Just bought a Les Paul...

[User211]

The other great gadget I highly recommend is this Line6 Pocket POD


Loads of preset 'Tones' of classic amps and classic guitarists, manual effects, great for practicing late at night, built in tuner etc etc
And the best bit: "Pocket POD lets you sound like a rock star wherever you go." What's not to like
I actually never bothered buying a dedicated guitar amp, I just plug the Line6 into a regular hifi amp.

Big mistake I think. Massive, in fact. Take that strat to a guitar shop with some decent guitar amps. A digital effects box + hi-fi just doesn't work. If you do what I say and try even something as lowly as a Cornford Harlequin you WILL understand what I am saying. Lest you're deaf, of course, or for some other reason really are happy with what you have. Each to their own, I guess.

[Figlet108]

Justin, I have no doubt that you're absolutely right. My particular situation is that I have such limited space in my attic/office that to justify making room and squeezing in a dedicated guitar amp, I'd want to be a lot better than I currently am. And almost all my playing is at night so I'm usually plugged in with headphones anyway.

So, it's just the phase I'm in right now. I would love to get a great guitar amp at some point though.

[PaulStewart]

Ive never really been into Geetarz although i know pretty much everything about vintage jobs cos my dad was really into em...It early modular Analogue Synthesizer ie: Moog, ARP, EMS, Polyfusion, EMU Modular & all those beauties with me proper creative instruments that sound so luvery warm & cuddly..

P know Moog were first and all that, but to my mind the EMS AKS and the VCS3 were the most influential on the nascent prog rock scene in the late 60s and early 70s, not least of all because it was portable and didn't need a van of it's own when you were playing a gig I had an AKS with the flat touch sensitive keyboard, but usually used it as a processor patched into the mixing desk. As you say Andre, great sounds

[PaulStewart]

Big mistake I think. Massive, in fact. Take that strat to a guitar shop with some decent guitar amps. A digital effects box + hi-fi just doesn't work. If you do what I say and try even something as lowly as a Cornford Harlequin you WILL understand what I am saying. Lest you're deaf, of course, or for some other reason really are happy with what you have. Each to their own, I guess.

Yep plus one with bells on...... A mate of mine is selling a genuine Marshall JTM 45 fully serviced and re-valved at Marshall (who gave him the original valves back in case he sold it to a collector) they told him to insure it for at least £10K but he'll take a shade under £4K if you're interested

[tpbholm]

Great to read about the Les Paul. I'm the proud owner if a Les Paul Standard 2012 model. It's a lovely instrument and a joy to play. I'm fortunate in having no near neighbours and my own project studio so I can play loud! I play it through an Orange Micro Terror head and PPC108 cab - you can get am amazingly good overdriven tone just by increasing the gain. The head also let's you plug an ipod in to play along with and you can plug in headphones too.
I also have a Babicz Spider acoustic. This is a really cool guitar which allows you to adjust the action on the fly and you don't even need to retune! Sounds great too.
The problem with guitars is there's always another one to covet - at last count I had 9 plus a bass and a mandolin.