The guitar corner

[Cliff Englewood]

I still love the Gibsons, though, especially my Gobel (which has almost become part of my body over the years) and the L5N/CC (my avatar). Don't play the Johnny Smith or the Super 4 much these days.

What's the vintage of your L5N/CC??? And what are those CC pickups really like???

[jazzbo]

I don't blame you at all for being into vintage guitars! I know they suit you and can be wonderful.

I was surprised to read you are playing Strat!

Let us know if you ever try a John Lee Hooker Sheraton. I love John Lee. . . I bet those are nice!

[AllenLowe]

the old guitars are nice, though in my experience the ones I've played tend to be harder to play, action-wise. They look great, though I do think the essence of their sound is in the pickups, which I tend to love. I do have a soft spot for 1960s-70s Japanese pickups, and I once had a conversation with Lindy Fralin in which he said the one thing that the Japanese manufacturers got right was the pickups -

Edited October 6, 2009 by AllenLowe

[7/4]

(the previously mentioned Gibson L6-S).

1998 - Leaning into a bunch of notes that were close together at the Trenton Avant Garde Festival. Sonic Bloom for synthesizer and digital delays in 13 limit just intonation, September 12, 1998. I'm pretty sure this photo is by Jason Gross of Perfect Sound Forever.

[Jim R]

I still love the Gibsons, though, especially my Gobel (which has almost become part of my body over the years) and the L5N/CC (my avatar). Don't play the Johnny Smith or the Super 4 much these days.

What's the vintage of your L5N/CC??? And what are those CC pickups really like???

My L5 is a '66, which was special-ordered with the CC.

CC's are somewhat tricky animals to control, but to me, even if you have to sacrifice some aspect of the sound to control noise, they're still magical. I recommend this article: http://www.kokomomusic.com/pages/corner.html

[7/4]

I still love the Gibsons, though, especially my Gobel (which has almost become part of my body over the years) and the L5N/CC (my avatar). Don't play the Johnny Smith or the Super 4 much these days.

What's the vintage of your L5N/CC??? And what are those CC pickups really like???

My L5 is a '66, which was special-ordered with the CC.

CC's are somewhat tricky animals to control, but to me, even if you have to sacrifice some aspect of the sound to control noise, they're still magical. I recommend this article: http://www.kokomomusic.com/pages/corner.html

also interesting: What makes a Charlie Christian pickup a Charlie Christian pickup?

[AllenLowe]

note the low ohmage - in this day of ceramic pickups that blast along at 10-15 k, the great thing about the old pickups (and as I mentioned I have a P90 which is about 6k) is that, at lower power, you can get more volume and character to the sound before it breaks up, especially on low power amps - it gives you that nice, edge-of-distortion sound (listen to Junior Barnard with Bob Wills to get a good idea of this; also, any number of early 1950s electric blues) -

[Joe G]

You know where to find my sounds, I hope. Here's a recent pic with the Verythin:

Yup, I have you on CD. Your comp "Life Wish" is one of my favorites and we do listen to it very often. Quite an emotional tune.

Many thanks.

[Jim R]

I still love the Gibsons, though, especially my Gobel (which has almost become part of my body over the years) and the L5N/CC (my avatar). Don't play the Johnny Smith or the Super 4 much these days.

What's the vintage of your L5N/CC??? And what are those CC pickups really like???

My L5 is a '66, which was special-ordered with the CC.

CC's are somewhat tricky animals to control, but to me, even if you have to sacrifice some aspect of the sound to control noise, they're still magical. I recommend this article: http://www.kokomomusic.com/pages/corner.html

also interesting: What makes a Charlie Christian pickup a Charlie Christian pickup?

Thank you for posting that link. I've literally been scraping together bits and pieces of technical information about CC's for years, and this will add nicely to what I already had. By the time I get it all figured out, I'll probably be playing another instrument... like a harp.

[Cliff Englewood]

I still love the Gibsons, though, especially my Gobel (which has almost become part of my body over the years) and the L5N/CC (my avatar). Don't play the Johnny Smith or the Super 4 much these days.

What's the vintage of your L5N/CC??? And what are those CC pickups really like???

My L5 is a '66, which was special-ordered with the CC.

CC's are somewhat tricky animals to control, but to me, even if you have to sacrifice some aspect of the sound to control noise, they're still magical. I recommend this article: http://www.kokomomusic.com/pages/corner.html

also interesting: What makes a Charlie Christian pickup a Charlie Christian pickup?

Thank you for posting that link. I've literally been scraping together bits and pieces of technical information about CC's for years, and this will add nicely to what I already had. By the time I get it all figured out, I'll probably be playing another instrument... like a harp.

Nice one, I'd love to have a Gibson with a CC pickup, I think the desire for one came from this photo below, I think it's an ES-300 with a CC added. If it was good enough for T Bone, it's good enough for me, although I doubt I'll ever own one like his. :(

[7/4]

I would too! I came close to just trying an ED150 a few months ago, but they sold it before I got there.

.

[AllenLowe]

well, the classic T Bone sound came from P90s, out of phase -

[Cliff Englewood]

I would too! I came close to just trying an ED150 a few months ago, but they sold it before I got there.

ED150??? Is that a typo or something I've never heard of before???

[7/4]

I would too! I came close to just trying an ED150 a few months ago, but they sold it before I got there.

ED150??? Is that a typo or something I've never heard of before???

Yeah, it's a typo. As ES 150.

Sorry, 'bout that!

[Cliff Englewood]

I would too! I came close to just trying an ED150 a few months ago, but they sold it before I got there.

ED150??? Is that a typo or something I've never heard of before???

Yeah, it's a typo. As ES 150.

Sorry, 'bout that!

No problem, I thought you had discovered a new type of Gibson. :D

I would say it would be very difficult to find an ES-150 in decent condition now. I would think that whoever bought them back then must have been professional musicians as it would have been an expensive item and not really something just to play at home.

Did you or Jim R ever play an ES - 5??? I think after something with a CC pickup, an ES - 5 would be a close second dream axe. I mean 3 P90s and no selector switch, that's got to be fun. :excited:

[7/4]

No, I don't think I've ever played an ES-5.

I live just outside NYC, so there's plenty of dealers around here. A place in Teaneck has two of 'em and I just couldn't make it there in time before they sole them.

Edited October 8, 2009 by 7/4

[AllenLowe]

friend of mine's got one - sounds nice, not all that easy to play (of course he uses something like 14 gauge strings) -

Edited October 8, 2009 by AllenLowe

[Jim R]

I would say it would be very difficult to find an ES-150 in decent condition now. I would think that whoever bought them back then must have been professional musicians as it would have been an expensive item and not really something just to play at home.

I've been following the vintage market closely for over 20 years, and it always surprises me how many 150's actually come up for sale. They're really not as elusive as some people would have you think. I think part of it was the declining demand for archtops for many years, particularly non-cutaway archtops. Now an ES250 is another matter altogether. Those are extremely rare. I think a lot of people confuse the two.

Did you or Jim R ever play an ES - 5?

I had one back in the mid-80's, which I traded a couple of guitars for at a shop in SF. It was a '53 (pre-switchmaster), sunburst, and a beautiful, clean, all original example. It played and sounded fine, but I eventually traded it for a '51 ES350 (two pickup version) plus an amp. The 350 was more practical for my purposes (I tend to prefer just using the neck pickup on most multi-pickup guitars), and played and sounded even better than the ES5.

[jazzbo]

[7/4]

Cool add!

But boy...that guitar is gonna get in the way soon.

.

[jazzbo]

You're not supposed to think that hard!

The road to hot guitar playing!

[jazzbo]

I want one. . . .

[7/4]

Remember that ad with the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland sitting on mushroom? He's smoking a hookah and since he has multiple arms, he's a Strat and a bass at the same time - heavenly!

.

[jazzbo]

Yes! The illustration is perfect for this!

[jazzbo]