Show me your semi's

NelsonP

Half price offer here....

https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/170321309127008-3452105--schecter-corsair-black-ex-demo-w14081730

Gassage

Oh go on then....

OilCityPickups

roberty said:

OilCityPickups said:

My Gretsch 5420T Electromatic.

After having this guitar a scant few weeks I think it's probably the best mid priced semi I've ever played. I intend to do a full review of it in the 'Review section soon, but if you want jangly, twangy punchy and thoroughly rude with outrageous bling value ... this is your huckleberry. And if you don't want a Bigsby ... simply get the non 'T' model.

Are you going to keep the stock blacktop pups?  I really liked mine.  Sounded properly meaty with TS into OD

I shall go into my thinking in depth on the black tops in my review, I like them a lot, but not sure if I want to live with them as my main gigging pickups. They are somewhat of a halfway house between a classic output Filtertron and a conventional humbucker like a PAF. My own thinking is to eventually put my own take on the Brian Setzer Filtertrons in. That's not the first priority anyway ... ditching the tunomatic, a full pro setup and putting in a Truarc or Compton or even a high mass roller saddle bridge is higher on the list. For now the blacktops will do just fine ... you can take that as high praise from a pickup winder!

steveledzep

Here's my daughter's Dean Del Sol.  Notice the sunshine fret markers, a very pretty guitar.
https://i.imgur.com/HXUDu9w.jpg

abw1989

Lestratcaster said:

Will I have to spend £500+ to get a good sounding one though? I know Epiphone is known as the "poor man's Gibsons" but these days guitars are better and some play quite nicely.

There is a Midtown Standard which is a level below, the same guitar but with out the Custom appointments: diamond headstock, 5 ply binding, block inlays etc. Not sure on pricing but these could be around the £500 mark.

Ibanez doing some stunning semi hollows for around £300-£400, might be worth checking out! 

Lestratcaster

abw1989 said:

Lestratcaster said:

Will I have to spend £500+ to get a good sounding one though? I know Epiphone is known as the "poor man's Gibsons" but these days guitars are better and some play quite nicely.

There is a Midtown Standard which is a level below, the same guitar but with out the Custom appointments: diamond headstock, 5 ply binding, block inlays etc. Not sure on pricing but these could be around the £500 mark.

Ibanez doing some stunning semi hollows for around £300-£400, might be worth checking out! 

Yeah, I've seen some Epiphone 339's and "Sheraton's" I think they're called, definitely more affordable, and to make reference to the "do you change stock pickups out" thread, I would think about switching them out.

OilCityPickups

abw1989 said:

Lestratcaster said:

Will I have to spend £500+ to get a good sounding one though? I know Epiphone is known as the "poor man's Gibsons" but these days guitars are better and some play quite nicely.

There is a Midtown Standard which is a level below, the same guitar but with out the Custom appointments: diamond headstock, 5 ply binding, block inlays etc. Not sure on pricing but these could be around the £500 mark.

Ibanez doing some stunning semi hollows for around £300-£400, might be worth checking out! 

My last two semi's before the Gretsch were both Ibanez Artcores, and very nice they were too in their own way. The two I had suffered from characterless stock pickups, but obviously as a pickup maker that wasn't an issue for me. They scored heavily for really nice necks and fingerboards but their finish standards were not really as high as my current 5420 and if a bigsby is your thing, the Ibanez branded ones we not particularly smooth and both the roller bridges on my two had stuck rollers out of the box. 

Lestratcaster

I kinda prefer just a normal Gibson style bridge with no Bigsby malark, probably cos I'm used to Les Paul's.

OilCityPickups

Lestratcaster said:

I kinda prefer just a normal Gibson style bridge with no Bigsby malark, probably cos I'm used to Les Paul's.

They are an acquired taste :-) 

Otherwise Artcore Ibanez guitars (with standard non vibrato bridges) are very good for not a lot of money ... especially on the second hand market. 

Lestratcaster

OilCityPickups said:

Lestratcaster said:

I kinda prefer just a normal Gibson style bridge with no Bigsby malark, probably cos I'm used to Les Paul's.

They are an acquired taste :-) 

Otherwise Artcore Ibanez guitars (with standard non vibrato bridges) are very good for not a lot of money ... especially on the second hand market. 

Just looked one of those up, some of them are quite chunky! Probably wouldn't fit into my guitar rack haha.

CMW335

Coming soon to a classifieds near you... 

LordOxygen

This is my authentic Eastman, in their fancy Antique Varnish (low sheen) finish along with aged hardware, it looks new yet worn in at the same time, quick a trick to pull off. It has a big centre block so feels reassuringly weighty.
The Seymour duncan Pups are very smooth with a clarity that I've not heard before (in my house anyway). 
Despite the questionable headstock (which I managed to get beyond) I chose this guitar over several big name alternatives knowing full well it's now worth sod all second hand, but I honestly don't care. I've no intention of changing it.
Lovely instrument to hold and play, imo anyway.

vonLayzonfon

It's not often I get to show my big, pink semi off...

DB1

For your approbation or opprobrium, my semi....

OilCityPickups

vonLayzonfon said:

It's not often I get to show my big, pink semi off...

That's proper nice ... love that. Gotta love three P90s :-)

vonLayzonfon

OilCityPickups said:

vonLayzonfon said:

It's not often I get to show my big, pink semi off...

That's proper nice ... love that. Gotta love three P90s :-)

I'm more of a superstrat kind of guy but when I saw that I couldn't resist.  I've had it for years and only gigged with it for the first time last week.  I have to say, it sounded great. 

Lestratcaster

LordOxygen said:

This is my authentic Eastman, in their fancy Antique Varnish (low sheen) finish along with aged hardware, it looks new yet worn in at the same time, quick a trick to pull off. It has a big centre block so feels reassuringly weighty.
The Seymour duncan Pups are very smooth with a clarity that I've not heard before (in my house anyway). 
Despite the questionable headstock (which I managed to get beyond) I chose this guitar over several big name alternatives knowing full well it's now worth sod all second hand, but I honestly don't care. I've no intention of changing it.
Lovely instrument to hold and play, imo anyway.

Just love the cherry red colour! Don't know what it is but I always associate a 335 type guitar with that. I think I have too many red guitars anyway! (3).

What SD p/ups are in there by the way?

LordOxygen

Lestratcaster said:

LordOxygen said:

This is my authentic Eastman, in their fancy Antique Varnish (low sheen) finish along with aged hardware, it looks new yet worn in at the same time, quick a trick to pull off. It has a big centre block so feels reassuringly weighty.
The Seymour duncan Pups are very smooth with a clarity that I've not heard before (in my house anyway). 
Despite the questionable headstock (which I managed to get beyond) I chose this guitar over several big name alternatives knowing full well it's now worth sod all second hand, but I honestly don't care. I've no intention of changing it.
Lovely instrument to hold and play, imo anyway.

Just love the cherry red colour! Don't know what it is but I always associate a 335 type guitar with that. I think I have too many red guitars anyway! (3).

What SD p/ups are in there by the way?

It has a pair of Seymour Duncan Antiquity pups. They're superb imo. 

chrisj1602

I have the same Eastman model as above, highly recommended from me too.

Lestratcaster

LordOxygen said:

Lestratcaster said:

LordOxygen said:

This is my authentic Eastman, in their fancy Antique Varnish (low sheen) finish along with aged hardware, it looks new yet worn in at the same time, quick a trick to pull off. It has a big centre block so feels reassuringly weighty.
The Seymour duncan Pups are very smooth with a clarity that I've not heard before (in my house anyway). 
Despite the questionable headstock (which I managed to get beyond) I chose this guitar over several big name alternatives knowing full well it's now worth sod all second hand, but I honestly don't care. I've no intention of changing it.
Lovely instrument to hold and play, imo anyway.

Just love the cherry red colour! Don't know what it is but I always associate a 335 type guitar with that. I think I have too many red guitars anyway! (3).

What SD p/ups are in there by the way?

It has a pair of Seymour Duncan Antiquity pups. They're superb imo. 

Ah nice, are they P90's or humbuckers? As I previously mentioned before I have an LP Junior which has P90's which gives it a nice jangle but a bit too punk!