Category: Guitar GAS

There’s no tone without the guitar, right? Anything and everything to do with guitars.

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New Arrivals For February

February has been a very strange month for gear.

The Winter NAMM announcements are over, and now we wait for actual stock to appear in the shops. Some items – like Marshall’s new Studio line of heads, combos and cabs – have arrived quickly (and largely sold out just as quickly). Other pieces – not so much.

eBay started slow, but in the middle of the month, there was a lot of great gear up for grabs at surprising prices. I was expecting most people to be waiting for the “free for private sellers” changes coming at the start of March. I was wrong.

Here’s a list of everything I’ve picked up in February, along with my initial impressions. I’ll write up a full article on each of them once I’ve had a bit of time with them.

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New Arrivals For January

The turning of the year can be a great time to hunt for new (to you) guitar gear. The second hand market is normally flooded with folks who are moving on gear they no longer want – or sadly can no longer afford to keep. And there’s Winter NAMM, where brands large and small drop announce new products.

I’ve been lucky enough to pick up some stuff that I’m interested in, and I thought I’d share it with you. Some of it is new to me, and some of it is me taking a second look at things I’ve had before but didn’t gel with. And there’s a few very special items too.

I’m going to do full articles on each of them, once I’ve had a bit of time with them. For now, here’s the very first impressions for you.

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Jimi Hendrix Fender Custom Shop Guitars

Chappers and The Captain have taken a look at the new Hendrix Voodoo Child Stratocasters from Fender’s Custom Shop.

At £4000, they’re priced mainly for collectors of Hendrix memorabilia. They come with certificates, and some other official Hendrix-branded stuff … but at heart, they seem to be Journeyman Strats with reversed headstocks and a reversed bridge pickup.

Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.

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Fender Parallel Universe Troublemaker

Peach Guitars have posted a demo of Fender’s new Troublemaker Telecaster. It’s part of the Parallel Universe limited run.

A dual-humbucker Tele with the Les Paul bridge and control layout? Yes please!!! Oh, and it also comes in a very Les Paul-like sunburst finish? Take my money now!

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve used Warmoth’s online custom guitar body and neck builders to spec up something just like this. In my opinion, the Les Paul bridge and control layout is perfection itself for dual-humbucking guitars.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.

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Single-cut Shootout, 2600EUR+

Henning has been working his way through some of the Les Paul-like guitars you can buy from Thomann over in Germany. (They deliver all over Europe). Today, he’s published the last video in the series, looking at the high-end competition.

This video opens up with a Les Paul R8 owned by one of Henning’s friends, and it’s fair to say that it sets the standard for the rest of the video.

They’re all great guitars – as well they should be at that price!

This video does a great job of making a serious point. These are all hand-built guitars. No two will feel the same to play, or sound the same. If you’re ever lucky enough to shop for guitars in this price range, you have to go and try them for yourself, and find out which one calls to you.

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Gretsch G5220 Electromatic Jet Demo

Chappers and The Captain have taken a look at the Gretsch G5220 Electromatic Jet.

This is an affordable version of the Duo Jet guitars that I’ve blogged about recently. It features a hard tail rather than a Bigsby, and broadtron pickups.

The body is chambered mahogany, so it’s quite a bit lighter than a Les Paul. On the video, it sounds brighter and less mid-focused than a Les Paul – something I love about my Les Paul Custom.

Watch the video to hear it for yourself, and then please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.

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Danelectro ‘84 Lipsticks vs Fender Mexican Strat Single Coils.

Shane’s had a lot of interest in his Danelectro ‘84 since introducing it on his YouTube channel. So he’s done a shootout against his Mexican Strat.

The two guitars sound quite different. The Danelectro has a lot more twang, without sounding like a Tele. It’s also a little thinner sounding, but not in a bad way. The overall result is a guitar which looks like a Strat but has its own thing going on. Very cool.

Watch the video to hear for yourself, and then please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.

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Gibson Or Gretsch?

Darrell Braun has posted an interesting look at two single-cut guitars: the Gibson Les Paul and the Gretch Duo Jet.

I can’t find the Gretsch Duo Jet on Gretsch’s website – or in any UK stores at the time of writing. Darrell’s Playing the G6128TVP model (I think), which seems to be out of production right now.

A shame, because that Gretsch compared very favourably to the Les Paul.

Watch the video to make your own mind up, and then please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.

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Gretch Duo Jet G6128T Review

Shane has taken a look at one of the high-end, Japanese-made Gretch guitars: the Duo Jet.

This premium guitar looks like Gretch’s answer to Gibson Les Paul reissues. It has that fat Les Paul tone when the amp’s nice and dirty, but it also offers very usable clean tones – something I’m hard-pressed to say about any modern Les Paul!

Watch the video to hear how good this sounds, and then please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.

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Blindfold Challenge: Tele or Not?

Chappers and The Captain have done another of their blindfold challenges: can Rob tell if a guitar is a Fender Telecaster, or a T-style from another brand?

Every time someone on the forums insists that guitars don’t sound that different, or that the differences aren’t that great, I want to make them sit down and watch videos like this. It’s not always easy to tell them apart after YouTube has processed the audio, but in person – and importantly, through a great amp – the differences are real, both in tone and in feel.

Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed this video.