Oops... NGD

stickyfiddle

I'm here to announce a happy event

Just don't look at the janky pickups...

capo4th

Nice colour !

blueskunk

Feck me thats nice.

not_the_dj

Love it. Nice one Mike.

usedtobe

Go on, my son!

slate

YES!!!

Adam_MD

Love the colour

Chuffola

Fantastic! I'd love a big Gretsch and that colour is superb.

Jalapeno

Lovely .....

Deadman

Tidy smart!

daveww

Mmmmmmm tasty

TonyR

That's lovely!

UnclePsychosis

Christ Mike. You and I have very similar tastes, every time you do a NGD it makes me drool 

siraxeman

Needs a Floyd. Otherwise nice !

stickyfiddle

So I was meant to be swapping my Taylor 214 for this, but the nice Serbian fella didn't get on the neck on the 214, and I fell in love with this a bit, so here it is.

Korean-made 2011 Electromatic G5122 in Walnut. B60 bigsby is lovely and actually far nicer in use than the B7s and B5s I've had before. Pickups are very generic, but it plays very well, with a nice acoustic "thump" and "plunk". Plays very we

"The Plan" is TV jones and a Compton, and I'll pin the bridge base once I have it in the right place. By which point I'll have a phenomenal guitar for a third the price of an MIJ one.

And it's really, *really* pretty.

stickyfiddle

UnclePsychosis said:

Christ Mike. You and I have very similar tastes, every time you do a NGD it makes me drool 

Great minds, and all that

stickyfiddle

I've had it a couple of days and even had a chance to plug in briefly. So it's mini-review time. 

It appears that as I'm getting older my guitars are getting hollower. I now have more guitars with air inside them than not for the first time. Unplugged it's a little rattly, but a not-bad acoustic tone, and sustains well for the style. Bridge is a bit rattly so I'm going to try a stainless Compton, sand the base properly to match the top and pin it. Will no doubt be asking @ICBM how best to do that ( )

Plugged in it's a slight surprise as the clean tone is actually quite nice. Halfway between a trad Gretsch and Gibson tone, but not half bad with some slapjack and employed for a bit of rockabilly, to the extent my fingers will let me. With a bit more gain things start going a bit mushy and unpleasant, frankly. Flabby would be kind. It sounds great through a Whammy (octave down) and a Rat, but most things do. 

Some proper filtertron types should sort the sound, probably a TV Supertron and Classic+. Not sure if I'll rewire as well, as that's a complete pain, and more expense, but I'll have to get everything out to change the pickups, so maybe it's worth it at the same time to save a headache later. 

ICBM

You'll need Oil City Cow-T-Rons for that, they're normal humbucker sized like the stock ones - proper Filtertron types won't fit. You'll also need to replace the pickup rings because Ash can't get 3-screw bases. (Yes, I have already asked .)

Pinning the bridge properly is easy - first set the guitar up absolutely perfectly with the saddles reasonably close to the middle of their travel so you have room for future adjustment, then mark the position of the bridge carefully with masking tape. Take the strings off again, remove the top of the bridge and the height wheels (note the height from the base first so it goes back easily), then drill and fit two small - preferably black countersunk - screws just inboard of the posts, which makes it very neat and hidden. That will make it really solid.

Enjoy . It's not black, so of no interest to me whatsoever. No interest at all.

Not this week anyway.

NPP

ICBM said:

Pinning the bridge properly is easy

thanks @ICBM - another question answered before I could even ask it!

stickyfiddle

Cheers, IC. The Compton is a (compensated) solid bar, so I'll have to get it properly spot on before pinning. Good to know it's literally a case of drilling holes and screwing screws though.

As for pickups, I really want TVs for this one. TV Jones do perfectly-fitting Gretsch-style rings to fit these Electromatics which make them look great. It's gotta look right otherwise it'll make my brain itch

I think you'd like this one too - the neck is very much like my Dove, only a tiny bit narrower. None of that horrible skinny V that some have. Good thing it's not black

breakstuff

Very nice and a great colour.

We need more pics