Did not mean little in real sense of the word when describing the Crate... just not a Marshall stack by any means... it is a fairly good sized amp (about 20: tall by 36" wide by 10" ceep) with effects. It is cream colored and the guitar sounds great through it.
I am going to look at the VOX stuff. But thanks for all your advice.
I hope this forum continues to bring me the kind of wise and "sound" (every pun intended) advice that I need.
Thanks again.
The never ending tuning saga of the 325C58
Moderators: rickenbrother, ajish4
Lawton said:
Something like a 25w solid state rig isn't really going to show you the character of the pickups, or the guitar, at all.
I would say that this is true in most cases, but I have a Crate GX-40C+
that is fantastic at giving proper voice to any of my Rickenbackers, including the 12-strings. I have put this side-by-side to my 1968 Fender Twin Reverb (with factory JBL D-120s), using the dual mono outputs from my 370/12v64 FG, and except for less low end (completely expected, as the Crate has only two 8" Crate speakers), the full resonance of the 12-string comes through equally on the two amps - no loss of tone through the Crate!!!!
Something like a 25w solid state rig isn't really going to show you the character of the pickups, or the guitar, at all.
I would say that this is true in most cases, but I have a Crate GX-40C+
that is fantastic at giving proper voice to any of my Rickenbackers, including the 12-strings. I have put this side-by-side to my 1968 Fender Twin Reverb (with factory JBL D-120s), using the dual mono outputs from my 370/12v64 FG, and except for less low end (completely expected, as the Crate has only two 8" Crate speakers), the full resonance of the 12-string comes through equally on the two amps - no loss of tone through the Crate!!!!
It is better, of course, to know useless things than to know nothing. - Seneca
Gary, that's nice to hear. I've not found a solid state amp that does justice to toasters (but I've not tried the Crate you mention), but I will say that my Yorkville AM50 (50w acoustic amp) does a nice job with a clean tone out of my Elite Casino (dual P90s). The P90s have alot more output than do the toasters, and probably contribute more to the eventual tone than the toasters can.
Thats a mighty good deal on the amp. I have often wondered why these little guitars are so hard to tune and play. My soul experinence with a real one was when a fella I knew actually had one.
He is a really big Beatle freak and he had to have one. When he got it he was less than happy. It was hard to play and had to have thirteens on it to stay in tune.
He sold it and got a 350 and has been happy ever since. It has the small body but just a longer neck. I have read many reviews of the little guitar that are less than stellar on playability and tuning.
Some how Lennon must have gotten a hold of a really nice one. I have always heard him described as a sloppy guitar player and really only wanted to play at all except to write songs. So if his were that bad he would not have kept it. So there in lies the mystery.
I guess why I'm asking is both he (the 325 owner) and I have Mustangs and they are not hard to play guitars at all and are short scale guitars too. In fact they are probably the easist playing guitars I have ever seen.
A good friend of mine has a Duo Sonic. Same thing, plays great. So the mystery to me just deepened?
He is a really big Beatle freak and he had to have one. When he got it he was less than happy. It was hard to play and had to have thirteens on it to stay in tune.
He sold it and got a 350 and has been happy ever since. It has the small body but just a longer neck. I have read many reviews of the little guitar that are less than stellar on playability and tuning.
Some how Lennon must have gotten a hold of a really nice one. I have always heard him described as a sloppy guitar player and really only wanted to play at all except to write songs. So if his were that bad he would not have kept it. So there in lies the mystery.
I guess why I'm asking is both he (the 325 owner) and I have Mustangs and they are not hard to play guitars at all and are short scale guitars too. In fact they are probably the easist playing guitars I have ever seen.
A good friend of mine has a Duo Sonic. Same thing, plays great. So the mystery to me just deepened?
-
geschwader
- New member
- Posts: 67
- Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2005 4:44 am
Frankly, I haven't had tuning or tone issues with my 325C58 once I replaced the Kaufmann and added the Bigsby B5. It made the guitar infinitely more stable, and dramatically improved the tone and resonance. I also think that the bow tie bridge makes a more solid connection to the guitar body. As for strings, I am actually using D'Addario 11s (EXL115 Jazz) with a solid 3rd — with no problems whatsoever. I can play both lead and rhythm and it stays in tune. The 12s work nicely as well, but the wound third can be somewhat limiting at times.
I did the same with my 325C58: replaced the Kaufmann with the B5, got the bowtie bridge, and put on D'Addario 11s. I still had problems with action and intonation, so I took it to a pro, and he did some sort of magic, and now it plays beautifully.
I know what you mean on the string-bending....I learned "You Can't Do That" watching Rob's video, and he must have Hands Of Steel® to make those bends! I finally got it, but "I got blisters on my fingers"....
I know what you mean on the string-bending....I learned "You Can't Do That" watching Rob's video, and he must have Hands Of Steel® to make those bends! I finally got it, but "I got blisters on my fingers"....
I can't imagine playing my 325C58 with 11's on it. It just seems made for 13's or at least 12's because of the short scale (I use 13's). String bending has never really been a problem, however, I'm sure it would be a bit easier with the lighter gauge strings. I remember when I purchased my 325V63 a few years ago, the guy that had it prior to me had 10 or 11's on it and it was very difficult to keep in tune and played very loose. I switched to Rick 12's and it cured the problems.
It is what it is!
-
ibmindless
- New member
- Posts: 58
- Joined: Wed Sep 22, 2004 1:07 am
Actually, Robbo's got my 58 replica right now(I'm getting it back this week). He's been using it for the next 2 vids he's shooting at once.
He seems to like it.
He's also using a friend's 325 from a local trib called the Beat Club(most of our guitars are what he uses for his vids, all of which I've worked on or modded) and that's the one you see him bending like a madman on. Robbo's a big guy, I'm suprised he doesn't crush the 325's neck! LOL
I had a friend in a trib band in Chicago called BritBeat ask me about making a combo tune-o-matic/bowtie for him because his C58 was having a lot of problems with all the outdoor gigs they've been doing and he hasn't been able to keep the intonation good during this time.
Here's links to some of the pics of what I came up with(I've relic'd it to match the aging I did on the rest of the guitar when I was in Chicago about this time last year):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/fabgear/for%20sale/fabbowtie1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/fabgear/for%20sale/fabbowtie2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/fabgear/for%20sale/fabbowtie3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/fabgear/for%20sale/fabbowtie4.jpg
(these are in my "For Sale" album in my Photobucket account merely because I had someone purchasing one and it was the easiest place for them to find pics to show)
Nice thing is the aerial look is very very similar to stock, so unless you're knowing what should and shouldn't be there it's not going to stick out at you and you'll have great intonation at the same time. My friend told me it solved his intonation prob so that was the icing on the cake.
Just showing there's some alternatives to the stock one.
Also, if you have one of the more recent "repro" bowties, you might want to consider reaming out the holes in the top saddle piece. When these were replicated, the holes were not drilled to the same size as the true vintage ones and as such don't allow the top piece to rock back and forth like they were intended. I'd have to check which size it is but it's a pretty simple adjustment and will keep the strings from binding up if you use the B5.
-Jeff
He seems to like it.
He's also using a friend's 325 from a local trib called the Beat Club(most of our guitars are what he uses for his vids, all of which I've worked on or modded) and that's the one you see him bending like a madman on. Robbo's a big guy, I'm suprised he doesn't crush the 325's neck! LOL
I had a friend in a trib band in Chicago called BritBeat ask me about making a combo tune-o-matic/bowtie for him because his C58 was having a lot of problems with all the outdoor gigs they've been doing and he hasn't been able to keep the intonation good during this time.
Here's links to some of the pics of what I came up with(I've relic'd it to match the aging I did on the rest of the guitar when I was in Chicago about this time last year):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/fabgear/for%20sale/fabbowtie1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/fabgear/for%20sale/fabbowtie2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/fabgear/for%20sale/fabbowtie3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/fabgear/for%20sale/fabbowtie4.jpg
(these are in my "For Sale" album in my Photobucket account merely because I had someone purchasing one and it was the easiest place for them to find pics to show)
Nice thing is the aerial look is very very similar to stock, so unless you're knowing what should and shouldn't be there it's not going to stick out at you and you'll have great intonation at the same time. My friend told me it solved his intonation prob so that was the icing on the cake.
Just showing there's some alternatives to the stock one.
Also, if you have one of the more recent "repro" bowties, you might want to consider reaming out the holes in the top saddle piece. When these were replicated, the holes were not drilled to the same size as the true vintage ones and as such don't allow the top piece to rock back and forth like they were intended. I'd have to check which size it is but it's a pretty simple adjustment and will keep the strings from binding up if you use the B5.
-Jeff
FabGear Custom Guitars, Relics and Replicas
Public Albums: www.photobucket.com username: fabgear, password: fabguest
Public Albums: www.photobucket.com username: fabgear, password: fabguest