Guitar Nerds Anonymous

I don’t really know Rory Gallagher beyond a few live clips. What’s a good starting point?

He's a funny one, I loved his Whistle Test clips as a lad but his records never did it for me. So it just stopped there.

I’ve been on a bit of a Lowell George Little Feat jag this week.

Sailing Shoes and Dixie Chicken are incredible albums.

Totally - I remember finding an old cassette tape in a public library when I was maybe 14 and renting it out on a whim. And then being totally blown away by Spanish Moon. There’s just so much going on - the band has like 100 people in it all in a solid groove

Big thanks to whoever recommended Feline Guitars in Croydon. They've done a terrific job on my Squier Strat, sorting out the poorly done refret I had a few years ago and tidying up my attempts to fix said poor refret. Would second the recommendation.

That was me, glad it worked out!

Irish Tour 74.

Always loved this song.

https://youtu.be/9Z_drl3luuE?si=_3sk45v3Gc_SEFpM

Ah, cool. Nice one. Very happy with the work they did.

The urge to tinker is strong.
Just bought a cheap used Lace Sensor on fleabay to pop in my Squier and eyeing up a second, more challenging pedal kit perhaps.

They sound like cool cats.

Anyone on here got experience using an Electro-Harmonix 44magnum amp pedal?

I really need to miniaturise and lighten my set up for travel to my next run of gigs, but wondering how loud the pedal goes before break up?
I need as clean as possible

I wholeheartedly approve of this.

Also Feats Don't Fail Me Now.
And Thanks I'll Eat It Here.
And Live at Ultrasonic Studios.
Basically anything with Lowell George is full of win.

I'd happily let them get their paws on my other guitars...

Happy they are still going - JOnathan is a lovely man

Got myself an upgrade from my basic Harley Benton load box to a Torpedo Captor, looking forward to testing them side by side and hopefully wonder how did I live with the clearly inferior option for so long...! These days I exclusively play through a load box into IRs so it seemed to make sense.

On a different note, do people have strong opinions on acoustic guitar strings? My Guild M120 desperately needs new strings and I'm thinking of sticking to Elixir because long life - unless there are other long lasting options worth looking at? I don't play acoustic nearly as much as electric, so buying a set which will dull in the space of a couple of weeks even with little use seems like a bit of a waste.

Also, what do people think of Phosphor Bronze vs 80/20? In comparisons I've heard I preferred the PB for the woodier and fuller sound, but since those tend to be done with D28 style guitars which are a lot brighter than my small bodied, mahogany Guild, could the 80/20s make for a more balanced result?

Would love to do some recordings in the coming couple of months and thinking I'd rather have "more" and eq the top end out if needed (which might not be needed as I'll likely be using ribbons) while sacrificing some bottom end, which in a mix won't be a deal breaker since I don't play outright acoustic/folk stuff anyway? Probably just overthinking it and will be fine either way of course...

I got stoned the other night and ordered two more pedal kits from Jed 😳
Muff varient and his version of the EQD Grand Orbiter are on their way…

Sounds like an all round positive night in to me.

My nephew has an M120, it's a nice little guitar.

I never much liked 80/20 brass, they seemed a bit brash and went off fast. I found 85/15 generally a bit warmer. Phosphor bronze is a love/hate thing... I really only like them when they're near-dead, I'm so weary of that lush overtoney new PB sound, I want something a bit more front-porch.

Consider entering the vortex of online opinion on nickel/Monel strings for acoustics. Long life, balanced sound, warm when broken in, woody, natural, slightly old-timey. Notorious for often sounding like total shit for up to two weeks and then coming good for absolutely ages. Not for everyone, but on the right, often small and/or mahogany guitar, they can be ace. Available from Newtone (nickel or monel), Martin ("Retro", monel) and D'Addario ("Nickel Bronze", actually nickel-coated phosphor bronze, my faves so far).

Otherwise there are tons of long-life/coated PB strings, I don't have much experience with any of them, though I hear the D'Add XS are up there soundwise.

Another vote for (specifically) Martin Retro monel strings. Turns out all the things I didn't like about acoustic guitar tone was just in those (generally) phosphor bronze strings.

The fact that they make them in Tony Rice size is just a little bonus

Thanks both for the feedback! This mirrors the information I'd found and the sounds I'd heard, which does make me lean towards the Retros 👍

I have however found a set of D'Addario PB lights in my guitar bits, so I might put those on for now and swap them for Retros a little later to get a gauge of how they differ, though I'm curious to try the Monels and might jump straight to those...!

I like the Monel nickel strings a lot. I find PB strings are nice and loud and bright, but a bit ‘zingy’ for my taste.

Are there many bass players on this thread?

I intend to sell a couple of my basses over the next few months to raise funds for my next album and thought it worth seeing if they are to the tastes of anyone here. Both have high sentimental value and I want them to go to the right, good home.

Kramer 350B, Aluminium neck, single pick-up.
Monster sound.

Sterling Ray34 de-fretted.

I'll make an official for sale post in due course.

Another vote for the Monel’s here. I also have a Guild M120 but it’s been in bits for years. Have Martin Monels on my Sigma DR28 and they suit me perfectly. I hate brash bright zingy new string sound.