Cheers Joe! I really like it - I hope to prove worthy of it!
It's now in stealth mode... I changed the pickups for Dimarzio Evolutions. I didn't like the white pickups. Tone wise it's improved significantly. I liked the Fusion Edge pickups, they had a lot of bite, but higher up the neck they start to sound very thin on single note stuff. The Evolutions have blistering output (had to turn the gain down by about a third) but are really well balanced. Definitely an improvement!
Wow that thing is really nice looking now......beautiful, beautiful guitar.I'm starting to lean towards more modernist looking designs as of late; sure I own a few classics myself but it is 2020 & I like the modern look too......
Wow that thing is really nice looking now......beautiful, beautiful guitar.I'm starting to lean towards more modernist looking designs as of late; sure I own a few classics myself but it is 2020 & I like the modern look too......
Thanks! I feel the same way about the more modern designs. Even though the RG is over 30 years old - it's "modern" compared to Fenders and Gibsons that are over 60 years old!
Tbh, I'm finding it tough to even relate to the older designs. There's also the practical issues. Whilst the Gibsons and Fenders have a classic look and many of my heroes played them, I'm **SO** tired of the tuning instability, the uncomfortable shapes, the anaemic (Strat) tones... I've spent years and thousands of pounds trying to make them sound and play the way I want. And it's just not possible without changing the guitar to where it's no longer the classic look.
Every few years, I get some money together and I seem to forget my past experiences - and then buy a Les Paul or a V or try to build my "dream Strat" because I'm feeling nostalgic... and then all the old frustrations come flooding back and I go through the merry dance of pickups and bridges and compromising yet again. I'm tired of fighting the instrument - I just want to enjoy playing!
Very well put ....I couldn't have said it better.I agree 100%.I'm not ashamed to admit I've been influenced (& in some cases outright copied) by my hero's gear choices since I 1st started playing.....seeing guys like Schenker & KK play made me want a Flying V.....I mean, what young metalhead coming up in the early 80s wouldn't want to play like those guys? Same with Blackmore & Strats....my other main hero at the time, Dave Murray, played one too.....so, well....you know.Along the way I've tried other guitars that simply really didn't work for me, such as LPs & SGs, so I have settled on two main body shapes I need in my life: V & Strat shapes.Your own personal experience describes my odyssey to a T.I've been down that same rabbit hole for damn near 35 yrs now, and to a certain extent I'm still digging. I'm getting tired of it frankly.I will probably always keep a V & Strat in the arsenal but I'm definitely moving on to better performing guitars, your "tired of fighting the instrument & just want to enjoy playing!" statement really struck home for me.Plus, as much as I love the classic shapes I too am growing a bit tired of these homogenous designs, ready to move on..... even if the overall silhouette is similar, fine....but a more modern take is definitely more appealing these days, at least for me.
The old Gibson & Fender designs are absolutely timeless, don't get me wrong.So are '65 Mustangs & '67 Corvettes....but, I'd rather drive a new Lamborghini Huracán....
It really depends on what you're after -- what your goals are. If you're looking to "just enjoy playing" on an instrument that has the least possible physical impediments, a modern design is probably going to appeal to you more than a classic.
If you're a recording guitarist who wants to create the classic tones, you really HAVE to own a Gibson or a Fender, and probably, a Les Paul and a Tele, because SGs, Vs and Explorers don't sound like LPs, and Teles don't sound like Strats. Sure, you can EQ them to sound similar, but the only way to create a guitar that REALLY sounds and records like a LP is to copy the LP design pretty closely (including the fret scale). And the only way to create a guitar that REALLY sounds and records like a Tele is to put a Tele bridge pan and saddles on a guitar. THAT is where the Tele sound/twang come from. You can make a Tele sound like a Strat and a LP, a LOT easier than you can make LPs and Strats sound like a Tele. Ben Eller has a new, really fun video out extolling the virtues of the LP, and he recounts an experience in the studio that really says everything about the LP's sonic virtues.
Anyway, we fortunately live in a world where you can have multiple guitars for different reasons. And most of us do!
Post edited by Dinosaur David B on
I threw me guitar out. Why bother? Why bother? Use it as a coffee table. Because I can't play it like that. -- David St. Hubbins.
I agree 100% with what you have to say Dave, and again, I couldn't have put it better.I realize the intrinsic differences in all those respective designs, and I applaud them.I also know from experience ( & probably science...) that there is no one guitar that can do all.....I know, many have tried but mostly failed.You're correct, we need multiple guitars for different things/sounds/tones & situations.....I keep trying to explain that one to my wife but she just doesn't get it Anyhow, I do keep trying to find that one guitar that will do it all, but it's probably a fruitless endeavor....
But then, I doubt Iommi ever recorded any classic Sabbath tracks with a Tele, or Blackers utilized a Les Paul or something on any particular DP track....but I could be wrong.Guys like Townshend & Page ( & even Jimi & Clapton ) famously used all kinds of stuff in the studio & even live & they always sounded great... most of the time anyways.
I just need a solid metal style guitar ( humbuckers & stays in tune ) for the most part, yet I cannot just outright dismiss the classics just because I struggle with them.I am NOT Blackmore/Uli/Malmsteen, so I will always struggle with a Stratocaster.....but I still love that guitar & enjoy playing them because they do have a certain feel & response that no other guitar gives. I truly feel that if I can master it on a Strat, playing it on any other guitar is a breeze.....
Btw, love Ben Eller's vids.....comical but he's a dead serious guitarist.....
It's now in stealth mode... I changed the pickups for Dimarzio Evolutions. I didn't like the white pickups. Tone wise it's improved significantly. I liked the Fusion Edge pickups, they had a lot of bite, but higher up the neck they start to sound very thin on single note stuff. The Evolutions have blistering output (had to turn the gain down by about a third) but are really well balanced. Definitely an improvement!
Awesome!
I should really consider a pup change for my 652.. I've never cared for the TZ and AN combo.. I don't want to drop my usual JB/59 combo in..
Maybe, once pickups found for purchase again I will try an Evo set.. I had a tar baby Jem back when loaded with Evos and I liked them in it..
The Evolutions are rad metal pickups. I have one in my Ibanez as well, sizzling tone! I'm starting to think it is a bit compressed and cold though and ponder switching it out for something else. Any ideas on how you breath some more life into it?
Comments
It's now in stealth mode... I changed the pickups for Dimarzio Evolutions. I didn't like the white pickups. Tone wise it's improved significantly. I liked the Fusion Edge pickups, they had a lot of bite, but higher up the neck they start to sound very thin on single note stuff. The Evolutions have blistering output (had to turn the gain down by about a third) but are really well balanced. Definitely an improvement!
- John Suhr
Tbh, I'm finding it tough to even relate to the older designs. There's also the practical issues. Whilst the Gibsons and Fenders have a classic look and many of my heroes played them, I'm **SO** tired of the tuning instability, the uncomfortable shapes, the anaemic (Strat) tones... I've spent years and thousands of pounds trying to make them sound and play the way I want. And it's just not possible without changing the guitar to where it's no longer the classic look.
Every few years, I get some money together and I seem to forget my past experiences - and then buy a Les Paul or a V or try to build my "dream Strat" because I'm feeling nostalgic... and then all the old frustrations come flooding back and I go through the merry dance of pickups and bridges and compromising yet again. I'm tired of fighting the instrument - I just want to enjoy playing!
- John Suhr
I'm getting tired of it frankly.I will probably always keep a V & Strat in the arsenal but I'm definitely moving on to better performing guitars, your "tired of fighting the instrument & just want to enjoy playing!" statement really struck home for me.Plus, as much as I love the classic shapes I too am growing a bit tired of these homogenous designs, ready to move on..... even if the overall silhouette is similar, fine....but a more modern take is definitely more appealing these days, at least for me.
The old Gibson & Fender designs are absolutely timeless, don't get me wrong.So are '65 Mustangs & '67 Corvettes....but, I'd rather drive a new Lamborghini Huracán....
If you're a recording guitarist who wants to create the classic tones, you really HAVE to own a Gibson or a Fender, and probably, a Les Paul and a Tele, because SGs, Vs and Explorers don't sound like LPs, and Teles don't sound like Strats. Sure, you can EQ them to sound similar, but the only way to create a guitar that REALLY sounds and records like a LP is to copy the LP design pretty closely (including the fret scale). And the only way to create a guitar that REALLY sounds and records like a Tele is to put a Tele bridge pan and saddles on a guitar. THAT is where the Tele sound/twang come from. You can make a Tele sound like a Strat and a LP, a LOT easier than you can make LPs and Strats sound like a Tele. Ben Eller has a new, really fun video out extolling the virtues of the LP, and he recounts an experience in the studio that really says everything about the LP's sonic virtues.
Anyway, we fortunately live in a world where you can have multiple guitars for different reasons. And most of us do!
-- David St. Hubbins.
Anyhow, I do keep trying to find that one guitar that will do it all, but it's probably a fruitless endeavor....
But then, I doubt Iommi ever recorded any classic Sabbath tracks with a Tele, or Blackers utilized a Les Paul or something on any particular DP track....but I could be wrong.Guys like Townshend & Page ( & even Jimi & Clapton ) famously used all kinds of stuff in the studio & even live & they always sounded great... most of the time anyways.
I just need a solid metal style guitar ( humbuckers & stays in tune ) for the most part, yet I cannot just outright dismiss the classics just because I struggle with them.I am NOT Blackmore/Uli/Malmsteen, so I will always struggle with a Stratocaster.....but I still love that guitar & enjoy playing them because they do have a certain feel & response that no other guitar gives. I truly feel that if I can master it on a Strat, playing it on any other guitar is a breeze.....
Btw, love Ben Eller's vids.....comical but he's a dead serious guitarist.....
-- David St. Hubbins.