Gordon Smith Guitars merge with Blackstar Amps

underdog

boogieman said:

underdog said:

boogieman said:

I had a Graduate 60. It definitely had the home built look to it and the finishing wasn't great, but it sounded nice and played well. It had a few quirks I didn't like about it: I always thought the headstock logo was really naff and the wiring loom was a bit odd. If you dropped one of the volume controls to zero it killed the output from both pickups. 

Did the volume only do that with both pickups selected (middle position on toggle) ?

Hmmm, trying to remember how it worked. I know you couldn't do the Pete Townshend stutter thing by flicking the switch. 

Only ask as 50s wiring works that way, in middle position turning either volume to 0 will mute all output. If it wasn't just in the middle position then it's a fault or seriously bad design.

boogieman

underdog said:

boogieman said:

underdog said:

boogieman said:

I had a Graduate 60. It definitely had the home built look to it and the finishing wasn't great, but it sounded nice and played well. It had a few quirks I didn't like about it: I always thought the headstock logo was really naff and the wiring loom was a bit odd. If you dropped one of the volume controls to zero it killed the output from both pickups. 

Did the volume only do that with both pickups selected (middle position on toggle) ?

Hmmm, trying to remember how it worked. I know you couldn't do the Pete Townshend stutter thing by flicking the switch. 

Only ask as 50s wiring works that way, in middle position turning either volume to 0 will mute all output. If it wasn't just in the middle position then it's a fault or seriously bad design.

I think it was deliberate tbh. GS wiring is just plain....... odd. The tone controls work differently to anything else too. 8 is "normal", 8-10 acts as a treble boost. It was always amusing to see someone play my Graduate for the first time and try to figure out what the hell was going on. 

guitarfishbay

I thought it was just a no load tone pot rather than a boost?

boogieman

guitarfishbay said:

I thought it was just a no load tone pot rather than a boost?

No idea how it worked tbh but it sounded like a normal LP at position 8 and more trebly beyond that. Is that how a no load tone pot works? 

guitarfishbay

That's the outcome - how it works is that when it's fully open the tone pot isn't in the circuit at all.

I like them, especially the Fender 250k ones (which I put on my bass) as they have an indent for when it goes from out of circuit to in. I've not found a 500k equivalent pot with an indent.

rivercider

I had a black GS2 from about 1984 when I was a lad, it was a fantastic guitar that I should never have sold.  I also had one of their semi acoustics from the same period, but hated it and didn't miss it at all.  Everyone who played the GS2 said the neck was superb.  I had a tune-o-matic bridge added by Jonny at Kinkade Guitars and I loved that GS2, stupid of me to let it go, but I was young and fell for a Gibson that wasn't worth it really
When I bought the GS2 I was told a story (which may have been fabricated!) that it had been built from a huge batch of wood that Gordon Smith had salvaged from a hotel demolition in Manchester, or something like that.  Didn't mean much to me at the time, but with my advancing years I like to think that if the story was true, it's a nice thing - sustainable/reclaimed wood etc etc.. 

jeztone2

A friend at Uni had a GS1, it was an OK Ish guitar

ICBM

Seems appropriate.

I've never really liked any Gordon-Smith guitar I've ever played, nor any Blackstar amp.



A lot of people do seem to like both of them, but they are not for me...

Voxman

ICBM said:

Seems appropriate.

I've never really liked any Gordon-Smith guitar I've ever played, nor any Blackstar amp.



A lot of people do seem to like both of them, but they are not for me...

+1 - same goes for me. Maybe they'll forge a new name like BlackSmith 

simonk

I can't think about Gordon Smith guitars without picturing John Otway's ridiculous folding twin neck effort. Wonder if they'll be offering a signature Otway Blackstar...

fandango

simonk said:

I can't think about Gordon Smith guitars without picturing John Otway's ridiculous folding twin neck effort. Wonder if they'll be offering a signature Otway Blackstar...

Ah, now that was entertaining - a John Otway gig - been to 2 or 3 in my lifetime, and if I set aside his technical prowess, a John Otway gig was one of the best night's entertainment you'd ever see. Not seen him for 6/7 years or so, and I guess he's getting on a bit. But so are The Rolling Stones, Eric C*, Robin Trower, Buddy Guy et al. And they can still play. In Eric's case, with some significant discomfort.

simonk

fandango said:

simonk said:

I can't think about Gordon Smith guitars without picturing John Otway's ridiculous folding twin neck effort. Wonder if they'll be offering a signature Otway Blackstar...

Ah, now that was entertaining - a John Otway gig - been to 2 or 3 in my lifetime, and if I set aside his technical prowess, a John Otway gig was one of the best night's entertainment you'd ever see. Not seen him for 6/7 years or so, and I guess he's getting on a bit. But so are The Rolling Stones, Eric C*, Robin Trower, Buddy Guy et al. And they can still play. In Eric's case, with some significant discomfort.

Entertaining indeed, hilarious and perhaps a little bewildering. As Barry/Slim from The Hamsters once affectionately introduced him when they shared the bill, "I can't believe it's not better... ladies and gentlemen, Mr John Otway".

richardhomer

simonk said:

I can't think about Gordon Smith guitars without picturing John Otway's ridiculous folding twin neck effort. Wonder if they'll be offering a signature Otway Blackstar...

If they do, I doubt it'll be really free....

simonk

richardhomer said:

simonk said:

I can't think about Gordon Smith guitars without picturing John Otway's ridiculous folding twin neck effort. Wonder if they'll be offering a signature Otway Blackstar...

If they do, I doubt it'll be really free....

Ah, 'the hit'...

Borrowed from Wikipedia:

A third single, "Really Free", reached No.27 in the UK charts in December 1977[3] after the pair performed a set live on the BBC TV show The Old Grey Whistle Test. The performance was notable for an incident in which Otway vaulted on to a PA tower and overbalanced. The Independentreported: "He brought down the speaker stack but fractured no bones when he landed on the sharp corner of a bass cabinet, as the impact was cushioned by his testicles."

Anyway, sorry, I've derailed a thread with misty eyed Otway musings... back to the scheduled programming.

Plectrum

simonk said:

richardhomer said:

simonk said:

I can't think about Gordon Smith guitars without picturing John Otway's ridiculous folding twin neck effort. Wonder if they'll be offering a signature Otway Blackstar...

If they do, I doubt it'll be really free....

Ah, 'the hit'...

Borrowed from Wikipedia:

A third single, "Really Free", reached No.27 in the UK charts in December 1977[3] after the pair performed a set live on the BBC TV show The Old Grey Whistle Test. The performance was notable for an incident in which Otway vaulted on to a PA tower and overbalanced. The Independentreported: "He brought down the speaker stack but fractured no bones when he landed on the sharp corner of a bass cabinet, as the impact was cushioned by his testicles."

Anyway, sorry, I've derailed a thread with misty eyed Otway musings... back to the scheduled programming.

But not before seeing the video evidence m'lud

TTBZ

ICBM said:

Seems appropriate.

I've never really liked any Gordon-Smith guitar I've ever played, nor any Blackstar amp.



A lot of people do seem to like both of them, but they are not for me...

Likewise for me, although the Fly 3 is ok for playing at low volume. My general view on this is two wrongs don't make a right

usedtobe

Plectrum said:

simonk said:

richardhomer said:

simonk said:

I can't think about Gordon Smith guitars without picturing John Otway's ridiculous folding twin neck effort. Wonder if they'll be offering a signature Otway Blackstar...

If they do, I doubt it'll be really free....

Ah, 'the hit'...

Borrowed from Wikipedia:

A third single, "Really Free", reached No.27 in the UK charts in December 1977[3] after the pair performed a set live on the BBC TV show The Old Grey Whistle Test. The performance was notable for an incident in which Otway vaulted on to a PA tower and overbalanced. The Independentreported: "He brought down the speaker stack but fractured no bones when he landed on the sharp corner of a bass cabinet, as the impact was cushioned by his testicles."

Anyway, sorry, I've derailed a thread with misty eyed Otway musings... back to the scheduled programming.

But not before seeing the video evidence m'lud

I remember seeing that, at the time. Saw them a few times, back in the day!

Nikko

Faux ceder jolly good fellow, faux ceder jol.....

...sorry.