Les Paul Standard Goldtop

Times change, and in the short time I've been running this blog, I've been doing lots of research on all guitars in general, and so after lots of reviews and opinions, it would appear my desire for a Les Paul Studio is maybe not the most suitable desire, as the Les Paul Studio models seem to have not the greatest track record for build quality, and time and time again I've been told to just save up the extra cash and get a standard. This makes sense, as it's the guitar of guitarists, the top quality product in the market. I've come to a narrow minded view of wanted guitars now, and the Les Paul Goldtop is the only thing I want, I would do anything to get hold of one of these, I'm currently contemplating how to get one while I'm writing this very article. Where does this desire come from? Well, when I started playing guitar, I just thought the Les Paul design was plain and unadventurous, but after playing for a few years now I have matured into the mould of the more experienced guitarist, and have come to appreciate the quality of the Les Paul Standard. Just holding one you can feel the quality, with one in my hand, I just feel like I've accomplished something. They're so classy and prestigious, half of buying a Les Paul is just so you can be a Les Paul owner, and you can tell everyone you own a real Les Paul. You get what you pay for, and so for me, getting an Epiphone just isn't going to happen, I want the real thing.

So, why should you want one? Well, half of it is the history, the Gibson brand, and specifically the Les Paul. Played originally by Jimmy Page, and then bought even further into the limelight when it was the only style of guitar in Slash's ownership. Played by Pete Townshend, Clapton in his early days, Billy Gibbons, and no doubt every single guitarist in the Rock'n'Roll hall of fame owns a Les Paul. I'd love to join those guys, it's just a mindset.

So, the statistics and specs. It has 22 frets, with trapezoid inlays, the signature Gibson Burstbucker Pro pickups, which produce that signature Les Paul sound, that can't be imitated. This sound also comes from that beautiful body, made of a thick mahogany, sure, it's heavy, but my god is it worth it, that tone and sustain is godly, and it just feels so good, the quality is impeccable. It has a tune-o-matic bridge, which adds to that sustain and quality. It has two volume and two tone controls, and the frets are rosewood. The Les Paul Goldtop just screams class, writing this review has only increased my desire, I must have one, I'd never put it down.

I'd have the Goldtop because it appeals to me, but any guitar in the Les Paul Standard series is amazing. I love the goldtop because it's kinda standout, and with the binding it looks superb. Playing a Gibson Les Paul is a sign of class, if you play one on stage, you're far from eccentric, you just clearly know what's quality, and you want the best tone available to you. I've seen them used for all genres of music, and it still beats the top guitars of the genres. A Les Paul probably plays metal just as good as any Jackson.

So, what do you think about the Les Paul, the Goldtop and just everything Gibson? I wanna hear it guys!

Spear NF-Z

Right then, here we have the guitar I should of bought last time around, with hindsight. I'm now playing a lot of indie music, and this is a very indie looking guitar. To my eyes, it's a wonderful looking guitar, I love the Walnut/Mahogany body, naturally finished, which combined with the gold hardware looks fantastic. It looks like something Pete Doherty would play, which if you're in an indie band makes it top-notch. The pickups are standard Spear brand pickups, this could therefore cause a slight problem. The pickups look great because they're gold like the rest of the hardware, but if they don't sound good, you might want to switch them out, and then you'll have to find gold pickups to replace them with, too keep that fantastic look. The pickups could however be decent, combined with the guitar being a set-in neck, the sustain of this guitar should be very solid. It is also a semi-hollow body, which is fantastic, good versatility and great tone. That means it has the two swirls cut out of the body, which is just classic, like a Gibson ES or Paul Gilbert's PGM-301, I love this on guitars, I think it's really interesting and brings real class to the finished product.

The NF-Z offers you 2 volume controls, 2 tone controls and a 3-way pickup selector in the form of a toggle switch, giving you the ability to find the most accurate sounds and tones you want to create. Combined with a decent pair of pickups, this would be a brilliant guitar, for both looks and sound. Another thing I love about this guitar is the neck and the fret inlays. It's classic Les Paul, with those shiny Abalon Squares and it has 22 frets, which is standard. The gold machine heads also complete the hardware in the best possible fashion.

There are some little preferences I would've preferred if I designed the guitar. I like a whole guitar to fit together as one, so I like having the headstock the same colour as the body, and even the back of the neck if possible, unless you have something like a fender neck that is all maple. I know some people though really don't like having the back of the neck made of a body wood or painted. A lot of guitars don't have matching headstocks, but some do, and this is just a personal preference, the RG range from Ibanez is a good example, it has the best of both, and I think when you get an RG in a striking colour, with matching headstock it looks much better, unfortunately with my S470, the headstock doesn't match the body. With the spear, if the headstock was the same colour as the body, this guitar would look absolutely perfect, as it is, it's only 95% perfect, which still means I'd really love to own one. The NF-Z also has binding, like a Les Paul, this makes a guitar look a lot better in my opinion, it's like the icing on the cake.

This is a beautiful guitar, and should I start to take my indie playing into a band, it's a guitar I will be eager to acquire. Luckily, my local shop, Langdons is a Spear dealership. Spear make some guitars which are personal taste, but I believe this one is very universal, it's a classic design, it looks really classy and natural. So good people, do you love this guitar as much as I do? What do you think of all Spear Guitars? Please do leave comments, thanks!

Les Paul Studio Worn Cherry

So I'm gonna make my first real post about my currently sought after guitar, the Gibson Les Paul Studio Worn Cherry. I love this guitar, I've had many discussions about it with a close friend of mine, who can't understand my addiction, he thinks I'm an idiot for not going with a gold top or something just as flashy. I think that's what I love about this guitar in worn cherry, it's not flashy. Being a studio, it's not flashy in the slightest. The studio, for those of you who don't know is Gibsons stripped down version of the original Les Paul Standard. Now, I'm not earning nearly enough to consider getting a Standard, but the studio however is on the line, which always leaves me thinking about it, but never buying it. It's within reason at around £670, but also maybe slightly too far, when I consider what else I can do with £670, and the grief I'll get for buying one when I already own an Ibanez S Series, the S470.

"You only need one guitar" - the saying that's probably true, yet for 99% of guitarists just can't be accepted, as soon as we get a new guitar that we've wanted for ages, a month later, we're thinking about the next one we can get our hands on, right guys? Well then you know my pain, I've been playing my S for about 6 months now, not that long really, but you can see where my desire is coming from, maybe the S fails to humble my appetite, I often wonder if it was the right guitar to pick. At the time, it was the only guitar in my mind, I loved how thin it was, and how innovative it was with the ZR bridge, and all the other bits of technology. When you've been playing a stratocaster for a year, you really want to upgrade to something that rather than being basic, is right up the other end of the scale. Rather than a tremolo that only goes one way, you start having these desires for a floating trem, you've seen Satch play Crushing day, and you know even though you're not good enough to play that song, you at least want to be able to try it day in day out, as if you've suddenly unlocked your inner potential, and you'll wake up the next morning with Malmsteen's Fingers (That kinda sounds like a disease or illness). But I finally got the S, and I had the floating trem, the locking nuts, the Humbucker, Single, Humbucker pickup combo, with the 5-way selector, all these great things, all the variety, and it was then I realised, I don't need this stuff, I need a guitar that just sounds great, that has the tone and the sustain, so what better than a Les Paul? Well, there is nothing with better sustain, that's for sure. That beautiful mahogany body, that doesn't create the sound and tone, it sings it. It's like attaching Pavarotti to a guitar neck.

Back to the flashiness, the worn cherry is the only colour I want the guitar in, it just looks great, it looks like the craftsman who designed it bled for the creation of this fine looking guitar. The great thing about my desire for the worn cherry is that this is also the cheapest of the Les Paul Studio range, it retails over here in the UK at about £670. You're no doubt getting a lot of guitar for your money with this one, and so I really want to get my hands on one, my own one. Fancy sponsoring me or donating to make this dream a reality? Aha, I'm joking of course, half of getting a guitar is working for it, makes it more special when you finally get it, even if I am 50 years old by the time I get it, presuming the swine flu doesn't get me before then of course.

This desire has brought me agony over the past week, I can inform you. I've mentioned the retail on these things being £670 over here, well then imagine my pain when one goes for under £400 on eBay, and I just don't have the money at this very time to make it mine. I really need to make some more cash, so next time that sort of opportunity pops up, I can capitalise.

I guess I'll finish this article by asking for any opinions, what do you think of this guitar, or the whole Studio series of Gibsons? If you play one, I'd love to hear your opinion on it, please leave a comment or contact me. :)

Introduction

This is my blog, so here's a little introduction.

Hey, I'm Jack Fidler, and can often be found under my nickname of Jack le Cube. I've started this blog as a way to express my love for all areas of guitar, and hopefully provide some information to any readers of the blog. I am to use this blog as sort of a personal journal with means to be of assistance, writing articles about guitars I love, equipment that I love, and everything else. The idea for the name of the site came from the fact that I am currently trying to do anything to get the funds to buy myself a Gibson Les Paul Studio in Worn Cherry, so "I want that guitar!"

Despite my enthusiasm of guitar, I've only been playing about 2 years now. So I'm a mixture of experience and yet, I still have quite a fresh outlook. It's about the 2 years mark that you mature and realise that you want a proper Les Paul rather than some metal playing Jackson? My interest in guitar doesn't stop, I don't just love playing them, I love every aspect of a guitar, the instrument itself. Taking them apart and editing them gives me great pleasure, I'm a man of physics, and I love to know how everything works, most of all guitars. I want to know how every part contributes to that greatest of instruments. This understanding of how things work also applies to my playing, I'm one of those rare types who loves being taught music theory, because it allows me to understand how guitar solos composed by the great guitarists of our time compose such masterpieces, and how I can emulate them, without copying them, originality is the key.

About my guitar playing, I guess this can be a little bit of a question and answer session, so you can find out a little bit more about me. if you wanna ask me anything else, please do.

Q: What Guitar do you currently play?
A: I'm currently playing a Ibanez S470 as my main guitar, it's a very good guitar, I recommend it to anyone, it's so versatile, which is a word that is often thrown about too much. All guitars are versatile, because if you put them through an amp, you can make them sound however you want with the right equipment, but this guitar really is versatile, before you've even gone through pedals. It has a 5 way pickup selector, with a Humbucker, Single, Humbucker pickup combination. It also has Ibanez's latest invention, the ZR bridge, which is the top bridge on the market, break a string and you still stay in tune, how clever is that. It's also a very thin and light guitar, that doesn't lose any tone because of its size. It's very sleek, it's like having the top gadget of a market area, like having a mobile phone with all the mod-cons.

Q: Where are you located?
A: Sunny Sunny Bournemouth, aha. If there are any local bloggers, get in touch regardless of guitar interest, it's always interesting to talk to other bloggers from the local area.

Q: What other interests do you have?
A: The reason my guitar playing venture has been so short so far is because I was raised a sports man, and so instruments didn't come into my life until later on. My other interests include a range of sports, mainly football and rugby, I'm quite big, so I'm a defender for football, or a forward for rugby. (Funny how that works isn't it, at amateur level, your position is dictated by size).

Q: What was your first guitar?
A: An acoustic Yamaha technically, but just a month after getting that I was playing a Fender Squier Stratocaster copy, the Bulletcaster, so I always consider that my first guitar, as I don't really like playing acoustic all that much.

Q: What's your favourite genre of music, favourite artist and favourite album?
A: Oh god, where do I start? Well my favourite genre of music I guess is good old rock, through all ages, from The Who to Oasis. My favourite artist is Oasis. Don't judge me on that, I love their music, it's the only band that despite your poverty, your losses, your dead end job, can still make you feel like you're the greatest man on earth. But despite my tastes highlighted so far, my taste is very wide, I love everything from the heaviest of death metal, like Necrophagist and Carcass, to the lightest of modern Indie music, such as Florence and the Machine or Arctic Monkeys. I also love a lot of Trance music, big fan of Paul Oakenfold. I'm also a huge fan of those guitar virtuoso's, whose videos never get old, Gilbert's Get Out of my Yard, or Batio's Speed Lives, Watching G3 when it was Satch, Vai and Malmsteen, the greatest trio of players, these guys amaze and excite me, and inspire me to try and play better. I also love and support this little known Indie band from Chatham, UK, named Underground Heroes, check 'em out on MySpace, or go to their gigs, I love them. My favourite album is Definitely Maybe, you were probably already guessing it after I said my favourite band was Oasis. There are other albums that come very close though, when I think of music perfection, Darkside of the Moon comes to mind, or Sgt. Peppers.

I aim to keep this blog very up to date, even if it is only for my own tracking, articles about guitars that interest me, and equipment also will be popping up whenever they come into my eye, I'm keen to pass my opinion and get the opinion of others, and meet many people who share a similar interest to that of my own, guitar players unite!

I hope you enjoy the blog, if you do, please come back and see what's going down whenever you can, you might just see an article about the guitar that you want.

:)