pippy

OK; for anyone who is interested here are a few detail shots; Pip.

Thanks for the nice words, folks! I've just double-checked the width of the fretboard and it's not the 2" as per the description - it's actually just a ba' hair over 1 7/8" tapering out to 2 3/8" at the soundhole. Yes, Bill; the casket! Hey; anything that cuts down on funeral expenses is fine with me. I took those snaps in a bit of a rush just after I got home with the thing but when I get a mo' I'll take a few detail pics; there are loads of little touches which are really smart. By the way I've just noticed I didn't say exactly what it is in the OP..................senility is advancing. Obviously it's a Washburn - an R315kk which was part of the 125th anniversary releases in 2008. Essentially it is an homage to the sort of Parlour guitar that Washburn was crafting around 1890 - 1900 - hence the weird triangular neck profile. Top is Spruce; 'board and bridge are Ebony; neck is mahogany; back and sides are (apparently) Trembesi (which is sometimes called East Indian Walnut) with Mother of Pearl inlays to 'board and peghead and what appears to be genuine abalone rosette inlay and rope-inlay purfling to body and back. Pip.

Saw this wee parlour guitar and couldn't resist. Neck is almost triangular and 2" wide so very different from anything I've ever owned before. Only played it for 15 mins or so but it sounds really nice. Strings are new but feel heavier than I like so will probably swap them out tomorrow. The gratuitous snaps (starting with one of the case for rct...) Pip.

You have dented your guitar. Hard. A few times. Is that not really obvious to you? Pip.

Very Nice, Sparky! HNGD! Looks good and I'm sure she sounds The Business! Pip.

Hey Andy! Great to see you around! Nice looking Standard. I'm sure others have already / will be able to point you in the right direction as far as the covers are concerned. Best wishes! Pip.

Can you remember if the guitar had an ABR-1 and stop-bar tailpiece? If so we can narrow it down quite a bit. This arrangement took over from the McCarty Bridge (i.e. the one-piece bridge / stop-bar) in 1956. P-90s were dropped from the Gold-Top after '56. From '57 they came with humbuckers so it couldn't have been a '58. The Gold-Top did come out in '68 with P-90s so it's quite likely that yours was one of these. Here's a snap of one; Pip.

...and why (most) Fender guitars like the Strat and Tele had / have one string tee on the first two strings (and, later on, had two string tees for the first four strings set in pairs)?... Pip.

Good for you! It looks very much like Lacewood (or whatever it's called) to my untrained eye and I'm sure it can be turned in to a spectacular guitar. Not really wanting to come over all 'commercial' but using locally-sourced wood will be a VERY good selling point in the market-place for the young adults of today (and any offspring they, in turn, might have) because the upcoming generation are clearly far more up to speed on the needs for sustainability than any previous generation. Pip.

Done. I was a bit surprised as I've never actually used f'book (long, boring story) and haven't accessed my f'book page for about 7 years but, astonishingly, it was still active... Best of good fortune with the project, Rabs! Pip.

Yes, m-e, when I think about it you are quite correct. I, too, remember there being many posts quite a few years ago where folks had experienced tuning problems due to badly cut nuts (I'm guessing there was no more to it than that). I wonder if there was a different method being used to cut the slots for both the instruments made prior to a particular date and also since a particular date? All my Les Pauls were made before end-of-play 1995 so perhaps nut-fitment underwent a slight chance in terms of procedure at the factory after this date? Perhaps Gibson has managed to get on top of the early niggles with the PLEK system as I don't remember having seen any nut-ping-problem-posts for a few years now. So if I read the situation correct the straight-through system seems, in essence, simply to be less prone to nut issues but a properly cut nut on the Gibson type peghead should make their style just as stable as a properly cut Fender style? That would make sense from the point of view of my own experience. Thanks, both, for the replies! Pip.

Pip.

Well, we're going a bit off-topic here so profuse apologies to the OP in advance but no, I don't think so, Bill. A couple of weeks ago, by way of a PM, MacMutt / Wild Bill / Madclapper invited me out for a spot of lunch; ...so I don't think the current post holds any interest whatsoever for our oft-banned yet resiliently boomeranging CAps_LocK-lOVIng lunatic. How sad. And how long do you reckon he can last this time before the Ban-Stick is given another outing for this quaintly charming buffoon?... Pip.

Perhaps you (or anyone else!) could help me out in understanding something here, m-e. And I'm not trying to be funny; I'm being perfectly serious. For the first 5 years of my life as a player I used only guitars with 'Gibson'-style string-path headstocks. For the next 25 years I played both these style and also straight-path but mostly, say 90%, straight-path - and almost all of them Strats. For the last 15 years I've been playing both styles but mostly (80%?) Gibson style. I've never ever noticed nor felt that one style was inherently, intrinsically better than the other style. I've just had a little play on some Gibsons; a couple of Fenders, the D'angelico and the Di Mauro and I can't notice nor feel anything different. What are the advantages of a straight-path headstock? I have no problems with tuning stability; no issues with sticking nuts; no issues at all. What am I missing? Pip.

Yup. Pip.

Very possibly but it might have been a good idea. It all came about when Henry and his chums were trying out different weight-relief ideas. One Chromyte dead-end was the Les Paul Lite (and assorted variations thereof) and folks who have them really rate them highly. If there WAS an Epi like the US-1 it might be worth a punt. The resale value for Epi Strats isn't going to stretch anyone's purse-strings. Mine (mentioned above), bought through a south London dealership a few years ago, cost $120. Pip.

It all depends on how close, exactly, you are thinking. There have been a great number of Strat-style Epi's released over the years and especially the 1980's - I have one (SSS) myself as a matter of fact - but I've never seen one exactly the same as that; i.e. made from Chromyte and with a figured top. I think I am correct in saying that Gibson coined the name 'Chromyte' to try to make Balsa-wood (hence the light weight as mentioned) seem more acceptable to their buyers. The closest I have seen to the one pictured is probably the Epi X-1000. Have a google... https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrCwPPt.BldHiYAXiQPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTB0N2Noc21lBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p=epiphone+x-1000&type=1653128145&hspart=pty&hsimp=yhs-pty_extension&param1=20190509&param2=e46f5c25-37a3-45d7-8cbb-15fba3e7347b&param3=email_~GB~appfocus1&param4=d-ccc3-lp0-r2-cp_1653128145-bb8-dc2~Firefox~epiphone+x-1000~D41D8CD98F00B204E9800998ECF8427E&ei=UTF-8&fr=yhs-pty-pty_extension Pip.

Yet another vote for LS. I thought the arrangement of the Shinedown version was boring but even worse was the style of the vocalist which I found to be very irritating. I could only bear to listen to about the first minute-and-a-half before I had to skip to the end to see if git got any better. But it didn't. The Warren Haynes version's a pretty good effort but at 8 1/2 minutes it's too long by far for one of Skynyrd's less interesting tracks IMO. As far as Tekboy's mention of 'I know a Little'; I remember trying to learn the Steve Gaines bits and..................well, let's just say that it was a bit of a 'reality-check'....... Pip.

Well it's easy to see that you aren't the chef Chez Vous.... Pip.

No Idea. How well can you play guitar? Pip.

I'm so terribly sorry, Bill. That was a typo. I meant to type 'Onion'. Pip.

Fine by me. Suggest something yourself. Hopefully you can suggest something which will sort everything out. Pip.

Your guess is wholly wrong and I've never yet found it neccessary to take anyone to court to achieve a satisfactory outcome. Good manners, politeness, a well-reasoned discussion and a smattering of common sense always seems to win the day IMX. YMMV. Philip.

Yup. I have absolutely no idea how much the law firm employed by Gibson charges by the hour but perhaps it's time for Gibson to consider the financial implications of dragging this case through every court in every country in every continent of the world. I'm no Ivy League educated lawyer but even I realise that Gibson have less than a snowball's chance in Hell of, ultimately, being victorious in this crusade - whether they are in the wrong or in the right. A precedent has now been not only set but, after reconsidering various matters on appeal, reaffirmed by the Supreme Courts which officiate in these matters for all European markets. Time Out for a serious rethink, chaps. Pip.

In which case why are you even bothering to ask the question as to what to do? Take it back and demand a refund. If you were sold damaged goods then you must, by law, get your money back. The response 'They are all like that' is demonstrably not true because they are not all like that. Nor should you be expected to accept faulty goods. Take it back. Get a refund. Threaten court proceedings if neccesary. If they call your bluff then instigate court proceedings. It's really not that difficult. They WILL lose. The ball is now in your court. Please let us know how you get on. Pip.