Toying with getting back into Elec. after 40 years

[KevWind]

Having played electric only briefly in the late 60 s
I have been thinking I might like to give a go again.
I have not clue as to what I would like other than I would say probably clean to only slightly distorted .

Currently (for the summer) I am at a location which makes it about a 300 mi. round trio to go to play some . I will however most likely not do anything until late Oct. when I go back to where there are guitar stores

So at this point I am simply surfing the internets, and researching ideas and looking for thoughts from you all .

One guitar that looks interesting (knowing little) is The Godin - Summit Classic CT Convertible . With the pic up options offering the three basic different types of picup's. Which supposedly allows a wide variety of tonal options.

Has any body had experience with this Godin model ?

The other thought was perhaps was looking into the Carvin / Kiesel line of guitars, again any experience with this brand ? Thanks Kev.

[Bob Womack]

I've got a Carvin TL60T, a guitar shaped like a Tele but quite different.


It has a 25" action, neck-through-body construction, a pair of splittable humbuckers, and a Wilkinson Trem. The radius of the ebony fingerboard is pretty flat, the nut is 1.75", the frets are jumbo, and the neck has a shallow depth with a carved heel that gives plenty of access all the way up. The action was so low that I had to raise it. It can either sound like a hot humbucker guitar or something like a Tele. It is as solid as any guitar I've ever played and is probably one of the best values out there.

Bob

[mikealpine]

If you have an idea of your budget, that might help with some suggestions. That being said, Bob's suggestion is a good one. The Kiesel line has some great options and you can make some nice adjustments to suit your playing style. If you can find one used, it is usually a home run because, for whatever reason, they seem to fall sharply in the used market. I have a CS624 (similar to an LP), that is beautifully built, and the TL60 or other bolts are also very good. I might think about a three-pickup strat-like guitar with their dual-rail pickups, very nice setup.

I've got a Vox SDC-55 that I don't play, but it's a wonderful guitar as well. I have the HDC-77, also a very nice guitar. The pickups are really interesting, each with three settings, single-coil, P90 and humbucker, all noiseless and all at the same volume level (typically when you split a humbucker, the volume drops). If you look those up and are interested when you are ready to buy, let me know. I've got too many guitars and I'm playing my custom Tele, the Kiesel and a new La Grange, so these are available, inexpensive and very good guitars.

Enjoy the hunt!!

[6L6]

This should help you:

http://theunofficialmartinguitarforu...ster-Obsession

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Having played electric only briefly in the late 60's I have been thinking I might like to give a go again. I have no clue as to what I would like other than I would say probably clean to only slightly distorted..

Welcome to the dark side, Kev...

Given your tastes, I'd personally think in terms of something with either mini-humbuckers (Firebird, '16 SG Special, Gretsch Filter'tron/Super Hi-lo'Tron, Guild Newark St. LB-1, etc.) or P-90's (a wide-open field here) - if you're used to five decades of acoustic you might find full-size humbuckers a bit lacking in clarity, and any of the above have the garbanzos to get a nice blues crunch with a tube amp...

Since you mentioned Godin, you might want to look into a CW II before you settle on a final choice - I've had mine for the last four years and I've got nothing but good things to say about it. For an acoustic player the initial learning curve is next to nil: the neck and body dimensions are virtually identical to a Seagull mini-jumbo cutaway (good luck finding that type of neck on a production electric), the weight is comparable to an acoustic instrument (~ 5 lb.), controls are simple (volume/tone/3-way PU switch), the factory P-90's are actually better IMO than the Gibson originals (comparable power, more string-to-string definition and clarity), the factory setup on mine was absolutely flawless (plays better with 13's than my P-90 LP plays with 10's), and the lightweight woods used in its construction add a sense of "air" to the tone very reminiscent of Brooklyn-era Gretsch hollowbodies (as the original owner of a '64 Double Annie I speak from experience here - my Godin has essentially driven it into semi-retirement); far worse things you could do with $1K these days, and I've heard Tony Bennett's guitarist is using one on tour - I'd tend to think they both know a little something about good guitar tone...

Gretsch is also doing some amazing things with their current Korean-built Electromatic lineup (not to be confused with the Indonesian/Chinese instruments at the lower end of the line). Again speaking as a 50+ year Gretsch player - and the recent owner of a 5622T (NGGD posted previously on this forum) - both the tone and QC are absolutely uncanny for an under-$1K guitar: not only better than many of the "golden era" '50s/60s originals, but I frankly see no reason to spend 3-4 times as much on the Japanese-built Professional Collection (yeah, they really are that good). They've also got most of the classic styles covered - 6120 (single/double-cut), White Falcon (single/double-cut), Country Gent (double), Country Club, the "Mike Nesmith" 12-string Gent, and the rarer-than-dinosaur-turds cats'-eye 6117 (in the mid-70's I was in a band with a guy who bought two of the '64-66 originals - for $75 each) as well as newer (Brian Setzer Nashville) and never-were-but-should-have-been instruments (semi-hollow '63 Duo-Jet, 3-PU/cats'-eye '66 Viking) - and nearly all of them come with honest-to-Chet Filter'trons. Bottom line: if you've been jonesin' for a Gretsch but couldn't handle the prices of the Professional Series (and didn't want the earlier MIC Electromatic crap), you've just run out of excuses...

Good luck...

[blue]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

It is as solid as any guitar I've ever played and is probably one of the best values out there.

Bob

A new carvin is great bang for the buck. A used Carvin is one of the best bargains period. The only reason I don't have one, yet, is because used G&Ls and Hamers are also a great bargain, and slightly more traditional looking.

I do covet a Carvin CT though.

[KevWind]

Hey thanks for the replies so far
I did forget to mention budget.

I am thinking aprox $1,200 - $1,600 for guitar and $400-$500 for amp
The amp I am thinking along the lines of a tube style? I definitely want a practice type amp., that has a headphone jack that cuts out the spkr. for quiet practice (so my wife doesn't make me go live in the garage)
Perhaps like the Marshall DSL5C 1x10" 5-Watt 2-Channel Tube Combo Guitar Amp

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by KevWind

...I am thinking aprox $1,200 - $1,600 for guitar and $400-$500 for amp...The amp I am thinking along the lines of a tube style? I definitely want a practice type amp that has a headphone jack that cuts out the spkr. for quiet practice (so my wife doesn't make me go live in the garage)...

In order:

• Add the Guild Newark St. hollowbodies/semi-hollows to the list - they've got some great things going on in the $1000-1500 bracket...
• Bugera V5 Infinium Combo - $159 floor price this weekend at GC: 5W/1W/0.1W selectable, headphone out, built-in digi-verb that actually sounds good, and looks like a Bad Cat at one-fourth the price - add a set of good-quality tubes for about $60 and you'll cause some real consternation among those guys who sunk $1K+ into a low-wattage boutique amp...
• C'mon, Kev - do you really sound THAT BAD...

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

In order:

• Add the Guild Newark St. hollowbodies/semi-hollows to the list - they've got some great things going on in the $1000-1500 bracket...
• Bugera V5 Infinium Combo - $159 floor price this weekend at GC: 5W/1W/0.1W selectable, headphone out, built-in digi-verb that actually sounds good, and looks like a Bad Cat at one-fourth the price - add a set of good-quality tubes for about $60 and you'll cause some real consternation among those guys who sunk $1K+ into a low-wattage boutique amp...
• C'mon, Kev - do you really sound THAT BAD...

Ha! no not that its that bad (I don't think), its that its loud, and she has heard it for 35 yrs.
Thanks for the heads up on the Bugera, looks really interesting
Unfortunately right now I am about 180 mi. from the nearest GC

I have a Godin LGXSA. I no longer routinely use the synth access, but the guitar is a tremendous example of fine workmanship. With the coil splitting and the piezo saddles I can get a wide variety of tones. Cannot speak highly enough about it.

[jseth]

Reverend electric guitars are some of the nicest I have seen... if I did not own two Gibsons and a Taylor T-5 already, I'd jump on one! Extremely well-made and finished, they make a number of different models; some are modeled on the Fender platform (bolt-on necks), while others are more "Gibson-esque" (set necks).

The electronics are very nice, and well thought out changes to the "Classics" are functional and make some very cool sounds! Generally just under a Grand, you can find them used in the $5-700 range.

I particularly like the Buckshot (and variants) and the Sensei... GREAT guitars!

As far as amps go, there are a few nice choices in the sub-$400 range... check out VHT and Kustom...

Too bad you didn't keep your gear from the late-60's!!!

[blue]

I'd shift the budget up on the amp, and down on the guitar.

This is awesome for under $800 http://www.ebay.com/itm/MESA-BOOGIE-...AAAOSwt7ZXpCv4

[wrathfuldeity]

A few years ago stumbled across a used Carvin DC135 hss strat type, neck through hardtail, with ss frets ebony board, locking tuners and coiltap hb for a mere $350...really great git. So spend more on an amp...get like a Princeton or Deluxe clone should be well within the budget.

[KevWind]

No doubt there is quality and tone gains with bigger better amps, And I will check out the recommendations, however as I said if there is no headphone jack that cuts the output to the speaker/s, at this point in time it would be of no use to me.

Originally Posted by KevWind

No doubt there is quality and tone gains with bigger better amps, And I will check out the recommendations, however as I said if there is no headphone jack that cuts the output to the speaker/s, at this point in time it would be of no use to me.

My current amp is a Crate Powerblock. It has the headphone jack, clean and distorted capabilities (with a master volume), a very good eq section and an f/x loop. You can plug it into any enclosure and I have even, by bypassing the pre-amp, used it as a power amp for my acoustic act. Drawbacks: It is SS and is not currently in production, although I see them all the time on E-bay for notta lotta bucks.