any recommendations for slide guitar?

  • Thread starter Thread starter ruebarb
  • Start date Start date
hey i did apologize when i was going off on that tangent didn't i?i was saying that i didn't mean to sound like a snob,i wasn't even assuming that it was you i was making a general statement,obviously my own issues reflecting outward ,yeah?so hey really i know i am an asshole,i know i sound like an asshole,but, if you disregard everything i say until the last couple sentences, about a tele through a vox.that feels like the stuff.once again all apologies for any insults,to anyone out there.and i will now apologize now for anything i might say in the future.i just did this show tuesday night with these dominatrix women dressed up like catholic schoolgirls,spanking everyone that volunteered(audience participation)and these humiliating slurs screamed out everywhere.not that it has anything to do with anything,but i watched humility ,in some silly misconstrued way,and do realize that we can all sometimes come across as arrogant,mean,or inadvertantly pretentious.back to guitar.what kind of les paul do you have?there are these les paul specials in sam ash for 499$but instead of the p-90s(i guess lately i'm a big fan of these)the have stacked p-100's,which are humbuckers,i am not a humbucker kinda guy.but any thoughts on this? i wanna old vintage gibson,look at least,but on a musicians budget. gibsons being so overpriced these days,you would think that for 499$ it would be fire wood.what kind of amp are you playing through?effectsall that stuff?really though i know we are talking about electric rock slide ,but even a good f-hole acoustic ,distorted sounds awesome.a good example(although it is not slide)is,the guy from marcy playground,he plays an acoustic on all his songs,where on the most part he gets this killer tone,especially when it is pumped out loud.live ,he was able to really make it work.would you even consider electrifying your acoustic guitar for the sound you desire?obviously,as you stated you have the chops and the ability,so hey ,it would be cool ,minus the grating feedback,to do modern type music,with an old fashioned workhorse.just an opinions ,and of the like as we all have asssholes,we hall have an opinion.no disrespect or insults intended.i apologize.back to music,yes?
 
ok woops,i just read the vibrolux and the les paul part,is that the rig you are using for the newer music that you are talking about?if so,i have not really had the pleasure of playing a gibson through the old fenders,but is the sustain nice and sweet and crunchy?or do you need the assistance of a pedal or two?sounds to me like you got all you need and some.have you tried these newer pedals that have a hard bypass ,so that they do not at all taint your original guitar tone?this guy i know swears by buddah pedals,but he has an fx loop on his amp ,so he doesn't really touch the original tone.i was never aware that pedals did this until recent ithought when you turned it off,it was off and that was pure.the more i hang out with sound guys and audio tweakers,the more i benefit with all this info.speaking of your vibrolux,my friend found one in a basement he was cleaning out for an old lady.it must have been used once.this kills me,he finds one!!!pays nothing for this precious thing.being that vintage retro stuff is so in demand,it jacks up the price so f**king high so that a regular working musician can no longer afford the good stuff
 
Apology accepted.

Finding the old stuff is a trick - you just have to keep looking - basically kiss a lot of frogs and once in a while (a great while these days, unfortunately) something shows up.

I paid $300 for my Vibrolux - it was brand new, never been out of the guy's house, and only played for his lessons. I got it in 1989 (or 1990?).

The 1961 Les Paul Special is the same shape as the newer one - and that's about it. It has two P-90's and a mahogony body - 1961 was a good year for the neck profile of Gibson electric guitars - very wide and flat, and this one is no exception.
Mine has a magnificent singing tone - with the Vibrolux on 9 it really has a great tone - lots of depth, and crispy break-up.

I played about 10 over a period of a year or so before I found this one.

We don't need no steenkin' pedals. :)

foo
 
so do you know the guitar i am talkin' about?it's the gibson les paul special?it's kind of confusing because in other catalogs they have on called a gibson les paul junior special,the latter offers a 1960 neck,previous to the year you suggest,yet the one with junior ,as far as i can see,comes in natural,cinnamon,and ebony,costs 799$.the one les paul special,does not mention the neck and only comes in ebony for a mere499$!like i said i want the p-90's on it,not these stacked p-100's,so iguess i could replace them with some vintage pickups,but all this to get a vintage tone.have you played any of the new pauls?is it like night and day?i mean yeah,i brought up the fact that i am looking in catalogs for a new guitar,and was told that still out in s.f.(my old residence)if you look hard ,you can find a nice used les paul junior,for a good price,(anywhere from 400-700$)is this coincidence that you mentioned the '61 neck,and gibson is using these necks,or is this what all agree on,and is common knowledge?seriously,the fact that musical equipment prices are so high,it makes it virtually impossible for a working joe musician to afford good equipment.like,when i was just making cash off of gigs (allthe way from blues dives to corporate parties)the best i could afford was a standard mexican tele for 299$,and could still afford rent.the only reason i am even looking at stuff now is because i have a steady 9-5 job and am no longer (at least not right now)struggling to pay rent and afford new strings.
 
small point

Bonnie Raitt was a student of the late great Muddy Waters (I saw him in 70,seated and howling for a crowd of 3000 at SIU). Lowell George of Denton County Tx is another kettle of fish and Little Feat owes more to the generic southern slide tradition (bottleneck-pocketknife) imitation of 20s popular hawaian guitar stylings than is credited.
Tom
 
The new Gibson guitars which are called '1960', vintage etc., bear little or no resemblance to the originals from that period from the playability, sound, feel point of view. They may look the same, but ...

Don't get too hung up on the name, 'cos whatever Gibson calls them they don't feel or sound like an original sixties instrument. Of course, some of the originals were no prize, either, so just find a guitar that really feels and sounds good to you.

If you can find an original Les Paul Junior from the Fifties or Sixties for $400 buy it immediately. Even the SG shaped ones are now upwards of $1,000.

The only thing that counts is ... does it sound and feel good TO YOU. Those are the only criteria that count.

Have fun,

foo
 
Hey Mojovoodoo

I went through the same thing you talked about, (wanting a LP Special, and all the new ones are P100). I've had a studio for about 6 years, and about 6 mos ago got a historic collection Jr Dbl Cutaway, for the P90 sound. Love the tone and hate the neck. Now I've picked up a 97 Studio Gem series. It's a basic LP Studio, with P90's instead of humbuckers. Love it, great tone, better bridge and tuners, comfortable neck, and monster tone. Hard to find though, they were only made 2 or 3 years.
Jeff
 
when you saw muddy waters,what band was playing with him?as far as electric blues is concerned,i think he had one of theeee greatest bands,even in the years at the latter point of his career,he still always had a rockin' band.there was this drummer that played a few recordings,named willie "big eyes" smith ,phenomenal!!ever heard him?was he playing through a telecaster?i know 1970 was 30 years ago,memories can fade away,although as you said ,you do remember muddy waters playing,that's amazing enough right there.i was 3 years old in '70.by the time i was teaching myself guitar,muddy had just passed away,i believe.about bonnie and lowell george,i didn't mean that like one was teaching the other or visa versa,what i felt was,not when bonnie raitt is playing straight blues,but when she is doing her original rock songs,she has that tone similar to lowell,and that sweet subtle,clean,less is more,i definitely hear some similarities,but hey you can pick out similarities between the japanese language and the finnish language.i am not the final word with all this.someone told me whomn someone told him whome they told two friends aND SO ON.maybe there is a remote possibility they all hung out at one point and showed each other a few licks,who will ever know?but hey,i must reiterate,you saw muddy waters!!!i wanna hear more about that!!he's got the voice,the sound the style,the soul,was it not for him ,rock and roll would of never done anything significant.(all opinions,repeat:OPINIONS)
 
Hey Foo!

You still out there? Sorry it took me so long, but I had a temporary lapse of memory.

I checked the back of the headstock for my Epiphone Genesis, and there is a serial number stamped in - 0290849 -
so do you know anything about this guitar? Its vintage? Country of origin? Its value?

Thanks a million

Twist
 
ok the order of the threads is way confused,it looks like i am responding to something else completely,the muddy waters was from the other guy a coupla threads ago,aaaa--aanywaa-ay...................
jvasey,are you talking about the double cutaway arch top?the usual old double cutaways were flat,previous to 1996,right?and did gibson make that guitar with the p-90's,or did you or someone else customize it?also,does anyone out there know ifthe humbuckers can be replaced with the p-90's no problem,or is there a discrepency in the sizes?will i be able to just take out the 'buckers,and fit the p-90s right in there no mess,no fuss,no re-routing?
am i making sense?you know how gibson put out the double cutaways and called them studios,it looked different because the top was all glossy and arched ,closer to the les paul standards,right?so,in a sense,they were a new guitar.yeah i think i like the pauls that are flat,i was never really a fan of les pauls,well because,i have always been a single coil kinda guy ,plus ilike the fender whammy bars,although they can be a real pain in the ass,but i tried out the epi version of the junior dc,with the 90s and i liked the feel and the tone,and yeah i forget who was saying it foo or one of you other ones,that these new gibsons are just the name,but nothing close to the 60's ones they made,obviously.so,me on a cheap ass budget,saw that gibson is making these newer things for the range of $500-$800,which,i ,personally still think that is expensive,it is so much cheaper than the other gibsons.hey i know that since the serious inflation of guitar prices and the new demand for vintage,and a higher end pro type guitar,in the last 15 years,guitar prices have sky rocketed,so unreasonably high,i mean some you guys been playing guitar longer than i been alive,but i do remember back in like 1981 that you could get a 1962 strat for $350,even in 1988,guitars were still reasonable,like an sg,american made was about $750,and that was the top of the line shit.so yes ,a few years have passed,but i am not making more money than i did then.but,man a new les paul runs about $1200??!!!!!what's wrong with this world when musicians can no longer afford their own tools?it's like the people i see with the sweetest equipment,are 16 year old teenagers,whom their parents bought all their stuff,and the kid doesn't even like the guitar,was just a passing phase,for a week.yes,i am bitching and whining whaaaa whaaaa,life is s0 unfair,oh well.i have,once again gone off on a tangent,said too much and annoyed everyone.sorry. back to what i was saying.........the neck was your complaint.what about the one you have now?did you read what foo was saying?that the '61 necks were theee best.that is the one thing they say they are using on the new specials and juniors a"1960 slim tapered neck".how much did you spend on your '97 studio dc?i am interested to know how much cash you had to spend to find your soul mate.so ,i am gonna just spend a saturday trying out a gang load of guitars,and keep it in my cheap assed budget,but iwill look at the juniors the les paul specials,and even the sg,i have wanted an sg since iwas like 12 years old.i was gonne build the guitar i wanted and the cost came out the same,with pickups and all,but i got talked out of it.anyone here build a guitar they really love?anyone know warmoth?do they make a good neck?i wonder how it stacks up to the slim 1960 gibson neck?
 
The return of 'Genesis'

Hey Twist,

I did a little more research and came up with:

Epiphone Genesis - made in Japan and/or Korea, looks like an Epiphone 'Spirit' from the late '70's/early '80's.
Two humbuckers, double cutaway, four knobs and a toggle switch.

There is no list of serial numbers for those instruments. The only list it might have been on is from the late '80's, and would indicate it was made in 1990 - and if you got it 15 years ago, that's not possible.

It's value, therefore, is completely dependent upon it;s functionality as a musical instrument.

Sorry I can't get closer than that, but sometimes the records just don't exist - like in this case.

foo
 
Thanks Foo!

It's really a nice old guitar, and I have no intentions of parting with it. I was mostly just curious. I'm sure that I bought it somewhere around '85, and it was well used then.


Thanks again for the info, it was very kind of you to take the time to look it up.

Twist
 
You're welcome.

My hobby is old guitars - it's kind of sad that when I was playing for a living, I couldn't afford the really nice old guitars (and I still can't), but I managed to get into it early enough to get mine before the prices got too crazy.

I actually managed to get the guitars I do have by buying, selling and trading into what I wanted - my only regret is that I never ran across the early 1961 cherry-red dot-neck 335 with stop tailpiece that I really wanted - now, of course, at $10,000+ for a good one only rock stars and lawyers can afford them.

I once watched a lawyer buy a great (!!!) Brazilian rosewood Collings guitar at a famous store - he told me that it was the last one he needed to complete his collection - one of every Collings model available. He could barely manage an 'E' chord.

On the one hand, I'm saddened because here's a great guitar which should be heard, and should be being played by a guy who can really play it - on the other hand, in about 40 years time, some young guy who is just getting into it is going to be given this guitar as part of his inheritance - and talk about a gift from heaven!

My view of all these old instruments is that we are merely the guardians of them for the short time we are here.

So, happy to help you out.

foo
 
haha "barely play an e chord"
foo,let's hear about this collection,let's see some pix,you were collecting before the prices went up?that's awesome!!!!i wnna hear what they are
 
Personally my favorite guitar for slide was an old Telecaster. A Strat or Tele need not have a thin sound. My favorite example of that was Rory Gallagher, the Irish Blues/Rocker who was famous for using small amps and turning them up to 11.
 
I saw him with 'Taste' in 1971 in London at a pub.

He was playing a sunburst Strat (THE sunburst Strat) through a Vox AC30 (if my memory serves me well) and he sounded great.

You're right about Fender guitars not necessarily sounding thin - although anything half-way decent is going to sound good through an AC30.

foo
 
Maybe I'm jumping onto a dead issue, but I play slide exclusively on a Tele with a 'bucker in the neck. That way, I can get the best of both worlds: fat and dark or bright and snappy. Also, I was a metal slide devotee for years until my I gigged with a friend and forgot mine. He loaned me a glass one, and when I solo'd on One Way Out that night, it seemed sweeter and smoother, more of a Duane tone.

So, Tele is a great choice for slide, and, although I don't have one, a friend swears by les paul jrs and specials with the P90's for that old slide tone.

Then again, there is always a Stella with a pocketknife...

Anybody ever see Danny Gatton on Austin City Limits? He was playing his tele, and picked up his longneck beer and played a killer solo with it, slopping beer all over the neck of the guitar. Then, he put the beer down, grabbed a hand towel, and began toweling off the guitar...all without missing a note. Then, he began FRETTING notes through the towel, and each note sounded clearly, although the decay of each note was cut off. Then he threw the towel down and ripped off a serious flurry of notes! Danny Gatton, RIP.
 
have you seen the danny gatton tele at sam ash?it's like gold plated with cubic zrconium on the neck markers ,with those joe barden pickups.it's an expensive guitar ,man!!like $5000!!has danny gatton ever played a gold tele?
 
Rory

Rory Gallagher rocks! Is he still recording? ( Gulp! Is he still alive)?

Twist
 
Danny is probably playing one now - and Rory is up there somewhere, too.

Sadly, neither of them is with us anymore.

Danny recently took his own life, and Rory passed from complications after a liver transplant.

foo
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top