DON’T WORRY, A/B HAPPY
Like many of us, I have a small collection of gear, guitars, amps and pedals and have been trying out comparisons, in a semi-controlled environment, with regard to how one guitar sounds against another. I know we all hear things differently, but at the end of the day, the player has to be happy with his or her sound. I’ve found doing this also helps choosing what gear to take to which venue, taking into the mix space and room size, ceiling height, carpet etc.
I’m one half of a duo and we mostly play in pubs, every one of which has different characteristics. We are a guitar and bass combo with a little occasional harp-blowing. We perform with backing tracks on, which allow us to edit out the parts we play – so having the capability to conjure up the sound of the track is quite important. I have found this an absorbing pastime and hopefully will put me on the road to discovering lots of things about my own gear.
Stuart Hellier, via email Thanks, Stuart – the current situation notwithstanding, there’s a lot to be said for hiring a rehearsal space purely for the purpose of testing gear at something like real gig volume. It’s very instructive as so many aspects of your gear’s performance change with increasing volume. As we’ve said before, gigging really focuses your thoughts on what matters when it comes to gear – yet another benefit of live performance. We sincerely hope we’ll all be in a position to enjoy gigging again in the not too distant.
CHEAP THRILLS
Hello, I’m Oshan. I’m 11, relatively new to guitar, and have enjoyed reading Guitarist ever since I found my dad’s collection of back issues. I recently chose to subscribe to Guitarist and got my first real electric guitar two years ago as a Christmas present: a beautiful Epiphone Casino Coupe in Cherry
Red. It sounds and plays amazing. A few weeks ago I broke a string on it and have held off restringing it as I’m unsure of what strings to use. I have previously used Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys – I wondered if you had any suggestions? Aside from advice on that I also have some things I would like to see in the mag. I would love it if you could feature some cheaper guitars, as £1,500 isn’t really affordable in my case. I also want to congratulate you on continuing to put out the magazines during these difficult times. They’ve kept to the usual great standard and I have been really enjoying them.
Oshan Dowsett, via email Welcome aboard, Oshan, and thanks for becoming a subscriber. We’re delighted you decided to pick up the guitar – there’s a lifetime of enjoyment to be had in this wonderful instrument. Let’s deal with your strings question first of all. You won’t go wrong with sticking to the Slinkys for most normal playing purposes, so don’t feel afraid to stick with them if you like them. If you want a lighter, faster feel you can also try dropping a gauge to Super Slinkys in 0.009 to .0.042. If you fancy trying a posh premium string, EB’s Paradigm range or D’Addario’s NYXL are lovely sets, albeit for a bit more money, while British brand Rotosound also makes a great range of quality electric strings that are well worth trying. Our advice is just go for it, try a few things out and see which you prefer. We’re also happy to say this issue’s cover feature is devoted to quality affordable electrics, so we hope you enjoy perusing the parade of tone-rich beauties we’ve prepared.
SWITCH TIP
I recently bought a G&L S-500 Tribute and while I think it’s a great guitar for the money it has one irritating feature – the treble pot also acts as a push/pull expander enabling the selection of additional pickup combinations. This pot is a witch-hat design and that makes it difficult to pull up, because you can’t get a firm grip on the sloping sides of the knob. With the aid of a centre spindle salvaged from an old potentiometer, I was able to hold the witch hat in my electric drill chuck (clamped to a bench) and, using a small round file, I cut a groove to suit a 1/16-inch cross section O-ring bought from a DIY store. It’s now easy to operate and doesn’t look too bad.
Stewart Unwin, via email
That’s a brilliant tip, Stuart – we’ve clawed at push/pull control knobs in vain in the past, especially on stage with sweaty fingers. This neatly gets round the problem. We doff our caps to you, sir!