Gasalcoholics anonymous? whoever said this was a help group?

[Blackened Soul]

Sure low output buckers could work out and sometimes those cheap pickups are nice sounding.. be it usually not very unique or mojoy but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.. and there is always down the road

[dubkitty]

yeah, pickups are kind of a secondary consideration unless they’re absolutely awful.

i found a Chinese rosewood bridge with the Gibson-style inlay like a real Byrdland, and Kluson makes the perfect tuners, big relief waffle-backs with metal keystone buttons permanently forged on. not horribly expensive if you shop around. the tailpiece is another question…there’s a visually adequate Allparts number that’s more affordable, and a nicer one (heavier gauge wire on the decorative loops and overall sturdier-looking) that’s over $100. i’ll probably get the better one because why not?

[dubkitty]

i think i may have solved a dilemma that's been pestering archtop fans for ages. Byrdlands, as well as ES-175s and other Gibson archtops (as well as some others e.g. Guilds) used a big rubber grommet around the toggle switch, allegedly to quiet the switching sounds. they're utterly unattainable, and apparently Gibson not only won't sell them but are absolutely snotty when asked. examination of contemporaneous Greco catalogs shows that my guitar should have the grommet, but the photos show it with a poker chip that looks suspiciously caved-in. fortunately, my Google Fu is still strong, and with that and a little lateral thinking i found a Maestro grommet used for old stompboxes that looks like it'll do. the 0.5" switch hole should fit a toggle switch, and at 1.06" diameter it should cover the oversized hole used for the original (0.8" IIRC), which no doubt is why the poker chip is sinking. they're not meant to be load-bearing elements, just ornamental. i hope i can get the chip off without fucking up the finish. this may be the point in my life where i have to buy a hair dryer...i never use them on my hair because it's exceedingly fine and frizzes and fries under the heat, but they're cited as a DIY tool for all kinds of things requiring removal of adhesives. with that i startlingly may already have solved all the questions regarding re-gilding the Byrdland. and if everything's getting done, there's no point in even contemplating aging the parts. so once it's here i'll have another little specific parts-ordering bonanza. tuners, bridge base, probably new bridge, tailpiece, grommet. there's a missing strap button i'll probably replace even though i don't think it's traditional. surprisingly the Fender-style black knobs with silver inserts are kosher both for the Greco and for 70s Byrdlands. so i think that's everything other than pickups, which will be evaluated when my ship plane comes in. need i add that my excitement level is ratcheting up as i wait for the guitar to ship? i'm gonna hate the wait even though they say they don't use economy shipping anywhere. so now i wait.

https://www.amplifiedparts.com/products ... XSKy2HD15E

[dubkitty]

the Byrdland has shipped, and startlingly is supposed to be here on Thursday. and so it begins. once i’ve done a post-arrival rundown here Byrdland activity will move to my project guitars thread. i really didn’t expect it so soon.

[dubkitty]

slight delay…the Byrdland got held up at Customs because the dealer didn’t file a Toxic Substances form certifying it, well, isn’t toxic. they had it sorted by 12:30 Sydney time and UPS says it’ll still be here tomorrow. flew out of LA within a couple of hours of the issue being sorted.

also, fuck aging the gold hardware. i didn’t relic the Bigsby B7 when it was installed on the ES-335, and i see no reason to mess with doing all that hardware.

[Achtane]

I haven't gotten any gear in like a decade and I wanna get back into guitars, what's the cheapest decent line these days? or something in particular to seek out used, really.

I'm talkin...like, cheap cheap. as long as it can be made playable.

[waltdogg]

I haven't gotten any gear in like a decade and I wanna get back into guitars, what's the cheapest decent line these days? or something in particular to seek out used, really.

I'm talkin...like, cheap cheap. as long as it can be made playable.

Any decent Squier still seems to be the answer I feel like

[dubkitty]

Squier Classic Vibes generally punch way above their weight. in particular the pickups are better than they have any right to be. i hear good things about Vintage and Harley Benton, but have never seen either in the shops. Epiphone is getting too expensive for bargain stuff.

for cheap cheap you want to go used, refurb, open box. the used guitar market is so in the toilet now that i see Wandrés for less than $2500. after playability work my 2025 Squier Custom Esquire kills and was $379 open-box, and there’s all manner of needs-work stuff out there for pennies. this year i bought a DeArmond husk for less than $200, found the proper Bigsby, stuck Chinese Firebird pickups in, and finished for less than $500.

[dubkitty]

Byrdland still due today, surprisingly enough.

[Gone Fission]

I know there are some folks out there swearing by import cheapie brands as giving better value than Squier and Epiphone in the under $250 range, but I dunno since I haven’t tried them. In that range I’d go Squier, since I think the Epiphones in the $450ish and up range are where to go if you want into that line. Epiphone and Squier have come a long way in quality and feel. And the parent companies seem to have finally sent the CNC files to carve the necks properly.

Gretsch usually has more heat in their import hollow and semi-hollow stuff on the north side of $500, but some of that stuff will get deep sales and I see good things about lower priced solid bodies, including a recent batch of single pickup guitars that give LP Jr. vibes.

If PRS doesn’t repel on aesthetic grounds, their SE import line seems to get uniformly solid reviews even at the lowest priced model. I saw one on a pretty deep sale at $350 recently.