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Gibson Les Paul Custom
by spiritwood
For many years I had coveted one of these beauties and and after saving up ( for a long time) managed to get one from the states in a turquoise quilt finish. Les Paul guitars are one of the most recognisable guitars in the world and have a long and incredible history. Designed by Lester William Polsfuss aka Les Paul who was an American ... blues and jazz guitarist, Les was one of the main pioneers of the solid bodied electric instrument which contributed hugely to the historic sound of rock and roll. Many famous guitarists have recorded some of their best work on a Les Paul guitar from Jimmy Page to Slash. These guitars have a very distinctive look and sound. They are stunning works of art in their own right and the sound is rich and bluesy and delicious.
Les Paul guitars are crafted from solid mahogany with a maple top so are very heavy to play. I always use a high quality strap with mine or sat on the floor cross legged with it on my lap. Due to weight, it can be hard to play for long periods of time and that is the only drawback that I can find with this guitar.
Each Les Paul is carved from solid Grade AA figured maple and the back is solid mahogany which gives the guitar its famous warm sound. The neck is crafted from quarter-sawn grade A mahogany which is carved into the celebrated rounded shape that Les Paul guitars are known for. This is based on a 1950's profile. The neck is topped with an A grade rosewood fingerboard with 22 medium jumbo frets and shaped mother of pearl inlays. There is a cream binding around the body which matches the cream pickguard and pick up surrounds. The gold coloured volume and tone knobs have dial markings.
The typical design of the Les Paul is based on an arch-top guitar. There are two humbucker pick-ups and four muted gold knobs on the body ( volume and tone - two of each ). The humbuckers give the Les Paul its famous warm sound and look very appealing on the guitar. The guitar has an excellent sustain and can be made to sound crunchy and distorted via the pick-ups. This is a very easy to play instrument, the action is great and the intonation is clean and tight. The design is such that it is very simple to bend the strings and make a fantastic noise doing so. I use mine with a Line 6 amp which gives me a greater range of available sounds and warmth and this would be my favourite set up for this guitar. If I want it to sound punchier then I will play it through a Marshall amp.
Equally at home with delicately hand-plucked intros or heavy barre chords, playing this guitar is a versatile and joyful experience. The hardware ( mine is chrome coloured ) is top quality and the high-gloss nitrocellulose paint finish is flawless. As I have said, mine is the turquoise quilted which is a colour reminiscent of Caribbean waters with some appearance of texture. The shape is curvy and sensual, very appealing to the eye. I love the simple design of the trademark trapezoid mother of pearl markers all up the fingerboard and the angular and decent sized scratchplate to protect the body.
This beauty has what could be described as a "vintage voice" which is partly due to the '57 Classic pickups with traditional chromed covers. These contain Alnico II magnets and both pick ups are wax potted which avoids mic shrieking at higher volumes. It has a clever Tune-o-Matic bridge which is easy to adjust for intonation correction with each string having its own adjustable screw. The guitar pegs do not slip and the guitar stays in tune easily even with temperature and humidity changes.
The Les Paul comes in a good range of colours and finishes. Accessories and replacement parts are very easy to source all over the internet. The guitar comes with a hard case, truss rod wrench, manual and Gibson's lifetime warranty.
Some years ago Les Paul paired up with Epiphone to deliver some cheaper versions of the Les Paul guitar, making it more accessible to buyers. As it stands a non Epiphone Les Paul will start at £800 minimum and goes up to £6k and beyond. You are buying an expensive piece of history but this is my favourite guitar by a long shot and that slot in my affections could only possibly be replaced by taking ownership of a Gretsch archtop...... One day.....well a girl can dream.
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Guitar Rack: 5 Guitar Stand
by spiritwood
I started to play the guitar when I was 17 on a yamaha acoustic. I had a bohemian partner at the time who taught me Led Zeppelin chords and riffs and from there I progressed on to other music. I had grown up around music ( predominantly classical and some 70's rock ) and my taste had developed towards the more " ... singer/songwriter" type music with hammer on finger gymnastics . fingerstyle and strumming. And so over time, my lowly Yamaha 6 string became one of many acoustic guitars to grace my house. One became two, became three, became lots......
I discovered vintage classical guitars ala Nick Drake and so accumulated a few of those. and then electric guitars became my thing and I saved up for a iconic and much longed for Les Paul guitar in a turquoise quilted finish.
When I got ill I had to give up work and so spent a lot of time in the house. To keep myself from going bonkers I started to train myself up as a luthier. I had always fixed my own guitars but I wanted to learn how to make them. As I learnt I needed cheapie ebay guitars to take to bits and repair. My collection grew again...
I now have 16 guitars around the house in various guises. I have classical, acoustics, 12 strings, semi-acoustics and some amazing vintage electric guitars. Beautiful as they all are, these things take up serious space when stored in cases all around my (small) house. Some were too lovely to keep hidden away in cases anyway and I wanted them to hand. Enter the guitar stand.
I started with the single stands to hold one focal guitar but then decided that a big stand would be useful for the classicals that I was working on. These guitars could be snapped up for less than £20 sometimes and with some stripping and tweaking could be made to sound incredible. I bought one of the large 5 guitar stands to hold the classicals while I worked on them.
This stand is a space saving device for me. Stable and sturdy, it holds each guitar safely and the thick foam padding ensures a snug fit around the neck. The stand is designed to hold up to 5 guitars but I tend to use it for four at a time. The stand will fit electric or acoustic guitars with ease so there is no faffing about trying to get things to fit into awkward spaces. Bass guitars are no problem for it either (but I only have 2 of those)
The stand is well made and easy to put together. It is of sturdy metal construction with a generous foam padding (deeper than some that I have seen) and rubber feet for security. Very important as the last thing you need is several hundred (or thousand) pounds worth of guitar sliding across the room! It is light enough to move about easily too which is a big bonus for me. The stand is collapsible so it can be moved from room to room or even taken to a gig if you use multiple guitars on stage.
All of the assembly screws and tools needed are included in the package
FEATURES:
Holds up to 5 guitars - acoustic, classical, electric or bass.
Foam padding where the guitar meets the stand for protection and snug fit
Non-slip rubber feet ensures stability
Collapsible for easy storage and transport
Easy to assemble, screws and tools included
Product Dimensions 72.4 x 49.5 x 35.6 cm
Item Weight 3.6 Kg
I purchased mine on Amazon for £46.99 + £4.50 UK delivery
This item will last for many years and give me the space saving storage that I need. Plus now that I have the stand I can buy MORE guitars :D
You can never have too many guitars right?
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Guitar Man Clip On Guitar Tuner
by professorlamp
After years of tuning by ear I started to not trust my ears judgement as much. Fortunately christmas time came around and this little baby happened to be in the basket, hooray!
The guitar man tuner is a clip-on tuner, this means you clip it to the headstock, and it will sense the vibrations from the guitar and recognise the ... note. There is no microphone on this guitar, sound is just vibration after all...
The tuner itself is small lightweight and easy to use. There is an on/off switch on the right hand side and once it's on, you just clip it onto the head of your guitar and away you go. It grips the headstock firmly and shows no risk of loosening and falling off, I've had mine since the christmas before last and it's still holding up well.
The LED screen in the middle of the tuner displays the notes and their accuracy. During tuning, a pointer will show up. If the pointer is pointing to the center, that string is perfectly tuned. If it is pointing towards the left, it is flat and if it is towards the right, it is sharp. It's extremely easy to use and you should get the hang of it just on your first tuning of the guitar. Not to mention that it stops you relying on your ears. Although your ears do develop and you can hear the notes without needing the tuner, it's sometimes useful to have a point of reference especially after years of not using one
I'd recommend this to anyone to who's on the hunt for a new tuner. It's cheap (£9) sturdy and reliable.
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