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Stringed Guitars

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Gibson SG GT

Yes.. another SG! I haven’t bought an SG for a few years I think… and I stumbled across the GT version, which I knew nothing about apart from the fact that existed.

So… for the official info.. you can go to SG Wiki: https://solidguitar.fandom.com/wiki/SG_GT

I love that website! They actually used one of my guitars for their pictures of a 71 SG :).

Anyway.. it is just like any other SG? Mmm kind of… but of course the tailpiece gets all the attention, I originally thought it was just a cover for the regular SG tailpiece, but no… it’s a whole thing that is bolted to and through the guitar! And ma man is it heavy! It feels heavier than my other SGs. Pretty cool design which attempts to resemble the bonnet or a car.

The Pickups are the 490/498 Alnico II. To me these are great pickups, I’ve been raving about Alnico II and Alnico III for a few years… preferring them over the Alnico V pickups.

The neck… I haven’t compared measurements but it feels chunky and not as slim/taper like a 61 reissue, just about the perfect size. You might have seen on other recent posts that I’ve discovered that chunkier necks seem easier to play…

The frets… this has caught my attention, they are quite thin… good height and crown… but they are thinner to what I’ve been seeing on standards and custom shop… There’s usually not a lot of info on frets used on different versions.

The inlays! These are not your usual mother of pearl… these are “mirror” inlays… of course probably made of plastic… but they add to the cool chrome look of the guitar.

All in all, I’m very pleased with it, it plays great and it sustains nicely. A definitely good addition to the SG collection.

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EVH? Let’s give it a go

I’m no EVH fan, but of course who doesn’t respect and think of Eddie as a guitar monster! The dude was incredible, just not my preferred music style.

But to pull all these “stunts” he must have had a very comfortable guitar, right? Plus… he was always looking for improvements and tweaked all his guitars until he actually created his own brand which is built by Fender.

So.. I bought an EVH Wolfgang Special, I really wanted the pro… which is made in Japan… but I found a flamed maple top under offer… and I couldn’t resist.

This isn’t my first “shredder” guitar… but it’s the first time o by an expensive shredder guitar. I’ve had Ibanez and I still have an old Shecter.

This EVH is awesome, first of all… whatever Fender is doing with Frets lately…. is just incredible and much better than any other brand! Definitely better than Gibson, are they stainless steel? I don’t know, but the strings just glide on them… the ends… are just so well rounded off. Impeccable work here.

The neck is roasted maple, which is a first for me, and it also feels really good, it offers zero resistance to your hand cause I believe there is no finish on them and it has this tanned color that looks very cool.

The headstock… I know it’s minor, but lately I’ve been looking at headstocks more and more and in occasions..: it has put me off from buying certain brands… some look just too big, too crazy, too similar to other brands. The EVH headstock looks great, good size and “original” shape (very similar to a musicman also owned by fender?)

So… Playability? 10… definitely a 10, not just for shredding, which isn’t something I do great… but for general stuff and of course mainly soloing, this combination of features are unbeatable.

The body… on the smaller side… quite comfy with good curves and cutouts. It has a floyd rose system, but… it bonoy goes one way… down… which means changing strings isn’t a pain in the neck. It does have nut locks and the micro tuning on the floyd rose too. It also a d-tuner which took me a few attempts to understand the best way to use it (mechanically speaking) and I can say… it is very well designed.

Pickups! Boy these are hot! But still very articulate and they clean up nice when volume is rolled down… which brings me to another feature, the volume pot… slightly different to your regular pots, these have very little mechanical resistance yet they are firm (they won’t move on their own) very cool for volume sweeps.

All in all, an outstanding instrument and very well built, made in Mexico.

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Gibson Firebird V

I had an Epiphone Thunderbird for a while and while it looked cool… it was so uncomfortable to play… that I never considered a Firebird guitar as I thought it would be just as bas, boy was I wrong.

So… i sold a couple of SGs as I has way too many and some had almost never been played since I bought them, I started to look for something different.. something special, until I stumbled upon the Firebird, what a piece of art this is… designed by an ex car designer… it just screams luxury.

It’s a neck through construction, which gives it that raised middle section and then two “wings” attached to the side, the neck is built by 9 continuous pieces of wood glued together, two of those bits… are walnut, and it gives it that distinctive two lines of slightly different wood colour.

The pickups are something of their own… constructed with blades instead of poles… and in a much smaller package, I’d say they sound a little bit like P90s.

Apart from anyone looking 10 times cooler when holding a firebird… these guitars sound awesome, great sustain due to their construction method and great playability too! Although… they are meant to be played standing up, so… when playing seating down.. the guitar feels a little

Bit offset to the left, because of the curve of the body where we wedge our thigh on… the guitar feels longer, even though it’s scale isn’t longer. When you stand up… everything just feels normal.

The pickups, the bridge pickup sounds almost like a humbucker but like I said.. it has a p90 twang, a bit more bite than a humbucker, the neck pickup even though I think it’s the same construction… sound a bit more single coil, like the 5th position of a strat, which I love.

The one I bought is a 1991 Firebird V which means it has two pickups and the bigger inlays. The tuners were changed to the steinberg ones which apparently is what Gibson used before.

The Firebird hasn’t always been on Gibson’s catalogue because it was an expensive guitar to build and not very popular, however they just added it back in… but… it’s construction method is like all other gibsons… just a set neck. If you are looking for a Firebird… please buy an older one with the traditional neck through, this way you’ll experience the real Firebird!

An awesome guitar that is becoming one of my favourites to play.

The finish is starting to crack a little bit which looks incredible.
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Epiphone 1959 ES 355

One of the hottest guitar on the internet right now. Everyone is raving about it.

Of course I bought one.

Who doesn’t like a 355?? They are probably the coolest looking guitars out there, we know who is to blame for… Marty McFly! Or Chuck Berry!

This guitars is part of the “gibson custom shop collaboration ” series. Which allows a lot more people to own a oiece of history and something that doesn’t scream Epiphone as soon s as you see it. They dressed it up every nicely.

Custom headstock logo, headstock binding, headstock with the right shape, block inlays, the whole thing just looks stunning!

I would not have many situations where I find myself playing a 355… so I was having a hard time deciding to invest a lot of money in this purchase, trust me.. I spent a week! Having a Gibson 345 in my cart… of course the gibson 355 is only custom shop and it’s double the cost of the 345… so that was out of the question.

So… I received the guitar, very well packed and presented, the case is very nice! (Not as nice as a Gibson custom shop) the guitar itself looks very smart too, the finish is matte and the gold hardware… is very gold… so… it looks too shiny on a matte finish, this hardware should be more like a VOS finish so it would blend in.

The good? It looks great, it plays well… like an Epiphone.

The Bad?

I don’t think you are getting a better Epiphone for the money… the frets are the same as any other Epiphone.. the rounding, the size, the feel. Was I expecting a better Epiphone? I think so… it costs twice as much….and… they spent a lot of time and effort dressing this one up… so.. why don’t make it better?

So… what are these extras?

Custombuckers: i love custombuckers… almost all my guitars have them, I have 3 custom shops with them + I have bought a lot of custombuckers and fitted them on my standards SGs, I know them very well… do these sound the same? I don’t think so… but why? Is it the pickup or the guitar? I don’t know… impossible to tell.. but I don’t think they feel like a regar Custom Bucker, also… their cover is just too shiny.

The Case: who cares for a case now? i don’t.. I much rather get the leather gig bag Gibson introduced a few years ago… but I understand what they are trying to do.

Aesthetics: block inlays, split diamond headstock inlay, neck binding, headstock binding, body double binding. I love all of the above, they make the guitar look incredibly smart.

So.. is it worth it? I think so… i think is 20% too expensive… I would’ve dropped the hardcase and focus on the frets. Still.. it can be sorted with a good setup, it’s a nice playing guitar and costs around 30% compared to a Gibson 345.

If this won’t be your main guitar… and you can afford a Gibson . Get the Epi..

If this will be your main guitar and you can afford the Gibson… get the Gibson

If this will be your main guitar and you can’t afford the Gibson.. get the Epi! It looks awesome…

If this will be your main guitar and you can’t afford a gibson and you don’t care for the looks.. get the Epi 335 that we’ve all known for years

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Richie Kotzen Telecaster

This is my…. third telecaster. But I currently own one.

I’m a Gibson SG person… for me… it is the most comfortable guitar in the world. But… I always had a thing for teles… similar to an SG… it’s a “no bells or whistles” kind of guitar. The simplicity of its design and oh god, can they take a beating!

My first tele was an American Standard… back in 2003, which I loved… it was white ivory finish, stunning. I sold it to buy an SG… and 10 SGs later.. I bought the Tele Elite, this was a sweet guitar, the finish… the fretwork.. all stunning. But I never bonded with it, that bridge pickup… I struggle to like it.

I then found the Richie Kotzen model, I think as I was searching for “hum-bucker” type bridge pickup.. his model came up on google… then a few years later…. I went ahead and bought it.

Man…. this is an outstanding guitar! Made in Japan… comes in a box and a gig bag… but… is it full of goodies or what!

The fretwork… is immaculate, the maple neck and fretboard… are so easy to play… your hand just glides. The Frets! (Yes I already mentioned them…) but man.. the frets! The string just dances on top of them. The finish! Never been a sunburst person…. in fact the back of the guitar is nicer than the front… but still… sunburst with gold hardware… hard not to like.

The inlays! Holy moly, abalone inlays which have little variations of colours, it’s like looking into a beautiful sunset.

The pickups! Yup… two of them. the Chopper T bridge pickup… what an angry pickup! This is what a rocking tele has been missing! Full of balls and body, an amazing sound but still true to the tele twang.. (somewhere in the back of the sound) that adds to the spectrum of the sound wave which probably covers every single hertz out there.

The neck pickup! Always my favourite tele pickup, you kinda get straty sounds out of it, I love SRV but I can’t play Strats… i find them uncomfortable, this pickup delivers that tone! And it can get to the breaking up point where you get a bit of distortion going on.

The bridge and neck pickup combined… series or parallel switch… i haven’t really explored it much, but this option makes it much more useful than a regular combined position.

This is the Tele for you if you want to rock out! If you feel that the regular bridge tele pickup holds you back.. then this guitar is for you

Now.. the Neck! Everyone says it’s massive! And… it’s definitely not small… but coming from Gibsons SG.. i say it’s pretty decently sized neck… it is a baseball neck for sure. But i’m starting to believe that bigger necks are faster and more comfortable to play… they fill your hand better… more ergonomic for sure.

The Frets! (Yup… 3rd time mentioning them) jumbo frets… bending… is as easy as abc. The size of them makes this neck very easy to play….

The Tuners! You can tell this guitar was designed by someone that actually uses his signature guitar… the tuners are a pleasure to use, just the perfect amount of “stiffness”. And they look incredible.

If you are in the market for a Tele… please do try one of these… I feel that this is what a Tele should be, this has to be the new standard.

And… made in Japan. Which… is great! Japanese gear has always been very high quality and it always feels a bit more “exclusive”.

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To Fuzz or no Fuzz – Solodalas Orbiter!

I’m not an expert on the fuzz world, but I always wanted one… when you watch those late 70s AC/DC videos, Angus guitar sounds like if he had a fuzz… barely turned on.

We all know that Angus never used a fuzz, but maybe the combination of poor recording quality or whatever other combination of stuff… makes his solos sound like if he had one.

So when Solodalas released his Fuzz… i got excited! Cause I know these guys are honest to the vintage sounds and they don’t really over do stuff… it’s always kind of sutile… but exceptionally noticeable! Kind of a weird balance.

I’m using this pedal in addition to the EX Tower, not to add more distortion nor fuzz… but just to push the amp and the tower a little but extra… like a hot biased tube.

This pedal apart from achieving great fuzz and sputter fuzz tones… gives you very nice and homely overdrives and sustain that is to die for!

I love this thing! I kinda wish it didn’t exist cause I’m not a pedal guy… I always try to minimise stuff that can go wrong in my rig…. i hate cables and stomping on things… but I’ll make this work… maybe velcro it to the amp or the top of the tower, because like all of their products.. it is something to always have ON.

The tone cleans up nicely when you roll down the guitar volume.. like if it wasn’t there.

This is a pedal to be bought! I absolutely love it!

Thank you Solodalas Team!

Orbiter Fuzz Pedal
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Gibson SG Special faded

2nd special SG in my collection, the first one was the ebony board one and this one.. was an accident.

I tend to place bids and then forget about them, 99% of the times I usually lose the bid… but this time it was collection only and the guitar was filthy

Look at that fretboard… filthy!

So based on those factors, no one really placed any bids and to my surprise… mine won :).

I went to pick it up not being too excited as I really didn’t want it, having so many standards and custom shops… I wasn’t excited about just a special faded.

But you know how it goes… when you least expected is when you are surprised the most (not always!). So I pick it up… take it home… and the next day I went for a cleanup, man… the amount of sweat on this fretboard, i had to scrape it off, then do lemon oil, then scrape a bit more…. Even the back of the neck had to be scraped! Being unsealed wood… they seem to pip up a lot of dirt.

Once the fretboard was clean

So once I finished with the neck… I did a good clean to the body, and then…. i used the instrument food from Monty’s guitar, again… as being unsealed wood… I was excited to try the clear instrument food.

It really made the grain stand out

I also used the coffee one on the fretboard because it give it a nice shade and males the pattern stand out.

After like 2 hours of cleaning and changing strings… I plugged it in, I loved it instantly. The neck is chunky just like the ebony special, the frets are well defined and on the big side, the pickups… Alnico II 490/498. i love these, much better than Alnico V which I believe the SG Standard comes with.

These specials are becoming my favourite! They do rock, you can beat them up a bit more , they are just a rocking machine with nothing fancy on them.

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Are Mods worth it?

Debatable! Of course… probably the most debatable subject on guitars, us musicians are weird people, we love one thing today and hate the same thing tomorrow and we start tweaking things until we go “oh man.. I loved how this thing sounded yesterday “ we are almost never happy with what we have for more than a week.

Well… sort of, we get used to a sound and this will sometimes stop causing an impression on us… when something blows your mind out it’s because it’s new… fresh… different. But we often just get bored and our brain sort of fills in the blanks and the sound just becomes “standard”.

I’ve experienced this many many times. Now… I’m in a different mind set… I have enough guitars and amps that I can just switch stuff around when it’s just not working… this made me understand that sometimes one thing sounds better than the other, it could be us… could be placebo… could be voltage, humidity.. who knows! But… I try not to tweak things (apart from volume, treble, mids, etc) I’ll just swap guitars… and try again.

I stopped modding guitars (as much as I can) the guitar has to feel right… if it doesn’t… there is no mod that will make it “better” or more suitable for you, and once you break that “mod seal” there is no going back… and there is no end on the amount of mods you can do!

One of my Custom Shops sounded just slightly darker than others and there was something about the volume pot that I didn’t like… but I love the guitar… it feels like home… but that volume pot…just.. was weird. So I changed it with a vintage spec 550k ohms, and boom! There it was… missing piece.. feels perfect.. never touched it again and I play it a lot!

I had another custom shop.. that came with 57 plus humbuckers.. which I hated.. too nasal and bright.. I went ahead and purchased some custom buckers and installed them… got rid of the 57s. It sounded better… but I still wasn’t getting along with the guitar… it felt “stiff”. I ended up selling it because when I kept “rotating” guitars… that one never ended up pleasing me.

I’m a true believer of “magic dust” inside the guitar… the good ol’ mojo… if it has it… then maybe some minor tweaks will be acceptable.. if it doesn’t have any “magic” or mojo… then I think no mod will make it much better.

I even try not to open the control cavity if I feel that the guitar is perfect… because you know what? “Ignorance is bliss” if you open that up and you notice something that you don’t visually like… you’ll want to change that.

Just today.. I bought an SG Special that I just love how it sounds! But the pots where a bit stiff because the guitar was filthy!! I did a whole clean up… but pots were still stiff… I opened the control cavity to put some contact cleaner… and guess what… there’s a PCB controlling the pots… I just put the contact cleaner to loose them up and close it quickly before I convinced myself of “upgrading” to one of those fancy wiring kits.

To mod or not to mod… that’s the question… go for the small upgrades… maybe a pot… maybe a bit of a clean… but you know what the best upgrade is? a new set of strings :). And a guitar that feels just right. If it doesn’t feel right.. it is not for you… sell it and buy another one

Most recent purchase
Another underdog
An unbeatable custom shop
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Gibson SG CME/Andertons Exclusive

Last week was my 40th birthday, I spent a great week with my wife, my kids (I didn’t have kids when I started this blog) we did all sorts of things, but every year I buy something for myself… like a self-present… however this year was a bit different because I already have everything I wanted.

I swear, I spend at least 1 hour per week browsing through ebay, reverb, etc. Looking at guitars, just seeing how the market is and what is available, but lately… nothing was catching my attention, I already have 10 SGs, 3 custom shops… a jaydee… I think I’m good in the SG department.

But… never say never…. Well… I never had a yellow SG, and who doesn’t like a TV Yellow SG!? Well… I couldn’t find one… but! Andertons in the UK and CME in the US, did a special run of SGs with some really cool colours, green, pink, black/purple-ish/yellow. So… I found one used and it was yellow :). These are a reissue of the 70s SGs, the square inlays, the neck, the slightly smaller frets, and… they created T-Top replica pickups which are somewhat unique.

I went ahead and pulled the trigger, drove an hour to pick it up, in fact I took my son and we saw some sheep and goats on the way, we had loads of fun.

I got the guitar and I instantly removed the old strings, gave it a good clean, a nice fretboard run with instrument food from Monty’s guitars, a bit of fret polish with nomad products, and man. It looks and feels incredible.

The frets are a bit on the low/small side… I got a heavy hand.. I need to work on this, so not my most comfortable guitar to play, but oh boy! Does it look cool!

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