Topic: Gretsch Buyin!

[Burke]

I see alot of members here are guitar players. I played full time in my late teens and early twenties, but now I am settled and just would like to play cool stuff and entertain myself.

I sold my rig a while back (Line 6 Pod Pro rack mount, 400W poweramp) and 2x12 speaker cab. I still have a 4x12 at my old drummers place, which has been there for about 6 years.

Anyway I am looking for a semi-hollow body guitar and found the Gretsch G5120. Does any one here have this guitar?? if so how do you like it? 
I will be selling my Washburn N4 to buy the Gretsch.
This is a good N4, Mid 90's version. Soild guitar, plays like a wet dream. But I have always wanted a Gretsch (Orange of course).

[fuzzybutt]

great guitar and you cant beat the sound. brian setzer plays the same model i think.

[Retro Rocket]

Awesome, i was going to start a post to see if there were many other musicians on here, you've saved me the trouble.. I would like to hear from others with similar interests and what sort of music you are plating..

Cheers Mick

[fuzzybutt]

i play alot of stuff, from medieval type of music, old surf ala dick dale and the ventures, alot of ramones covers and the pistols, surf punks, rockabilly and grateful dead/hot tuna/grisman and garcia and i've been working on my blue scales lately too. in addition to the guitar i paly the mandolin (badly) and the bagpipes.

[Retro Rocket]

Bag pipes..... now that's different. I play lead guitar, bass, drums a bit of saxophone, {self taught....what a nightmare}. I play mainly heavy rock like Black label society, sevendust, and stuff like that, i  was brought up on Sabbath and deep purple and so on. I mainly solo in the pentatonic scale and a couple of major and minor scales. I own 8 Les Pauls, a couple of strats and a couple of bass guitars. Can't live without my music. Keep it coming guys, i would love to hear what you have and what you all play....


some of my guitars.

Mick
 

[tramp]

got 1 american strat
1 custom made strat
1 old ovation
1 old takamine
settled down to 1 amp, marshall avt 150
play my own stuff by myself mostly blues

[Burke]

Guys got some cool stuff there. 

I have had many guitars and amps and have since sold them all except for my Washburn N4, an old Yamaha Classical and and old acoustic that my mother played in her "hippe days".

For years I played in cover bands, then I started playing just orignal music with the most talented guys ever (an old music teacher said to me once, always play with people who can play better then you, thats how your learn ). We played for about 7 years. Then things went "weird". We were kind of a mix of 80' sonic alternative done up with heavy sh**.
Ah...good times.

[gerhed]

Let's here it for the Theremin !

 

[fuzzybutt]

i have.........
a danelectro hodad with bigsby tremolo, a late 70's hardtail strat, a dean evo xm that i got as a re-into back into guitars, a carlo robelli single cutaway acoustic electric, a rogue f  style mandolin and a MacCallum practice chanter (saving my pennies for a set of bagpipes) i play the guitars and mandolin through a fender champion 30 amp and my one effect, a late 60's jim dunlop crybaby wah wah pedal.

[tramp]

will someone please stop that noise someone might call music

[gerhed]

will someone please stop that noise someone might call music

I shut my link down, but the replies still link up.

[Soos]

sorry.
I shouldn't drive or post drunk obviously.




l8r

[Gittfiddler]

Hey guys,

I own a restoration shop.  Check out the projects page at my site  www.thelutherieshop.com

Holler if you need anything....  Tim

[Burke]

Hey guys,

I own a restoration shop.  Check out the projects page at my site  www.thelutherieshop.com

Holler if you need anything....  Tim

Wow. I thought of having my mothers guitar worked on. Some of the binding on the neck has been lost and the where the neck meets the body seem to need some care.

I have done some work on guitars in the past, most electric, but acoustics are a whole 'nother animal.
I added your site to my favs' so when I am ready I will contact you.

[Gittfiddler]

yeah just let me know.  I've got about 10 more projects to put on there but I'm slow on the updates

tim

[UnCrash]

I started with a warped body Danelectro which I traded in for a Yamaha acoustic.

I have that as my camping guitar, but have a nice Martin for the house.  I also play a custom made strat style with a Floyd Rose setup through a Laney tube / solid state amp.

[azuredesign]

Hey guys,

I own a restoration shop.  Check out the projects page at my site  www.thelutherieshop.com

Holler if you need anything....  Tim

Nice website Tom, with neat restoration projects. I particularly enjoyed the d-28 and LP jr work. Could Martin have used lacquer to finish the wood under the pick guard to minimize the cracks associated with pick guard shrinkage. Such a common  and pita problem.
I liked arch top guitars when I was a kid in the 60's and started purchasing them as soon as I could, mostly out of pawn shops and want ads. I liked figuring out how they worked, and also enjoyed reading whatever printed materials I could find at the time. I remember reading Hideo Kamimoto's book, and also David Russell Young's book. There was a great repair guy at Wurlitzer's in Boston named Eddie Murray who used to let me hang out a bit and showed me a few things.  I managed a place called the Fretted Instrument Workshop in Amherst MA from '78-80, and worked part time more recently for several Boston shops more for fun than profit. I am not a very patient(nor probably a very good) repair person, but do enjoy setting up instruments, and making simple reapirs. I'm not sure how many instruments I have, way too many, but I manage to keep them all in good playing shape. It's probably similar here in Boston to Iowa, in that it's very dry here in the winter and pretty humid in the summer. I try and keep humidity between 50 and 60% in my studio.
I also ran a commercial recording studio for a few years until 2004 when I became aware that hearing loss was compromising my abilities. While this bugged me for a while, it is kind of peaceful.
I love all kinds of instruments and musicians in general. I used to help host a guitar players xmas party in Boston at Bay State Vintage Instruments, but we haven't really done it for a few years. I still host a jazz session a couple of times a month with a revolving group of about a dozen musicians, and have been working on a Steely Dan project with a 5 piece weekly for the last few months. It's easier now that I can't mess around with bikes because of the weather.
Glad there's other people that enjoy music here as well.

Best wishes for the holidays to all,
Ben

[tramp]

Hey guys,

I own a restoration shop.  Check out the projects page at my site  www.thelutherieshop.com

Holler if you need anything....  Tim

 i'll take one of everything

[Burke]

ok..I have been out playing some geetars, and I have played the Gretsch G5120, an Epiphone Broadway, and an Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor. I found that the Epiphone Broadway was, in my opinion, best out of the three. I have heard realy good things about the Epiphone ES-175. I plan to go to guitar center after the holidays and have a play off between the ES-175 and the Broadway.
In the realm of under $800.00 semi hollow electrics, single cutaway, should I include anything else in playoff?

[fuzzybutt]

of all the semi-hollows, the epi es335 dot is my favorite, played nice, action smmoth as glass and the electrics were fantastic, though i did change to gibson pickups from the epi pickups

[azuredesign]

I have used a Joe Pass loaner while in Florida for a few days, and enjoyed playing it. It also had Gibson replacement pick ups.
I've been intrigued by the Eastman Guitars which are a little more expensive, but I think maybe worth the extra dough.

Here's a link to one of them:
http://www.bernunzio.com/item.php?sku=0812317

[Burke]

Just today I have looked at the Eastman guitars. Most of them look out of my $$ range but they are nice.

[azuredesign]

In the price range you're looking at, pretty much all of the guitars will be made of similar materials. Figuring whether you want a completely hollow body rather one that is less resonant, but also less likely to feed back at higher volumes is probably the first decision among the 3 guitars you listed. If it's more traditional jazz that you're thinking about, I'd go with either the Broadway or the Pass, but if you think you're going to play more modern stuff, the 335 is a good bet. Also consider the Casino for more than one bag. One other alternative that I've been satisfied with if you like to play a few different styles is to pick up a Gibson Les Paul Special made over the last 10 years or so. I like the p-100 pick ups as they don't cancel out all of the upper harmonic structure but are quiet. I use flat wounds and find that I can roll back the tone on the neck pick up without losing attack for playing older jazz stuff, but can still play blues and rock with good tone as well. The thing that I really like about the Gibson set up is that adjusting the string tension to comfort is easy with the stop tailpiece. I like the attack of a longer scale neck, like on a Tele, or the Broadways that Gibson made under the Epi name in the 60's, but appreciate the extra playing ease of the 24.9" scale length. With the stop tailpiece on the shorter scale, I can make the action a bit tighter and less floppy. I've purchased a couple of these Specials. They've gotten a bit more expensive lately, but I think you can still pick one up for less that $600. I guess that's a windbag's 2 cents worth, Ben

[Burke]

Well, today I purchased a Epiphone Regent (Zephyr) model. I had to go to 4 stores to find either this or an epi ES-175. This plays very well. After I got home and set it up a little more it even plays better. Not quite like a kalamazoo Gibson, but close as I have played in a while.
When I was young, I worked in a music store where the owner,kept a series of vintage Gibsons in a glass case in his office. A Les Paul Professional, 335, and a few others. I was privileged enough to have access to these fine guitars. All of these guitars played so well that, other than other vintage guitars, I have never played anything close.

The Heritage guitar Co. bought the old Gibson place in michigan but, they don't even come close. I have played many Heritage guitars and have not been impressed.

Anyway, I am happy with my new git fiddle. I seek now an amp to complete my rebirth into music.

[azuredesign]

Congrats on your new guit!  For jazzy playing, you can make all sorts of inexpensive amps  work. I'm sure you'll find something that sounds great.