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TalismanRich

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Everything posted by TalismanRich

  1. There won't be a panel for the input jack. The jack is on the top by the knobs.
  2. It depends on how you define "oldest". This is my first (2003), the longest by possession. This is my "oldest" (1987) by manufacturing date.
  3. My 2000 LE has the access panel and F Holes. I remember something about the ones with flat backs having panels, but some have carved backs and no panel, more like a 535. I don't remember the specifics, tho. Maybe someone had more info on that.
  4. interestingly, the Millennium H155s don't all have access panels. I've seen several. The interesting thing about this Millie is that the jack is on the top, not the rim. I guess all wiring needs to be fished through the pickup route. I think I've seen this guitar previously. I would request a view of the serial number. Still, I think 5K is a bit pricey. I think Pressure's Millie DC is access panel free.
  5. Heritage had a great way of stopping the static buildup.... wooden pickguards. My 157 never had any issue.
  6. I've never had an issue with GHS or D'addarios. It's been a while since I restrung the Millie, but I had a second pack of Slinkys in the case so I just put those on. Recently I tried some GHS Bright Flats (ground wound). They have a nice smooth feel, and most of the zing of regular wound strings. Just Strings has them for $10/set. Do you feel the round core feel different from the hex core strings? Harder or lighter feel? I've never tried the Curt Mangans. The shops around here mostly have D'Addario, GHS, Fender, Ernie Ball and Elixers. There are very few with the "exotic" brands.
  7. I had to quit playing the Millie because the crappy Ernie Ball Slinky started to slip. I thought it was the tuning peg, but everything was fine on that end. The high E string started to unwind at the ball end. So this morning, I fired up the F1 on TV and started changing the strings. I might actually have to take it in for some fret work soon. I've developed some nice grooves in the first 5 or 6 frets! You gotta give 'em a little TLC every once in a while.
  8. Robert Guilliland. His Bandcamp channel is Bats Brew. This is his latest. https://batsbrew.bandcamp.com/album/the-time-is-magic-album
  9. I've had a Line 6 PODxt for years, and have used it for recording bass, but I never really liked it for recording guitar. I've also got an RP355 but I found it way too complex to set up, and didn't like the sounds. For the past several months, I've been getting together with two guys from our band back in '75. The drummer has a nice setup with his drum miked but direct in for guitar, bass and vocals. He records things on his Zoom H6. The Line6 was "ok" but a pain to make changes on the fly, and was noisy as all hell when I plugged my pedalboard into it. So it's been just plain guitar through a Fender Deluxe model on the Line6. There's a guy out in Salt Lake City that has been using his Iridium for several album releases on Soundcloud. He's done some amazing work with his. That started me looking at options, like the Dream 65, the ToneX and the Iridium. Last weekend, a local fellow on Facebook Marketplace had listed an Iridium for a good price, so we met up the other morning at the golf course and did the deal. I'm impressed. The only thing it really doesn't have is a true reverb, but adding the "room" sound seems to add just enough ambience to make it not sound flat. I spent about an hour with the Millennium and the 525 today. I think I'll be revamping my pedal board to include the Strymon. Then if I need to play through an amp, I can just bypass the pedal. Now, I just need to figure out settings that work best for me, but I'm liking it so far.
  10. Dave, I heard that was very true in the early days. They used 2, 3, 4 and 5, but by 58, I think they had pretty much settled on #2 or #5, but as you said, whichever was available. That's how the white vs black bobbin deal came into being. But that is what I (and apparently others) find so strange of how they are being touted. "Using a combination of 3D scanning, scientific analysis, reverse engineering of original examples from the late 1950s, and specifications from the Gibson archives, the Gibson Pickup Shop has developed the most accurate recreations of these acclaimed pickups ever made, right down to the tool marks on the baseplates. " How much analysis and reverse engineering does it take to wind some wire on a bobbin (which, by the way, didn't have a counter on it) until it's almost full, and to stamp out some nickel silver baseplates and screw the things together. They certainly weren't "boutique" builds, hand wound and assembled by magical elves in the dark recesses of Parsons Street. It would be different if they were made like some of the slot car motors we had years ago. They might be hand wound with 38 turns of #27 gauge wire, precisely laid side by side on each pole for one class, then carefully polished and balanced. But nobody is going to precisely win 5000 turns of #42 wire on a bobbin by hand.
  11. Am I wrong in that the magnets used in PAFs by 59 were usually Alnico 2 or some #5s? I wonder why they used Alnico 4 for these authentic 59 recreations? I think you're probably right on the money. I know a shop nearby who can wind a set of pickups and sell them for $65 to $100, which includes a profit margin that is got to be at least half that (retail is often 100% markup). This is a small shop, so you know they don't get the same terms and pricing that Gibson will get. "Send me 15,000 of our standard Alnico 5 magnets, and while you're at it, throw in 2000 rough cast Alnico 4s, 2.5" long. .. yeah, a buck twenty sounds good."
  12. ... but they say 59 on them, so they must be exactly like the pickups that Gibson made 65 years ago, using a super secret recipe that has never been duplicated! AND it's says Collectors Edition right there in the description. These aren't your everyday pickups! They're AUTHENTIC! Put a pair in your Epiphone, and you'll be playing Hideaway like it's 1966! .... oops. Only 1000 set made, and they're all sold.
  13. I changed out the pickups in my 535.... I know what you're going through. You have my sympathy! 😁
  14. The burst is nice, but I would rather have the one in "au naturale" anyday. Before I got my S-100 back in the early 70s, I was trying to figure out how to buy a Guild Starfire IV in natural. It was a great playing guitar. Then one day I walked into Tiller's music and it was GONE! My heart sunk.
  15. Yeah, that's lucky, but it's still not the answer. I would have suspected the input jack, but you say you've changed that and used different cables, so that pretty much rules that out. Have you tried running a continuity check from the bridge to a grounded part, either the jack or a pot. If that doesn't show a solid connection, then as a debugging tool, maybe run a piece of wire from one of the pots to the bridge to see if it eliminates the sound. Once a solid ground is made, a loose ground wire inside shouldn't have any effect. You should be able to just loosen one of the screws from a pot and secure a wire, then run that to the bridge. If it clears things up, then you can go the next (and very painful) step of making a solid ground connection inside.
  16. That makes perfect sense since when Ed Wilson set the specs on the Custom Core, he was obviously targeting the much coveted "59 LP". Of course, the 59s were all hand rolled, so they would have varied, just as the old Heritage guitars did. Roll it, put the template on it, and if it's close, move on to smoothing and finishing. You probably had at least a half dozen different people carving necks over the course of a year or 2. I'll also bet Gibson rarely threw out a neck in the 50s because it was a bit too thin. It was a business and throwing away necks costs $$$. They weren't making "boutique" high dollar guitars.
  17. I should have bought a 555 years ago.... a case of "snooze you lose".
  18. One of the reasons that I really liked the wooden pickguards is that I don't seem to get any static buildup. It does show up on my Melancon tele, my G&L Legacy and my ASAT, all of which have plastic guards. It happens because I tend to drag my ring and little finger across the guard when I play (yeah, it's a technique fault). I found that using a Bounce dryer sheet and rubbing it on the plastic will alleviate the static for a while. It hasn't had any effect on the finish. I also keep a humidifier running in the winter. On cold days when the furnace is running a lot, it drinks 3-5 gallons in a day. If you have a loose ground going to the tailpiece, I guess it could make noise as well. Does the noise happen when you are sitting?
  19. You've got some really nice jazzy tone from that Sweet 16! Well played.
  20. I still have my Deja MiniVibe2. I had to send it in for repair years ago. Thankfully, it hasn't had any issues since.
  21. Very nice improvisation and an excellent choice of song. I've always liked Milestones.
  22. Probably the same way that Kris Derrig did when he made the Les Paul that Slash used. It's unlikely Gibson will come after you if you make a couple of guitars, but start making a bunch and the lawyers will be working overtime sending cease and desist orders. The problem comes in when you start selling it as a Gibson.
  23. I've heard people say that heavier guitars resonate more, I've heard that lighter guitars resonate more. Clearly there isn't a consensus about that. I'm of the opinion that there's more involved than weight. However, for me lighter guitars are a plus in the "stand and play" department! I was playing my 157 yesterday, and after 30 or so minutes, I had to stop. But it sounded killer while it lasted. 20 years ago, that wasn't a problem. I've got a bunch of guitars and none of them have checking, including a 1947 BR3 lapsteel. Equating checking with the guitar vibrating really doesn't make sense. That's actually the first time I've ever even heard anyone say that. The nitro coating is incredibly thin and it would be next to impossible for it to restrict the wood from carrying vibration. My belly pressing up to the back would dampen far more vibration than any coating. The look of the CC headstock is a nice improvement. The Don Grosh looks really interesting. I've played a couple of Grosh guitars and they were excellent instruments. I don't know that I've ever seen that model. The ones I've seen were Strats and Teles.
  24. It would be an easy choice for me. I'm not a fan of aging guitars, unless it's because you played it. Paying to have it be corroded, scratched and cracked isn't my bag.
  25. I remember when I bought Lyle's 525 years ago. He drove to PawPaw from Canada to drop it off and pick up the blue H150 that Brent had. I drove up one evening when I was in Warsaw IN, about a 150 mile trip in the middle of winter, to pick up my guitar because I just don't feel comfortable with shipping guitars anymore. If I was buying a guitar withing about 250 miles, I would just make a day of it and drive to pick it up. The shipping cost would just about pay for the gas, and I know that it wasn't going to be crushed.
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