Filbert

I was umming and ahhing over whether to get one of those Tone Master amps. I guess the all important question is, does it sound like a 'genuine' tube amp even at lower volumes? Might get one of the new Vox Cambridge50's - a similar concept to the Tone Master - has a faux vacuum tube in it and an AC30 emulation. Give the price of an actual AC30, it is a tempting alternative.

I got a Special a couple of months ago and I think it's great. I'm glad that Gibson are going back to basics and putting out well-made, quality, decent sounding guitars at an affordable price.

You have precisely one topic that no-one has replied to. And that could be for a multitude of reasons; maybe people didn't feel the need to comment beyond what you posted, maybe no-one felt there was any worth in discussing it further. That's the nature of forums; sometimes people will find a topic engaging, sometimes they won't. I wouldn't take it so personally. It doesn't help that this is a fairly low traffic'ed site anyway, so there aren't many pairs of eyes looking at stuff to begin with. it's easy for things to get lost, missed or otherwise ignored.

Be aware that you get quite a noticeable 'Mid Hump' with a TS9. You may or may not like that. I didn't so I got rid of mine. TS9's are not a 'transparent' overdrive, as noted above, they colour and alter your tone.

EHX Soul Food is a good Klon clone. I used to use one and it was an 'always on' pedal, along with a compressor.

Yes, the output cable from the pedal goes to the amp input in the same jack as if you were plugging your guitar into the amp directly. Here is a pic of my Trio - it's the last pedal in the signal chain on my board: The output from the MXR carbon Copy goes into the Oceans 11 Reverb and from there it goes into the Trio. The red tipped cable you see on the right hand side of the Trio goes off to the footswitch and on the left side of the Trio, the cable goes to the input of whatever amp I am using. On the pic you linked to, you will be plugging in the cable that runs from the output of the Trio to the jack marked 'Input' on your amp.

I have an L30 - love it! I use Martin Retro strings on mine. Light gauge - the Monel ones and they sound great.

I use a Digitech Trio - you feed it some chords and it then plays you a bass line and drum beat in whatever style you chose. It's awesome. The new version of it includes a looper as well but you can get the original version of the pedal second-hand pretty cheaply. https://www.digitech.com/band-creator/TRIOPLUS-V-04.html

If you don't need or want it, feel free to send it to me 🙂

I tried the elixir coated strings a while ago but couldn't get on with them. It helps that I am not especially an oily or sweaty individual so my strings tend not to corrode as quickly as perhaps other people's do. I now exclusively use Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinkys on all my electrics, both Gibson and Fender.

Not sure about the serial number. There aren't any online serial number lookup websites for Gibson Customs. On the one hand, I have a '93 Gibson Nighthawk that has an 8 digit serial number so it looks correct from that point of view, on the other hand, I was under the impression that Gibson Custom Shop serial numbers were different from 'standard' Gibson models so I don't know. All I can say is, it seems 'off' to me so if I were thinking about buying it, I would get in touch with Gibson and give them the serial number and see what they say. Obviously, present circumstances mean you probably won't get a response very soon.

I'm not an expert in counterfeits by any measure but I share the same concerns as you - namely, the logo looks off and the fretboard inlays look wrong too. Does it have a serial number?

One thing you have to bear in mind is that guitar manufacturing world is changing. The traditional materials and tonewoods are getting harder and more expensive to source and to use in an ecologically sound fashion, hence why manufacturers are looking to different woods and different materials. And rightly so, we can't keep on sticking with the traditions of the past - we can't keep on cutting whole stands of trees down just to find a single tree with A+++ patterning; it is responsible and it doesn't make sense from a resource management point of view either. There was an excellent article in a recent Guitarist magazine about the whole process and how manufacturers like Martin and Taylor are changing the way they approach guitar building as a result of it.

In any social situation where you have a gathering of people of disparate ages, interests and environments you end up with some good, some bad and some indifferent. The internet makes it easy because it is inherently easier to be an arse in an online setting. This forum is no better or worse than any other I have posted on and am a member of. There are some people who post valuable and constructive info and some people who don't. Learning to gauge and filter out the noise to signal ratio is an important skill set.

I don't see what all the pissing and moaning is, frankly. I've owned a Martin DX and own a Les Paul HP both with richlite fingerboards and both sounded and sound great.

I clicked through the links on the German website and came to a US stockist that had detailed measurements. Looks like both my Les Pauls and my SG need the V3 model as stated above. I might buy just the one and try it out. They are a bit pricey though. I don't particularly care about having something bolted on the headstock or aesthetics if it does the job however. You'll have to pardon my ignorance on the subject but surely recutting the nut won't do anything for tuning issues? If a string is binding, sure but the whole point of the string butler is to change the break angle of the string as it goes into the tuner - the claim is that the design of the headstock and the 3x3 tuners are the cause of the issue, not the nut. It also doesn't help that both my LPs have titanium nuts/zero frets so it is not necessarily a simple matter to get them adjusted.

Heard a lot about these little devices - apparently they are a fantastic way of alleviating tuning stability issues that Les Paul models can suffer from due to the headstock/string break angle: https://www.string-butler.com Problem is, I'm not sure which one to get for my guitars - the website is not exactly clear (to my eyes) as to which version fits which model. For reference, I have the following: 2015 Les Paul Standard 2019 Les Paul HP 2014 SG Special 2020 Les Paul Tribute DC 1993 Nighthawk 1998 Blueshawk Will the same string butler model fit all these? Or do I need different models/versions for each guitar? Not sure if the Nighthawk/Blueshawk even need one given the headstock angle is less pronounced. Anyone got any experience with the string butler and can offer guidance?

As a belated update to this thread, I found a local luthier to carry out some work on this guitar and get it back to its glory. From the first time I got the guitar, it didn't play very well - was a bit buzzy and generally felt 'off'. Anyway, the luthier gave it a refret, cut a new nut to replace the damaged one, repaired and stabilized any cracks and re-glued some of the internal bracing that had come loose (how the hell he managed to do that through the narrow f-holes, i have no idea). He also gave it a very light and sympathetic polish and buff to bring the finish back up and to even out some of the discolouration/fading where the pickguard was. It cost me £150 which I thought was an absolute bargain and I can report he did such a fantastic job. It now looks great and plays even better. The V-neck is surprisingly comfortable in my hand and there's absolutely no buzzing or dull sounds. It has such a distinct voice being smaller bodied than my other acoustics and is a real contrast to my Martins and my other Gibson acoustics. I love it. Will get some pictures up soon (and hosted somewhere where they don't randomly disappear!) but for now I am overjoyed that I have got it back to what it should be. Really feel that this work has given it a new lease of life and hopefully keep it going for another 80 years. Edit: Found the pics on a Reddit thread I made - here's the background: About a year or so ago, I had an itch that I had to scratch regarding buying a vintage guitar and lo, I ended up buying a 1939 L30. However, there were some issues - it looked every single one of its ~80 years, it needed new frets, the tuners and bushings were in a state, it was very buzzy and rattly and the varnish was in a bit of a state as well. It got put to the back burner for a while but at the beginning of this month, I found a local luthier and decided to get it the TLC it deserved. I picked it up today and my God, it is incredible! The neck feels absolutely fantastic; it's a V profile that I thought would be horribly uncomfortable but the reverse is true; it's super playable. He managed to bring out a good shine on it and even out the finish (there was a horrible shiny patch where the pickguard had been). Anyway, judge for thyself: Other stuff done: New Stew Mac tuner bushings to replace the old ill-fitted ones New bone nut Refret and dress Bridge adjustment and intonation Reglued some braces that were lifting Evened out and buffed up the finish Both he and I were keen to keep the originality of the finish as much as possible - although it looks well worn and it really is, it wears the years well. It's definitely a survivor, this guitar. Here's to another 80 years!

Right now, I've got my late Dad's vinyl spinning and a bottle of wine on the go. On the deck, Wishbone Ash - Argus and then Best of Budgie.

Bought this yesterday: Some background: I had been after a P90 SG initially but specifically, I wanted a P90 SG Standard that had two pickups as well as the parallelogram fretboard inserts but I have been unable to find one. As far as I can tell, they were only made in 2016. This is the sort I mean: But I couldn't find one either new or used from the usual sources. So I turned my attention to the Les Paul Jr with P90s instead. However, further complications! It appears the 2 pickup models are hard to find as well - most of the Jrs I saw for sale were the standard model with a single bridge pickup. Eventually, I found a Jr Special in worn ebony and even though I really wanted a blue stain finish one, I pulled the trigger the other day. Glad I did, I love it so far! I can report it sounds fantastic. I am primarily a bedroom player these days; I did the gigging/band thing in my youth but what that really means is my aural tastes have changed. As I don't have to share space or compete with the rest of a band at volume, I don't need so much the treble/mid cut-through that one usually needs when playing in a band. What that means in practice is that I usually dislike bridge pickups - I find them shrill and piercing in a small-room scenario and most my guitars I play through neck pickup. But, unusually, the bridge pickup on this is awesome - not too jangly or shrill and it really growls. It's not the most expensive guitar I have bought or owned and I freely admit to being snobby in the past about entry-level guitars but I think the Jr is some real 'bang for your buck'.

I find for all the stick it gets, 'The Final Cut' is actually a bit of an un-appreciated gem. Yes, it's Roger Walters banging the same drum about why his dad had to die and why his school days were so crap but the album has some good lyricism and arrangements on it. 'Paranoid Eyes' in particular is a great track. 'Animals' is probably my favourite Floyd album though. After my Dad died, I inherited his vinyl collection, bought myself a decent turntable and have slowly added to what he left me and I have a much better appreciation of 70's rock now.

I wish my parents had bought me a Les Paul when I first started guitar - your son is one lucky kid!

I did have a 'before' thread in the Restoration section from some months back but sadly, the place where I hosted the pics has got rid of them. What I can say is he has done a cracking job of restoring the finish and as far as I am aware, all he really did was give it a light polish - he definitely said he didn't want to be abrasive or damage the lacquer in any way

About a year or so ago, I had an itch that I had to scratch regarding buying a vintage guitar and lo, I ended up buying a 1939 L30. However, there were some issues - it looked every single one of its ~80 years, it needed new frets, the tuners and bushings were in a state, it was very buzzy and rattly and the varnish was in a bit of a state as well. It got put to the back burner for a while but at the beginning of this month, I found a local luthier and decided to get it the TLC it deserved. I picked it up today and my God, it is incredible! The neck feels absolutely fantastic; it's a V profile that I thought would be horribly uncomfortable but the reverse is true; it's super playable. He managed to bring out a good shine on it and even out the finish (there was a horrible shiny patch where the pickguard had been). Anyway, judge for thyself: Other stuff done: New Stew Mac tuner bushings to replace the old ill-fitted ones New bone nut Refret and dress Bridge adjustment and intonation Reglued some braces that were lifting Evened out and buffed up the finish Both he and I were keen to keep the originality of the finish as much as possible - although it looks well worn and it really is, it wears the years well. It's definitely a survivor, this guitar. Here's to another 80 years!

I thought the whole point of a PRS, the USP if you will, is that it didn't sound like a Les Paul?