30 replies to this topic

[RShack]

I'm lefty and learned to play the guitar righty when I was a kid.  I use the term "learned" loosely, as I only know a few chords.  I've gotten the guitar bug several times in my life, but I always hit a wall because I absolutely cannot strum or finger pick with my right hand.   I just decided to start from scratch lefty, got my first lefty guitar yesterday.   It's a big cheapy semi-hollow, kind of uncomfortable to play.   I'm thinking about finding a cheap lefty Strat or Telecaster.

 

What's wrong with setting up a RH guitar for LH use?  

 

If it was good enough for Jimi....

[SammyBirdland]

What's wrong with setting up a RH guitar for LH use?  

 

If it was good enough for Jimi....

 

Jimi was...special.  From what I understand, he just took a righty guitar and flipped it upside down, playing with the treble E string at the top.   I can't imagine...

[SammyBirdland]

Apparently Jimi restrung it correctly, but Albert King played it straight up upside down.

 

[RShack]

Jimi was...special.  From what I understand, he just took a righty guitar and flipped it upside down, playing with the treble E string at the top.   I can't imagine...

 

Nah... he set them up for LH... it was some of the old blues guys who just played them the wrong way..

 

EDIT:  Never mind... I see you found out...

[RShack]

I keep thinking about getting a guitar from these guys: http://www.rareelect...e-sale_644.html

 

I'd get their std hardware and electronics and plan on upgrading as needed once it's here... I've wanted a Firebird I ever since Clapton played one in the BAL Cream concert... but the real ones cost a fortune... and the current Gibson stuff is over-priced and under-qualitied... so, I figure it would be best to just get one made...

 

As you can see in the pix, they even do Jimi's Monterey paint job  

 

ps:  When they charge $25 extra for LH, I wonder if that means a LH strat vs. a LH-setup on a RH strat...

 

pps:  They can do nitrocellulose finishes... which is hard to find anymore...

[SammyBirdland]

That Monterey paint is sweet.

[RShack]

That Monterey paint is sweet.

 

There's tons of good guitar stuff on that site... but lots of it is hard to find...

 

Somewhere, there's a whole large page of custom Les Paul finishes... some of which are amazingly gorgeous...

 

When you search for Firebirds (which is what I want), it comes up empty... but you can get to them via Johnny Winter:  http://www.rareelect...d-sale_941.html

 

The cool thing about Firebirds is that the thick center piece of the body is the same piece of wood as the neck... so there is no body-neck attachment point, it's all the same hunk of wood from end to end... the two mahogany side wings of the body are the attached pieces... which means it's very close to Les Paul's original idea:  he started with a dang 4x4 from the lumber yard, whittled it down some, and bolted guitar parts on to that... he got mega sustain that way, which is what he was after...

 

The Cream Clapton clone I want is the Firebird I... just one measly mini-humbucker pickup and nothing else...  Johnny Winter's is a Firebird V... if you scroll down to the very bottom, you'll see Firebirds I, III, V, and VII side by side... the Firebird I they show is a sickly white... I want it with same finish as the JW V that they show a ton of pix of.  

 

If you look at the pix of the JW one, you can see the edge grain of the 9-ply piece that comprises the center-body-and-neck... in baseball terms, the Firebird I's design has both the bridge and pickup mounted right on the sweet spot of the baseball bat... which is why Clapton didn't care about multiple pick-ups and lots of knobs... given that  design, all that mattered was that one pickup and what it was plugged into... (and, oh, maybe the guy playing it mattered too...)

 

The only downside to them is that they're not exactly featherweight... just like Les Paul's, they accept heft and weight to get sustain... in practice, it mainly means you don't wanna skinny strap, you want a bass strap... but if you're sitting down, who cares?

[RShack]

The amp is pretty roached out, very crackly.   I haven't tried the tuner yet.

 

Crackly all the time?  Or just when you turn the knob?

 

They might not be what people used to call vintage... transistors, not tubes... but people call them vintage now... early 70's transistor things are in fashion... I think people must judge them by weight, those things are boat anchors...

 

ps: Ages ago, I picked up a '73 Gibson SG for $175... while it was kinda rare due to the ebony fretboard, it was cheap because it wasn't properly vintage by 4 years... but now it is and somehow became worth $1500-$2000... and that's not counting the dang platic case... which I thought was aftermarket junk (silly me)... but it turns out to be a "chainsaw case", a factory-option collectors item that's worth $300 unto itself... all of which is insane for something that's mainly been under the spare bed...

[SammyBirdland]

Has anyone else found that it's kind of difficult to fit a record player into a modern living room?  It can't really go on a normal shelf unless you want to completely remove the lid every time.  I thought about looking into a slide-out for it, but we went this way instead.  I'm still trying to adjust to the lack of symmetry.

 

 

[RShack]

Has anyone else found that it's kind of difficult to fit a record player into a modern living room?  It can't really go on a normal shelf unless you want to completely remove the lid every time.  I thought about looking into a slide-out for it, but we went this way instead.  I'm still trying to adjust to the lack of symmetry.

 

 

 

Well, since the name of the thread is what it is... how far from the speakers are your ears when you're sitting down listening?   I ask because either the lens is fooling the my eyes (which easily could be the case), or else your speaker columns are too close to each other.  As a not-rigid rule of thumb, you want your speakers and the ideally-placed listening head (not butt but head) to form an equilateral triangle.   (The subwoofer can be anywhere, low frequency placement doesn't matter, you could even hide it behind something.)

 

If we pretend that the speakers are closer than optimal, then I'd try moving the right speaker rightward... maybe hiding the phone jack... and then move other stuff around so that the TV is centered between the speakers... maybe just moving it to the right side of what it's sitting on... then maybe put the turntable to the left of the TV.  

 

The things that catch the eye are the TV and the speaker columns... those 3 things determine whether it feels symmetrical... so the fact that the black mass-o'stuff  isn't be symmetrical wouldn't matter if the speakers were symmetrical WRT the TV...

 

What sticks in my eye like a sharp fork is the left speaker sticking out into the walkway... that's what would drive me nuts... and I'm not even gay or female  

 

I have no clue where the furniture is... but if we pretend that doesn't matter (ha ha), I'd aim for the TV being far enough to the right that it's entirely in front of the full wall, not the half-wall...  the fact that it's partially in front of full-wall and partially in front of half-wall is jarring... so, I'd move the TV to the right, and place the speakers symmetrical to the TV, with their spread-distance as appropriate... that will solve the symmetry issue... then worry about the fine tuning where the big cabinet goes with both the turntable and TV on it somehow...  for that detail, symmetry really won't matter, just fool around until it looks right...

 

Sound-wise, I'd also experiment with how close those speaker columns are to the wall... I'm guessing you really want them pulled out at least to the front of the cabintet (and maybe even a tad farther), not shoved back against the wall like they appear to be in the picture..

 

I will butt out now  

[SammyBirdland]

I'll have to take some more photos from different angles.  The left speakers is clear of the walkway.   It's a very small living room, basically a 12' x 12 ' square.   There is an L-shaped sectional directly across from the TV, the speakers line up with the couch.  So, butt on center cushion would get you into the triangle.   The speakers are about 4" off the wall, I'll experiment with moving them forward.