QuestionMark

L-00 guitars sound great! Thanks for sharing. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

I suspect you are correct. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

I just looked up Landola Guitars on the internet and they and their history look very interesting. Prior to your mentioning their name I had not heard of the brand, with it being a Finland company. Sounds like you got a great find with the guitar. Very cool! QM aka “ Jazzman” Jeff

I find each guitar responds differently and I adjust my playing with each guitar to get the sound I’m after at the moment. This follows the logic that the tone is in the hands, not necessarily in the guitar. Although, for sure different guitars sound different. But, adjusting my playing can also make the guitar sound different. This isn’t something that occurred at the beginning of my playing but, it can be part of the long term guitar playing journey, if one looks for it or discovers it (and develops it.) QM aka “ Jazzman” Jeff

I’m from Chicagoland.. They have a great reputation in Chicagoland as a seller of vintage, used, and new instruments. They know their stuff and they have a large stock of instruments. I don’t think you’ll get a steal of a price from them, but you’ll get a good instrument, good service, and a decent purchase price for the satisfaction you’ll get. I purchased one new instrument from them and they were great to buy from. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

That’s a beautiful guitar! Congratulations! QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

How true. What is also true is some are unable to understand that marketing of certain guitars is just marketing stuff. I’ve been a finger picker guitarist since I was 10 years old. Finger picking can be used on any style of guitar. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

It seemed like a true jam. Everyone listening to what another was playing and jamming on from there. Maybe a little bit of discussion ahead of time on who’s take what verse or solo. Very cool. QM aka “ Jazzman” Jeff

But I agree with Question Mark (I wonder how the Mysterians are doing) ——————————————————— Zombywoof-I can’t answer. Just like our fellow poster Sgt Pepper is not really the actual Sgt Pepper but only uses the moniker, I too am not the real Question Mark of ? & the Mysterians, etc. ( But, I am the real “Jazzman” Jeff. The reason I now sign my name as QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff after originally using the moniker Question Mark in tribute to ? & the Mysterians back when the forum was new, circa 2000’ish. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

I regularly retune my two Epiphone EL 00s, my Martin 00L X2E, and my Gibson J45 to an open G during my sets for some songs. However, I retune them back to standard or loosen to high tension strings afterwards. I use Martin Authentic Acoustic Mediums on my J-45, Martin Authentic Acoustic Light/Mediums on one of EL-00s, Martin Authentic Acoustic Lights on the other EL-00, and Custom Mediums (John Pearce ones) on my Martin 00L X2E. I’ve never experienced any issues. My suggestion is to simply retune back down or loosen the high tension strings when not playing/storing. Or, another option is to use Lights, but use a 2nd string in place of the 1st string besides the normal 2nd string on the new string…as really the only string that seems to need greater tension for slide is generally the first string. I hope this helps. QM aka “ Jazzman Jeff

I like the way the handmade in Mexico Martins look and play.. No frills, high quality solid spruce tops (true they have no finish, but they sound really good and still sound like Martins), technologically engineered and eco friendly wood sides, back and neck that actually sonically sound good, nice shaped neck. They pay homage to traditions while still being modern eco friendly guitars while still playing/sounding like Martins. Martin is way ahead of the pack with their innovations on their made in Mexico guitars and they’re handmade to boot, not machine made. Sgt. Pepper, we differ on this one pertaining to how Martins look that are made in Mexico. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

It’s some kind of synthetic. They called it synthetic bone on both the EL-00 and EL-00 Pro. Probably it’s some form of tusq. Although, I changed mine out from its original saddle to a tusq saddle that cost about $15 that seemed to have more density to it and gave it more depth and volume to the sound, and seemed to fit tighter. I’m not aware that the EL-00 and the EL-00 Pro differed in their saddle. My understanding is that the main differences between the non-Pro and the Pro was that the Pro (which replaced the non-Pro) had a pickup and a D shaped neck while the non-Pro had no pick up and a C shaped neck. Plus, the Pro had a slightly wider nut than the non-Pro’s 1.6875’ nut. BTW, there originally was a different EL-00 shape circa or pre-2005 for a year or so that had a slightly different body shape than the EL-00 or EL-00 Pro shape of the ones we haven’t accustomed to normally seeing these days. (Jinder, on this forum used to own one of the different shaped EL-00s.) QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

I like using wood bridge pins on all of my guitars on the simple premise that adding a little extra wood on the top can only help the guitar’s sound, even if only a little bit, as opposed to the unknown sound attributes of the other materials that are, of course, bridge pin options. Just my perspective. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

I hear a lot of music genius in the early Beatles. Original songs like “I’ll Follow the Sun”, “Please Don’t Wear Red Tonight”, the complex musical ending of “ She Loves You”, “This Boy Wants You Back Again” and, the list goes on is musical genius stuff. And, that’s besides the phenomenal early harmonies on covers like “Words of Love”, “Mr. Moonlight” “”You Really Got a Hold on Me” and the pure rock n’ roll of “Twist & Shout”, “Roll Over Beethoven”. Don’t get me wrong, the Beatles certainly tremendously grew with Rubber Soul. But, there was genius in the early Beatles, too. Regarding the Stones, and were monumental in bringing blues to main stream white youth, myself included, to further explore Muddy Waters, Son House for sure. And, when they took the leap to Jagger-Richards originals, their great creativity and potential took the giant leap that the mainstream appreciates, today. Just my perspective. It’s all great music! QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

I guess, I’m in the minority on the new Neil Young song. While the song certainly has the Neil Young sound and feel to it, and it is a nice song…this particular song itself seems to go nowhere to me. Just my impression. This new Robert Plant/Allison Kraus song seems to hit the mark much better from an old rocker (although Allison Kraus seems to kinda be missing in it.) QM aka “ Jazzman” Jeff

Cool! Thanks for the update! Glad it came out well! QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

Try Stewart McDonald for replacement saddles. They have a good stock and variety of then. An internet search Stewart McDonald should find them. You may need to guess the width size, but you can always file it to fit if needed if it’s too big. Hope this helps. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

Epiphones made in Japan were from the 1970s. Hope that helps. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

I missed that. Well that’s plain weird, then. And, a sign that the neck may not be an authentic Gibson neck for sure if it blank under the headstock truss rod cover. The mystery guitar does then appear to likely be a counterfeit and not a Frankenstein guitar. But, as Jinder and others said, it only cost $300 and the seller advised upfront it likely wasn’t authentic, and the original poster said it sounds good…so just enjoy playing it for what it is. (And, should it ever be sold, again, clearly let potential buyers know it’s a counterfeit and not an authentic Gibson, so no one has a chance of possibly getting duped.) QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

The thing is, the photo of inside the body seems to show a truss rod adjustment part inside the body…but, that appears to be part of the body, and we know the body is fake. It’s not clear if that adjustment piece in the body actually is functionally going up inside into the neck or just a non-functional remnant from the foreign body. I wonder what it looks like looking under the truss rod cover on the headstock. If it shows a normal truss rod adjustment nut from that angle. I’m wondering if the adjustment from inside the guitars is just a non-functional remnant from a guitar body that had a truss rod adjustment from inside it because that neck does look potentially like a Gibson neck and the truss rod adjustment piece we’re looking at from inside the guitar’s body seems attached to a non-Gibson body and certainly not a Gibson body. It would be interesting if the original poster took off the truss rod cover by the neck to show what it looks like there. The neck may potentially still have an original Gibson truss rod still in it not even attached to the remnant body part shown in the photo for all we know. Dunno. All speculation. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

Well they are all in that counterfeit realm, I was just splitting hairs. What makes me think the neck might be a Gibson neck is the inlays, headstock shape, and even the point on the bottom of the neck look legit, although the point looks like it was broken and glued…speculating that the neck was removed from a prior guitar. Or, when maybe an original Gibson body was removed from the neck. Any speculation that the neck is a fake Gibson neck? Usually fake Gibson necks have something off about them. Rerouting it reversing the truss rod direction to fit a foreign body doesn’t necessarily qualify the neck as fake, but rather a strange thang, if that’s what someone did to this Frankenstein instrument. The body certainly is not a Gibson body. Am curious if anyone or the original poster notices anything strange or off about the headstock shape or lettering or fret markers to quantify the Gibson neck as a fake other than a possible reversed truss rod, as we all seem to quantify that for sure the body is not a Gibson body. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

I'd refer to it as a Frankenstein guitar, not necessarily a counterfeit or a knock-off. A counterfeit would be where the seller claimed it was a Gibson, which didn't seem to happen. Or, if someone took an Epiphone and tried to doctor it to pass it off as a Gibson. A knock-off would be another brand imitating a Gibson. This one appears to be a Frankenstein guitar as it appears to be assembled from different brand parts (ie. the neck is from a Gibson, the body is from ?). That's my take on it. QM aka "Jazzman" Jeff

If wonder if your guitar has a lifetime warranty if you or your parents purchased it new and someone filed its new guitar warranty info with Gibson/Epiphone on your behalf. And, if so, if Gibson/Epiphone has a record of it. I suggest contacting Epiphone customer service in Nashville. In 1972 Epiphone was outsourcing its guitar manufacturing to Japan while its headquarters was still in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I not familiar with what their warrantee was at that time nor how their record keeping transferred when Epiphone headquarters moved to Nashville, but its worth a try for you to try with nothing to lose by calling Epiphone customer service in Nashville. Epiphone’s parent company, Gibson still makes some Gibson guitars with adjustable bridges. I wonder if you can get Gibson Epiphone to repair your guitar with one of those replacement adjustable bridges used on Gibsons either under a new guitar warrantee or if not, for a fee with an Epiphone authorized repair person or center. Might cost a bit, but if you really want it repaired, maybe worth looking it. Keep us posted what occurs if you contact Epiphone customer service in Nashville, TN. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

I thought the video, song, pairing, instrumentation (especially the accordion sound, Mellencamp’s strum in there, and that quiet electric guitar in there)), guitars being played, and soul from these two was awesome. And, the irony parallel of Springsteen once singing Glory Days to now singing Wasted Days down the timeline with Mellencamp was duly noted as totally soulful and felt truthfully portrayed as a bit of self reflection by both and way coool! The whole thing was way coool! QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

Probably not a Gibson, at that price but maybe a bit of a Frankenstein/pieced together guitar that used a Gibson neck and sounds and plays well. Sounds like the seller expressed his doubt it was a full Gibson, too, based on what you said he said. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff