Leaderboard

Yeah, but at least it's way over-priced.

Tone Report: Simply put, beyond the sentiment tied to its existence, this pedal sounds phenomenal no matter how I tweak the knobs. Because I live under a repair bench rock, I had never heard of either the Paramount boost or the Honey Bee drive, which in their stock forms get raving reviews on the innerwebs. Jim took some poetic license, however, and took the package's sound and ingenuity to the next level. A copy and paste from my phone of a sample of the techtalk he provided. "The Honey Bee circuit is different in that it has two sources of clipping distortion. The normal gain stack with soft clipping diodes dependent on the gain setting for increased/decreased clipping, in this case using Red LEDs which have a high clipping threshold, which sound like power tubes when they give way, and, hard clipping diodes (silicon also with high Vfe threshold) in the signal path, like a fuzz. Soft clipping tied to gain setting. Hard clipping tied to volume setting. If you find a setting that sounds good to you but it is too loud, you can follow with boost to lower overall volume." The small toggle is a really neat feature too - an effects order switch so you can go "boost first" or "drive first" in the circuit. While the former option is my usual preference on a board, flicking to "drive first" offers me a subtle burpy fuzz-like OD, which is what I use my Fuzz Face clone for. This is the board for my '66 Super Reverb. I'll pull the FF this weekend and put my Menatone TBIAC back in the mix for off the cuff Voxey stuff Killer job, Jim, and thank you so much again. You're the best.

...sometimes, it gets donated for display: Marty Stuart's 22,000-artifact collection added to Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (tennessean.com)

From the soldering iron and warped wit of our own Jim Gale ... A Emerson Paramount Drive circuit tied into a BJF Honey Bee circuit in one box, that can be switched either/or, or both layered in series. With HFC Inner Circle-approved casing art that dates back to 2004. I can't stop laughing.

in the right hands and an individual’s understanding, a plek can be great, esp if the neck, board, frets have minor issues. but, a talented individual can do just as good or better than a machine.

Absolutely ... here's what Jim put on the back of the pedal before he sent it to me ...

Marty Stuart has written books about country music history. He often talks about meeting country music stars of the past. He has been the ultimate fan-boy and archivist for decades. Now we all get to see his collection. Thank you, Marty! This might mean a special exhibit will be coming up. The Country Music Hall of Fame is worth a visit even if you are not much of a country music fan.

Astana, Kazakhstan. Really?

I posted that here not long ago. great, great guitar. I don't know about better but certainly different. I have owned 2 1979 Hamer Sunbursts but never owned one of these. I talked to one guy who owns one, a member here on the HFC and hopes of him selling me the one he STILL owns. He decided to keep it..................smart guy that he is. It is a rare guitar, not many made as is mentioned in the listing. It is a beauty!

I'd be into that JEL 50 more, but if I buy another new amp, it's going to be a Plex. But I bought two Talladegas this year and that Bogner Shiva rig, soooooo no amps in the near future.

The JEL-20. Many say it's one of the more "organic" feeling Friedman amps. There is a JEL-50 coming out sometime as well.

Not this shit again… It’s one of the Willcutt Special Runs, and either this or the last owner killed the value with that stupid fucking aftermarket Kahler. Good luck, meth-head…

And now, back by popular demand, "Howwwwwwww much for just one"?

I'll pull the FF this weekend and put my Menatone TBIAC back in the mix for off the cuff Voxey stuff Chose not to wait ...

I think we've seen that one before? The Kahler is after market. Some dumb ass did that. Totally ruined a very cool Standard.

My wife and I were in Nashville last weekend and visited the museum on Saturday. I'm not much of a Country fan but there were plenty of cool guitars to drool over.

Check the string bar. The strings should lie flat in each channel, from back to front. The strings should not pitch flat or sharp when the locks are wrenched down.

P-90's, the lower-end Kahler (Flyer?) and that knob selector switch? Hard pass. Nice top though!

I, too would've called Maple Street first. It looks like they'll still do work on guitars you bought from them. I've never used Righteous Guitars, but they're the aforementioned plek service- it's around $265 not including strings. MSG charged $180 for full fret-dress/crown, so a bit more expensive to plek but not exorbitantly so- I guess it comes down to who's operating plek and doing final setup there. I've also read about Southeastern Guitar Repair in Buford, but never tried them. They pride themselves on being repair-only (no retail), and seem to firmly ascribe to a non-plek approach.

Interesting observations. I have two Kauers that were factory-plek'd and I completely agree with Jeff R. It's a practical investment for a small builder, and because Kauers are made to a high standard, I assume the operator - who uses the thing daily - and the setup people at Kauer are skilled. Both guitars play great. I also had a guitar refretted by Jeff H at Maple Street Guitars and it played every bit as nicely as the Kauers. It's the artist, not the brush. But with MSG closing their repair shop, I'm freaking about how to find a really top-shelf repair person in ATL.

My shop fields so many inquiries about Plek by phone, e-mail, social media PMs, etc ... that I have a Word doc from which I can copy and paste ha. Here you go. - Plek is an incredible tool, but a talented, experienced tech with the right traditional tools can match the precision of a Plek head to head. The advantage of Plek is when you have a high volume of fretwork and not enough talented manpower and/or time to meet demand. You can sink six figures into a Plek machine (one-time expense with recurring sharpening, calibration and maintenance costs) versus six-figures-plus into workers' salaries (big recurring expense). If I was a small manufacturer, I'd own a Plek. If I averaged at least 4 requests for fretwork daily, I'd have a Plek. But my current shop will never have one - I don't have enough volume, it takes up valuable space in a small shop, I can match its precision, and I can provide my fretwork for about 2/3rd the price because you're not indirectly paying for my six-figure machine. - I'll add, I genuinely appreciate Plek, but I'm even more impressed by the Plek company's marketing endeavors. They have effectively positioned themselves in the marketplace perception-wise as being the pinnacle of perfection regarding factory and aftermarket fretwork; and in Plek's specific role in ultimate guitar setup and performance. Sorry Plek-Aid drinkers, but that is simply not true. In fact, one job I did for a fellow HFC'er several years ago was fixing fretwork on a couple guitars that were horridly botched by a retailer's tech dept in Florida. More specifically, a not-so-good Plek operator's oversight of his responsibilities within the task. Our pal came this close (pinching fingers together) to needing at least partial refrets to undo the chaos on his fingerboards. Thank gosh he didn't seek a re-Plek ... the guitars may have ended up fretless.

SOLD pending payment - Gibson Deluxe Tuners - pulled from 2020 Gibson Tribute model. $45 via PPG, shipped USPS to 48. Gibson 490T and 490R pickups - from 2020 Gibson Tribute. $125 via PPG, shipped USPS to 48. Gibson Quick Connect harness with pots, output jack and switch (from 2020 Gibson Tribute). $100 PPG shipped. Please email thegeoffhartwellband at yahoo dot com Always open to trades and offers. Thanks! 🤘❤️😎

My Mom passed July 4th after a long bout w/ alzheimers, she would have been 94 next month. She left a few bucks behind, so I spent about twice what I typically spend on a guitar (that I really didn't need 😁). I owned an Epiphone 339 awhile back, I liked the smaller sized body, but eventually moved it on after awhile, as we do. I found this custom shop 359, basically a cosmetically upgraded 339 w/ a blingy top, plek fret job, and tight setup. Damn sexy, plays and sounds great. It's got whats called a 60/30 neck (or 30/60?) which is a slightly thicker 60s slim taper, but smaller than their 50s neck spec. Took the pickguard off today. Very cool.

What a great player. This clip shows off Micks playing in a great way. (I love Ron Wood as much, different beasts.)

I don’t think these have skinny neck profiles. These were a small run (Maybe 8-10?) offered to the HFC at the October, 1999 Open House in New Hartford. I know a guy who ordered two that day - one quilt/one flame. People were able to select their tops for those as well. The ones I’ve played had the typical “New Hartford” profiles. Definitely not skinny, like the ‘89-91 Sunburst models.

You would think by the mid-late 00's that we as a society would have EVOLVED to the point where we don't do this crazy shit anymore.

This. If memory serves it started as a special order for Willcutt. It's been for sale in Warner Springs for a very long time.

Absolutely one of the coolest things I've seen on this board. Fuck yeah, James! Congrats, Jeff!

Spotify is all wet......

They are out. They ain't cheap, but they cost less than I thought they would. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/FVintPLEX--friedman-plex-50-watt-tube-amplifier-head

Izzare a link to order? 🙂

Another recording ahead of its time.....

I can't remember who owns the one here on the forum, but it is a nice one.

Very magnanimous gesture, indeed... 😀

Left

I agree the left. Gives early JEM vibes.

I think an AC30 variant has to be coming. He's been talking about wanting to do one for years on Tone Talk.

PM with pictures sent.

Underneath the Floyd locking nut is a plastic shim that is providing spacing, if you have any copper tape, like for cavity shielding, you can play with the heights very easily using this, if it's only on the high e try putting on 1/3 coverage on the high E side of the spacer one layer, if that doesn't do it try two layers, very very easy and of course reversible

A phase 90 inside your guitar! Man I wish I could have heard one of those gigs back then

Here's a very obscure little amp. The Khan PAK - 2 channel head. I picked up one up used and it totally rocks. Some of the best hot-rodded Marshall sounds I have ever heard. Just screams and crunches like a mother. Definitely worth checking out. 18 watts, but definitely loud enough for gigging. EFX Loop. Tiny! My only gripe is... it has a fan and it's fairly loud (Has two fan speed settings, but low is still noticable) Wouldn't be an issue on stage, but for home recording, it could be, unless you put the mic'd cab away from the head a bit. But, OMG, what a tone this little beast has. Check out the videos, I think you'll be impressed too!

When I got them, I put the Dual-sound in the neck and a Super Distortion in the Bridge. They were powerful for sure over the stock Gibson pickups I had in my Les Paul Custom. I couldn't find a push-pull pot (Maybe they didn't make them yet??) So, I totally rewired the guitar and put a full size switch in one or the Tone controls holes. Even crazier, later I installed a Phase 90 inside that guitar!! The entire circuit board and battery fit inside. I was a crazy kid back then.

Priceless

Man, that's cool. Also, as much as I like VH, this song is always such a jam.

Waaay up north…well, north of TN…here in Louisville I’ve relied on Bill Barney ([email protected]) to work on my Hamers for the last five years. It seems that he trained most of the other competent techs around here. I have never had a neck reset but I can tell you that he elevated one near-mint condition Artist Custom from really good to plays-like-butter. He cut a new bone nut for a Newport Pro Custom that I was considering letting go but now is my go-to fusion axe.

Indeed, but he sold BCR Music and now builds and repairs guitars from his new shop, Platzer Guitars.

These are mine.