Rather than do a ‘best of’ style post, every year I’m doing a rundown of what guitars I’ve had my hands on, and what I’ve learned from the experience.
This post covers guitars that I play at home for fun. I’ll cover the guitars that I gig with tomorrow.
Previous years: [2019] [2020] [2021][2022][2023]
tl;dr
I’m still playing my PRS Paul’s Guitar the most. I just wish it was easier to get strings for it – and that PRS weren’t charging coated-strings prices for uncoated strings.
I’ve finally picked up a proper bass, and quickly learned that playing bass is nothing like playing guitar.
Oh, and I’m ending the year having found the perfect Telecaster to unlock the tones I’ve always wanted from my Tweed Deluxe amplifier.
The PRS Paul’s Guitar Is Still The Guitar I Play The Most
Last year, I wrote about my significant buyer’s remorse over my PRS Paul’s Guitar (aka The Earl). I bought that guitar as a present to myself for a milestone birthday, and was so disappointed in the guitar (and PRS’s lack of support for its issues). I ended up having to made a non-reversible mod to it to fix its main issue, probably ruining the resale value as a result.
It’s …. different … and while those differences often have me reaching for an actual Telecaster, Stratocaster / Silver Sky or Les Paul, I also find them to be very inspiring. That’s why it’s still the guitar that I play the most.
I have come to a couple of conclusions this year, which other Paul’s Guitar owners may or may not agree with:
- the Paul’s Guitar really needs PRS’s own brand of strings to sound its best; and
- the Paul’s Guitar suits a JTM / early Marshall signal chain
The strings thing is a bit annoying. It’s not that I feel the need to buy specific strings for a specific guitar – that’s something I’ve done for my Les Paul for over a decade. PRS strings are both very expensive for what they are (uncoated strings at coated strings prices) and very difficult to get hold of here in the UK. The one shop that had some no longer seems to stock them 🙁 I ended up having to order direct from PRS, which is a very expensive way to get what’s already an expensive product.
They do make all the difference, though. I’ve been delighted with the tones I’m getting out of this guitar since I snagged a set of PRS strings for it. In particular, they’ve added in the top-end snap that was previously missing.
And, it has to be said, my Paul’s Guitar isn’t just a favourite of mine. My bandmate and singer Tess was over a few weeks ago, and she strongly preferred the tone from my Paul’s Guitar over my Fender Telecaster. She felt it rang a lot better, with much better note clarity.
I’ve Added A Real Bass
This year, I decided it was time to own a real electric bass, and stop using octave-down effects for recording bass tracks. (Not that I’ve actually recorded any bass tracks recently, but still …)
I’ve jumped right in at the deep end with a Spector Euro 5 RST. It’s lightweight (quite a bit lighter than Ghost (my Les Paul Custom) that I was using as my faux-bass), and with five strings it should offer more musical options than a regular four-string bass. It’s called The Ghoul.
It’s nothing like playing guitar, that’s for sure!
I Visited The Gibson Garage, Who Promptly Lost My Business
I was in London for work, so I took the opportunity to pop into the Gibson Garage while I was there. I can’t say enough about the staff I talked to: very welcoming, very knowledgeable and very helpful.
But until Gibson change, I won’t be buying from there.
I’m not sure how to explain the problem with the vibe. Despite the staff, the place itself felt unwelcoming feel to me. Reminded me far too much of those awful guitar shops of the 80s and 90s we had in the UK where the staff hated everyone but the regular gigging musicians.
Perhaps the best way to put it is that I feel it’s a great example of how the worst of American largesse exports to the rest of the world. “Unapologetic” might be the polite term.
I found the whole two-tier staff thing really weird. There seemed to be one staff to work the tills, and a different set of staff who were allowed to help customers with the gear in the shop? At least, that’s how it was explained to me when I wanted to ask some questions.
Maybe that would work if there were enough staff, but even though it was dead when I visited, there was no-one available to talk gear. It’s meant to be a flagship store, but even though I visited at a time (the start of lunch time) when any experienced retailer would expect walk-ins, they seemed woefully understaffed.
What lost my business though was the Made-to-Measure (M2M for short) deposit. Gibson wanted a 100% deposit for a M2M order through the Gibson Garage. 100% upfront for a product you won’t see for 8-12 months, to a foreign company with a storied history of bankruptcy – including a recent one – and quality control issues?
Yeah, that’s not happening.
Turns out, they did me a huge favour. Although I didn’t know it at the time, I had a far better use for that money with one of their main rivals …
I’ve Found My Telecaster For My Tweed Deluxe Amp
After a flurry of comparisons at the end of 2023, my Tweed Deluxe amp was conspicuous by its absence for most of 2024.
I came out of those comparisons feeling unhappy about my ability to get tones I wanted from my Tweed Deluxe amp. So much so, I’m going to be going back and redoing those comparisons in 2025!
There were several things that I was doing wrong, but it didn’t start to come together until I found a Telecaster specifically for my Tweed Deluxe amp. I ended up with a Fender Custom Shop 52 Telecaster Relic, aka Jessie.
The only way I can describe it is that Jessie unlocked that amp, and everything else quickly fell into place shortly afterwards. It was the first missing piece of the puzzle, and it allowed me to hear what else I needed to do (better IRs from Origin Effects, a different way of using my Fryette PS-100 Power Station attenuator) to get the tone that I’ve been chasing.
I’ve Stopped Hanging Guitars On The Wall
For the longest time, I used to hang my guitars on the wall. Makes them convenient to reach for, and keeps them nicely out of the way the rest of the time.
Not any more.
I don’t have a dedicated music room at home. My guitars and gear sit in the corner of our spare bedroom, which is mostly used as my home office.
This December, I’ve redecorated the room to improve how it looks (and sounds) on video calls. As part of that, I’ve installed new wall panelling where the guitars used to hang. This new panelling isn’t load-bearing at all, and there’s (currently) no way to secure wall hangers to the wall that’s behind the panelling.
That wasn’t the original plan, and truth is I’m missing having the guitars there. It’s going to take some getting used to. Thing is, it might actually be for the best. Time will tell.
What Happened To Your Plans For 2023?
The only thing I planned to do was to change the pickup in Hedgehog (one of my wonderful Squier Esquire guitars – aka the “go karts”). That didn’t happen.
I just couldn’t decide what I wanted in there instead of the Bare Knuckle True Grit bridge pickup. I’m not even sure any more that I should change it. Best that I leave it alone until I’ve got a clearer idea of what I want from that guitar.
Any Plans For 2025?
Not really, no.
There’s a small chance that I’ll get a second acoustic guitar next year. But I’ll talk about that in my Guitars For Gigging blog post instead.