Is it Korean or Chinese? Alternatively, what letter does the serial number start with?

1/27/2013 4:37:14 PM

The number on the back of the head is I06011034

1/29/2013 5:25:08 PM

Maybe 350 if it's mint. The I guitars are Saien and should be Korean, but being an '06 model it could also be the Chinese Saien plant.

1/29/2013 6:33:58 PM

Thankya

1/29/2013 10:30:39 PM

I've been wanting a PRS solid body electric for a long time. Does anyone have experience or an opinion on the SE 245? It's reasonably priced for a PRS and all the reviews I've read have been pretty great.



[Edited on January 31, 2013 at 12:46 AM. Reason : ?]

1/31/2013 12:40:41 AM

Make no mistake, an SE is not a PRS.

They're nice guitars for the money, though, and I've never played a bad one (though admittedly I've only played a few).

Just noticed that "245" is the scale length as well. What kind of guitars do you normally play? 24.5" is shorter than both the standard PRS and standard Gibson scale. Nothing wrong with that, but some folks don't like it.

[Edited on January 31, 2013 at 10:48 PM. Reason : 3]

1/31/2013 10:46:35 PM

Squire Affinity vs. Squire Bullet?

So, I've been learning bass and I'd like to pick up an inexpensive guitar, is there enough of a quality jump of the Affinity over the Bullet? I really like the strats, any suggestions?

2/2/2013 12:54:20 AM

my dad has a 1955 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop that he's thinking about selling. He bought it in 1980 for $200 lol and it's in impeccable shape. Not sure if he should or not at this point. He doesnt need the money, but it just sits there at his place and he doesnt play it

[Edited on February 2, 2013 at 1:02 AM. Reason : v]

2/2/2013 1:01:48 AM

^^ For what you'll pay for either of those, you're better off waiting a while and snagging a used Classic Vibe for a little extra scratch.

^ If he doesn't need the money, keep it. It's a five figure investment right now and in fifty years it'll be a six figure investment.

2/2/2013 1:12:11 AM

Can you replace a fixed bridge with one that has a tremolo on a Fender Strat?

2/2/2013 7:30:56 PM

yes

2/2/2013 7:41:28 PM

^^are you upgrading to a floyd rose, or similar?

2/3/2013 2:40:39 PM

^No. I don't play but want to learn. I was looking at a Squier Strat that does not have a tremolo which is not a big deal at the moment. But later if stick with it I would probably be something I'd want. I know lots of people dog Squier but I play a Squier bass and I like it. Anyway, any advice on the bridge or entry-level Strat is greatly appreciated.

2/3/2013 9:25:15 PM

You can put a tremelo system on almost any guitar, but if we're talking about a hardtail Squier that you can buy for under $200, you can buy another cheap Strat with a tremelo for less money than it'd take to get a decent set of tremelo hardware and do all the routing to your hardtail body.

2/4/2013 2:07:50 AM

^Good point, hadn't thought about the cost of decent bridge relative to the cost of the guitar. And, yes, it's a sub $200 model.

2/5/2013 12:11:33 AM

Just to quantify it, even a cheapish trem setup (meaning the bridge, arm, saddles, claw, & springs) is going to be $60+, plus a couple of hours of labor at $50/hr to rout and install.

2/5/2013 3:22:15 AM

all this advice coming from the dude who just had to convert his squier duo sonic to string-through. and i'm glad you did. favorite guitar ever.

2/5/2013 12:55:08 PM

what's a good entry level acoustic guitar with good construction that will last a while?

I remember my buddy who owned a lot of instruments always played an Ovation. I really liked the contoured design, it felt really comfortable. Do other makers have that shape or is that a characteristic of only Ovations?

2/18/2013 11:46:06 AM

Only Ovation, because they're fucking terrible. The shallow bowl models are comfy, yes, but they sound fucking horrific. Plastic is not a good material for a guitar.

I've always maintained that the best deals in budget acoustic guitars are from the Godin factory in Canada. That means Seagull, Norman, Art & Lutherie, Simon & Patrick, and Lapatrie brands.

I'm partial to the Seagulls. I've had an SM6 for many years, and it sounds wonderful. I think it was $300 brand new. Granted, that was fifteen years ago, but they make many nice guitars in the $300 range now that will last a lifetime.

Kim Deal from the Breeders and Ivan from the Rosebuds both still use their Seagulls as main acoustic guitars, and since the company was only founded in 1982, it's not like some American companies where the current production pales in comparison to classics from the '30s, etc.

That was a lot of rambling, the point of which being that there's a nice used Seagull at Guru Guitars on Hillsborough St.

2/18/2013 6:02:34 PM

Thanks! I'll look into those.

2/19/2013 12:36:41 PM

^ I have always loved my taylor big baby good entry level solid top guitar plus the neck construction is awesome.

2/23/2013 1:42:28 PM

I've been struggling to play Jimi Hendrix's Little Wing for over a month now. I just cant seem to find a tab or sheet music where it sounds like his recording. Anyone else struggle with this?

[Edited on February 23, 2013 at 6:14 PM. Reason : Z]

2/23/2013 6:13:33 PM

Tabs, even commercially produced ones, are wrong a majority of the time, especially in the case of unconventional players like Hendrix. You can use a book as a starting point, but at a certain point you're better off with some footage and trial & error.

2/23/2013 6:32:22 PM

Yea esp with Jimi, he'd play it slightly differently for each performance

2/23/2013 6:49:41 PM

Eh, almost everybody who's not backing up a pop/country singer is going to play things a little different every night.

Like I said, tabs are a good guide if you don't want to do everything by ear or are having trouble with a part, but they're usually written by classically-trained guys who can't think outside the box (or think like the less technical guitarists they're transcribing).

The official tab book for Nevermind is incredibly wrong on every page. It's pretty funny.

2/23/2013 6:53:39 PM

I've never really cared to recreate anyone else's playing that slavishly to that level of minutiae, anyway.
____________

So...I have an old Gretsch Corvette...like, mid-60s, I think. I took it to the shop for them to go through it, clean the electronics, do a setup, etc. I also wanted them to repair the tremolo bridge. I thought the spring bad broken/become disconnected, but there is apparently some other part broken in the bridge.

According to the repair guy, he did some research, and Gretches of that year came with either of two different trem bridges. I think one was a Bigsby, and the other (mine) is something else. He said he couldn't find parts for it.

Any ideas? Any places that specialize in vintage and/or Gretsch parts (or knowledge)?

2/23/2013 11:37:27 PM

Burns of London. They made some wild guitars, too.

Your best bet for parts is buying a whole new (old) unit. There was one on eBay that went unsold at $250 recently; I've seen them sell in the $160-200 range. For that much, you could get a Bigsby, but I don't know how you feel about modding the guitar.

2/24/2013 12:44:32 AM

Well, I inherited the guitar from my uncle, so I'll never sell it, but I think I'd prefer to preserve the originality to the max extent I can.

2/24/2013 2:16:12 AM

Not a guitar, but can anybody ID this controller?

3/3/2013 8:03:45 PM

NM BROS FIGURED IT OUT
http://www.teenageengineering.com/products/op-1

3/3/2013 8:06:29 PM

I COULD'VE TOLD YOU THAT

3/4/2013 2:36:17 AM

So, I had a rattle in my Hot Rod Deluxe...it's several years old now and was on the original tubes, so I figured it was a bad tube, but none of them were obviously microphonic when tapped on lightly. I swapped the pre-amp tubes around, and that didn't help. I couldn't find any mechanical rattles, so I took it to an electronics repair shop. He couldn't find anything, either, other than the back cover being kind of loose.

I ordered a new set of tubes and asked him to put them in and make sure the bias was set to 30 mV per tube.

Well, he didn't check the bias with the old tubes, but when he put the new tubes in (Groove Tubes 6L6, like OEM) and checked it, it was like 150 or 200 mV or something crazy. I can't even remember now, but it was WAY the fuck out there.

Understand that I bought the amp NIB, have never had the back cover off or changed the original tubes, and have never had anyone else work on it. Apparently Fender had the bias set WILDLY incorrectly from the factory.

3/17/2013 12:47:18 PM

For those discussing the entry level guitars, this is absolutely serious: the Hannah Montana product line is absolutely amazing in terms of cost and sound. I use my H. Montana BRC-25 acoustic model all the time, and it sounds amazing. It cost me around 75 new at Toys R Us about 2 years ago and it's still going strong. Seriously look into them.

3/17/2013 12:57:22 PM

Hipsters will be playing that shit at gigs soon if you aren't careful.

3/17/2013 1:38:55 PM

I bet you play a bunch of Clapton and SRV in your home, bro.

3/17/2013 1:41:53 PM

Are those 24" scale or are they 22.75"?

3/17/2013 4:34:03 PM

can someone recommend a triangle based luthier for set-ups and fret dressing?

4/30/2014 12:17:51 PM

I've been playing for over 25 years... started when I was 12.

But I get in ruts that last years... thinking about signing up for some online lessons. https://www.jackpearsonguitar.com/

I love Jack Pearson's slide technique. I sound like shit and played slide for 10 years. It's fricken hard. Especially since I never play w/ anyone else. Slide is hard to play alone.

4/30/2014 4:30:17 PM

^^Harry's is the only place I'd take it in Raleigh

^If I were you, I'd sign up for in-person lessons.

4/30/2014 4:52:12 PM

^^^ Guru on Hillsborough St. does all my stuff, but they're usually a 3-4 week wait on repairs.

5/1/2014 12:03:44 AM

i bought one of these to mess around with: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JF8QTNK

what kind of strings should i put on it to make it sound better? are there strings that are easier to play? i don't know anything about this stuff

[Edited on May 1, 2014 at 8:14 AM. Reason : .]

5/1/2014 8:11:17 AM

Lighter gauge strings will make it easier to play, but you probably don't want to go below 12-53 on an acoustic.

Certain strings might make it sound brighter, but strings alone won't make it sound better. A cheap guitar usually sounds like a cheap guitar (and there's nothing wrong with that).

5/1/2014 12:40:14 PM

imo, having a guitar setup properly with proper action has a much bigger impact on the ease of play than strings.

5/1/2014 12:54:33 PM

cool thanks. does brand matter much?

^
how do i do that?

it sounds pretty damn good for a $100 guitar, but i definitely want to get the most out of it

5/1/2014 1:25:08 PM

I mean depending on what you want to do with it, it may not be worth paying someone to set it up. Really depends. I got an Epiphone SG (nothing great but decent little guitar) for a steal because this kid said it played horribly. When I looked at buying it, the action was just set terribly and a few frets probably needed to be filed. Had my local guy set it up and fix a few frets for $30 and it plays really well now when I just want to play a different guitar for a change.

I would say that unless you are having a really hard time fretting then you're probably fine for now.

5/1/2014 2:40:27 PM

will better strings help with fretting? i do have a pretty tough time, even though my fingers are strong as fuck from rock climbing.

5/1/2014 3:21:16 PM

like vinyl said, lighter strings technically can make it a little easier to play, but you only have so much room to give and it's not really the right solution to the problem. You want a certain amount of tension in the strings for proper play (and sound depending on what you are doing) so there is only a small window of gauges I'd recommend depending on your setup and tuning.

If you are actually having a hard time playing, it could be worth having someone look at it who knows what they are looking at (even a fellow guitar playing friend) to see if it could benefit from being setup properly or if it's just how that particular guitar and bridge is made and other factors.

For example, sometimes you'll get a guitar that looks like this:



when it should look like this:



[Edited on May 1, 2014 at 3:55 PM. Reason : ]

5/1/2014 3:55:07 PM

gotcha. thanks dudes!

5/1/2014 4:42:48 PM

What's a good string gauge to tune a 25.5 scale guitar down to a drop b?

I've got:
http://www.amazon.com/DAddario-EXL120-3D-Nickel-Electric-Strings/dp/B000CC4JFS

On there now and things start to get sloppy on the low e even with a simple drop d tuning. The strings flop all over the place on anything lower and the sound muddies up considerably.

So short of looking for a baritone guitar what strings (brand and gauge) would you recommend to keep some tension on the strings when down tuned?

6/26/2014 8:37:33 PM

picked up a big muff last week as my first effects pedal. good thing the walls at my townhouse are paper thin and i love the sound of feedback

6/27/2014 4:48:42 PM