Lee visits Rob Chapman
I packed my bags on Friday 13th! and popped down to see Rob Chapman AKA The Monkey Lord for the ML Experience.
Rob Chapman
I took down my Custom 24 and Les Paul ready to get some expert tuition and I wasn't disappointed.
Breakfast is included so we went off for some food to discuss the lesson and YouTube but also did the interview we have lined up in the coming weeks. This was great and I will be writing this up soon.
We then went back to Rob's for the lesson, it was strange seeing the room in it's entirety after only seeing it on screen for the last couple of years. I tried some cracking gear including Rob's own ML1 and LTD, along with some nice Marshalls and the stunning Coolidge Outlander. (check out the video below).
I can highly recommend this if you want an insight into the guitar industry and want to improve your playing.
I have come away with some great tips for improving my playing and had the best advice ever.
At £85 GBP this is a bargain, book yours up now.
G | H rating 5/5
Lee
We visit World Guitars
World Guitars
We took a trip to World Guitars, what an amazing shop for guitarists.
As you know we have have been helping review products, here are a few video's showcasing their shop and product lines.
Enjoy and when you call them tell the guys you spotted them on Guitarist Hub.
Acoustics:
PRS Heaven:
Vigier:
Gibson:
Gibson SG Faded Review
SG
If you fancy an American made, budget, Gibson SG with some added classic, road-rash cool, you won’t have to look much further than the Special Faded 3.
Straight out of the box this little beauty looks like it could tell a tale from many a long tour. It shows plenty of authentic looking wear’n tear from the hand-worn finish, which is smooth and free of the more obvious hacks and dings (which of course can be added later at your leisure!). This helps to keep costs down of course, as do the use of dot inlays and single Volume and Tone controls along with the unusual 6-way, chickenhead selector switch. This is a neat idea and allows you to dial bridge, bridge/middle, middle, middle/neck, or bridge/neck pickup combinations.
Nothing unusual about the body and neck, which are standard mahogany. Nor is there anything unusual about the three 490 Humbucker pickups (apparently the same pickups offered on the top of the line Les Paul Supreme). The bridge pickup is great for rock and metal and the neck pickup has a nice rounded warm bluesy feel. With a neck profile so comfortable and somewhere between a 50's Les Paul and Stratocaster, I wasn’t surprised then to find playability and tone on this guitar being above anything else for this price (around £500-£600) I've played so far in reviews. The bad news is that this is a limited edition guitar and no longer made, so you’ll have to move quickly to pick up a new one.
Overall
If you want a real USA Gibson, on a budget then this is the best I’ve played. It beats an Epiphone hands down and has bags of character in both looks and sounds. The downside is that you’ll be fighting the urge to dress like Keef and start slurring your words – unless of course you already dress like Keef and slur your words, in which case this is the guitar for you!
G | H rating 5/5 - Highly recommended
UncleBob
Gibson Les Paul Traditional = Old School Tone
If you are after that classic LP tone, then the Traditional is the one for you.
Gibson have flooded the market with new models in the past few years and to be honest I wasn't impressed with the quality vs price argument for a few years. When you are looking to drop over £1000 on your new pride and joy you want to make sure its going to be worth it.
The current crop entering the market are noticeably better than the ones that I looked at around 3 years ago, maybe the ones I looked at were bad examples but I wasn't going to shell out my hard earned cash for one. Im glad to say the quality has improved immensely since those days when I looked 3 months ago for a new piece of kit.
Two of my favourite players also happen to be big LP players, Slash and Peter Green. Which has made it hard to ignore the lure of for too long before getting hooked.
I went shopping at World Guitars to try out the Standard and the Traditional and came back with the traditional for the following reasons
- Chunky but comfortable neck
- Nice AA maple top
- Classic tones from the 57 pickups
- Heavy (as a LP should be!)
The Traditional uses two 57 classics, which are great for blues and rock playing. Not as hot as a burstbucker and a little muddier (is that even a word!), a good balance and when played through a nice tube amp amazing.
The neck is back not he chunky 50's feel unlike the Standard, which is a new carve to be more comfortable. But with any guitar TRY BEFORE YOU BUY.
The most impressive part for me is the AA Maple top (mines in Honeyburst), which has grains going both horizontally and vertically and with the pick guard off looks stunning.
Overall:
- Finish 4/5 - Dropped a top score here due to a bit of binding not lining up correctly, bit more work for Gibson here but much improved
- Sounds 5/5 - Anything from classic blues to rock, if you are a metal player then get the Standard
- Value for money 4/5 - LP's are expensive but you are getting an instrument that is going to last a lifetime, ive dropped a mark here because of the finish issue
Gibson Les Paul Traditional vs Standard
Ive put together a video review comparing the LP Traditional vs Standard.
I will let the video do the talking but bottom line is if you like a more old school LP then go for the traditional. You can remove the pickguard if you want the look of the Standard but for me the traditional is the best of the two.