marshall silver jubilee 2553

Hopefully by this time next week this 2553 50watt will be in my kitchen.
Sure, I'd love the RR 100 watter and the price is good for what you'd normally pay for a full stack,and then the '73 50 watt tremelo in the local music shop is also a nice peice of kit but..
The silver jubilee has a bit of a reputation as being one of Jims best.His favorite amp by choice as it happens. Only built in 1987.
The 50 has the same as the 100watt but is smaller in size and made for a smaller 2 x 12 as shown.Apparently gives out a warmer sound than the 100.
To be honest the 100's would be okay if I was out and about on a regular basis and trying to cut through a mix, but I'm not, so to push the 50 (which is only 20% less loud as the 100) is enough.
As you can push two cabs out the back maybe a mesa added to boost the bass may be eventual.

Now I just have to hope the guy reads his mail and I can collect.

Tempting..

With the Marshall 30watt solid state you get enough sound , no worries..

But now I've been offered a great deal on a Randy Rhoads Signature full stack ...must have..

been a long time since,,,etc...

plus ca change...or not as the case may be.

Heat wave in Sweden is great at the moment, shame then that I've had to lock the door and hide in the shade due to some chernoybl influensa thats knocked me out for the past three days..
Even playing the guitars is a struggle..
Boyz are down for the summer, with one out sailing for a week and the other sharing his time between pc and guitar..hes come on great and managed to get purple haze nailed from tab on the strat..now hes moved on to the burning lamp and morley wah wah and tubescreamer..

they'll be no more guitars for a while.Now I'm looking at getting a 05 gasgas 450 fse to use the motor as a donater for the blown supermotard 450. Should be an interesting mix n match with the 05 engine with improved updates.Can't wait to get back on the road.

Then there was AC/DC at Ullevi. Sold out in around 30 minutes and they kinda went through the motions of expectation.Impresive for their age and the sound was as expected.
The fact that they flew in from copenhagen and out straight away kinda shows their status.
Worth watching of course, but you kinda miss the smaller venues from the 80s when sold out was 3500 people.

Friday night and its BBking at the local kids disco. Same place that Bonamassa played and who was simply awesome. I'll update once I've been down and watched one of the last King of the Blues.

theres a bita luck.......

........now that the 69 pups are in the Les Paul Custom I have to say she sounds awesome!

I didn't actually think the Dirty Fingers could be bettered but I was wrong.

As the guitar is an early early 70s fretless wonder I started worrying about the frets and if I ever needed to get a refret. They don't make these frets anymore and I don't mind the fretless wonders, so I had a look around and to my astonishment I found an ad on craigslist from plainsville, OHIO, that somebody was selling Gibson fretless wonder new oldstock, 6 feets worth.

Suffice to say they're on the way to be put in the cupboard for the day she needs a wee bit help!

Miss pearly gates...

Now I'm going through a ZZ top phase I just had to find a pic of Billy Gibbons infamous 59 Gibson les paul. And what a great guitar this is!

On their way....

Vintage 1960's-70's Gibson "T-Top" PAT Number Humbuckers.
My early 70s Gibson les Paul Custom is about to recieve a change in pups.
The dirty fingers has done great work in the tail and the one off in the neck is also an awesome pup which is a rewired gibson 57 classic which has been turned into a 4 conductor and puts out 8,5.
However, when these pups came up for sale with worn off gold etcc. I simply had to get them and make her original again.
Pics will be posted once they're in.

Heres a Find from Oz

Rightiho, when I was looking around the Web for any info at all about the headless Bantam I came across a forum where somebody was asking questions for more info about the guitar.

followed this up and here is a pic of Songirls White Washburn Bantam which was previously owned by the lead singer of Simple Minds and sold off locally after a tour collapsed.

Danny Gatton

Ok, you've probably already heard of DG and I'm the last on the block to have heard him.
Well, the telemaster certainly deserved his name.
The way I found out about this guy was through the telecaster that I have now aquired which is basically brought that name up.
Listen to this guy play, watch him showing finger picking and admire his ability to fuse country, jazz and blues altogether.

Unfortunatly Danny took his life at the age of 49 years old despite his breakthrough at 45 years old.

So she arrived...

...the washburn bantam that is.
Now then, I did have high expectations on this guitar and I have to say I'm not let down whatsoever! What a great piece of kit, great weight and finish and a fantastic neck with medium jumbo frets.
Even the pups are impressive.I've never had a Washburn.Great stuff! I haven't removed the back cover as yet but I believe these are passive pups and not active as I've read previously.
New DR strings are now installed (11's) and the fretboard was cleaned up and nut glued firmly into place.
I'll post some pics asap.

5 oclock alarm call

One of the problems with ebay is having to set the alarm to get up for the last minute of bidding.
Having lost a Hondo Lazer last week once the price went past $605 I decided to make sure I wouldn't lose this Washburn bantam.
This time I'd done my homework.
Now, back in the early 80s, a Hondo Lazer would set you back $399.
This Washburn would have set you back $999 ! Solid Alder body with a maple neck may be the answer, as well as active pickups and an altogether better made guitar I fancy! Three times the price, well there must be something in it. Of course, made in japan is always better than made in Korea, as the Hondo was.
I'm really happy I won the auction with a price that was under half of what I was bidding on the Hondo.
I mean to say, a brand new Hohner GT3 will set you back $699, and you can forget about the Steinberger Spirit which the Hohner out classes.
Not much written about these guitars on the net, I did find a price list from 84 and some information at a website.
I can't wait now, by all accounts this little beauty is gonna sing!

Project Heritage is finished

The Heritage has gone through some different stages and at the end I decided the best way to fit the empty shell of the HCM140 was to add some new Zakk Wylde EMG Active pickups and a booster switch (from Kerry Kings (slayer fame) setup adding 20dbs boost) and a coilsplit.The micro switches dont look so bad .
The flame on this solid mahogany and maple top is stunning and actually changes when looked at from different angles.words and even pictures cannot describe how nice the finish is.
The pickup covers are Gibson Historic as are the tone and volume dials.The tuners are spezials I think and are smaller than grovers which I think looks nicer than the std Heritages.
Pearl markers in a rosewood neck with medium frets and all this from an unused 88 body.
Behind the rear cover are 2 15V batteries to charge the active pups plus the booster switch.Enough wiring to light up Blackpool but it works.
The carve on the maple top is amazing.These guitars are so under rated.
Only one part missing and thats a trussrod cover.
Neck is so fast and is a medium size.
Great guitar.

Travelling requires assistance...

So by all accounts I will be travelling quite a bit and to be honest I really missed playing. Coming back I'd actually forgotten where I was in my learning process.

So, here is an Erlewine Lazer and unfortunatly its beyond my budget at the moment, running a tab of around 3000 dollars and hard as to find second hand.

Johnny Winter puts one to good use.

So, moving down the scale I missed a Hondo copy of the Lazer which would have been great, but that went.

Not really in the hunt for a Steinberger Spirit, the Hohner GT3 would be a better option.

However, there is a rather odd looking Washburn, called the Bantam, made in japan in 85 and quite rare which I have my eyes on. The positives are that you do not require double ended ball strings if something goes wrong, so maybe tomorrow I'll have the guitar.

Looks like it would survive the bus trips with the rugby team as well as the trips that are on the way.

or...a 61 fender...

..for a mere $39,995....4 times the price of the one I was offered a month ago...

check out the prices....

so, who wouldn't want an original '53 and '54..
$58995 .....$46995....seriously....

When ur goin to San Fransisco...

So a few days in San Fransisco is nearly over and its been an interesting time to say the least.
I say interesting as there are so many homeless people and down and outs, male couples and complete lunatics screaming at every street corner, you kinda wonder just how much lsd and acid was dropped in the summer of 67,8,9 etc..

Due to budget restraints I booked a hotel in an area I had no idea about, only that it was close to the centre and the conference. SAMO is indeed the edge of sanity between rich, poor and insane and the blend is an eye opener.It actually becomes quite amusing ( in an sad way) to see the SUVs, Hummers, Porches driving past the homeless sleeping on the pavement or screaming to an invisible friend now and again behind their own style campervan which is of course a shopping trolley filled with items of their life story.

As I walked past people in the street, norms, I'd mumble loudly that this was indeed a good example of the american dream of opportunities...

So far it hasn't got scarey, but then again I don't hit the night life...

I found the oldest guitar shop in SF, called Real Guitars.I asked in Haight Ashbury Music.
All the guitars of interest were outta reach costs but nice, 69 Gibson les paul custom with 3 gold pickups, a couple of 63 fender strats...and of course a host of old cabinets. However, the kr aint worth jack so don't expect any super deals. A '77 les paul standard for $3000..
I did however pickup a pedal which I had too, another Ibanez SM9 metal distortion pedal which nobody really seemed to care about. Price was right anyway.
Nice to know I now have a back up of my favorite distortion pedal. I'll probably let it go once I return.

Road trip...

Birthday today.Work anyway as tomorrow I head off at some god awful time to the airport to catch the plane to San Fransisco for a few days, then off to Denver.
Conferences and hopefully a look at some nice instruments whilst I'm over there.

Been a while since I've been to the States, last time was '93 and ended with a week at daytona beach.

I'll be online and scippling if anything outside the work load happens.

Pretty cool Youtube posting.

Read the story and whose playing the music and watch, it seems like so many years ago which, of course, it is.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqqaw9iN0Js&feature=related

following on from Jimbo comment..

www.srvjimbo.com

Thanks IFLEE for the story on the comment. Funny enough here is a pic of my own built up telecaster which is a bitsa but similar in a way...or not...the neck is a cracker and worn down, and she has hand wound pups.

If I had 19,500 dollars .......

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gibson-Les-Paul-Jimmy-Page-66-Murphy-Aged-59-1959_W0QQitemZ150331406338QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item150331406338&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1729%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

..and again, JP with a tele

..in keeping with asymmetrical player and guitar.

Today's surprise picture that I found was Jimmy H playing a Gibson les Paul Custom. So here we go again, getting away from the stereotype SRV Number 1 , here is the master with ..??

I have to say that everytime I watch SRV he blows me away with the feeling, passion and sheer MASSIVE ability. I'm not sure if the original SRV fender is a 12" radius neck? Not sure they made them that big back then, vintage are running 7,5 and more moderns are 9,5 apparently.

I suppose it does help both Jimbo and Stevie that they had hands like shovels when it comes to getting those chord variations they pull off. Necks really make a huge difference which is why I enjoy having different variations.

Going from my Sami mk1 with the SRV signature neck to the 61 gibson melody maker neck is actually very interesting. In fact everything is interesting when your landscaping with chord progressions and moving from neck to neck, string height highs and lows, baseball bat, shallow c, d and all the rest. I have to say the neck which fits me the best is a split decision between The heritage rosewood neck or the fender telecaster (with a neck from Springsteens Luthier apparently?).

next up? who knows, but there are some rather interesting objects on ebay at the moment so maybe that SRV neck may be moved aside for a 69 neck..

I'll have to look into that..

Joe Bonamassa on tour

So, following on from some great guitarists and the good news is that Joe Bonamassa will be appearing in Europe soon and indeed is playing the local kindergarden disco here in Gothenburg.Tickets are purchased.
He's been around a long time and played with just about all the greats from a young age.Once again he's a mixer of styles from legato to jazz to classic but subtle blues.
What I like is his switching between fingers and pick (usually thumb apparently) and also his tone is fantastic.
Apparently he was a fender man but just heard time and time again that he was a poor mans SRV which once again seemed very unfair.I can't say, I only listened to him recently and he impressed. Should be interesting.

Not good enough to play legato..........

...or in his own words, " I don't play fast as I'm not good enough to play fast"...

and who cares...amazing sound.

JH, The man

Being a huge fan of SRV and inline with SRV being a huge fan of Jimbo it was only natural that the jazz chords that hendrix was familair with would bounce here and there into the rythm of his blues..

If you haven't looked at a decent official hendrix tab I suggest you do. So technical and features everything bar the kitchen sink, including effects and of course you have to use your thumb on more than one chord...

As I'm a newbie in the game and I firmly believe in improvisation (due to my lack of talent..as yet) I find its great to borrow some of these chords and throw them in to some simpler foundations. One thing I found, especially on Sami (SRV neck , 12" radius) is always keep the tuning one semi down (d#) and maybe not use the favorite jazz III small pick, hendrix used a jumbo pick and it does effect the sound.Obvioulsy Marshall and Fender without too much gain.

Don't get me wrong, I'm as close to Jimbo as Nasa are at putting a chimp on pluto, but the more I investigate his jazz chords and mix it with some simple blues it really works to fill void...

But respect with a capital R, the man in my opinion hasn't been surpassed..

To relic or not to relic...that is the question

Reading the most recent Guitar Techniques magazine and there seems to be a major issue with the question if reliced guitars are worth the money asked. By all accounts the masterbuilt custom shop relics are amazing. Even the pick ups are hand wound by the same guy who wound them in the 50's...that would make him a pensioner by all accounts..anyway, I don't have the budget for one of these guitars.The most recent Malsteen custom shop is a cool $12,300...

The whole aging process is amazing, with secrets galore and machines that bodies are strapped on which then vibrate them into yesteryear for that authentic look.

Regardless if you like the idea or not, there's nothing better than a guitar that looks like its been around the block.

I found this website which gives some great tips and tricks on relicing, so if you have a spare G maybe you want a go?

Sami mk 1, my first build fender strat is probably changing again...you see, I've found a John Cruz rosewood neck up for grabs and I'm tempted on changing my SRV signature neck for it...

The pup covers, control knobs and tips are gonna be changed from bakelite copies to more 60's reliced types. The EJ body is amazing and remains, based on a 57 and two tone, I'm gonna give it the hot and cold treatment perhaps, although the body already is looking used and abused...

here we go, enjoy!

http://relicdeluxe.com/

Otherwise, if you want some really good prices on aged parts, from hardwear to necks and bodies including leftys, look here:

http://www.grguitars.com/

project "Hedgehog"..61 rosewood neck amazing!

Time to thin the collection..?

Ibanez SM9 on the web..buy buy buy

Okay, so yes, there is a crisis and credit crunch, thats the bad news.

The good news is that there are currently 3 Ibanez SM9 distortion pedals for sale on ebay at what I would say is a reasonable cost.

Amazing pedal, you will not be disappointed! Obviously at the extreme other end of the scale of a tubescreamer, but for a medal sound just can't be beat!



Here is a great website where all pedals are sourced and you get the chance to buy those elusive hard to gets...





http://filters.muziq.be/model/ibanez/9/sm9

James Walsh finally on myspace/music

http://www.myspace.com/scottishjimmywalsh

Jimmy was the owner of the fender telecaster which has become one of my favs.
He is an incredible guitar player and has finally managed to put some of his music to demo which you can find at the link above.

P90 Gibson would be nice to find ....

Gibson Pete Townshend Signature

Only built for 2 years, great build, awesome sound from the p90s.

If there was one thing that this guitar can be faulted for, its the fact that the neck tends to want to tip down due to the weight of the Grovers.

My 61 melody maker doesn't have the problem.

A legendary Goldtop.....

Neil Young, take a bow.

Reading an interview with the man, he said the most important thing about playing guitar is enjoying yourself and having the ability to jam and not simply focus on mastering technique.

Well, listen to him live and the man certainly knows how to jam, and use a whole ton of one of effects that really drive his sound. I was actually surprised at how much he relies on his equipment.

His most famous guitar started life as a Gibson Gold top which ended up with a black tarnish.

Then a bigsby was added as well as some metal parts including the pickguard which somehow seems to add up to the feedback monster and microphonic firebird pickup that stuck in the tail.

No idea what the plate in the back is for, probably stash and left behind from the early days...

Regardless, I think you'll agree, it looks the business..

..the '59 grover PAT PENDING USA's

Currently stringing up the Les Paul Custom

Wee, sleekit, cow`rin, tim`rous beastie.........

If you have been looking at some of the guitar pics that I've posted on the blog over the past year, you will have noticed a rather interesting telecaster usually hiding in the background of the pics.

I haven't ever reviewed this Telecaster as until now it hasn't actually been mine to review..until the offer came in from the owner today to purchase this guitar.

Shes an amazing guitar to play. What she is though is another matter.
A workhorse, thats a fact.I will post better pics asap.
Facts are facts though, this G has been modified as a player and to hoots with originality.
By all accounts the body is a 69 apparently, modified to take an extra pup in the middle position. The neck is a whole different story and amazing to play.
..true or false , but the story goes that the person who made this neck also makes the necks for Bruce Springsteens' telecasters. I have no idea, just to say its an amazing neck with jumbo frets by all accounts and no reg number.I haven't removed from body and probably wont either.
The pick ups have been chopped and changed, with a rio grande in the tail and no idea what the other two are.Just a great sound , very country. The body could have been refinished by all accounts.

But this telecaster is a player and has an interesting history. But more importantly the sound is frikken awesome and nothing will be changed or chopped.
By all accounts it could be an early japanese telecaster and I wouldn't care!

Gibson Pete Signature and of course, LPC

Things weren't easy with a badly ruptured left wrist and of course the titanium screw in the right scafoid..

The Paul.The Workhorse.

1978 Gibson the Paul,

not the firebrand, the paul. The pups are original Gibson dirty fingers and in a walnut body with fixed mahogany neck with ebony fretboard sound awesome. The crunch has to be believed.

This guitar is one of my favorites to play. Its one of those guitars that isn't the bling bling but produces the goods and just fits so well into you.

From the sublime to...

The Univox hi-flyer was the first object that I modified due to the costs difference between Mosrite and Univox. I didnt modify anything to fit the reissue dimarzio and she sounded like a ramone guitar.However, the neck to body was so thin you could use the neck as a tremelo.
I understand why people enjoy these guitars, however I was starting to look into some better quality.She now resides in Brazil.

The first initial purchase, the Gibson Les paul Jimmy page first issue signature.

beautiful example, awesome flame, just didn't have the sound I was looking for.

The t490 and t500 pups were disappointing...the burstbuckers that were released for the Custom authentic JP signature with 4 conducter wiring would have been nice to have...However the cost difference is double.

The fact that this wasn't even a long tenon and not very light weight either made me sell it and move towards older wood and relics, and of course the search for different tones and sustains.

just outta interest..

the most famous artist to have really enjoyed and used DMs SDS dp111,s , Jerry Garcia.

An unbalance in the force...

So, as soon as the fs 1 turned up I quickly removed the strings and scratchplate off the 77 hardtail and started soldering..
Removed the wonderful alnico 3 and 5 Eric Johnson pups and stuck the dimarzio sds from 78 in the neck and middle positions and the fs in the bridge. The fs an alnico 5 magnet with the sds using huge ceramic magnets.

First off and the bridge wouldn't juice up.Upon investigation I noticed a very strange wiring set up.As far as Im aware the fs is a 2 conductor wire.This has a bare wire, green wire, white wire and black wire...no red, so not even 4 conductor..perhaps somebody has fixed the original..I didn't buy it as a rewound however...Desperate to get the juice up I simply grounded the black, green and bare and soldered the white to the 5 switch.

She kicked in but was completely out of depth compared to the sd's. These sound fantastic, even in the neck and middle. Playing thru a clean channel they give a truly awesome tone, running wide open tone controls (otherwise they do get very dark) but still have an incredible sound, p90 meets humbucker but still retaining single coilness sound..

The two I bought were a bridge and a neck.I have one more original 78 which is being donated and unless I can sort out the fs (removing tomorrow for another scan) and the fact that the fs doesn't have f-spacing so the E isn't over the pole, I think I'll drop in the cream covered 78 and run the whole shooting match with these pups.

Pictures to follow once the surgery is over.

The surgery is over and the difference is tremendous.
First job was to solder all the grounds together into one and lengthen the cables to ensure the pup would fit in the middle pocket.
Once soldered and dropped in and with the sd 1 in the bridge, the set up really balances out the tone and there is no significant drop when switching between bridge and neck.
The bridge is not f-spaced which is a shame, but I'll keep it that way.
The wiring set up is standard so there is no tone pot on the bridge pot either.

Although Malsteen never used his middle pup, preffering bridge and neck , I do and I'm really happy with the mix between alnico and ceramic, fs dp110 and sd dp111.

Picks to follow, dimarzio cream on black for the moment..

so, questions questions

There are so many good companys out there nowadays making relic, revibe plastics.

The best and most expensive revibe/relic parts come from Asia and you pay for the quality and detail. Some would ask of course, why bother, let the guitar go through normal wear and tear through playing it.

The 77 which is on its way is of course no way near a top level under the bed collectors item.
However, she is nearly complete , with original black pickguard, 5 way switch, neckplate, knobs and pots . Not sure if the bridge is original though. Looking at the pics I'm still surprised this was a sunburst that was stripped. I'm not too bothered though, I may even consider a refinish in nitro..
Now that the cream covered "elasterplaster" dimarzios have arrived I've gotta make some decisions on how I want the guitar to look. I could of course get some tall Dimarzio pup covers and drop them in. But I'm not convinced I actually want all black on natural..

A 77 should reek of the times...faux tortoise shell pickguard with DM creams and cream knobs..?
Or maybe gross out with a 64 mint green pickguard re-issue with cream plastics...
tough call...
The good news is by all accounts the Dimarzio fs is an original and not a more recent .

Dimarzio Dimarzio Dimarzio

So now, having looked around the Internet long enough, I managed to find a second hand Dimarzio fs-1 with believe it or not, a cream cover.

With a set of Eric Johnson customs in one corner and a set of Dimarzio sd 1s for middle and neck with the fs in the bridge, the only thing I'm waiting for is the body, neck and plate with pots and switch.

effects- No REIssues allowed

All origanal issues, from 79 upwards.
Some are apparently as rare as rocking horse shit to find. I was lucky.

1981 Ibanez ST-9 tube screamer with the two chips, european release only
1984 Ibanez SM-9 metal distortion pedal...simply amazing
1979? Ibanez ad80 delay pedal, 18V analog.
1979(?)Ibanez flanger FL-901 18V analog
1991 Boss Distortion ds-1
1991 Morley wah-wah with volume sweep

The dates are approx.
Basically analog pedals just give a more organic sound, the SM-9 is an amazing pedal as is the ST-9.
I don't rely on pedals but they do assist when playing an 81 marshall 35 watt solid state.

The Heritage CMV 140

As most of the pics come from a phone camera, the end result can be poor.

However, this project, which started out as a Body neck of a 1988 heritage CM140V which had predrilled microswitch holes (3) and an uncut nut which other undrilled holes, has ended up a fantastic guitar with some twists.

The quality of the build is outstanding, as you would expect from the same luthiers that Gibson left behind at kalamazoo when moving to nashville.

Pups started out to be zebra gibson dirty fingers, but as I had some GDFs already in the Paul I decided to get some Zakk Wylde EMGs and add the Boost trim pot (as used by Kerry King of Slayer, an adjustable +/- 20dbs trimpot) and a phase microswitch which of course puts the pups outta phase.

The carve is amazing and Gibson cream pup rings hold the EMG 85/81 in place.

The tailpeice and saddle bridge are Tone Pros.

Rosewood fretboard , mahogany body neck..just an awesome guitar which is very very loud when required.

The third microswitch is a dummy as I just don't have a need for anything else.

All electrics are of course EMG , slight twist is that I added another 9v battery as I read the boost switch can be used as a distortion on the max +20db, but sucks juice. So the active pups now have 18V's available and all tucked up in the back without any other rerouting required.