interesting guitars

ferdi

hmmm me like



http://www.jim-reed-guitars.com

hope you remember your italian:rolleyes:

ferdi

while i'm here i might as well mention...


i'm looking to by a cheap active bass in the style of the below guitars, i'm just basically looking for a cheap back up guitar which has nice crunchy lows and decent mid to highs

to recap - main things: cheap, active, crunchy clear, wood finish

sample 1

sample 2


you know the type of thing i'm after, if you listen to movies bu alien ant farm and most old placebo you'll hear what i'm after.

Doctor J

Have a look on ebay for a Patrick Eggle Milan bass, has that look, sounds great and you should get a top class instrument really quite cheap.

Doctor J

or this?

ferdi

thats a very nice lookin yoke but i found one of these(below) with a hard case on buyandsell.ie for 200euro

its called a Westone Thunder 1 bass, i never heard of them but this one on buyandsell is built in the 80s, jap, active, fretless, pbass and jbass pups, piano black with gold hardware

a review of this bass

this is a pic of its fretted sisters


apparently westone guitars are made by the same people thatmake aria guitars:dunno:

any opinions?

Doctor J

Yep, made by Aria. Decent enough. Fretless is a big step to make though, and getting a good fret installation will cost serious €€€. If you've got the patience to practice, fretless is a fantastic way to play, a lot more expressive but you've got to get it just right or it sounds like pox. Still, €200, I'd say go for it.

feylya

There's a nice 5 string Harley Benton with active electronics on www.thomann.de

</Harley Benton Sale>

Doctor J

Nooooooo!!! Harley Benton suck. They really, really suck!

ferdi

this one? yeah its nice but i'm after something ridiculously cheap.

feylya

Ah, but they look nice enough. And for €419, it isn't the most expensive thing in the world.

feylya

Actually, I meant this one but I didn't read you wanted something naturally finished.

Doctor J

That Westone is a superior instrument to the oul HB. 80's Japanese made instruments are woefully undervalued, but people are beginning to cop on. The price of 80's Japanese Fenders are beginning to take of as everybody gets over the stigma and realises they were better made than their US counterparts.

ferdi

natural finish dont matter, but that looks nice cheers feylya and at 188euro its a steal. doc, whats your jybe with Harley Benton, i'd like to know why they suck (i never played one)

feylya

Hee hee, Jybe I have an 80W Harley Benton guitar amp and it's actually incredibly decent, especially since it was only €166!!

Doctor J

You don't get new instruments for under €200 that are good. Simple laws of economics. That Harley Benton is made in China using the cheapest materials around. It will let you down some day, that's a guarantee. I remember Westone from the early 80's, they were generally mid-range instruments, good solid instruments, if nothing too spectacular. That fretless is a good instrument, it's already 20 years old so anything major that's going to go wrong already has (ie- wood settling, breaking in, etc). That HB (inc shipping) and the Westone will both be about €200 (or less if you haggle). No contest, seriously.

oneofakind32

Harley Bentons are damn good guitars. My guitar teacher owns a shop and stocks nothing but them. He swears by them. He has a back log of orders for Harley Benton Semi Acustics. You could do a lot worse

feylya

Where's his shop and how much does he charge?

oneofakind32

Its in headford co. galway and the semi acoustics are 280 i think

Doctor J

Originally posted by oneofakind32
Harley Bentons are damn good guitars. My guitar teacher owns a shop and stocks nothing but them. He swears by them. He has a back log of orders for Harley Benton Semi Acustics. You could do a lot worse

Of course, he's trying to sell them. You might be able to do a lot worse, but you can also do much, much better too

Oddly enough, I was in Headford a few weeks ago, that's the shop about 50 metres from the Anglers Rest Hotel?