Bought a new Guitar

[dm_gsxr]

I'm closing one of my bank accounts down and have just enough to splurge on a new guitar. I've been poking about and playing the different guitars around town to see which one I like from feel and from the sound. I did try a couple of Paul Reed Smith guitars but didn't like the thicker neck at the base. I've tried a few of the Les Paul guitars and liked the thin neck (much like the Fenders I already have). I was ready to buy yesterday because of the bank account thing and wandered over to play a couple of Epiphone's at the music store in Boulder before pulling the trigger on one. I eventually tried the Les Paul Standard and the 1960 Tribute Plus. The store had a 1960 Tribute (no plus) for $250 more and other than the color, it seemed to be exactly the same as the Plus so they couldn't tell me what the difference was. They also had another 1960 Tribute Plus in the same color as the non-Plus (the orange top) but it was about $50 cheaper than the non-Plus. The store guys are a little confused.

Anyway, the Tribute Plus was in my range and after playing a couple others just to make sure, I decided to get the Plus.

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It sounds nice and seems to be a nice compliment to my existing guitars (Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster plus an Ibanez Artcore).

Carl

[The Black Knight]

Very nice score man. I've got three Epi's and love them. The Plus in the name usually indicates a flame top , whereas a standard is usually a solid color. Epi's have really come around in terms of quality and are very nice guitars. :up:

[Sean]

Cool. :up: I've been getting the itch for a new gee-tar too

Planing any upgrades/mods?

[Zach929rr]

Ugh sunburst.

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[dm_gsxr]

Very nice score man. I've got three Epi's and love them. The Plus in the name usually indicates a flame top , whereas a standard is usually a solid color. Epi's have really come around in terms of quality and are very nice guitars. :up:

In this case, the plus has the fake inlays and the standard 1960's neck shape. The 1960 Tribute (non-plus) is the older model (2010-2011 I think it said on the Gibson site) where the Plus is a 2012 model.

The Tribute comes in just the two colors; black and faded cherry sunburst. At $250 more than the Vintage Sunburst I bought, I couldn't see Mother of Pearl inlays being worth 250 bucks. Heck, the Faded Cherry Sunburst 1960 Tribute Plus; the same one that I bought but with a different color was 200 bucks more than the one I bought. It seemed like a no brainer to me :D

I have a Fender Stratocaster, Telecaster, and an Ibanez Artcore AF75. Recently I bought a Washburn traveling guitar and took it with me on my motorcycle trip last month :)

Carl

[dm_gsxr]

Cool. :up: I've been getting the itch for a new gee-tar too

Planing any upgrades/mods?

I'm just learning the different gear, tones, and such so no plans for upgrades at this time. It was cool to read that folks actually do upgrade/modify their guitars.

Carl

[dm_gsxr]

Ugh sunburst.

It was either that or the Faded Cherry Sunburst which I didn't really like the color of. I was looking for a Black Beauty but they sold it a few days before. It's probably a good thing I didn't get it though as the Plus was just at the edge of my price range and I would have had to stretch a bit more than I really should have to get it.

Plus I have the Sunburst in the Fender :)

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Carl

[Sean]

I'm just learning the different gear, tones, and such so no plans for upgrades at this time. It was cool to read that folks actually do upgrade/modify their guitars.Things that are very worth while right off the bat, is to have it professionally set-up and have the frets leveled (higher end guitars usually don't need fret work). Guitars usually don't get set up at stores. They just unbox it and throw it on the showroom floor. Sometimes, they even tune it. You can get a lot of mileage from a $40 setup from a pro.

What are you running the guitar through (chord, amp, effects)? The reason I ask about upgrades, is that I usually change pickups. Like you stated before, you like the feel off the instrument, but the feel doesn't always complement the guitar. Personally, I feel that dropping a couple of bucks on a set of hand-wound pickups (fralin, lollar) brings the guitar to life. But I'm pretty picky about my tone.

I'd also change the color of the knobs (personal preference) and before too long, put more accurate tuners (grovers or something) in it that won't slip as much. That's one area where Epiphone differs from Gibson.

Keep in mind that I'm a super guitar geek, so this is just my $.02 :up:

[dm_gsxr]

I enjoy learning from the geeks, especially since I geek out on stuff (some times too much :) ).

While it wasn't set up at the store, it does come with a free setup which I'll take advantage of when I get the time to take it in.

For learning, I'm running through a Line 6 TM4 Looper to a Princeton Reverb amp. No effects since the Line 6 provides all :) I do have a Bad Horsey Wah and a Fab Echo and I'm putting together a Distortion pedal (I just need to finish wiring it up). I also have a Fender practice amp that sits upstairs when I want to practice outside.

I also have Rocksmith which has done wonders to improve my playing.

I've been reading up a lot on different guitarists and what they change as well as the schematics of the guitars I currently have. At least for now, I'm content with playing what I have as they sit. I don't have the experience to even know that my rig isn't set up optimally :)

Carl