Guitar Nerds Anonymous

I'm strongly considering a consolidation of electric guitar gear and a few new items in place of the old...

Sell:

• PRS Santana SE (my first proper guitar and I thought I'd never sell it but I feel like it's a bit excessive to keep...)

• PRS Tremonti SE

• Fender Stratocaster (Partscaster w/1992 62 AVRI neck, nitro refinished early 80s Squier body and Van Zandt Vintage Plus pickups)

• Squier Master Telecaster Thinline HH

• Laney LC15

Keep:

• PRS Custom 22

• Danelectro Baritone

• Fender Duo-Sonic

• Dean Dimeicorn Project (at least for the time being until it's finished)

Acquire:

• Superstrat : Something with 24 frets/ ideally HS but probably HH/ Floyd Rose or else one of the very good non-locking tremolos like a Gotoh 510/ thicker neck, not an Ibanez RG/ more on the old school 80s end of the spectrum but nothing too flashy...
  Current frontrunners are...
  Ibanez AZ2402
  80s ESP Horizon or Mirage
  Shijie TM-6

• Another Strat : I never really gelled with that Partscaster but I think I might like a slightly more modern feeling Strat while still sounding vintage
  Current frontrunners are...
  Shijie STE HSS
  Ibanez AZ2204
  Musicman Cutlass RS HSS

• Some monitors and a new interface : My Apogee has a janky connection and I don't own monitors.

Any suggestions or recommendations for alternative guitar choices and also monitors and interfaces?

I wouldn’t know where to start with Superstrats, but I’m curious about Shijie guitars, they’re supposed to be excellent for the money.

Interfaces - can’t go wrong with the Focusrite Scarlett range.

Musicman Cutlass RS HSS

Slightly aroused by those.

Are you in the UK?

I've always liked the look of the EBMM Luke's (or their Sterling counterparts) as sensible superstrats.

There's usually some interesting stuff on the fretboard forum, like this satriani ibanez: https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/188818/ibanez-js1000-black-sparkle-850 , this EBMM EVH https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/192928/sold-ernie-ball-music-man-ebmm-evh-eddie-van-halen-guitar-july-1991 or this jackson (sold now) https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/191175/jackson-usa-pc1-suhr-modern-satin-gibson-lp-classic-all-sold

I want to get my prs se set up by someone that knows what they're doing. There's something a bit odd around the 12 fret on the high e side where as the action comes down (to normal levels, nothing crazy low) when fretting at the 11th fret it chokes on the 12th

Anyway - I'm over in South Hampstead/Swiss Cottage so Camden is pretty easy. Anyone used Philippe Dubreuille or even any of the other Camden shops? Or best just take it down to one of the Denmark street folk?

Philippe knows what he's doing, he's only ever set up a bass for me but he's a proper luthier... Seeing as you're up north maybe you could try Bill Pupplet in Harrow, he's the best but very busy...

Cool thanks. Camden is walkable, whereas Harrow isn’t. I’ll give him a try and see if he can fit it in

I'm in Ireland but I'm ok with buying online these days...

@cookiemonster, some good suggestions there but I'm afraid I've never taken to the sucked sweet aesthetic of the JS/ S Ibanez models nor the Wolfgang shape guitars...

That Jackson PC1 is lovely though!

I really am loving these ESP Horizon Customs though...

...and this ESP M-I

I'm considering moving on this Shadow superstrat. It's a lovely thing, but I think my style leans towards fixed-bridge guitars.

Thats a nice looking thing but a few frets shy for me I'm afraid!

I always had a soft spot for the HM Strat, as weird as they are.

https://www.andertons.co.uk/guitar-dept/electric-guitars/stratocaster/fender-limited-edition-hm-strat-rosewood-ice-blue

How about a Suhr Classic S or Modern S? All manner of good by most accounts.

there's this for a very bargain £350 - nothing some sandpaper and file couldnt sort out

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/183093/fs-fenderjapan-reissue-65-strat-bound-neck-gretsch-g6120n-new-nashville-and-charvel-st-custom

On interfaces, I still love my Duet 2. Only downsides are the slightly annoying input/output cables. And only having one knob means you sometimes need to tap it a few times in a hurry to get to the right function. Only really as issue if you accidentally arm a mic when the monitors are cranked. It sounds great and has never let me down tho.

I know people who have the UA ones with built in processing and plugins swear by them too.

Best sounding monitors that i'd consider affordable were Genelec 8030s.

I have an old FireWire Duet and it’s been great. Served it’s purpose very well. I went through a Focusrite Saffire Pro 26 and now use a UA Apollo Twin X, with a Focusrite Octopre feeding it another eight channels over ADAT. I have to say the Apollo is amazing. Expensive, but the software is really excellent. The ability to track through preamps etc with no latency is a great boon, and the preamps, EQs and compressors sound top notch to me.

If you don’t need loads of processing power or expansion the Arrow is a great choice. If you just need one or two high quality inputs the Duet is also great. No experience of that new entry level SSL interface but does also seem well suited to a guitarist recording themselves.

what's up with these Harley Benton Bigsbys? Why so cheap? Are they like the B70 ones with plastic bushings instead of bearings?

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_parts_bigsby_lic._b70_chrome_reviews.htm?rating=4

@Fatberg did you buy the Vox?

Dang! I totally through that was a 24, but I haven't played it in ages.

Decided that this lockdown I’m going to sell one bass and learn to play the other one properly.
I’m not bad at the basics and have recorded plenty of baselines but found out yesterday I’d been trying to slap/pop all wrong...
So much easier with good technique, youtube to the rescue!

If you're serious about improving bass chops I'd recommend taking a look at Scott's Bass Lessons. Genuinely excellent content and not expensive if you put the work in to go with it!

Thanks, I’ll check that out properly once I’ve worked my way through the YouTube series I’m on.
If anything, structured practice and the associated building stamina will improve things a lot.

Uh no, I baled at the last minute. Decided rather than a cheap and cheerful toy I wanted a proper little tube cutie down here. Champion 600 or something. Maybe a tweed champ clone.

I’m still in the same boat. Absolutely unable to decide what amp I want. I play the Tele unplugged when I’m working stuff out and don’t want to annoy the Mrs, and the Eastman when I want a bit more volume. Not unhappy with either...

I have a telly watching amp upstairs, but I’m after something even more compact and toneful for the kitchen/dining room/playroom/daytime living room in the basement, where we spend 90% of our non-working time.

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I can’t play for shit today. Uncle Larry is killing it. https://youtu.be/GN3GSViS8HA