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the guitar room
Electrics
warmoth telecaster
I put my red Tokai up for sale, since I really needed the cash (and besides, I wasn't really using it anyway). Naturally, instead of people lining up to buy the guitar, I got a trade offer I couldn't refuse... This is a Warmoth Telecaster (despite the Fender logo on the headstook), sporting an alder body with an oiled walnut top. The neck is Warmoth's standard thin shape, which is basically a sleek '63 strat C-shape. The compound radius (10" at the nut, gradually increasing to 16") fretboard has Dunlop 6150 frets, and the whole neck is made from birdseye maple. It also has the Gotoh side-adjuster - a fine-tuner for the truss rod, so you can adjust the neck without taking it off. The bridge is a beefy Gotoh flat (yes! no ashtray!) six-saddle version, and the tuners are locking Schallers. The guitar now has a set of GFS Alnico Fatbody tele pickups with oversize polepieces. The neck pickup is really cool - sans cover and with oversize polepiece, it is much more up-front and snappy than a stock Tele neck unit. Of course, that means that the traditional tele sound isn't there. The accompanying bridge pickup is also quite good, but not as fat as the neck unit would have you believe the bridge unit would be. I have a GFS Alnico 50's bridge pickup that I really like as well, and I might just try that one out. And of course, a set of Lundgren pickups is always around the corner... I've said it many times (and will say it several times more on this page), but if you're in the market for a new set of pickups, check him out. His prices are netter than the big boys, the quality is staggering, and he's a nice guy to do business with. Thoroughly recommended!
The guitar came set up with very low action, which made it play fast, but definitely wasn't my cup of tea. Out came the allen wrench, and after having raised the action a fair bit and slapped on a set of GHS Boomers (gauges 10-13-17-28-38-50), the guitar started to gel. The higher action and larger-than-vintage frets meant that the notes ring out loud and clear, while the slightly thicker .50 gauge on the low E string stays stable even in dropped tunings. Too bad those gauges aren't available as a set...
The body has Warmoth's standard rear-rout, which is large enough to fit most control configurations. This means that there's room to fit a regular three-way switch below the volume control and put a tone control where the Les Paul-style pickup switch is now. I'm not overly happy with the current switch, as it seems to sometimes have problems making proper contact. Sometimes, the bridge pickup won't work until I've flicked the switch back and forth a couple of times, and getting both pickups on at the same time can be tricky. I might need to go in there an retension the thing, but I'd probably be happier with a three-way in the same position as on the strat below (they have the same control cavity routing).
wahlberg (JaWa custom) strat
Built around 1991 by Stockholm based luthier Jack Wahlberg. Swamp ash body by Warmoth, Swedish quartersawn maple/rosewood neck by JaWa (strat heel, tele peghead). The fretboard inlay at the 12th fret is real mother-of-pearl, taken from the thumb grip on Jack’s fathers’ violin bow. Jack thought it would give the neck a nice personal touch… The guitar was originally built around the late ‘80s Valley Arts/Tom Anderson ideal – tilted neck, gold Floyd Rose, ditto Gotoh tuners and Ultrasonic pickups. Actually, to be honest I wanted it to feel like an ’88 Kramer Pacer I once owned, which is why it had the tilted neck instead of a recess for the Floyd.
Sometime around ’97 – a while after I had ditched my rack system in favor of a (now long gone) ’78 Fender Twin – it dawned on me just how much bottom and “woodyness” the Floyd Rose actually stole. Time for a rebuild. I bought a Fender American Standard bridge and got Jack to install it. He also glued in a piece of rosewood to make up the bit behind the nut and re-routed the neck pocket (to remove the tilt required by the non-recessed floyd). Jack also filled the holes through the neck left by the floyd nut bolts (good), and capped them with pearl dots (eh?). Out of one of my many drawers came a set of Fender tuners – which came off a guitar I years earlier had installed locking tuners on – closed mini-tuners just like the Gotoh set, but nickel-plated to match the bridge. No, I’m not vain…
This guitar is very bright and punchy in the upper-mid region, due to the construction. The neck isn't secured with regular wood screws, like other strats. It actually has metal threaded collars sunk into the neck (underneath the fingerboard), and uses fine-threaded bolts to ensure a tight fit. It works like a dream, and as a result, this guitar has the most "active" (as in vibrant) neck I've ever experienced. On top of that, the body is made from a very lightweight and resonant piece (two pieces, actually - the two parts are glued together right below the pickup routs) of swamp ash. Can you say "TWANG"?
Although the guitar was originally routed for a H-S-S configuration, the last 10 years or so I've had three single-coils in it. I don't know if the '80s are on their way back, but lately I've felt the urge to go back to H-S-S, so at the moment I'm running GFS Alnico Pro II neck and middle pickups with a Tom Anderson H2 humbucker at the bridge. The H2 splits very well, and sounds really good to my ears. The guitar really came to life - so much so I had to re-record a bunch of guitars I'd recorded for an album a couple of weeks earlier, just to make use of the bridge humbucker for leads...
mongrel strat – unknown origin
One day one of the staff at Estrad (now 4sound Stockholm) showed me this guitar that came in a trade deal – he was thinking about buying it, and wanted to show it to me. It had a crack in the body around one of the bridge screws that let the bridge flop around a bit, and IMO really crappy pickups. We both recognised its potential, and a problem arose: we had fallen in love with the same guitar… Later that day, I took a cheap shot and played the "I'm the customer" card... apparently customers' wishes supercede those of the staff. (Sorry, Leffe. Still friends?) Anyway, with that settled, Estrad’s then guitar tech Jörgen Bergerstedt - one of the best guitar techs, and nicest people, I've ever had the pleasure of meeting - fixed the crack with a piece of hardwood and set the guitar up. It played like a dream.
It has a standard replacement body (one you’d get from WD, Allparts, Chandler etc), probably made of basswood, and a birdseye maple telecaster neck. The pickguard I think has a “Chandler” sticker on it – but that’s the only identifiable part of the guitar… The pickups are Fender Texas Specials, with a Fralin Bassplate installed on the bridge pickup. Strings are (once again) GHS Boomers 10-13-17-28-38-50.
It's a slightly strange guitar - its sound isn't very well-defined in the upper mid region, but it sounds positively awesome with the Texas Specials in it. With fresh strings on it's a killer guitar, but somehow the tone loses its body quicker than usual - like the strings die faster on it... I've been looking at the bridge a lot lately, and it does seem a little sub-standard to my eyes. Especially the block, which looks like it was molded from scrap steel. I might replace it (or the entire bridge assembly) for a proper Callaham item.
Lately, I've been having a little trouble with its bridge pickup - from time to time, it decides to simply stop working. Of course, as soon as I take the guitar apart, the thing works again... One time, I got desperate and threw in a DiMarzio HS-3 I had laying around, wired for single coil (top coil only). It wasn't at all bad - quite nice and balanced, with a distinct top end bite. I thought I'd found the problem with the Fender pickup, so it went back in - but now it's acting up again... I might just go for a humbucker in this one too, if this keeps up.
epiphone les paul baritone
I just got this guitar (early december 2004), and I am truly amazed. I ordered it from a store in Germany, having only seen the pics and read a review in Guitarist magazine. It turned out to be so cheap (it's a Korean Epiphone, after all) that I figured I'd be easily able to sell it and recover my costs if I ended up not liking it. But I did have a hunch it was going to be good - you can't really judge it by the quality of Epi's regular Les Paul copies, since it is a completely different instrument. But I still wasn't prepared for exactly how good it would be... It is soo vibrant and alive - in fact, acoustically it's easily the loudest of all my electrics. It's a 27.75" scale Les Paul (yup, a full three inches longer than a regular LP...), with a mahogany body and carved maple top, stained brown with a matte satin finish. The set neck is maple - which hopefully will be a little sturdier than the more common mahogany necks - with a rosewood fretboard. The guitar is tuned B-B at the moment, and sounds absolutely gorgeous!
A baritone is really a completely different instrument, compared to a regular scale guitar, so you need to re-evaluate your playing to figure out what sounds good and what doesn't. But at the same time... at first, everything you play sounds dead cool!
Since the guitar uses a combination of longer scale and thicker strings to get to the halfway house between the guitar and bass that it is, it has that "piano" type of quality on the low strings. Anyone who has tried slapping thicker strings on a regular guitar and tuning it low (or who have tried a regular scale 7-string, for that matter) knows that rubbery feeling from the strings. This is exactly the opposite... It is strung 14-18-26w-44w-56w-68w at the moment, and while it could probably use a .70 as the low B string, I'm not sure the tuning peg could take it without a larger hole.
The detail finish obviously isn't as spotless as it would be, had it been a custom build from an independent luthier or Gibson's custom shop. But hey, it is a Korean Epiphone, and as such it is surprisingly well put together. The finish has a couple of rough spots where a few dust speckles seems to have landed right before the satin finish dried, and the neck binding doesn't feel 100% smooth all the way along the neck. But other than that, it is a very nice instrument. The Grover tuners do their job well, and while a set of Schallers might feel a little more taut, these work just fine without slipping or feeling overly sloppy. I was pleasantly surprised to find the control cavity painted with conductive paint, which extended up over the edge (to meet the foil on the inside of the control cavity cover) - a nice touch you sometimes won't even find on guitars costing three times as much as this. I predict that the pickups won't stay very long, though - for deep, distorted "chugga-chugga" riffing they fine, I suppose, but IMHO they lack the clarity for more delicate clean-ish playing. A series/parallel or coil split function would have made it easier to coax more jangly sounds from it, increasing the guitar's range and appeal greatly. Mr. Epiphone, can we get a pull switch on the tone knob, please?
I have thought about replacing the stock pickups for a pair of humbucker sized P90's, to bring it closer in output to my other guitars. For now, I have (guerilla-style) wired the neck pickup for single-coil operation. I managed to pull the series connection (the point where the two coils connect) out and soldered it directly to the bottom plate, to ground it - instant single coil!
daisy rock retro-H 12ST
Yes, I know these are supposed to be for girls. But I don't care - it's just such a cool guitar! I got this one from 4sound here in Karlstad, when Harry made me an offer I couldn't refuse (thanks!). Basically it is a 24.75" scale 12-string guitar with mini-humbuckers. I would definitely have preferred a 25.5" scale, to keep the strings (currently D'addario EXL150) a little more taut. But beggars can't be choosers, so... Anyway, the string pairs are grouped together rather tightly, so if you have fat fingers you might not like it. The tuners are from Grover, which helps a lot - tuning a 12-string can be a nightmare if the tuners aren't up to the job. Obviously, the 12 tuners does make the guitar a bit neck-heavy when you wear it on a strap, but that comes with the territory, I suppose.
The control cavity is neatly wired and shielded with conductive paint and foil on the inside of the plastic cover, and all the wires are shielded as well. According to the specs on the Daisy Rock website, the guitar should have a push-pull function in the tone knob to allow for coil-splitting. This one doesn't have that feature, which is a shame since I find the mini-humbuckers to be slightly too dark for my tastes. Enter GFS pickups... they may not be up there with the best custom stuff (Lundgren, Lindy Fralin et al), but they are easily as good as most factory-made stuff. And as they are extremely cheap to buy, it's hard to go wrong! I ordered a matched set of their "Lil Crunchy" mini-humbuckers, and wired them in parallel (for a brighter, more single coil-ish tone). They work great, and has for next to nothing brought the guitar to a whole new level of usefulness! I don't get to use it on every gig, and even when I bring it along, it's usually just for one or two songs. But it is a nice tone to have in your palette.
Electric bass
squire classic vibe jazz bass
I decided to check out the new Squire Classic Vibe guitars, and fell in love with this one on the spot. It plays just as well - if not better - than any US-made Fender I tried at the store, and for a fraction of the money. Simply awesome - it takes me back to the early '80s, when the JV Squires were far better instruments than their Fender counterparts. The Classic Vibe Telecaster and Stratocaster are just as good, so get them while they are still allowed to make them this good!
I traded my Yamaha BB-414 for it, and didn't have to add that much in between, so for me it was a no-brainer. The Yamaha was not bad - especially after replacing the stock bridge with a Badass II - but it was no match to the Squire. It feels really weird saying that, but it really is that good! Everything about the guitar just feels better - it plays better, with more relaxed string height. The pickups are of course a little lacking, so I might once again turn to GFS here. Also, I need to work a little on the shielding - it is quiet enough with both pickups on, but as soon as I let go of the strings, it's buzz city... Eventually, I spy a Hipshot D-tuner in its future. But for now, it is just perfect...
I use the bass with my Fender Bassman head and a 2x12" cab, and will also usually keep a modified Marshall ED-1 compressor, a Stinkfoot SD-1 Bass Drive and an EBS Octabass on the floor. I immediately took the finger rest off the bass (I can't see the point of having it in that position), and that's the only mod I've done to it so far.
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Acoustics
furch S21-CR
A superjumbo (no, there's nothing wrong with the picture - it really is that big) steel-string acoustic built by Frantisek Furch in the Czech Republic, and sold to me by Leffe at 4Sound/Estrad Musik in Stockholm. At the time, it was the second simplest/cheapest model in the range – with acoustics I tend to gravitate towards the simpler models, as they to my ears usually sounds best. They often have thinner finishes, for instance, which I prefer. I like to have the guitar vibrate as freely as possible, and even if it’s only in my head, a really thin finish (so thin it’s barely there) helps it vibrate more naturally. A bonus to this ideology is that you don’t have to pay as much for the guitars – but that’s not the main reason… honestly…
This one has a solid cedar top, walnut purflings and rosewood back/sides/bridge. The neck is mahogany with a plain rosewood fingerboard. It also has an L.R. Baggs i-beam active pickup system – the most natural sounding pickup I’ve yet to hear. The only trouble is that the sound feels a smidge distant on the low strings. I suspect this isn't the pickup's fault, though - the Furch has a bridge plate that is easily three times as thick as normal (the bracings doesn't go around it but straight across, and the areas in between are filled up with wood, to make up the bridge plate). This type of bridge plate/x-bracing design is part of the Furch sound, but it also increases the distance between the i-Beam pickup and the bridge. I suspect this is what causes the slightly lop-sided sound. I'm thinking about dropping the i-Beam altogether (installing it in the Seagull, where I suspect it will shine), and installing a UST/AST system from B-Band instead.
Any pickup installed in this guitar will need a parametric eq for live work, as it can get quite lively around 200 Hz. Other than that, all the i-Beam needs it a smidge less top (2-3 dB less at 12kHz) to sound fabulous. In fact, the pickup sounds so good on its own I've actually used it to record direct. And together with the Baggs Para Acoustic DI, the sound is nothing short of spectacular!
seagull s-series grand
The smallest acoustic guitar I've ever played - next to the toy guitar I gave my sister's son when he was four years old... I got it from a friend of mine who used to run a music shop - he had bought it for the shop, but mostly because he wanted to try the guitar himself. Always a good business strategy... Of course it ended up in a corner of the shop until he closed the business, and I was offered to buy it dirt cheap. I had to get it, of course... even though it meant living on macaronis - again.
The small body makes it perfect for fingerpicking - the sound is very focused, and surprisingly big for its size. It has lots of the same qualities as a well played classical guitar - at least I hear it when my cousin plays it (as he knows how to properly play classical). Played with a pick, the sound is utterly crap. But stick to fingerpicking, and you will be rewarded. It records extremely well - before I bought the Grand, I found myself at times eq'ing the Furch to sound like this one. And again it's a guitar on the cheaper end of the market that has caught me - the S-series are the most basic Seagulls around. But the features are all there: solid cedar top, wild cherry back+sides, maple neck with Indian rosewood fingerboard - what more do you want?
I've had the guitar for a few years now, and it has loosened up very nicely indeed. The funny thing is that it seems to only get louder as the top matures. It already outpaces the Furch, which needs a heavy pick to keep up with fingerstyle playing on this one. And since the bridge plate is the standard (thin-ish) type, I suspect the Baggs i-Beam pickup would bring out the best of this guitar - I might just move it from the Furch. I would love to be able to bring this guitar to bigger gigs...
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