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Archive for the ‘Guitars’ Category

When I was 14 years old I had the economic power of a Beagle and would basically write to guitar companies requesting brochures to drool over. Mark Knopfler once said he actually knows what a Fender Catalog smells like. Well so do I. I also know what the envelope smelt like when you opened them, back in the days when you got your post within 48 hours of it being sent.

My biggest brochure haul was probably in 1984, I had big colour catalogs from Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, Aria, Yamaha, Tokai, Marshall, Peavey, Trace Elliot etc etc.

Funnily enough unlike the previous generations of guitarists who coveted Fenders and Gibsons, by 1984 the American ‘Big Two’ were pretty much on their knees. Fender in particular struggled to make guitars people liked and in the throes of 80’s pre Slash Rock, few people were wanting to buy a Gibson Les Paul. American Rockers were using Charvel/Jacksons and they were not widely available outside of thew US until 1986.

Instead the most sexy guitars in the brochures to me were Japanese made, the likes of the Ibanez Roadstar and Yamaha SG series. I lusted after the Yamaha SG in particular, I thought it looked prettier than a Gibson and somehow more modern. I watched some footage of Live Aid the other day and its amazing that the majority of Fenders/Gibsons you see on stage are old ones. All the new guitars are Schecters built in Japan or Japanese brands like Ibanez and Yamaha.

Recently I read a section in Tom Wheelers fine book, “The Stratocaster Chronicles”, where its revealed that during Fenders management buyout of 1985 several top people at Fender were convinced that like with the motorcycle industry and Camera Industry, the Japanese would eventually take over, and American made guitars would cease to be.

But this never happened perhaps due to the likes of Paul Reed Smith and the resurgence of Fender, coupled with a change of ownership at Gibson. It was not to be. In the late 1980’s Ibanez nailed their colours to the poodle permed widdle rock mast and became hugely popular. However post 1989, sales of Ibanez RG’s and Jems nosedived as guitarists wanted more traditional instruments. Grunge and Guns & Roses putting the final nails in that coffin.

In addition, the almost racist snobbery concering Japanese guitars in America, coupled with rising production costs in Japan has meant that Japanese instruments new did not have the cost factor anymore. So the likes of Ibanez and Yamaha moved production of much of their guitars to other countries such as Korea and Taiwan.

Of late I’ve been doing some thinking. My Japanese built Fender Richie Kotzen Telecaster has spoiled me to other guitars, particulaly my Les Paul which seems less consistant in use as a day to day road guitar the more I use it. But I’ve been thinking a lot about the Japanese instruments I have owned and somethings dawned on me.

The truth is that the most reliable, most well made guitars I have owned have not been from Fullerton, or Nashville, but from Nagoya.

This has been a revelation to me. So much so I’m selling my much loved, but rarely played Les Paul and using the cash to buy a couple of different instruments.

Top of my list has to be a Yamaha SG1000. Essentially this is a double cutaway modernist take on a Gibson Les Paul. I’ve played a few of these and they a re built like tanks. Sure they are heavy, but they are impeccably made can take the punishment and deliver the goods. But they are also incredibly cheap secondhand. Its not Classic Rock, but for a guitarist in an alternative rock band, the SG’s modernist credentials take some beating.

Bang per buck these are incredible buys used, an SG1000 in good nick goes for around £500, A neck thru SG2000 around £600 these are guitars with the same build quality and similar spec to a Gibson Les Paul or a PRS Singlecut. Yet is used price is half of an LP and about a third of a Singlecut. Thats like buying a Lexus for the price of a used Mondeo?

I wonder if it wasn’t for the fact that most guitarbooks are published by Americans, would these instruments have more Kudo’s about them? Its surely just cultural supremacy at work?

A quick search on Ebay reveals that a mid 1980’s Ibanez Roadstar sells for about £150.00!

Thats a fifth of the price of a US Strat!

People are getting wise though, many like myself have been through the Classic American guitar ownership experience and after disconnecting from the brand name have cottened onto something.

In addition there are some Japanese guitar companies like Sugi, who have worked out that the secret is to charge a lot for your well made instrument and have attracted the likes of Robben Ford to their one off creations. Yamaha themselves have recently discontinued the SG series and they now only make it as a special order in the factory where they handmake acoustic guitars.

I’ve not given up on the £500 strat challenge, but call this a pleasant diversion.

The Challenge: With a budget of just £500, our intrepid Hero (of Switzerland) has to find a good used Fender Stratocaster or S-type guitar with modern pickup voicings and high build quality to use onstage and in the studio.

I went to Denmark Street on Thursday and had a couple of hours wandering about drooling and gurning to myself. Along the way I managed to play 2 guitars off my Stratocaster shortlist with suprising results.

First off Music Ground had an 1989 Fender Eric Clapton Strat in stock for £895, this is the mark 1 version with Lace Sensor pickups and TBX tone/boost controls. Although American made, the only difference I can see between this guitar and the current Fender J Craft (domestic model)ST54-100LS (unofficial) Clapton guitar is that the modern Japanese one has a 3 piece alder body as opposed to the American’s 2 piece alder body. Neck, frets, hardware, pickups, materials and colours all seem identical.

The supposed 1 piece maple hard ‘V’ neck was not as extreme as I’d heard. Comfy in the hand and very playable. My only niggle is I would prefer Jumbo frets as I’ve got used to them on my Kotzen Tele and I think they make the guitar more expressive to play. The Claptons vintage style small frets will soon wear down with the kinda punishment I give a guitar. So a refret may become a priority.

The scratchplate was 1 ply and nasty, and I’d replace that for a modern 3 ply in black. But the Fender Gold Lace Sensors are superb. The pickup tones were modern, clear and sparkly…..crystalline even. A hard on blues guy might prefer a set of Kinman AV100n’s or Fender’s own Texas Specials, but for the style of music I play, they really fit. Back in the late 80’s Lace Sensors were the archetypal competitor to things like EMG’s and although some may find them too much… almost brimming with fidellity. I really liked both the tone and the harmonic response, running through the test amp, a Hi-Watt 50 combo, every note felt warm fat and fluid.

Niggles? Well aside from that scratchplate and perhaps the small 50’s style frets…..its perfect. Definetly at the top of my list. However…not this one at £895. I can buy a new Japanese Clapton for around £500. I love Denmark Street, but I accept they have to price guitars a certain way. But blowing a grand on this when I can have a new one made by a bloke called Yuko as opposed to a bloke called Hank is meaningless.

I have, however, crossed off the Levinson Blade RH-4. It looks great….but….

World Guitars in Denmark Street kindly let me try theirs. Resplendent in Strawberry Red, it was a lovely colour. As I’ve been watching a used Blade RH-4 on Ebay which eventually went for just £410.00 used, I really saw the Levinson Blade as a very strong contender.

Essentially an upspecked high performance stratocaster. With 2 single coils & 1 Humbucker, VSC active electronics, Locking Sperzel machine heads and a fulcrum type trem. This would be a hell of a lot of guitar for the money.

Back in the late 1980’s Designer Gary Levinsons original marketing schtick was that as a Swiss industrial designer, he’d designed watches and cars and furniture and other machinery and so sorted out the few niggles in Leo Fenders original design, and so what remained was the ultimate S-type guitar, one that oozed pure performance. The adverts would read

“Blade, Original Concepts by Gary Levinson, Switzerland”.

Accompanyed with a picture of Gary in his trendy architects glasses holding his Swiss designed guitar. So people thought of Swiss Watches, even though all his original guitars were made under contract by the same people who make J-Craft Ibanez’s and Japanese Fenders. But as guitar makers are now brand management companies, he charged pretty high prices for them.

As expected I found this Japanese built example I tried to be of faultless construction and very tidy in fit and finish. There were 2….well 3 very very big issues…

1: The weight – The 2 piece Sen Ash body looked grainy and great under its strawberry finish but weighed about 9lbs, thats fine on a Les Paul, but on a Strat? Maybe if your sitting in the pit orchestra in the London Palladium, counting bars and waiting for your takeaway to arrive before the interval….. you can get away with it, but on a strap onstage for 90 mins? I think not!

2: The Neck – Characterless it perhaps the best description. A slim, but wide ‘D’ profile, it felt less “stratocaster” like than one could imagine a strat type guitar to be. If I closed my eyes I felt like I was playing a mid 80’s Japanese Charvel/Jackson clone like a Washburn Mercury or Aria Pro II. Y’know a cheap 80’s pointy headstock widdly widdly guitar. Fast maybe…..but not nice. It was well put together, but the weighty Sen Ash body just reminded me of a very bad 70’s Strat.

3 :The Electronics – They seemed confusing at first, versatile yes, but I’d sooner have 5 useable tones than 24 crap ones. A 5 way pickup selector with 1 volume, 1 tone and a 3 way mini toggle with a choice of cut/boost or standard. Some of the glassy clean tones were nice, but as soon as I changed to an overdriven sound the guitar lost it big time.

All the rumours I’d heard about the pickups being crap were spot on. They lacked bite and for high gain work failed to overdrive the test amp, the shops Orange AD30 combo. They really sounded too bright and again characterless. Normally with a humbucker in the bridge I would expect a big Fat strident sound….nothing of the sort here. I’d seen quite a few used Blades retrofitted with EMG’s, but even if I changed the pickups, the neck felt horrible and it was way too heavy. It looks beautiful….but like a pretty dress and good makeup on an ugly girl, the truth came to the surface after a very short time together.

With a new price tag of £1225.00 I was dissapointed. What surprised me was that Blade do a cheaper Korean made range of guitars. The korean made S-type on display next to the RH-4 looked as though it had the same electronics and pickups for just £500 new, so why on earth you’d pay any extra for the RH-4 is beyond me. The new style headstock is ugly too. Like a kitchenknife gone wrong.

Looks like Fullerton are ahead of Switzerland on this one. To be continued…

After having had My Gibson Les Paul set up at Chandlers and consiquently falling back in love with it, I’ve decided not to sell it. I did actually tried gigging it on Saturday night in Blackpool and I’ve come to the conclusion that while its a fine guitar, it does not cut through the mix as well as my Telecaster and is therefore no use as a gigging axe in my current band.

So needing a good backup guitar soonish. I’ve decided my next guitar will likely be a Stratocaster or good variant, however I want one with certain specifications. My ideal Strat if I had the cash to splash at the Fender Custom Shop would feature.

A 22 Fret neck, ideally with Jumbo Fretwire (string bends are easier and it feels more expressive)

Either a humbucker in the Bridge Pickup, or an active boost of some kind, maybe those nice SCN pickups and S-1 switching of the American Deluxe Strats.

A modern Radius (ie:flatter) fingerboard profile on a traditional late 50’s, soft ‘V’ neck profile.

Locking machine heads and a modern Trem

It would be black with a black scratchplate and look all mean

A vintage tinted neck with a Brazilian Pau Ferro fingerboard (ok I’m getting really silly here)

However I don’t have £3000.00 to spend! The most I’m gonna spend on said instrument is likely to be around £500….. ish , so in order to get maximum bang per buck, I’m going for either the secondhand market or the grey import one.

So far I’ve narrowed it down to the following instruments

1: Fender J-Craft Clapton. The japanese version of Erics signature strat has a V neck, active preamp and Lace Sensors which IMHO piss all over the current Clapton models choice of Fenders own “Noiseless” single coils.

Basically its a japanese built mark 1 Clapton Strat. Now these are so cheap I can get a new one for £500. Its got the active boost to give me fat humbucker type tones and a V neck. Would change that shitty 1 ply scratchplate though.

2: Levinson Blade RH2/RH4. A japanese built classic from the late 80’s. Blades are very popular with session musicians and working pro guitarists alike, they don’t have many rockstar endorsees but chances are, if your in the pit band in Miss Saigon, you own one of these.

Featuring a 22 fret neck, Jumbo frets, a fabulous build and Blades own VSC active electronics. The Blade is the dark horse here. The biggest drawback is their residual value. The prices seem all over the place used. A quick scan of Ebay shows used prices from £500-900 depending on condition. Thats a lot of variation for a rather unfashionable guitar. But its a lot of guitar for the money.

Downsides? I’ve heard that the pickups are a bit clinical sounding and seen quite a few guitars retrofitted with EMG’s. Lookswise its a bit dated now. But its features in this price range make it a serious contender.

3: Used American Deluxe Strat. The V neck version is probably my ideal guitar but think some of the the colour schemes are rank. That gold adonised scratchplate looks nice in the dealership, but wil look like shit after 3 months of gigging.

Plus factors? Loved the SCN pickups and S-1 switching, the soft V neck was ace on the guitar I tried last year. However most guitars on the used market will have a modern C profile neck, which feels too small for my big hands. The credit crunch in Britain means I am seeing quite a few of these in the classifieds going for reasonable prices as Barry defaults on his mortgage payments and under pressure from the wife decides to use his Squier silver series instead.

Downsides? The earlier American Deluxe Strats feature the same Fender “Noiseless” pickups as the later Clapton Strats, these are best described as tight sounding and scratchy and are to be avoided, unless you factor a complete pickup retrofit into your budget, and that would be at least another £150. EEEEK!

And finally

4: Fender Lone Star/Texas Fat Strat. A late 90’s classic variation on a theme. Its also the devil I know as a mate of mine owns one of these and they are amazing tonally. The Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates HB + 2 Texas Special single coils give incredible versatility. It literally can do anything tonally, one of the few guitars made with hot pickups, where an element of thought has gone into how the pickups interact with each other.

Downsides? As with the American Deluxe, I’m not a fan of Fenders modern C shape Profile. Also the body carve looks a bit boxy and square on the examples I’ve tried. Also its getting on for a 10 year old guitar, so finding a clean one may be difficult.

I’ll update this blog as I try these beauties out and give my conclusions here.

Adios!

It’s something we guitarists never expect, but 4 years ago I blew a grand on a Gibson Les Paul Classic, now this was back in the days when such instruments cost about £1300 and we hadn’t gotten used to the sub grand Les Paul in the UK, the dollar being slightly higher then. At the time I paid a very good price for a beautiful guitar. I’d taken my time and gone through 20 instruments to buy her. I used her on many gigs as my main guitar and also the demo’s I was recording at the time.

Then about 2 years ago I realised I needed something with a bit more bite….A telecaster was the answer. After being underwhelmed by Fenders modern American series. I tried a Japanese Grey import 52…with a huge beefy U shaped neck profile….it was love..apart from a few issues….I wanted to change the 3 saddled bridge to a modern one, then maybe put a in a humbucker, like a Hot Rails or something…well somebody else had chanced upon the same idea as me and had similar tastes he’s called Richie Kotzen, hairspray model, former member of Poison/Mr Big and legend in Japan. I’m not normally into the idea of signature guitars, but Mr Kotzen seemed to have a very similar set of tastes to mine. His tele had a phase switch on the bucker giving fat or thin type sounds, plus a contoured body with bound top and jumbo frets so despite the huge neck widdling potential is assured…..

However the guitar is only intended for the Japnese market…..so after some considerable research….before too long I’d located a dealer who would export to the UK and was bashing the plastic at Ishibashi music and 3 days later my dream Telecaster arrived.

Now 2 years into ownership and the Tele is my main guitar, which is something of a problem….after getting used to that huge neck….the Gibbo’s slinky 60’s profile feels way too small, so guess what….I never play her. My grands worth of Les Paul idles away in its case untouched for months on end. Last time she was seriously used in anger was for some recording last year.

So with the release by Fender Japan of the Richie Kotzen Stratocaster, a similar, ash bodied, Huge necked guitar with custome wound DiMarzio’s I’m starting to think that nows the time to flog the Les Paul and get another Kotzen signature Axe…?

To Be Continued…

An R9 Gibson 59 Les Paul reissue, bigger frets than on a 58, but still with a big neck profile….Mmmmnnn mighty good. This ones for sale at Merchant City Music for £3700.00 however I’d be tempted to get a plane ticket to new york, where said guitar will likely cost $3700.00 and spend the change appeasing your wife/partner/bank manager. Although expect to pay around 23% of the guitars price in Duty/VAT at the other end…..no messing with Customs & Excise now….those gloves are cold;)