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Guitars

It's amazing to me that a $60 CNC'd guitar made in China can have a $1 Fender decal added to the headstock and the guitar is suddenly worth 10 times as much. Fender, Gibson et al used to be expensive as they were generally hand crafted but now the major manufacturers' guitars are all CNC'd and have the majority of their work done in Asia. It's only the bragging rights that keep people buying them. Upgrade the pickups on a DIY build and you have a cracking guitar for a fraction on Fender's prices. I
 
It's amazing to me that a $60 CNC'd guitar made in China can have a $1 Fender decal added to the headstock and the guitar is suddenly worth 10 times as much. Fender, Gibson et al used to be expensive as they were generally hand crafted but now the major manufacturers' guitars are all CNC'd and have the majority of their work done in Asia. It's only the bragging rights that keep people buying them. Upgrade the pickups on a DIY build and you have a cracking guitar for a fraction on Fender's prices. I
So, think I've settled on a DIY les paul junior. I want to wire in a kill switch though and also a humbucker splitter...would that work you reckon?
 
The kill switch is easy enough to fit - it all depends on the pickguard and the space available in the cavity. Important to note - you have to play with the gain really cranked up to get a clean machine gun attack. It's just my opinion, but I think that playing with low gain sounds bloody awful. I fit a killswitch a month or so ago for a customer and it was coupled with an in phase/off/ out of phase wiring configuration on each pickup. I hated the killswitch effect, but the young guy loved it. I guess I'm just old school!

Converting to a split humbucker - I would start by replacing one of the 500k tone pots with a 500k push pull control knob. These push pull knobs sit a LOT deeper in the control cavity so I would recommend that you measure the cavity carefully to see if it will fit before you start !!

You cant really go wrong with trying different wiring configs. There are a lot of tutorials and guides available for everything on the web. You just need a ton of patience. I'm currently wiring up a Brian May configuration that feeds from the selector switch into the volume pot and then feeds into an onboard preamp and treble booster. Fortunately, the preamp came mainly pre-wired so it shouldn't be too hard......famous last words eh?

Good luck !!
 
The kill switch is easy enough to fit - it all depends on the pickguard and the space available in the cavity. Important to note - you have to play with the gain really cranked up to get a clean machine gun attack. It's just my opinion, but I think that playing with low gain sounds bloody awful. I fit a killswitch a month or so ago for a customer and it was coupled with an in phase/off/ out of phase wiring configuration on each pickup. I hated the killswitch effect, but the young guy loved it. I guess I'm just old school!

Converting to a split humbucker - I would start by replacing one of the 500k tone pots with a 500k push pull control knob. These push pull knobs sit a LOT deeper in the control cavity so I would recommend that you measure the cavity carefully to see if it will fit before you start !!

You cant really go wrong with trying different wiring configs. There are a lot of tutorials and guides available for everything on the web. You just need a ton of patience. I'm currently wiring up a Brian May configuration that feeds from the selector switch into the volume pot and then feeds into an onboard preamp and treble booster. Fortunately, the preamp came mainly pre-wired so it shouldn't be too hard......famous last words eh?

Good luck !!
Cheers mate I'm gonna pick up £20 guitar and have a practice on that before I invest any serious cash
 
My DC junior came on Wednesday. I'm impressed it sounds and plays well right out of the box, just need to lower the strings a bit.

My only complaint is the tone knob wiggles a tad like it's been damaged or not put on right but it still works so i dont really care. Sounds great though for 170 quid you cant complain.
 
My DC junior came on Wednesday. I'm impressed it sounds and plays well right out of the box, just need to lower the strings a bit.

My only complaint is the tone knob wiggles a tad like it's been damaged or not put on right but it still works so i dont really care. Sounds great though for 170 quid you cant complain.
The pot could possibly be misaligned slightly during the build. First step would be to put some masking tape around the guitar body surrounding the tone knob for protection and gently prise it off (that's if it doesn't have a screw on the side to secure it) you can then check the pot position and refit the knob by simply pushing it back on. If the tone knob is damaged, amazon have a ton of replacements.
 
The pot could possibly be misaligned slightly during the build. First step would be to put some masking tape around the guitar body surrounding the tone knob for protection and gently prise it off (that's if it doesn't have a screw on the side to secure it) you can then check the pot position and refit the knob by simply pushing it back on. If the tone knob is damaged, amazon have a ton of replacements.

Cheers mate, im sure it's something and nothing but I'll have a look at it later on!
 
Need some advice please.

daughter (12) wants to start playing electric guitar, obviously don’t want to spend too much as like most hobbies it may not last.
I’ve been offered a ray Pierre 3000 & amp for £80, is it worth it ? or any recommendations on anything better for around £120.
Thanks
 
Need some advice please.

daughter (12) wants to start playing electric guitar, obviously don’t want to spend too much as like most hobbies it may not last.
I’ve been offered a ray Pierre 3000 & amp for £80, is it worth it ? or any recommendations on anything better for around £120.
Thanks

Always a thorny question this one. Personally, I'm not familiar with Raypierre but I wouldn't touch anything made in China (if indeed that's where it's made). I've come across too many Chinese guitars that have fret buzz making practice unenjoyable and somewhat counter productive. Let's face it, 90% of learning guitar is practice and getting ears trained to recognise notes and chords.
If that's your budget however then go for it; if your daughter doesn't take to it you'll get some of your outlay back. My philosophy is better quality gives you better results.
Good luck to you both - hope your daughter takes up playing 👍
 
Cheers Sid, don’t mind spending more just too much choice for a novice lol
What sort of price range should I be looking at or any recommendations please
 
Cheers Sid, don’t mind spending more just too much choice for a novice lol
What sort of price range should I be looking at or any recommendations please
Get something shortscale I'm less of a snob than Sid and I'm absolutely delighted with my Squier Bullet Mustang HH. Can pick them up in basic colours for about £110. Failing that I have seen some cracking reviews of the bax-music telecaster which is about £90 I think but given her age I'd suggest shortscale would be better
 
Dont get anything to cheap, especially the amp it will sound shite and instantly make your daughter lose interest. It's hard enough trying to learn guitar without fighting against the equipment aswell. Get a cheap squier for just over hundred quid and another amp by a well known name for just over hundred aswell, probably about as low you can go and still get a half decent sound.

I have a little orange crush 20w amp think that's about 100 quid price range and sounds great.
 
Cheers paddy

have looked at the squier bullet stratocaster on gears 4 music. £149 with an amp. I assume that’s similar to the one you’ve mentioned?
Music is not my thing so am completely out of my depth
 
Cheers Sid, don’t mind spending more just too much choice for a novice lol
What sort of price range should I be looking at or any recommendations please

Hi again,

I saw this review after I'd posted...

"I've been plyin since July'05....got a cheap strat copy which has a label 'Ray Pierre 3000 Proton' hmmmm anyway the B string has been ringing since i got it and one or two of the frets buzz we played.
anyway, id say upgrade to a well-known decent guitar so your sure its not your playin thats making you sound bad therefore you will know how good you are and can concentrate on improving without misjudging yourself because of your guitar."

The price range is your budget; there's no need to break the bank on a guitar for a novice. @paddysr 's suggestion of a Squier guitar is very much worthy of consideration. Squier are affiliated heavily with Fender but the guitars are manufactured, I believe, in South Korea.

It's a pity you don't live a lot closer to me as I have a Chinese made guitar and amp (see, Patrick, I'm not a snob :)) which you could take off me for free.
 
Cheers paddy

have looked at the squier bullet stratocaster on gears 4 music. £149 with an amp. I assume that’s similar to the one you’ve mentioned?
Music is not my thing so am completely out of my depth
Mine is a mustang. Not sure on the quality of the straps but I will check for you.

@Sid Snot the current line are made in Indonesia and I've heard nothing but good things
 
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