jimmarchi1's Music Gear Setup

I fell in love with this SG from the first note and had to own it. It has a big chunky neck and the body really resonates when its set-up with a rod straight neck and the action on the high side. The stock 490r neck pickup is warm and sparkly, however I was underwhelmed by the 498t at the bridge. It didn't jive with my favored amplifier, the Vox AC30. At a guitar show I swapped a pedal for an ld Gibson T-top Humbucker with pretty low DCR and installed it at the bridge. It completed the package making my SG into my favorite rock axe.

I have named this guitar El Superbeasto, but she will answer Beasto for short.

This is a Mexi-made Esquire. Swamp-ash body, maple neck, etc. Pretty much a classic 50s telecaster with 1 pickup and the esquire's wonky wiring. But the wiring scheme is part of the charm of an esquire as is the reduced string pull from just 1 pickup that makes these guitars just a touch meaner than their big brothers. This guitar has a well-applied Polyurethane white-blonde finish that is too glossy for my taste. Feels weird under my forearm. The neck is finished in vintage tinted poly and is fairly glossy, but in a good way. I never seem to stick to it even when I get sweaty.

My 3 star review is based on how I got this esquire stock. Its really a 4.5 star after some tweaking. An Angeltone 1950B pickup went in the bridge and I switched the stock steel barrels for a set of Hipshot compensated brass saddles. That seemed to bring the guitar to life plugged in. I didn't feel that the stock parts put forward its midrangey voice unplugged.

She doesn't have an official name but I often refer to her as Mary (as in Mary Kaye cosmetics, even though she is not truly Mary Kaye) or the Deathsquire (mine has a black bakelite pickguard installed by the previous owner) because she wears more black than any of my other guitars. Tré funereal, Baron Samedi!

I can't say enough good things about Vox's current handwired series. Bang for buck. This little guy is the only single-ended amp I have ever loved. The stock g12m25 might go. Its not suited to producing optimal clean tone from such a low power amp in a compact box. It delivers nice overdrive of course. All in all a 5 star new amp.

I can't afford a real HC30 (without parting with my vintage AC30 that is), wish I could. Nik at Ceriatone does an outstanding job with his copies. Despite being built on a turret and having inferior iron this amp really goes toe to toe with Samson era matchless and badcat amps. My 1 caveat is that some of the hardware isn't of great quality (a friend broke the stock fuse holder somehow, that shouldn't be possible) AND the aluminum chassis is not welded properly and is prone to bending if jostled in a van or in a trailer. Not a great road amp. Also, good luck getting a spare in Spokane if she goes down. Of course, at this price you can afford a backup. On to the gist... this is my favorite circuit ever for teles. The EF86 'click' channel is the jam. So much bandwidth. Lately I keep her loaded with 1 or 2 5y3 rectifiers (depending on whether I'm running full power) to brown the old girl out a bit, but with the stock 5ar4 in 30 watt she does the punchiest, tightest ac30 sound ever and with the small rectifiers she's skronky and mean even played clean. Maybe its apples and apples, but I like having this other take on the vox sound at my fingertips. I can hear it and feel it, so who cares if no one else does?

I am unsure i anyone will ever run into one of these. Its an off brand sealed 2x12 with diagonal speakers. Got it unloaded on ebay as a local pickup. Its a powerful, punchy cab made of super thick plywood. Front liading in the 80s style.. I ttok thw dampening fiberfill out so she has some resonances now. Can get boomy with 55hz bass cone speakers. But she sounds great right now loaded with a cts alnico and celestion greenback. Truly a rock n roll cab. Gets some 4x12 punch! Kinda heavy though. Bad tolex and grill cloth work though. I still will never part with this cab. She records really well.

Okay, I got this guitar off the interweb based on its looks. I had played one and really dug one in a store but wouldn't pay the asking price.

Features an unbound ebony fretboard without position markers, mahogany back and neck, unbound maple top, brushed nickel hardware, 490R and 490T pickups and grover rotamatics. Finished in a satiny metallic pewter lacquer all over the damn guitar and even the pickup rings have some silver going.

First off, what a glam rock looker. 100 points for style. Okay, moving on. She has a nice rounded 50s neck profile. Points there. She's not particularly heavy for an LP, more points. Played great out of the case? Check. More points. Phenomenal sustain and a balanced tone unplugged? WOW this is on uncharacteristically great stock Gibby! Wrong. While I have nothing against the 490 alnico humbuckers (I hate the 498T, but the 490R is pretty okay and the 490T can sound cool, if modern), they sound awful in this guitar. Sterile, boring, all wrong for a Gibson geared towards a strong upper midrange. The Neck pickup is a bit boomy and masks the best frequencies this guitar projects acoustically and the bridge lacks any bass response and is a mess of upper mid snarl without any genuine sparkle clean or dirty. You could sue this guitar stock to be in an Nickelback tribute band assuming you had a stock mesa triple-rec. UGH! Not me at all.

Fortunately I have A couple different humbuckers sitting around. I am thinking a Burstbucker 2 in the neck and a Duncan 59 custom hybrid to start. Keep things hotter-than-vintage to match her hot looks, but get some seriously mismatched coils going to reveal the guitar's voice. The finish is thin and well executed, the guitar resonates wonderfully... I may need to put some bourns 500k pots in too. we'll go lazy to start....

Overall I recommend this particular les paul as a unique spin on the tired, old formula that is dazzling to behold in the right lighting.... not for stodgy, conservative types though. Sadly for those of you shopping, the good version (this all silver one) was only made for a year or two and is apparently quite rare. Go figure. Guess I was being a dick when I lowballed the dealer. I have named mine Silver Bullet and will probably keep her after I perform a 'lil surgery.