Not to be outdone by Gibson’s recent announcment and revealing of the Jimi Hendrix inspired guitar, Fender today announced they have just finished production of their new Fender Les Paul Model*. The model will soon be available at all Wal*Marts for a retail price of $199.99US and will include three picks, four guitar cables, a guitar strap, a “Les Is More Amplifier”, and a LP-500 Multi-Track Recorder.
When I was looking for an amplifier I knew my price range topped out at $600 and I knew I wanted a tube amp. After looking around a bit I narrowed my choice down to the Vox AC15CC and the Fender Blues Junior amps.
I needed to hear the amps, so I headed to a local Guitar Center to give them a listen.Since I’m a beginner I didn’t feel like I could really get a good idea of what the amps could do since I have a limited range of things I can play (that and I’d be too embarrassed to crank up the volume to get a good listen). So I asked one of the employees to play on the amps (and believe me, this guy could play. I had him playing Blues, Rockabilly and Jazz). As he played we tried out the spectrum of settings on each of the amps. I had him play a Strat and a Les Paul to get different sounding guitars in the mix as well.
I found out about the Rittenhouse Guitar contest a little too late. I actually found out about the contest the day after it ended. Oh well, I still wanted to post about Rittenhouse Guitars because I really like their looks.
I guess the big thing now days is relic guitars. I thought they looked pretty cool for the most part but figured I’d never actually buy one.
I dropped by Rocker’s Guitars here in San Francisco today. I’ve been wanting a solid body guitar since my guitars are hollow or semi-hollow. The two I’m thinking about are a Gibson Les Paul and Fender Telecaster. Very different guitars to say the least. I liked them both for different reasons.
The two specific models I was looking at were the Fender Custom Shop Custom Classic Telecaster and the Gibson Les Paul Standard 50’s Neck.
The Les Paul was obviously louder and had a thicker sound and was able to push the amp to the point of distortion.The Telecaster was brighter and had a cleaner less muddy sound but couldn’t get any distortion out of the amp. For the overall feel, I preferred the Fender Telecaster. The neck felt better to me, but that could be because the Les Paul has the thicker 50’s neck. As for the looks, I’ve always loved the sunburst Les Paul.
This weekend I’ll be checking out the 4 Amigos Guitar Show in San Rafael California. Hopefully I won’t buy another guitar (I think three for a beginner is more than enough). However, I don’t have a solid body guitar and would love to have one. I know my two weak points will be a nice Gibson Les Paul or Fender Telecaster.
For those in Santa Monica/Los Angeles, the show will be arriving near you the following weekend.
