yup, that's why I want her to try some out, may end up with something else
She's into Ed Sheran, and Taylor swift, but I am ruling out their signature ranges for price etc, she's 5'8 though. Truth be told I'd like one of my own, I have a ten year old Takemine cutaway but can't really give her that for crimbo and take the SJ for myself...
Ah Denmark St. Should have gone the way of the dinosaur years ago. Shop after shop of overpriced guitars with moody pricks working in them the equivalent of the comic book store owner in The Simpsons.
Buy the guitar on eBay instead.
Definitely this. Go to Denmark Street - Wunjo aren't too bad, if you see a guitar you fancy try it out for an hour or so, remember the make, model (on the label inside the soundhole usually), resist the hard sell you may get if they smell a sale, then buy on ebay from a seller with 100% feedback. Denmark street tend to sell SH guitars at anything up to double their value. Beware.
I'd avoid buying guitars online, every time I've done this I've been disappointed somewhat. Plus, there's nothing quite like buying guitars in shop, finding the right sound and feel for you
In my opinion Blueridge are the best value guitars available for under £1000 at the moment. Their build quality and sound are equivalent to any low - mid range Martin, Gibson, Taylor - though that may not be saying much. I bought a secondhand Blueridge Parlour (not really what you are looking for) and I havent heard anything better under £2500 I kid you not. You can find Blueridge at Hobgoblins, Rathbone Place just off Oxford Street, about 10 min walk from Denmark Street. They are quite pleasant as well, though a bit weird sometimes. http://www.hobgoblin.com/local/section/guitars/#s=0&np=2&Section=guitars&Menu=off&BrandFilter=BLUERIDGE&Style=B
PS if you suddenly come into some money get her a Bourgeois Slope D. :0p HAving said that if you can get a slope body guitar that tends to have the projection and beef of a dreadnaught or jumbo but is easier to get your arms around if you aren't built like a bear.
In my opinion Blueridge are the best value guitars available for under £1000 at the moment. Their build quality and sound are equivalent to any low - mid range Martin, Gibson, Taylor - though that may not be saying much. I bought a secondhand Blueridge Parlour (not really what you are looking for) and I havent heard anything better under £2500 I kid you not. You can find Blueridge at Hobgoblins, Rathbone Place just off Oxford Street, about 10 min walk from Denmark Street. They are quite pleasant as well, though a bit weird sometimes. http://www.hobgoblin.com/local/section/guitars/#s=0&np=2&Section=guitars&Menu=off&BrandFilter=BLUERIDGE&Style=B
PS if you suddenly come into some money get her a Bourgeois Slope D. :0p HAving said that if you can get a slope body guitar that tends to have the projection and beef of a dreadnaught or jumbo but is easier to get your arms around if you aren't built like a bear.
Hobgoblin, great shop. They let you some really expensive guitars with absolutly no hassle. Dont really do anything electric though.
In my opinion Blueridge are the best value guitars available for under £1000 at the moment. Their build quality and sound are equivalent to any low - mid range Martin, Gibson, Taylor - though that may not be saying much. I bought a secondhand Blueridge Parlour (not really what you are looking for) and I havent heard anything better under £2500 I kid you not. You can find Blueridge at Hobgoblins, Rathbone Place just off Oxford Street, about 10 min walk from Denmark Street. They are quite pleasant as well, though a bit weird sometimes. http://www.hobgoblin.com/local/section/guitars/#s=0&np=2&Section=guitars&Menu=off&BrandFilter=BLUERIDGE&Style=B
PS if you suddenly come into some money get her a Bourgeois Slope D. :0p HAving said that if you can get a slope body guitar that tends to have the projection and beef of a dreadnaught or jumbo but is easier to get your arms around if you aren't built like a bear.
Hobgoblin, great shop. They let you some really expensive guitars with absolutly no hassle. Dont really do anything electric though.
No, but he's looking for an acoustic? It's so long since I've played an electric I wouldn't know where to start. Probably just get a squire and a decent amp.
Ah Denmark St. Should have gone the way of the dinosaur years ago. Shop after shop of overpriced guitars with moody pricks working in them the equivalent of the comic book store owner in The Simpsons.
Buy the guitar on eBay instead.
Totally agree with Leroy, overpriced and treated like they are doing you a favour of being in their presence. When I was looking for a new bass I went to Denmark street, played on a few different basses in different amps and then ordered online at GAK I got my fender aerodyne about 200 quid cheaper. Happy Days.
I bought my kids a mini Taylor, great as a travel guitar as these days I get anxty if i don't play at least once a day - am guessing Taylor is a lot cheaper over here in North America but I do love their product....
I guess the other thing about electro acoustic is just how horrible a lot of acoustic amps sound - especially at the cheaper end including the electrics on board the instrument. After a lot of trialling I bought a Fishman Loudbox and to be honest for playing at home I never really use it - much prefer the natural acoustic unamplified sound.
How are the new vox valve amps, anyone own/try one? Got one on my xmas list (the one the wife ignores and I end up having to buy for myself) not for acoustic tho
Absolute worst of the lot is Rose Morris. Never seen so many arseholes in one place at the same time outside of Selhurst. They used to be the de facto shop for metal guitarists because they had a sweet deal with Jackson and ESP (pretty much metal standards) that meant they got a lot of custom cast-offs in there. Nothing like having to play with some arsewipe who spends eight hours a day watching Al Di Meola videos and practising fusion solos sneeringly critiquing your technique.
A bloke I played in a band with once got so sick of one of the wankstains in there that he went in to try out a guitar with 800 quid in cash in his pocket - waited for said wankstain to give it the attitude then peeled out his wad of notes, riffled through them and told him he was going next door to buy the same guitar.
Now this is odd. I was looking for a direct-drive bass-drum pedal in Rose Morris a couple of years ago, and they couldn't be more helpful. Allowed me to try out about four or five different pedals on a kit for as long as I liked. Didn't hassle me and basically gave me the room and the time to make up my mind. Maybe they're friendlier in the drum department downstairs.
I think, in general, blokes who play guitar think they're something special, so there are more likely to be more pricks. Also, drummers as a rule are less 'complicated' than real musicians...
How are the new vox valve amps, anyone own/try one? Got one on my xmas list (the one the wife ignores and I end up having to buy for myself) not for acoustic tho
How are the new vox valve amps, anyone own/try one? Got one on my xmas list (the one the wife ignores and I end up having to buy for myself) not for acoustic tho
The best valve amp/combo for home I've played is the Laney LV100, I actually used to gig with mine. They've been around for a few years now, set you back about £250.
Love Laney amps. Other than Mesa Boogie, they're the best amps for metal/Rock - and I think Laney's clean tones are actually nicer. Nothing beats MB for that brutal metal tone though - I scoop the f*** out of my mids and only MB amps can handle that. Stay away from H&K like the plague though - I've never played through one I liked and I know people who have put up with all sorts of shit with their kit
I have No.3 on that list - it's a beauty. I also like messing around with Amplitube through my Mac & monitors, its pretty good for messing about with different tones.
Love Laney amps. Other than Mesa Boogie, they're the best amps for metal/Rock
Yeh?
Agree about Laneys, bloody brilliant, but only old ones. Massive bogies I don't rate though-they don't do loud very well, when the master volume gets up towards the business end nothing seems to actually happen! think it's because they don't have any real minerals, over-engineered too, with stuff that doesn't actually relate to how the thing sounds, but then they are American!
Marshall, hmm the Crystal Palace of amps! but they're everywhere so you end up having to use them at some point.
My proudest early rock moment was actually getting a Marshall stack together for a gig back in 1977 at Lincoln Technical College. My future as a rock god was assured ;0). Dunno about Crystal Palace. This one kicked bottom! I had previously owned a Vox AC30 with blue speakers and those funny old fashioned bakelite knobs, and a Laney transistor combo, which to be fair was probably not bad, but not a rock guitarists amp, really. So 100 watts of distortion seemed like heaven.
Ah totally agree, they're iconic, just a bit bland for my taste, but having said that they vary wildly, one can sound like old nick himself is about to put in an appearance, then the next one, like you've mic'd up a kazoo! given the choice i'd rather Orange, but again an old one-anything with microchips in is bad karma.
Love Laney amps. Other than Mesa Boogie, they're the best amps for metal/Rock
Yeh?
Yeh.
Marshall are the Apple of the amp world. Great at marketing.
The only thing they make reasonably well is cabs - and the quality of those has been getting worse for the past 20 years. They haven't made decent tube amps for decades (witness people still seeking out old jcm heads from the days when metal still meant Uriah Heep and Golden Earring) and their solid state offerings have always sounded like dogshit being slurped through a straw.
I'm not having unfavourable comparisons between MB and Laney. My old MB that I had for aeons was the best amp I ever used. It handled everything I threw at it - and Laneys just can't give you that nasty buzzsaw sound (Sunlight, Morrisound) that you need when playing the music I play. The only thing the MB never had was that screaming sustain on pinch harmonics that you seem to only get with Laneys - but since I'm not a fretwanker, that doesn't bother me.
In fact, since I hardly play at all any more, I may as well stick my guitar body against a wardrobe and use that as an amp.
Comments
She's into Ed Sheran, and Taylor swift, but I am ruling out their signature ranges for price etc, she's 5'8 though. Truth be told I'd like one of my own, I have a ten year old Takemine cutaway but can't really give her that for crimbo and take the SJ for myself...
Takamine EG340SC would be good shout in that price bracket.
http://www.hobgoblin.com/local/section/guitars/#s=0&np=2&Section=guitars&Menu=off&BrandFilter=BLUERIDGE&Style=B
PS if you suddenly come into some money get her a Bourgeois Slope D. :0p HAving said that if you can get a slope body guitar that tends to have the projection and beef of a dreadnaught or jumbo but is easier to get your arms around if you aren't built like a bear.
When I was looking for a new bass I went to Denmark street, played on a few different basses in different amps and then ordered online at GAK I got my fender aerodyne about 200 quid cheaper. Happy Days.
They have these for around £250
http://www.hobgoblin.com/local/products/BM5460/Lag-Tramontane-Auditorium-Elec/#AdditionalInfo
Independent review here:
Greenwich Guitars - Greenwich south street.
Soundheart - Charlton church lane.
Just a thought.
http://www.andertons.co.uk/guitar-amp-heads/pid22765/cid689/orange-micro-terror-20w-guitar-amp-head.asp
Marshall, hmm the Crystal Palace of amps! but they're everywhere so you end up having to use them at some point.
Denmark street should be Napalmed.
given the choice i'd rather Orange, but again an old one-anything with microchips in is bad karma.
Marshall are the Apple of the amp world. Great at marketing.
The only thing they make reasonably well is cabs - and the quality of those has been getting worse for the past 20 years. They haven't made decent tube amps for decades (witness people still seeking out old jcm heads from the days when metal still meant Uriah Heep and Golden Earring) and their solid state offerings have always sounded like dogshit being slurped through a straw.
I'm not having unfavourable comparisons between MB and Laney. My old MB that I had for aeons was the best amp I ever used. It handled everything I threw at it - and Laneys just can't give you that nasty buzzsaw sound (Sunlight, Morrisound) that you need when playing the music I play. The only thing the MB never had was that screaming sustain on pinch harmonics that you seem to only get with Laneys - but since I'm not a fretwanker, that doesn't bother me.
In fact, since I hardly play at all any more, I may as well stick my guitar body against a wardrobe and use that as an amp.
Wibble.