General Music Chat

i drove two hrs to St Louis yesterday before my truckstop gig to pick up a new (old) gtr. cool old Guild and bummer of bummers...i didn't even get to play it last night as i was on bass. our lead gtrst played it for our last set and man oh man....he sounded killer on it.

i've got a wedding today (solo gtr and solo mandolin) and a PLANET JAZZ gig tomorrow that'll give me a chance take it thru it's paces.

it's a 1954 Guid X150. my first jazz box w a P90 p/u.
it's got a long scale 25 1/5" scale w a nice wide 1 3/4" nut, chunky but manageable soft V neck, and a big ol' 17" body.

Sweet!

Never heard the Guild single coil soapbar.
I did own an ES-125 w/ a P-90 years ago. The Gibson P-90 is my favorite PU.
One drawback was feedback. Really needed a parametric EQ (notch filter), even @ moderate volume. May be ok playing clean thru a small amp in a small venue.

my best friend back in HS had an old ES-125. super cool gtr.

the feedback problem isn't so much the single coil p/u as it is playing a full size hollow body archtop. i don't have any feedback problems gigging w my 17" Peerless Monarch or my 15" Eastman 803 CE15 as long as i'm smart about it.

Ironically the smaller Eastman is the one MLTFB (most likely to feed back). it's got a paper thin carved top which is nice because it's super responsive and has nice acoustic output even w a top mounted neck pickup. but that thin top also makes it quicker to feedback.

And the big ass PEERLESS, even w it's floating pickup and huge soundboard....you can't MAKE that thing feed back! it's got a soundpost in it and that helps.

Are you going to keep this stock or make it a regular player? If you decide to gig with it on a regular basis beware of two things. 1.) the tuners 2.) the floating bridge. I tried to gig with mine several times and was constantly tuning the thing. It was in pristine condition like your Guild but I ended up swapping it out because it wasn't a practical working man's guitar. I didn't want to modify it but I could have (and probably should have). Not implying you will have these problems. You know how guitars go. Some behave better than others.

i wish keeping it stock was an option, but it's already been dicked around with. the tuners have been replaced w a nice set of Waverly machines (good improvement), the tailpiece was replaced w a lower end Gibson TP that you'd find on an ES-125, the wooden bridge has been replaced w a tune-o-matic.... the bridge is probably the one thing i WILL change and replace w a good quality wooden brdg.

for me....on an archtop, it's gotta be a wooden bridge for "that" tone. and never, NEVER pin it! i never have more than the usual tuning issues as i don't do a whole lot string bending on Jazz gigs.

The review:

I had a rare moment of using good judgement and didn't bring the Guild to Saturday's solo wedding gig. I suspected i'd be dealing w less than optimum acoustics on the boat where the wedding was held...small cabin w about 50 loud guests had me very glad i brought my thinline Warmoth tele instead.

So, yesterday was Guild Day and i brought the X-150 and my '66 Starfire II to an outside Planet Jazz winery gig.

Wheaties for breakfeast, and i was feeling manly, so I left my Deluxe Reverb at home and instead schlepped my Blues Deville (2x12" model). Damn, that's a great sounding amp but it is one heavy S.O.B. !

The X-150 w it's longer scale, big body, round wounds, and single coil P90 is a very different animal than my Starfire ( SF=shorter scale, flats, two HB's, and super low action).

I played the first two of three sets on the X150 and absolutely LOVED it! spent some time tuning because it still had the 11's on it (way too light) and because it was in the upper '50's.

with those 11's, the tunomatic, long scale, and that P90 it's a very bright sounding gtr. no surprise there! i'll want to it keep somewhat bright, but i need to mellow it just a little w some bigger strings and a wooden bridge.

the gtr has very good action but by the third set the temp had dropped considerably so it was time grab the easier playing Starfire for a little A/B comparison. As much as i'm digging the X-150 ....that old Starfire is one very comfortable pair of nicely worn in shoes! And it's shorter scale and flatwounds really give up the "old school jazzbox tone".

I recorded the gig on my little Tascam DR-05... perhaps i'll put up a tune or three up for public consumption.

Jookey...can i dig into your bag of excuses for my playing? Bandaids on all ten of my fingers.....dog ate my homework....my woman left me to run off w a republican....etc, etc.....

Jookey...can i dig into your bag of excuses for my playing? Bandaids on all ten of my fingers.....dog ate my homework....my woman left me to run off w a republican....etc, etc.....

Dude, I'm not blowing smoke up your rear end. I didn't call my take 'Snafu Swing' for nothing. That's the first time I've picked up the guitar in at least five years and I do have two bum fingers on my fretting hand and I did have a Band-Aid on a third. I've been playing bass with a classical pianist for the last 10 years because it's not too busy and I can get by with the dexterity issue.

I never thought you were trying to blow any smoke. My comment wasn't mocking your playing or intended as an any assessment of your playing......it was meant as a self effacing comment on MY playing skills!

And please excuse me if I get a bit 'chatty'. I haven't talked shop with performing musicians ('the guys') in 10 years. I pick on the pianist every time we play a tune in Eb but that's about it. I feel like a kid with a new toy right now. I'll settle down eventually.

no apologies necessary and certainly no need to settle down.. it's great having another player around who's interested in talking music!

I never thought you were trying to blow any smoke. My comment wasn't mocking your playing or intended as an any assessment of your playing......it was meant as a self effacing comment on MY playing skills!

I apologize if I came off a little crass but I'm really pissed-off with myself to tell you the honest truth. I enjoy playing the bass but the guitar is my first love and I quit a long time ago when I should have kept up the PT. I wallowed around in self pity and got really depressed about the whole thing so I gave up. That's why I came here, to get motivated again. Please, kick me in the ass until my uploads are worthy.

once again....no apology necessary. you didn't come off crass at all.

interestingly enough, i too started off on gtr before picking up bass. i had become quite bummed at having hit a wall early on w my gtr playing, and got stuck on a plateau that i couldn't get above. i still played gtr at home, and recording on the old Teac 4 trk, but all my gigging and jamming was on bass.

then about 15 yrs ago i was getting a band together w a cpl of friends and we couldn't find a gtrst that could play the variety of stuff we wanted to do. it was suggested i play gtr, and we simply find a bass player. and i really found myself enjoying reconnecting w gtr again.

so, i too wasted yrs neglecting my gtr playing and sometimes get bummed by where i'm at in the chops/technique dept. That just makes me work harder on improving.

still, i first and foremost consider myself a bassplayer. i'm a bassplayer who plays a few other instruments. if for some reason i had to limit myself to one instrument....hands down...it'd be bass.

anyhow....glad you showed up here and glad you're back in the hunt and taking care of business. slow and steady....no fast moves. and as the jazzers like to say...."straight ahead".

from friday's gig. damn that is one BIG gtr! you know what they say, right?

Big guitar..................... big guitar case!

LOL! gawd....i sure hope not.

here's the backup axe that i KNOW for certain wasn't Trump's.....