Guitar Nerds Anonymous

Used Fender Player Series Telecaster (or any used Telecaster really) and a Boss Katana would be my choice, perhaps a Katana Air if for home use only...

Edit: I see I've missed the boat on this, pics of Tele please!

Sure, couple of phone snaps attached with my favourite strap.

Really enjoying the shape of it. Still getting to grips with all its functions, but loving the ease of bending and sliding.

Question, normally I'd replace the factory strings on an acoustic, does it make much of a difference on electric?

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That's super! I wouldn't usually dig double humbuckers on a Fender but that really does look fun!

've always wanted a telecaster or a gretcsh with a bigsby. What's the general feeling on the sweet spot in terms of performance / value for an intermediate like me?

Looking at about £900 tops with a practice size amp. (Probably a Crush 12).

Just seen a lovely white US Tele with a Bigsby for £650 on FB Marketplace. Will try and dig the link out.

Really like that.

With strings, I reckon they’ll be fine for a first set. I replaced the ones that came on my newest guitar more or less straight away but that’s because they were coated and I didn’t like the feel of them.

How’s the setup/intonation?

Not to bad actually. Action is a little too low for my preference, so may raise it a bit in the future (could just be an electric thing). It feels a bit weird how light the strings are, smashing a clean full six string B with just two fingers isn't getting old yet...

Did you get the Orange Crush? I've been looking at those - any good?

Yeah I got the crush 12. I like it a lot. I've only had a little play with it, but it sounds great, if a bit simple. Really clear, and playing with dials I've managed to get some excellent 'bowie' sounds, which is what I've mostly been playing at home recently.

Yeah - most likely an electric thing, in contrast to your acoustic experience, a lot of electric players like the action as low as they can get away with. People tend to accept a fair bit of fret buzz because it doesn't always come through to the pickups.

That custom made one on the last page is really lovely. Well done. 12 string sounds great, too.

What are people's opinions on the Taylor GS Mini (standard original sitka spruce / sapele version - no electronics)? Is it worth swapping the Micarta saddle for Tusq? And swap the bridge pins too? I picked one up recently for a good price in great condition, but just considering little upgrades. Going to try swapping the worn out Elixir stings for D'Addario's too. I have an old entry-level Fender dread, and this sounds so much better. I don't know much about these things, apologies.

I have a GS Mini (stika/rosewood). Congratulations on your purchase because this guitar sounds and plays great for its price. I love it! I’ve been waiting for someone to mention it on here.

I personally don’t mind the elixir strings. They sound great and last well, through I use a lower gauge (12’s) than the manufacturer recommends (13’s).

I did swap the nut and saddle for tusq And this made an improvement in the brightness and sustain.

Glad to hear you like yours! How come you use the lighter strings? Just feel or something else? I heard that the body and neck are designed for the tension that the medium strings put on them, but is that BS?

I'd like to try the £5 D'Addario's first - If I break some better to with the cheaper ones. I'm not sure my amateur ear will be able to tell a big difference, but I would like to know how some new Elixir ones sound, as the ones on the guitar now are definitely a bit done for.

I use 12’s on mine as a personal preference... I used to have 13’s on mine and it sounded great but was a little to much hard work for me. The guitar is strong enough, so if you like 13’s stick with them.

I’ve never experimented with other brand strings on this guitar so I can’t really comment from experience but D’Addario is a safe choice.

I went acoustic guitar window shopping today, wanted to try one of the Road Series Martins, specifically the '000' model... None around... Tried an all mahogany StreetMaster, awful relic'd finish, looked like a Jack Daniels acoustic or something... Sounded absolutely beautiful! So now I'm looking for one of these, a 000-15M...

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Exactly the same as me - tried the Streetmaster, loved the guitar but wasn’t mad for the sanded-down finish, so I picked up a standard 000-15M. Lovely thing, not the loudest, but nice to play and such a sweet sound.

I was spending the afternoon looking at Sigmas as it happens, not Martins, but thought I’d try the real thing just for kicks. Big mistake.

Did you find a big difference between the sound of the two? It certainly is a sweet sound on the Streetmaster... I can barely bring myself to type that word, such a lame name, it's the guitar equivalent of dodgy faded euro denim... Ugh...

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Did you find a big difference between the sound of the two?

Not more than you’d expect to encounter between different guitars of the same model due to wood selection. The models are essentially identical, and the nitro finish is fairly thin regardless of which one you get.

There’s a third model of 000-15M as it happens, with a burst finish, which is the one I went for.

I'm looking at the 00-15M as well, that's all I'll be doing for a while as you can't get either for love or money...

I sat down to record with my old Kalamazoo the other week and was getting cramp playing chords above the fifth fret... Not a very forgiving guitar...

The Guild M20 is a nice alternative, especially for anyone who likes Nick Drake.

Nice... Didn't the guitar sleuths figure out he played a KG14 on those records? I know he's on the cover of one with the Guild, didn't it belong to Joe Boyd? I've forgotten the details or just made all of that up!

So weird that still nobody really knows. The M20 deffo belonged to the LP sleeve photographer, his family still has it. Richard Thompson seems to be the only person who remembers ND playing a Guild. String arranger Robert Kirby remembers a D28. For Five Leaves Left I'm inclined towards the Levin Goliath he was pictured with in rooms at Cambridge and back home with his family if only because I once played one with dead nickel strings and it sounded EXACT. Other theories are available.

So glad there's a grown up here to keep us all in check... 🙃

What acoustic should I get? I really like that Martin, not crazy about the colour (it's got a bit of a macrobiotic, brown corduroy vibe about it) but it sounds terrific...

Really like the look of that M20.

This fella seems to have got as close as anyone is likely to, given the hazy and conflicting memories from those who were there:

https://youtu.be/EzdQE3fJW2E

Would seem to chime with the fact that ND owned a new Martin 000-28 from around the time of Pink Moon up to his death. Maybe he recorded his records with someone else’s small body Martin and wanted his own?

Love that video, that guy is mental...