Show and Tell - Your guitar(s)

[tapper mike]

It's that time once again. A time that I never put a date on.

Show your guitars (please no stock photos)
Tell us a little bit about it/them.

[tapper mike]

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This is my D'angelico EXL-1 Premier in (metal flake) Ocean Turquoise
17" body 3"deep Spruce Top, Maple Back, Sides, Neck, Ovangol (painted/stained maple) fretboard. MOP inlays and shield logo.
Chrome Hardware and a single floating mini-humbucker

This was the last guitar I purchased. I think it was back in Feb or Jan 2020 after being disappointed with my Epi Joe Pass. The neck on the EXL is thinner than the Epi - JP without being too thin. It feels only slightly wider but still very comfortable.

My first impressions of the tone were not that good. Nor did I especially like the action. Tone I blame on the D'angelico strings, as soon as I changed them to D'addario Chromes and lowered the action a bit It became immensely more playable. I'd like to take the action down a little more however the posts that connect the saddle to the base bridge won't allow that.

For it's side it actually puts out the lowest volume acoustically of all my traditional jazz boxes. The sympathetic vibrations from body and tailpiece are sweet adding lift and presence but not exceptionally spongy or brittle.

It's great for about 85% of my jazz playing and can handle fairly well as a replacement acoustic guitar amplified when the need arises. It doesn't have the punch for tight aggressive playing like Kenny Burrell. The single floating humbucker is not adjustable. Off all my "Boxes" it's the first I'll amp up and it plays nice with both Fender Deluxe tones as well as Tweed and Acoustic amplification environments but the Deluxe with a little bit of roon or spring reverb is where it shines the most.

[.jon]

Well that is one sweet looking guitar

[tapper mike]

I like it.

More to come.

[tapper mike]

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This is my RWG450. I don't know where the tone pot is I've been looking for years. It may have come off at a blues jam and I always forget to buy another.

There was this guy who worked as a tech for a defunct company called Raven Guitars. It was a small operation where they would design guitars to have a Korean manufacturer make and import. Once imported they would do full inspection set up and sale. Well the guy who owned Raven guitars died, and the guy who managed the company wanted to keep the name and keep building. Due to a dispute this wasn't possible. So the second guy who actually put more effort into the company started his own brand and due to the popularity named the company Raven West Guitars. If only he had was better at marketing. Raven West Guitars eventually folded as well. The company was well known for making lefty guitars of the same quality for the same price
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2CojA9A8Mc

RWG had two "prs style bodies. The solid body (350) and the hollow body(450). Even though it has a stop tailpiece and shallow body it's not a semi. The tailpiece / bridge assembly is mounted to the body and a brace runs bout to bout solidly adhered to the sides and top without touching the back there is plenty of room for air to move throughout the cavity of the entire body.

It has a maple top. Mahogany neck, sides and back. With a very decorative walnut fretboard. The scale length is 25.5 with 24 frets. It has an extremely thin neck with smaller width and yet still entirely playable. The action is the lowest I've ever played. I'm guessing it's a 12 inch radius on the neck.

It's not perfect. I have a nick on the 14th fret just above the B string where it catches when I try to play a bend around that part. The ornate inlay work does not match the frets and if I focus too much on it as a marker I find myself in the wrong spot. Even though I've had my far share of thin neck 24 fret guitars it kind of feels strange. Another thing is the neck pup. The pup itself is fine it's an A5 humbucker that has a moderate output but because of the 24th fret and 25.5 scale length the overtones aren't as concentrated/focused. It still does harmonics just fine. The tuneomatic bridge and stop tailpiece while fully functional don't really cut it for me for jazz. The tone is considerably brighter than a traditional tailpiece and wooden saddle bridge.

It's great for classic pop rock and old style fusion playing. Not especially for Blues. What was significant to me was that this was the guitar I worked out much of my Tap plus fingerpicking style of playing moving away from more conventional tapping. I do considerably less of that these days. Arranging and learning jazz chord melody standards is less work and I only need to learn the song one way.

[tapper mike]

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My latest acquisition. The Ibanez GB10EMAA
The GB was designed in collaboration with George Benson they wanted to fuse both the characteristics of a Gibson Johnny Smith and a Gibson Les Paul. It was the first signature guitar ever produced by Ibanez it's also always been in continuous production since then. When other artists found out that they too could be involved with the design process they quickly ran to Ibanez to get signed. It was a turning point for Ibanez as well producing high quality guitars for the world and moving away from the "B" brand to an A lister brand.

The "EM" is the latest variant on the George Benson model focusing on value over price. Unlike the "SE" version which was produced in China (with failing reviews) The EM is produced in Indonesia and corrects many failings of the Chinese build. Most notably the hardware (tuners,tailpiece, volume and tone pots. And yet holds down the price considerably.

I have the Amber Antique version with laminated spruce top. Spruce doesn't offer the grain lines that one may be accustomed to on other woods. The bout measures 14 1/2 inches. Larger than a Les Paul and yet smaller than a common sized hollowbody archtop which is 16 inches. It has a 3 3/8 inch depth. The back and sides are Basswood (though they like to use the name of the tree in the description "Linden". The neck scale length is 24.7 inches just shy of a Gibson Les Paul which comes in at 24.75. The neck itself is made of African Nyatoh which is similar in color, rigidity and color to mahogany. The fretboard is bound walnut with acrylic inlays. The bridge and saddle is also walnut. Finished in Chrome. It uses two floating "magic tone" mini-humbuckers that are mounted to the pickguard.

I had forever wanted a GB10. But was dissuaded not only because of the high price but as well "serious players" who didn't take kindly to Japanese builders and a guy who was known as a "smooth jazz" player with serious R&B/Disco intentions. Still I loved his chops he was one of the last guys who could improvise chord solos. My biggest concern was that his signature guitar is all about George Benson. Maybe I wasn't listening in the right places but I never heard anyone else even semi-famous playing a GB.

With the slight exception of a lowered output on the high e-string (I may have to go up a gauge) it gives off mighty George Benson tones that other manufacturers wish they could get out of a smaller hollow body guitar (Gibson, D'angelico, Eastman) The action is unparalleled super low with no buzzing. A thin relatively narrow width on the neck. About my only quibble is with the thin width at the nut and small string spacing it can make for some challenging experience getting open chords to properly ring out. That being said the tone and volume pots are on par with Korean, Japanese American manufacturing and are of a higher quality than many other guitar hardware producers (India, Mexico) The fretwork is near perfect even level with no fret sprouts. And those magic floating pickups are indeed magical. They pick up the tone from the cavity as well as the top of the guitar while keeping feedback down. The sympathetic resonance from the bridge is tamed by the wood rather than brass or nickel yet still noticeable as is the body's sympathetic resonance. No it's not "tune tapped" as body woods are often on higher end guitars still it has a nice robust quality.

[glokraw]

This is my D'angelico EXL-1 Premier in (metal flake) Ocean Turquoise
17" body 3"deep Spruce Top, Maple Back, Sides, Neck, Ovangol (painted/stained maple) fretboard. MOP inlays and shield logo.
Chrome Hardware and a single floating mini-humbucker

I've not seen such a beautiful guitar displayed in a shop at floor level.
There was a Hagstrom electric 12 string that was close, but no aqua,
'just' a very nicely done marina blue.
Did you play-before-pay for more than 30 seconds? Or finish it yourself?

[tapper mike]

All the above guitars were bought online. Almost all of the guitars I've bought over the last 20 years have been online purchases. I've actually had more issues with store bought ones over the same period. Though there has been one loser of the bunch but I had low expectations.

I do a lot of research before I buy. Watch tonnes of videos on the same product and look at specs again and again. I also carefully look at specs. Neck width and depth as well as string spacing. Back in the late 80's I had 100 guitars. The curse of having too much money and not enough sense. In the process I figured out which types of necks I could adapt to and which ones I couldn't. I'll never own a Gretsch or a Hagstrom or a Heritage. Even though I like to look at them the Gretch guitars are simply too big a neck for me to gain any sense of comfort. Same as the Heritage as I actually did go to a store and play one. I've played a few hagstroms in the past (70's and 80's) a few dated back to the 60's I was largely unimpressed back then. I understand that the build quality has improved and one of my favorite jazz guitarists Rich Severson https://www.youtube.com/user/guitarcollege4u has been known to play one live as opposed to bringing out his more expensive guitars. But personally I didn't find the tone inviting.

My "Go to" guitar store has closed. They would never get guitars that I was interested in because it was a small operation. The others around me were filled with disappointment. Shady characters lousy support after sale and huge markup.

Not that I always buy from Sweetwater. But. They photograph in detail each guitar they sell. The one you buy is the one you see. Which also means you have to take a focused look at the guitar.

As for the action on the D'angelico in my previous comments. It's fine for most if not all my playing needs. However I'm a guy who prefers the lowest action and a near flat neck. When a neck has no relief it can feel un natural and sound somewhat bland. If you are a heavy handed player (which I'm not) you might want to add more relief and raise the action. Too low action (especially with loose trem or any trem) will actually pull the guitar out of tune. I'm not an aggressive player or have large hands so that doesn't apply to me. Still if you are new to the stage and happen to find yourself on one it's easy to get nervous and play harder than you would otherwise.

[tapper mike]

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My 2015 Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor II pro (modified)
A funny thing about this guitar. Joe Pass didn't live long enough to play one. He made arrangements with Gibson in 94 and died in 95 before the product was released.

The body and neck are finished in transparent red wine. Fretboard, headstock, body, pickguard and F-holes are adorned with ivory (cream) binding. A five ply binding outlines the body.
The guitar features laminated maple back sides and neck with a laminate spruce top on a 16 inch bout with hand carved bracing and a venetian cutaway It features top hat knobs with pull out coil taps on the volume controls. A conventional three way selector switch. and The pickguard is plastic with a dark tortoise shell design and the Epiphone E imprinted.

I've upgraded the neck pickup from a Probucker II to a Seymour Duncan JB (Jazz Blues) While the pro-bucker 3 remains in the bridge position as well I replaced the standard trapezoid tailpiece with a finger tailpiece for better intonation better sympathetic resonance and tune able resistance to get a better angle from tailpiece to bridge. Other than that it has a maple neck with pau ferro fretboard and acrylic block inlays. The headstock is painted black and features the tree of life design as well as the Epiphone branding. Other than that it's the standard Gibson configuration of four top hat knobs plastic gold colored knobs and a three way toggle switch. The scale length is 25.5

My Experience and thoughts.
The laminated body is too thick. They do this as a means to reduce feedback but in my mind it also saps tone. Sympathetic Resonance suffers greatly even with hand carved bracing. With a thicker body so too the neck needs to be thicker in order to achieve balance. When they are unbalanced either the neck droops or rides to high and requires the left hand to balance the guitar into a playable position. I don't love this neck and I reject Gibsons claim about it being '60s slim taper. I've owned a few Les Pauls. A 57 a 72 reissue and a 78 custom. They were considerably thinner than this and as heavy as they were did not require a neck this fat. Yes there is some tapering going on between the 7th and 12th fret as that's a sweet-spot for many players but it doesn't make for an all around mover and shaker.

It looks beautiful, It sounds better with the new pickup and tailpiece. It plays fairly well. I like the action. Over time I've adapted to the neck, though it's still a workout compared to my other guitars. The replacement pickup in the neck is wonderful. Louder with a punchy bass response and still plenty of treble. Although the JB is intended as a bridge pickup due to it's higher output I couldn't have picked a better neck pup. It's still warm, and very responsive. What would have otherwise been a very pretty bland sounding box sounds more like a Gibson ES-350 or Super 400. Great for Kenny Burrell aggressive chord work and soloing.

[tapper mike]

It wouldn't hurt the thread if someone else posted a pic of a guitar that they own. Not just about me.

[mvrasseli]

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This is Frankristine, the guitar that I use in my records. It is a Tagima T-735 that I changed the pick ups and the bridge pieces by brazilian made ones.

[mvrasseli]

It wouldn't hurt the thread if someone else posted a pic of a guitar that they own. Not just about me.

Your guitars are great. For sure they're very nice to play with.

[donkey tugger]

One tends not to eulogise too much about these things - tools for songwriting, not art objects....but this is the f**king Bass VI in Fiesta Red for f**ks sake.

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I've always played bass properly (plectrum, chords.. ) not like some nodding pigeon, so it was inevitable at some point I'd get a bass VI. It's a Revelation RJT60B apparently. Plays like a dream, either as a bass or as a loooowwwww baritone geetar. Great for writing on - suspended chords with drones high up..

It's not pink.

[AnX]

when you say fiesta red, do you mean the car, or the, ahem, magazine?

[GaryG]

@DT: f**k yeah.