@bill_graham George Lynch is very fast. He's another guy who could probably make Eddie Van Halen sweat if you were having a shred contest. Of course doing it clean and fast is how you win those. If you are not clean then no matter how fast you loose with those young guitar freaks at the big music store here. I can't remember the name of the player they told me is the fastest that ever walked the planet. He died in 2003 at age 40. Had some awful health issue most of his life. I'll think of it hopefully.
Here is George Lynch. George is probably better at this stuff than Eddie Van Halen. Not sure about Steve Vai.
I called the big music store here and it's Shawn Lane. Shawn passed away 19 years ago at age 40. The guys who come around down their in their 20's and 30's all agree Shawn Lane was the fastest electric guitar player in the history of electric guitar playing.
i believe shawn lane was on an album by black oak arkansas
Epiphone Les Paul's special editions
https://www.musicradar.com/news/epiphone-les-paul-standard-1959
@thing I had never heard of Shawn Lane until just a few weeks ago. Guess being the fastest guitar player then didn't translate into wide spread fame. Sad he died young.
Danny Gatton, another technical wizard, never became very famous but more so than Shawn Lane.
Clapton and B. B. King not so fast. But what they did play was real fine. Being a technical wizard isn't going to make you as famous as Clapton or B. B. King.
@bill_graham They tell me at the big music store here those Epiphone Les Pauls are great guitars. If you like that fat Les Paul tone and can't come up with Gibson Les Paul money, they say you'll be surprised at how the Epiphone version by Gibson sounds, looks and plays.
Beginning at about 2:30 into this, Gary Moore may be playing some runs several times to the end as fast as Shawn Lane.
@thing Found this. Shawn Lane with Black Oak Arkansas when he was 17. It is amazing he can play the notes so incredibly fast yet they are distinct, same volume and squeaky clean. But with all due respect to Shawn, after you hear those Mach 3 runs a few times I loose interest.
Dumble Amplifiers are considered by many as the Holy Grail guitar amps.
They were hand made by the legendary electronics genius Alexander Dumble (RIP) so not that many exist and used examples now resell for tens of thousands of $$$. He as also a working musician at times which was new to me.
Great article about the late Mr. Dumble
https://www.vintageguitar.com/40688/alexander-dumble-1944-2022/
September 1985 Guitar Player interview with Dumble
https://thesubjectmatter.com/dumblearchive/Articles/default.htm
20 ways to improve your Les Paul
https://www.guitarworld.com/features/20-ways-to-improve-your-les-paul
@bill_graham I enjoyed that. Very interesting for me as a LP has always been my favorite electric guitar. A LP is at the heart of so many great Allman Brothers solos going back to the beginning.
Here is KWS playing David Gilmore's famous guitar which is owned by Jim Irsay now. Irsay paid $3.9 million dollars for it when Gilmore had his auction. I don't know. I think I like Warren Haynes' version the best. Warren played a green Strat he owns himself on that Mule/Pink Floyd your some years ago.
20 ways to improve your Les Paul
https://www.guitarworld.com/features/20-ways-to-improve-your-les-paul
Now if you are willing to pay the hefty price tag for a "Gibson" LP,SG,Firebird,335 and etc..... you shouldn't have to improve it. Just my opinion. To each their own. Those better be the top for what you are laying down. I have never owned a Gibson. Yes they have some lower priced ones that seem to be very nice,but have not made the jump quite yet.
I have pretty much have stuck with Epi's,Ibanez's Artcore, and a few Fenders most of my playing days as far as electrics go. You can get a really nice Epiphone LP for fractions of the cost of the Gibson. Now I wouldn't go to say the are better, which they are not, but definitely serviceable instrument no doubt and can hold their own. The only thing I have ever moded on mine have been the pups. Put Seymour Duncans in.
I have been looking for something different over the last year or so. I have been eye balling Grestches Streamline series and some Guilds. All within the 399.00 to 699.00 range Had the fortunate opportunity this past weekend to demo about 5 different models, and man was I impressed. Sometimes you can tell as soon as you pickup up an instrument and holding and feeling it , this is a well built machine and has quality to it. Thats how I felt with the Gretsch . All of them played great. Hard to nail one done personally. Solid,semi hollow, different pup combos...all very good. I also played a Guild Starfire I thought was pretty solid as well.
Back to Epi. I played a higher end/priced SG, and it was really nice, very impressed. I believe it was 899.00
Another SG with p 90's was pretty solid as well.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/EISPSBUNH--epiphone-sg-special-p-90-sparkling-burgundy
https://www.sweetwater.com/gretsch-streamliner/series
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/manufacturer/Gretsch
https://www.sweetwater.com/c592--Guild--Semi_hollowbody_Guitars
Everyone has a plan, till you get punched in the face,
@jszfunk First of all, I think the manufacturers of guitars - and the aftermarket accessory makers prey on those who believe that if they go out and buy Duane's pickups or Eric's guitar (guilty, here!) that they'll end up playing and sounding like their heroes. Robertdee often points to Jack Pearson's use of a basically stock Squier played at a virtuoustic level. If you want to play and sound better there are three things that will help the most: practice, practice and practice!
That some of the aftermarket/replacement parts and components might be better than what came on the guitar reminds me of a car story. Many years ago I was replacing the thermostat on a (then) late model Chevy that I had. After inserting the new thermostat, I began tightening the cover (called a "water out"). After only a couple of screwdriver twists, the part just crumbled. I went to the dealership to pick up a new one. The new part felt solid and heavy compared to the brittle and lightweight piece that fell apart. I asked the counter guy, "why didn't they use THIS when they built the car?" "So you'd come in later and buy this one", he answered.
So yeah - why DON'T they build the expensive guitar with top-quality parts? Oh, yeah ...
IMHO, stock parts on a Gibson Les Paul are good quality but like anything there is always opportunities to "improve" on the quality of the parts that make up a guitar.
That being said it is of course subjective on what someone considers an "improvement"
Some players are happy with with the stock pickups, tuners etc while other players want different tones so are willing to spend $$$ for aftermarket pickups for example chasing the vintage 1959 tone.
Also Gibson, like every other Mfg, has a certain profit target they need to make on a product to make it viable to sell a product. That requires compromises on component cost and quality. Of course you are also paying a premium for the brand name and the fact that the guitar is Made in the USA.
JMO but I think Gibson could make the Les Paul's in Asia in equal quality for lower cost but part of their brand identity is they are made here in the USA which the consumer values and is willing to pay extra for.
Even though, IMHO, my stock Gibson LP has quality parts I think there is always the temptation and opportunity to upgrade, i.e. pickups, tuners, wiring/ pots etc., the real question for me is what is the return value?
For some the real value in changing parts on a Les Paul Standard is not necessarily an upgrade in quality but rather they are chasing the perfect tone. Just my 2 cents and YMMV.
@rusty This young lady and many others on YouTube do what I enjoy doing. Okay along with a record.
She seems to have Mark Knopfler's finger picking/cool pull off style down.
https://youtube.com/shorts/m7wU7THe8T8?feature=share
@robertdee I think my favorite vocal line in Sultans of Swing is:
"an old guitar is all he can afford ..."
Considering that song was written in the late '70s, that "old guitar" might be worth a small fortune today!
If it was written today, the line might be:
"an import Squier is all he can afford ..."
@rusty That is cool. Perfect line for Sultans of Swing.
They have several Squires for sale at the big music store here expect they don't recommend them except for someone starting out. They will try to interest you in an Epiphone which is a much better built low end guitar from Gibson.
Several of the Squires have " SQUIRE by Fender " on the headstock as others only have "SQUIRE".
Squire I'm told was the name of a guitar string manufacturing company Fender bought out years ago. Some years later Fender rebranded their strings with the Fender name. Several years later when Gibson and Fender decided to compete with the overseas copycat cheap guitars with their own cheap guitar, Fender brought the Squire name out of retirement for these cheap versions of Strats, Teles and Jazzmasters made in southeast Asia.
Here is a young man who has some nice licks.
@robertdee To paraphrase a hard-core biker phrase about Japanese motorcycles, playing a Squier is like having sex with a fat woman. It's a lot of fun - you just hope that nobody sees you. 😉
Joe Bonamassa and BB King Epiphone signature models
USA made Fender Stratocaster compared with a Mexico made Stratocaster
https://killerguitarrigs.com/fender-american-vs-mexican-stratocaster/
More tasty licks from a play along with the record person. This time on acoustic but yet very close to that thin Dire Straights tone.
https://youtube.com/shorts/w8DwnZuXvg4?feature=share
And this man has so much talent, he shines with an actual band on stage!
https://youtube.com/shorts/g_WQJZ0Dtw4?feature=share
Actually when you think about it, Dire Straits was like CCR. 95 percent of the band is ONE MAN!
It's more like a solo artist with side men.
But man is Mark good!!
Here he is years later with Sting, Slow hand and Collins.
@rusty Well that biker is right.
Here is tons of fun right here!
https://youtube.com/shorts/BB2zcip09ag?feature=share
@robertdee @robertdee I should've paraphrased further and said, "DANCING with a fat woman". The lady in the video looks like she's having fun! If she keeps dancin' like that, she'll shed a pound or several! And I didn't intend any disrespect to anybody with body weight issues - just trying to use that biker adage in an analogy to cheap guitars! It's like my daddy used to tell my mom when she'd put on a little weight -"it just means there's more of ya to love!"
On one of the early pages of this incredibly fine thread I posted a picture of my "naturalized" Mexican Fender Squier SERIES Strat (not a Squire). It's actually a pretty sweet ride! I swapped out the pickguard assembly (pickups, wiring and guard) with an American assembly from the same period (1990s). In doing so, I realized that the previous owner had already replaced a couple of the existing pickups and the wiring (Emerson wiring). I still have that loaded pickguard - probably build my own homemade Strat one of these days. I already have most of the parts and components.
@rusty Well ain't nothing wrong with a fat woman. Especially on a cold night!!
This blue Squire Stratocaster Jack got from Singapore for $108.00. Jack claims he does very little to them before he uses in a show. But the guys at the big music store here say not to fall for that. They aren't worth a *!?" and are for beginners only.
Here is the $108 guitar.
@robertdee Jack's incredible talents enable him to defy gear snobbery! I have conversed with him about his gear on a couple of occasions. He has told me that these import Strat's are pretty much 100% stock and that the only mod that he makes is to change one of the tone controls into a volume control (or maybe vice-versa). Additionally, he use to play smaller venues with a solid state Yamaha combo amp. Seems like one of his acquaintances posted a few years ago that this amp bit the dust. I'm sure that on big gigs he has roadies that handle bigger amps. He really liked that Yamaha because it was light and sounded fantastic!
I have shared before but at a clinic Jack was asked about the Squiers. He did stick to the story about no mods except ”set up, maybe a nut.”
Ok part of set up for me is fret leveling, crowning, and polishing - learn to do it, it is not that hard - and every Epi or Squier I have had required fret work.
Jack also said the last time he bought the Squiers he played nine and bought three.
Lower priced guitars are better than ever, Les Paul Tributes are very good and used they are pretty cheap, but they do require some work to get them at a higher level.
1971 Dumble Special amp. Basically four 50W Fender tweed Bassman modified amp circuits in a 200w head from the genius mad amp scientist Alexander Dumble (RIP).
https://www.vintageguitar.com/40641/1971-dumble-special-16-0001/
Here is a link to the digital copy of the latest Vintage Guitar Magazine. I have subscribed to the printed copy for about 10 years now and really enjoy reading it. Lots of ads but some great gear related and interview articles. Thought some might enjoy.
https://cloud.3dissue.com/196659/197012/230687/VGMDEC2022ykh4owev3D/index.html
