MWebster
New Member
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2023
- Messages
- 231
Hello friends, acquaintances, enemies one and all..
**EDIT: I've trimmed this down, it's still long, we all like to wax poetic about NGD's. Hope the pics work this time**
Today we have a double whammy to help get us through the week. Been a while. This is a little unorthodox as one of these guitars is NOT a PRS and thus is sort've heresy. I know. But I figured you all would rather see than not see. 2 minutes in heaven is better than 1 minute in heaven kind of thing. So gather round.
The PRS is a '22 SE Pauls Guitar in Faded Blue. Honestly I've had this guitar for a few months now so this is belated. It was really strange, the dealers had faded blue burst, then faded blue for a couple minutes and now we are at turquoise already. I really like faded blue as a color, its got lots of nice whites in it and they keep the natural back and sides which isn't common up until now. Now that Turquoise is here, I'd rather have that because that color REALLY POPS but alas.. I'm not new to the SE Paul's. I've had one before, got rid of it, wished I hadn't let it go and sought out a new one. I rave about them when I get the chance because if you don't need the trem this guitar does exceptional single coil and HB tones.
The good: Great playability, I love the TCI "s" pickups in their own right and they're here with tons of bloom and body in the neck while the bridge has chunk and sounds amazing under gain. I have the bass side at 1.4mm action and treble around 1.2mm so crazy low action and no buzz. Love it. Nice choices of woods used here too.
THE BAD: I've seen some posts recently about SE QC issues. Well... I got this guitar home and despite thinking I thoroughly checked it over. The 9th fret A string had a DENT in it. Like I'd be doing vibrato and the string would clunk over this small divet that killed the sustain. I don't know how it got dented but once I noticed it stuck out like a sore thumb. The dealer re-crowned the fret and it wasnt a big deal.. some nights ago while adjusting the pickup height a little, not much, the bridge pickup died and I've not since been able to fix it. One should be able to adjust their pickup height, no? Thing is, the pickup rings are really tight on these pickups, its a stylistic choice. I noticed that the cloth covering the windings on the treble side of the bridge pickup was all scored from rubbing against the pickup rings either from the initial install or somewhere in a setup, did that cause the pickup to cut out? I don't know. This happens at the neck too. The only buzzing on this guitar comes from the neck pickup where that wax dipped cloth covering the windings has become unstuck from the pickup and folded under the pickup ring because it's so tight against it and creates this buzzing/flapping noise when I pluck certain strings.
Verdict:
I may end up taking it back and asking for a store credit on it. Going back to the dealer twice for warranty stuff has sucked the enjoyment out of owning this guitar. I'm not sure yet because otherwise it plays well enough and looks great, to me. I've just got a bad taste in my mouth now over it all. frustrating.
MOVING ON
Next up is a brand spanking new Gibson Kirk Hammett "Greeny" Les Paul Standard
I went into the same music store I bought the Faded Blue Paul's SE from. I was there looking for a music theory book and was debating buying an acoustic they had on promo. On my initial perusal of the electrics I saw this Gibson up high that stood out with a crazy top on it. I love lemon burst and I love natural backs and sides. Kind of thought it was a custom shop before glimpsing the tag and seeing Hammett. Conveniently a nearby salesman asked if I'd like to see it, I only half knew I was screwed at that point but I said yes. Plugged it into a mesa combo that wasn't really my thing but instantly knew I'd only bonded with a guitar like this once before and I had to leave with it. Everything sounded amazing, even acoustically it played so wonderfully. I'm so used to Gibson's frankly being pretty barbaric that it genuinely took me by surprise. Again it's kind of got its own unique thing going, satin finish, lemon burst top, natural back and sides, their new Greenybucker pickups and the Peter Green wiring mod which does indeed sound like a strat through a marshall.
The good: Pretty much everything. It's resonant. the action is low at 1.5mm Bass side and 1.2mm treble at the 12th. Perfect fretwork. The pickups are lovely overwound PAF things that are not too clear but not muddy, lots of bloom, expressive, tons of bite, balls and crunch and the bridge pickup may be a tiny bit trebly but that's easy to fix. Amazing woods selected. It's good enough to appeal to someone who's been spoiled by the bar that PRS core stuff sets. It's everything a damn good Les Paul should be. Days later and I'm still floored.
Verdict: It's a slam dunk, there's no bad here. The guitar gods saw fit to send me a true gift that day. Who'd have thought that would be a Gibson. Anyway. They're still capable of making a good guitar apparently. I have yet to find anything that doesn't rock about this thing.
**EDIT: I've trimmed this down, it's still long, we all like to wax poetic about NGD's. Hope the pics work this time**
Today we have a double whammy to help get us through the week. Been a while. This is a little unorthodox as one of these guitars is NOT a PRS and thus is sort've heresy. I know. But I figured you all would rather see than not see. 2 minutes in heaven is better than 1 minute in heaven kind of thing. So gather round.
The PRS is a '22 SE Pauls Guitar in Faded Blue. Honestly I've had this guitar for a few months now so this is belated. It was really strange, the dealers had faded blue burst, then faded blue for a couple minutes and now we are at turquoise already. I really like faded blue as a color, its got lots of nice whites in it and they keep the natural back and sides which isn't common up until now. Now that Turquoise is here, I'd rather have that because that color REALLY POPS but alas.. I'm not new to the SE Paul's. I've had one before, got rid of it, wished I hadn't let it go and sought out a new one. I rave about them when I get the chance because if you don't need the trem this guitar does exceptional single coil and HB tones.
The good: Great playability, I love the TCI "s" pickups in their own right and they're here with tons of bloom and body in the neck while the bridge has chunk and sounds amazing under gain. I have the bass side at 1.4mm action and treble around 1.2mm so crazy low action and no buzz. Love it. Nice choices of woods used here too.
THE BAD: I've seen some posts recently about SE QC issues. Well... I got this guitar home and despite thinking I thoroughly checked it over. The 9th fret A string had a DENT in it. Like I'd be doing vibrato and the string would clunk over this small divet that killed the sustain. I don't know how it got dented but once I noticed it stuck out like a sore thumb. The dealer re-crowned the fret and it wasnt a big deal.. some nights ago while adjusting the pickup height a little, not much, the bridge pickup died and I've not since been able to fix it. One should be able to adjust their pickup height, no? Thing is, the pickup rings are really tight on these pickups, its a stylistic choice. I noticed that the cloth covering the windings on the treble side of the bridge pickup was all scored from rubbing against the pickup rings either from the initial install or somewhere in a setup, did that cause the pickup to cut out? I don't know. This happens at the neck too. The only buzzing on this guitar comes from the neck pickup where that wax dipped cloth covering the windings has become unstuck from the pickup and folded under the pickup ring because it's so tight against it and creates this buzzing/flapping noise when I pluck certain strings.
Verdict:
I may end up taking it back and asking for a store credit on it. Going back to the dealer twice for warranty stuff has sucked the enjoyment out of owning this guitar. I'm not sure yet because otherwise it plays well enough and looks great, to me. I've just got a bad taste in my mouth now over it all. frustrating.
MOVING ON
Next up is a brand spanking new Gibson Kirk Hammett "Greeny" Les Paul Standard
I went into the same music store I bought the Faded Blue Paul's SE from. I was there looking for a music theory book and was debating buying an acoustic they had on promo. On my initial perusal of the electrics I saw this Gibson up high that stood out with a crazy top on it. I love lemon burst and I love natural backs and sides. Kind of thought it was a custom shop before glimpsing the tag and seeing Hammett. Conveniently a nearby salesman asked if I'd like to see it, I only half knew I was screwed at that point but I said yes. Plugged it into a mesa combo that wasn't really my thing but instantly knew I'd only bonded with a guitar like this once before and I had to leave with it. Everything sounded amazing, even acoustically it played so wonderfully. I'm so used to Gibson's frankly being pretty barbaric that it genuinely took me by surprise. Again it's kind of got its own unique thing going, satin finish, lemon burst top, natural back and sides, their new Greenybucker pickups and the Peter Green wiring mod which does indeed sound like a strat through a marshall.
The good: Pretty much everything. It's resonant. the action is low at 1.5mm Bass side and 1.2mm treble at the 12th. Perfect fretwork. The pickups are lovely overwound PAF things that are not too clear but not muddy, lots of bloom, expressive, tons of bite, balls and crunch and the bridge pickup may be a tiny bit trebly but that's easy to fix. Amazing woods selected. It's good enough to appeal to someone who's been spoiled by the bar that PRS core stuff sets. It's everything a damn good Les Paul should be. Days later and I'm still floored.
Verdict: It's a slam dunk, there's no bad here. The guitar gods saw fit to send me a true gift that day. Who'd have thought that would be a Gibson. Anyway. They're still capable of making a good guitar apparently. I have yet to find anything that doesn't rock about this thing.
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