you had a Neil-Youngy voice. This register really suits you. Nice work.

And Catscurlyear, I'm kinda jealous...that singing voice seems to come out so easily (even though the guitar parts are no all that simple!). Smooth and really pleasing.

Gratz to you all!

It DOES have the side-effect of making me realise that...

1)I don't know any purely instrumental pieces.

2) My singing voice is a lot ...like that old saw I forgot in the garden all last winter 😶

3) I'm absolutely hopeless at trying to play and sing at the same time!

Very inspiring you lot! Time to get to work! Meet you back here when I can pull something together! 😁

7 hours ago, u6crash said:

Congratulations! This is the second electric guitar that you have ever owned, or just number two in your current collection? I've played some of the hollow/semi-hollow Ibanez guitars and liked them quite a bit. Enjoy!

I've only had five guitars total...

A Guild Gad-25. (a lovely guitar that I recently swapped for the Ibanez).

A Vintage V300 - that I gave to a friend once I got my.. 

LAKEWOOD D1 (I love this thing!).

Then my first electric a Harley Benton TE-52 NA (about $150..for a really cool Tele! I think this was a very reasonable first electric).

Now the Ibanez AK-95. 

So yes, second electric ever... I'm still fiddling around with it to figure it out exactly...getting clean jazz tones and something a bit creamier...

15 hours ago, 6down1togo said:

You can also get a tune-o-matic style bridge that drops right on the wood base. They brighten/focus the tone a bit. They sell for less than $20 on eBay and include both the bridge and the base. Throw the base out and use yours since it fits the contour of your top. They come with small bushings that slip over the tuner posts so the bridge doesn't rock on the smaller posts. I've bought this one Tune-o-matic style jazz bridge and installed on vintage Japanese hollowbodies. The difference was like and night and day on those.

 

 

10 euros doesn't seem too expensive!  thanks!

badpenguin and emory...thanks for the advice...that is good to know.

Do you guys have any sounds of these things that we can listen to?

All the stuff I find on Youtube is Les Pauls ...not a hollow body in sight.

On 7/6/2020 at 2:00 AM, 6down1togo said:

Good move passing on that LP Copy. I am a big fan of Ibanez guitars, they build some really nice guitars that last.

When you do a string change, just replace one string at a time and you'll never have the mess with the bridge. If you want to clean/treat the fretboard and have to remove all the strings, run a piece of blue painter's tape on the body along the backside of the bridge and at both ends to positively locate the bridge. You can tape the bridge down but if you bump it, it will move. With location outlined on the body by the tape, you can't miss.

Good to know thanks, or Emory's sharpie technique.

Hi Emory! (Haven't seen your name since I used to hang out in the acoustic section YEARS back 😀).

Well...I 'paid' a Guild GAD-25, which was a lovely guitar too (but I play my Lakewook much, much more often tbh).

Glad to hear good things about this guitar. I think I'm going to keep the PUs as they are for the moment, since they are already a new, interesting sound for me, and I think my next purchase will be a Tone City King of Blues overdrive...BUT...I will keep your suggestion in mind...are you talking about the Stewmac Golden Age Parsons Street Humbuckers? If so, do you mean the Alnico 5s, or 2s?

2 hours ago, 1001gear said:

Remember to save the leftover parts when you reassemble.

Lol!

Thanks guys.

In fact, when I got it, the intonation wasn't quite right so I was gong to be moving the saddle anyway, so I just took it right off so I could clean everything properly....

...of course then it breaks down to two pieces and then I needed to fiddle around to get the action right too.

On the other hand, that's the best way to learn...just dive right and make a mess! 😀

20 minutes ago, DeepEnd said:

Lovely guitar. Ibanez knows their stuff. Congratulations and Happy New Guitar Day.  Mask the fret so you don't take a chance of marring the wood and use very fine steel wool with minimal pressure. One of those multi sided nail shaping/filing blocks works too.

Okay, thanks.