Guitar Nerds Anonymous

Ain’t nobody got time for that

Changed from metal to plastic a long time ago

Reverb tone report: "[food series] pedals suffer from tone-sucking bypass, laughably delicate switches and pots, and cheap plastic casings ... but for cool tones on the cheap, they are worth every penny."

Hmmm. I might just order another Boss.

So I took a little trip to the guitar shop today to try out some acoustics...

I had a go on:

Gibson J-45
Martin D18, D28, HD28, 000-42 (the only smaller bodied standard series they had)

I was really lucky that the shop was empty and the sales guy was happy for me to have a go, even after saying I definitely wasn't going to buy a guitar today. I'd still like to try out a 00-18 and 000-18, but I think my favourite was the D-28. Honestly, though, while they were all definitely 'different', I would really struggle to actually have any preference between them at all. The electronics spoiled the J-45 for me a bit (personal taste) and I was a bit cold on the HD-28 (but that one also had electronics in it, so maybe it was throwing me off). I really expected to prefer the smaller body 000 - I almost ordered a 00-18 blind a while back when I was a bit tired of being locked down - but the dreadnoughts were 'fine'. I guess anything feels small after my EJ-200.

Prior to this, I'd only played my Epiphone EJ-200 that I've owned since about 2007, a battered old Talman, and my brother's Guild GAD-125 dreadnought. It was really cool to actually get hands on with a few different models, but I reckon I was about £2000 north of the 'diminishing returns' line. That said, I'm totally OK with buying into a guitar that brings most of its value in the history the model evokes for me. If I do upgrade from the Epiphone, it'll be for something at that level, I think.

I went onto Sigma Sports to see what the price of a D28 would get me. Not sure if it's helping to justify the guitar or just making me ashamed of past bike purchases.

or just making me ashamed of past bike purchases

I don’t think my wife understands how much I’ve spent on bikes, I bought a 2018 Fender Strat Player for around £400 that she as equated to another bike. I wasn’t sure how to say it was around 10% of my last bike without a load of other questions following on.

Seriously, when I think about the (to my teenage self) crazy dream fulfilment of buying a flagship acoustic guitar and then it's like... CAAD13 with 105 money.

The first big 'wow' was my former dream electric from my youth, an American Strat (not bought).

£1000. AKA a cheap Boardman.

Is there a UK equivilant of this? For similar money.
Pedal power bank

I got one of these a few months ago, it’s decent (although has gone up at least £5) since I bought. I reckon you’d fill up 5x outputs quite quickly, no?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Premium-Nordell-Isolated-Output-Effects/dp/B00Q8V2IH8

Not sure about an equivalent but it's worth keeping an eye out on eBay for these to come up. I got one that way and have been happy with it for the money (it obviously isn't the most exciting of purchases but it does make a difference compared to a daisy chain!)

The price increase is probably because Thomann now include VAT on sales to the UK, no? They cover all the import charges as well so the price you see is now the price you pay. Not like the early days of br*xit.

I’d be pretty comfortable ordering from Thomann if it was something you couldn’t get from a UK retailer.

Great idea thanks.

@Pifko thanks for the advice. Maybe a good one for another time, I am minded to build a pedal board using the timber from an oak whisky barrel top next year.

The suplly @Pifko posted looks suspiciously similar to this bad boy: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32700877525.html

There are also smaller 5-outputs ones like this one: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000162125554.html

Mosky seems like a fairly new brand but seems to have a decent reputation at making cheap but accurate clones, but like Mooer did a few years back and many since - a couple of demos of their Klone have made me want to pull the trigger and invest all of £18 on one, compared to very expensive versions it definitely holds its own!

@mattioats @Dramatic_Hammer - thanks for the midi-related heads up, appreciated! Yeah sadly it doesn't look like cheap solutions do exist so might hold my horses for now. Definitely not a priority at the moment 👍

How about this https://www.microdesignum.cz/EN/Products/MIDI-Controllers/MIDI-Piccolo-2F1D

Still not super cheap but closer!

Anyone got bairns learning classical guitar at school, with any 3/4 size recommendations?

That's basically what I was after but yeah, still pricier than it makes sense to spend at the moment... Feels like a gap in the market somehow, either that or midi stuff is plain pricey to make!

@rodan It might be different now, but Stagg used to be a go-to brand for kids' first guitars and the like. Affordable and decent enough not to put anyone off the instrument. If they're already into it and you're after something a little better Yamaha should have a few choices in terms of price and (good) quality without being overpriced and I seem to remember Fender did one too. Anything more specifically classical guitar I wouldn't know. Also keep in mind I'm mostly basing it off what we used to sell/have in stock in the guitar shop I worked at one and off around 15 or so years ago, so might be a different landscape now!

Thanks. I’ve had a wee look and there seems to be a glut of budget models around £50-80, then the Yamaha and Fender just north of £100. I like that that Fender has a narrow nut width (which should make it easier for an 8-year-old to play), but suspect that the Yamaha would be best quality overall.

suspect that the Yamaha would be best quality overall

That would be my hunch as well. Classical guitars do have massive flat wide necks (by electric/acoustic guitars standards that is) - I’d say if the goal is to learn how to play classical guitar then a wider neck is probably the way, if it’s a case of starting to play guitar in general, chords etc on a classical guitar then a thinner neck might be helpful and should they move on up to an acoustic or electric instrument later it might feel a wee bit more familiar. Hope that makes sense?

It does, thanks. I’m not sure the goal is to learn classical, the letter from the school music teacher specifies nylon strings purely from a comfort point of view. Also, her interest is mainly in learning to play electric, so maybe the Fender with the narrow nut would be best.

Yeah, that's Justin Sandercoe's advice, his opinion is that unless you want to learn to play classical guitar, an electric is probably easier for beginners just because of the nut width and how hard that makes fingering. A nylon-strung guitar will likely have an even wider nut than a "normal" metal-strung acoustic guitar.

I got a Squier Bullet Mustang for my son and it's been a good choice in terms of scale length, string tension, overall weight etc.

Found this via a YouTube video reviewing an amp
Caline UK CP-05 Guitar Effect Power Supply. UK Plug
And this from Donner
Donner power

She’s actually got a Squier mini-JM already, but she can’t be lugging an amp to school with her.

I went to PMT this afternoon to look at the Fender ESC80 and a similar Yamaha. Not much between them, both nicely made. I went with the Fender because it has a slightly narrower nut, and a satin finish so the neck was a bit slidier.

@rodan looks smart.

Talking of small guitars, after clearing out a load of space, picked up a parlour size today on special. Really like the size, such a difference from the usual.

Donner are having a 50% sale day Sunday. On the list is the yellow fall delay pedal. Does anyone have one and used it? It would be £15 on the deal. Seems cheap enough to buy and try…

This guy’s pretty tolerable for cheap pedal reviews:

https://youtu.be/3MrJrFfMxy4

£15 for any pedal is crazy cheap.