There comes a time in every guitarist's life...

John

...when a top quality guitar is needed. I've been toying with what to buy for a while now. I was considering going the custom route but to be honest, I don't see the need for it. I don't want to wait for months (considering it'll take me a while to save in the first place) and as soon as I go to a custom site I get twitchy trying to decide what do I want on my guitar. So I've decided to invest in one of my dream guitars, guitars that I've always said I wanted to own but never got around to earning enough money to buy before now. So the two main contenders at this point in time are as follows:

1. Gretsch Tennessee Rose: There are few guitars that look as stunning as this and to top it off, I love the sound from these bitches. I wouldn't mind having a vibrato bar at my disposal.

2. Gibson Les Paul 1957 Gold Top Reissue: I don't really need to explain why I want this, do I? Question though, I know quality control for LP standards is hit or miss but I'm assuming that this being from Gibson Custom that the build quality will be much higher, yes or no?

Aside from the expense of both guitars (I'm keeping my eyes peeled on the U-box and Chris for them), please give your thoughts as to which guitar you'd go for and why, or indeed why you wouldn't go for them. I'm quite willing to pay a bit of money for a guitar that I'll have for life so any advice/comments will be very welcome.

Creamy Goodness

Gretsch man, i've been very lucky to have one in my hands for the last 7 days i think it's the projet one - looks exactly like the tennessee rose you posted but without the f-holes - and it has made me rethink about holding on to my lespaul classic.

there's such a nice tone off them, nice sized neck and i mean just look at it. they are also as light as a feather which cannot be said for the les paul's.

Mongo

I'm sure the guys in QOTSA play those Tenesee Roses from time to time now?They are class looking but Les Pauls are hard to turn down!

deaddonkey

I would absolutely not spend that kind of cash on a guitar without playing it first. I'd haul my ass to the US to try before I buy. Especially on a guitar like a LP with a reputation for bad QC (yes, even on the custom shop models)

And also, if i was gettin' a goldtop i'd sure as hell have P90s on it. but that's just me.

you'll look like joey santiago if you do it

Karl Hungus

My advice would be to get a J Custom. But that mightn't be your thing.

fish-head

John you know what I have to say.

If you don't get a TR I will strangle you. Chris has one at the moment.

http://www.chrisguitars.com/gret05tennrose-6119tr.jpg

DO IT!

Karl Hungus

fish-head wrote:

John you know what I have to say.

If you don't get a TR I will strangle you. Chris has one at the moment.

http://www.chrisguitars.com/gret05tennrose-6119tr.jpg

DO IT!

I know I'm generally not the person to appreciate those old-timey style guitboxes, but that's quite nice.

fish-head

Karl Hungus wrote:

I know I'm generally not the person to appreciate those old-timey style guitboxes, but that's quite nice.

My work here is done..

ferdi

for me its the gretsch 100%

It wasn't me!

They're both great guitars, and while the Les Paul is probably more representative for you, I love that Tenessee Rose. They're beautiful.

Dord

Gretsch!!

John

fish-head wrote:

John you know what I have to say.

If you don't get a TR I will strangle you. Chris has one at the moment.

http://www.chrisguitars.com/gret05tennrose-6119tr.jpg

DO IT!

I saw that but it's on hold so I think I might have missed that train. Everyone is saying Gretsch but my heart is still singing "Les Paul".

Oh and I'd love to haul my ass to the US to try them out but then I wouldn't be able to afford the guitar.

LundiMardi

both.

John

LundiMardi wrote:

both.

Oh you're bold but I love your way of thinking. My wallet hates you though.

fish-head

I'm pretty sure I saw a TR in the U-Box a while ago. Give that a shot. Email Chris anyway, see if you can get it off hold. You need that guitar.

If you get a Les Paul I'll despatch a crack team of cowboys round to your house to sort you out.

John

And I'll destroy them with the awesome power of my riffs.

Karl Hungus

So I'll take it that you're not considering my J Custom suggestion at all?

Pyr0

*pats* there there, it's okay Karl someone will buy one....some day *sigh*

The Gretsch looks really damn nice alright.

punchdrunk

gretsch is about one million times cooler than the les paul!

fish-head

Think about it this way John, if you get the Gretsch you will be a member of an elite club of Gretsch owners (a bloody difficult club to find the key too, lemme tell you, bring on January) whereas if you get a Les Paul, you'll have the same thing hundreds of Irish guitarists have.

John

Karl Hungus wrote:

So I'll take it that you're not considering my J Custom suggestion at all?

Sorry man, not this time. Not a huge fan of them.

feylya

The Gretsch is nice but I absolutely love Les Pauls. There is something so weird about them. They don't scream a specific genre of music at you like a strat or Gretsch (imo of course) but you know that any sort of music can come from it.

John

I know what you mean fey, that's what I love about Les Pauls, they just scream "Play me!" as opposed to "Play rockabilly on me!" Anyway, I've emailed Chris about that Tennessee Rose, at that price I could happily save up for a second hand Les Paul at a later stage

feylya

€400 for a second hand Edwards LP? Can't really go wrong.

John

True nuff.

Doctor J

Forget Gibson, too many question marks over construction quality. It's been a long time since Gibson made the best Les Pauls. Since these guys make the best basses in the world in stands to reason that thier hand made guitars should be pretty swish too

https://www.digimart.net/gk_detail.do?instrument_id=DS00214054
https://www.digimart.net/gk_detail.do?instrument_id=DS00204592
https://www.digimart.net/gk_detail.do?instrument_id=DS00113663
https://www.digimart.net/gk_detail.do?instrument_id=DS00068398
https://www.digimart.net/gk_detail.do?instrument_id=DS00051841

You know it to be true

punchdrunk

sorry,i'm crying B.S on this gibson poor quality myth! maybe the odd guitar is a dud but i have
an SG standard,
a working man series j45 acoustic
an ES-135...

and all three are great guitars,with no build issues at all
so by no means is every guitar out gibson's door matchwood


seems to me alot of people who keep this rumour going aren't the players with gibsons in their hands,but people who've read it on HC or something

now maybe doc j has experienced first hand,a problem with quality,if so i stand corrected!

Doctor J

Yup, two of the three Les Pauls I've seen mates buy have had shocking fret levelling. Of the guys we've had in the studio, two have been disgusting to play, one had notes dying after about 3 seconds which can be attributed to bad factory setups, but most notably one brand new Les Paul had the third fret woefully positioned, so with the low E correctly intonated (ie open, 1st harmonic and 12th fret all in E) open E in tune, 1st fret F in tune, 2nd fret F# in tune, 3rd fret G - 2 led sharp and clearly out of tune in chords, 4th fret G# sharp in tune, 5th fret A in tune... and so on. It was that bad Waltons offered a replacment guitar, rather than get it repaired, etc. It wasn't magnetic pull, it wasn't a duff string, it was nothing other than **** workmanship. This is coming to you first hand - ie I was recording the guy playing the guitar, so it's not hearsay, it's not a myth, I saw it with my own disbelieving eyes. That something like that not only happened in the first place, but was also allowed pass through QC is unforgivable IMO. Something like that should not be allowed out of the factory and if something that major gets out, what else is slipping out, one must wonder.

Don't get me wrong, a mate of mine has a fantastic playing 99 LP Standard, I used to be in a band with a guy with a mid-80's goldtop which was a joy to play and I have a 90 Gibson V myself but the best guitars I've played (in terms of build quality, consistency, price) have been Japanese, unquestionably and if I was going to drop two grand on one it wouldn't be from the big G, sadly.

John

J-Zilla, you know how to push the right buttons:


Very nice! I wonder can I get three guitars... Christ I've fought GAS admirably for years and now I've got it in spades!

feylya

Welcome to the club

Doctor J

Heh heh heh I thought you'd like that one. If only they made one with F holes and a Bigsby

John

Doctor J wrote:

Heh heh heh I thought you'd like that one. If only they made one with F holes and a Bigsby

Haha, if I ever go down the custom guitar road you know what monster will be waiting for me at the end of it!

fish-head

John you're making me cry every second you're not buying a Gretsch.

deaddonkey

gibsons qc does indeed suck.

I had the displeasure of playing an SG standard last year in france. it was shockingly badly built. rattley neck, sharp fret ends, dodgy tuners. I've read dozens of accounts of sharp fret ends and poorly inlaid binding recently. That's ok on a 300 quid guitar. when a standard LP is the guts of 2.5k, that's not on. end of.

I'm seriously in the market for a les paul, but gibson it shall not be. I'll be heading down the midrange tokai/edwards route, methinks.

Voodu Child

deaddonkey wrote:

gibsons qc does indeed suck.

If I had been making the exact same stupid guitar for the last 50 years, you can bet your balls it would be the best example of instrument making on the planet, and it would be cheap as f*ck. Gibson should be ashamed of themselves IMO.

Between a Gretch and a Gibbo, id get the Gretch. At least its got a trem

John

fish-head wrote:

John you're making me cry every second you're not buying a Gretsch.

It's OK. I've decided, it's Gretsch all the way. The clincher was watching My Bloody Valentine on youtube and seeing Belinda Butcher rocking away on a Gretsch. Now I just have to find one (no reply from Chris as of yet).

fish-head

John wrote:

It's OK. I've decided, it's Gretsch all the way. The clincher was watching My Bloody Valentine on youtube and seeing Belinda Butcher rocking away on a Gretsch. Now I just have to find one (no reply from Chris as of yet).

Fantastiche. Join the club!

Dord

Ich heiße superfantastisch... :rolleyes:

sorry got carried away.

make sure you post pics when you get the gretsch!!

John

Of course pictures will be posted but let's not get ahead of ourselves, still have to find a Tennessee Rose for the right price!

John

Hmmm, the quest is off to a great start. We may be in action very, very soon my friends. Excellent.

John

Plan A has come to fruition! Plan A has come to fruition! *runs around with arms flailing*

Karl Hungus

John wrote:

Plan A has come to fruition! Plan A has come to fruition! *runs around with arms flailing*

Excellent! Give us more details on that.

John

Plan A was formed yesterday evening when I saw a new Tennessee Rose on ebay for a reasonable price. Not as cheap as Chris (but seeing as he's never replied to any of my emails I'm beginning to think he's a myth) but the one Chris has is on hold so I think I have missed it anyway. Ishibashi was coming up null for me too (a few Tennessee Roses but not the model I'm interested in). So this morning I hit buy it now on this bad boy:


€1500 including a hardcase and free shipping (seller is in Kerry). So a bit more than I could have spent but not an unreasonable amount more. I'm paying in two installments so I should have it at the beginning of February. I can't wait!

-Freebird-

Nice... Still would have preferred the Les Paul personally...

John

Well I've got a nice Epiphone Les Paul Custom to keep the LP demons at bay. Granted it's no 57 Gold top but it does the job admirably.

Karl Hungus

Rather sweet. Is €1500 a good price for such a guitbox?

John

Ja, der Thomann ist €700 more expensive and they'd be the cheaper end of the spectrum. You can imagine what sort of prices the stores here in Dublin are charging.

Creamy Goodness

new underwears please,

that's such a good buy man. what's that kerryman thinking?

picture doesn't do justice to how well these things look and play. mentioning that today is the last day i have the gretsch in my pocession you know the one i have on loan. it's going to be sad tonight when i have to hand it back.

these tennasee rose's go for about 2200 new so 700 euros off the price is good.

John wrote:

You can imagine what sort of prices the stores here in Dublin are charging.

is there anywhere in town that sell gretsch? as far as i'm aware there wasn't. may have to find a way to live in the store that does tbh.

John

Music Maker and Musician both get them in from time to time. The chap on ebay has a store that is nearly all Gretsch, check it out.

fish-head

1500's a great price! You lucky lucky baarrrstard! Candyapplered Guitars, was it?

John

Yup, that's them. I'm itching to get my hands on it!