THE GUITARS: GRETSCH SYNCHROMATIC JET JR.

SO apparently in the late 90's to early 2000's Gretsch started making a line (or multiple lines) of cheap guitars called 'Syncromatic.' Reminiscent of a Les Paul in shape, these guitars were made in Korea out of plywood until around 2004 when they were switched to a solid wood body (maple?) and renamed 'Electromatic.' The strange thing is that a Gretsch Synchromatic was previously a totally different guitar- a much nicer, archtop hollowbody guitar worth much, much more. So why did they suddenly put out a line of cheap ($300) instruments? No one, insofar as I can tell, has any idea.  Most of them don't even have serial numbers.

I'll admit, I bought this guitar because, first and foremost, it's a cool looking little instrument. I first saw it on Craigslist before I bought my Tele, and I actually contacted the owner but he was out of town, so I sort of forgot about it for a couple months. Then right after Thanksgiving it came up again. I guess I didn't really need a second electric, but I couldn't stop thinking about how pretty this one was. I did a little bit of research, and everything I found on line about the 2001 Synchromatic Jet Jr was just so-so... plywood body, scratchy pots, rough frets, all the usual low-end guitar stuff. What intrigued me, though, was the single bridge humbucker pickup on a cheap guitar- I felt like it must sound unique somehow. Plus, I like simple things that no one else likes. It's kind of my thing, and this was too interesting to pass up.

So I called the guy up again, went and checked it out, and, of course, bought it. Turns out that even though this is really, truly a shitty guitar in the truest sense of the word, there are a few things that make it completely worth owning.

First, it looks pretty badass, and if you're going to own a low-end guitar, it might as well look good, right? The black and orange sunburst is beautiful, offset with the rosewood (?) fingerboard. The old-school jazz style Gretsch pearl pickguard is a nice touch as well. everything is in really nice condition too- no dings or chips, just a little belt buckle scratch on the back.

Second, the single bridge pickup is still a Gretsch, and even a cheap Gretsch pickup (the "Gretschbucker") sounds good, apparently. It also has adjustable poles, so I was able to raise the low, level the mids and lower the highs to balance out the gratingly bright sound it had when I got it. Coupled with a single tone knob that has a surprising range, this pup is pretty versatile. In fact, I like it for a Johnny Cash/50's style country tone better than my tele. I set the tone at about 4, my MXR DynaComp at 12 on the 'sensitivity' dial and my analog delay with the frequency and time at 1.  I get a nice, warm, slightly hollow, squishy slapback that sounds awesome in open E with a sort of 'chugga chugga' rhythm. Move up to the 12th fret and lay down a simple pentatonic lick with the same settings and you get some considerable tone that sounds pretty unique.

Third, I have been using Beefy Slinky's (.11-.54) to darken up the (in my opinion) icy, tinny tone that lighter gauge strings seem to produce with this particular humbucker. I experimented with the same mix of Beefy and Power Slinky's that I use on the Tele (see previous post) but I didn't like that set up at all, especially for lead guitar- this is mostly due to the action that is slightly higher than it could be, but mostly the fact is that it sounds full and warm with heavy strings and tinny even with mediums.

Finally, I love the way this guitar sounds with a Delta Lab Tube Overdrive.  The combo of the Delta Lab TO-1, MXR DynaComp, and Analog Delay is pretty killer.  Oddly, the TO-1 sounds like shit with my Tele.  I don't know why, but it really does. I was going to sell the pedal, which was a disappointment since I got a killer deal on it and most of the reviews I've read were really favorable. I'm glad I kept it, though... maybe it just doesn't sound good with single coil pups? That makes no sense really but it might be true. It's fat and warm as a drunk beagle with the Gretsch though, and it sounds way better with a humbucker than my Boss SD-1 (which sounds great with the Tele...)

So, overall, even though this guitar was probably not worth a penny more than the $140 I payed for it, with a little work and experimentation I ended up with something that can lay down some pretty awesome, unique sounding alt-country licks and look good doing it. Moral of the story? Cheap can be great, as long as you're willing to experiment with different setups; plus, it's a good learning experience, and if you get lucky like I did, you end up with something very few people have- a Gretsch Synchromatic Jet Jr that sounds cool and is fun to play.

THE GUITARS: FENDER TELECASTER

THE first thing I needed, when I joined the band was, obviously, an electric guitar. I haven't owned one in at least a decade. This being an alt-country band (sort of) I figured a Tele would fit best; also, I've always wanted one- they look classy, they're simple and you can beat the shit out of them. Fortunately, the lead singer of the band had an old one out in his garage. It was a circa 1999 MIM, with a few dings for character, a warping pick guard, a missing volume knob, and the neck pickup hanging on only by the wires. Also, to top things off, at some point someone (I think a relative?) had scratched an "eye of Sauron" into into the face just back of the saddle with a pocket knife.  Obviously, it was the perfect guitar for me. Dave was willing to part with it for a very reasonable price all things considered, so I took it home and starting fixing it up.

I ordered a new black pickguard off Amazon for about 10 bucks to replace the dirty, scratched and buckling white one. While that was on the way I remounted the neck pickup; turns out the screws were a little stripped and had come out so the adjustment springs were down in the body chamber but it was an easy fix with some tiny splinter-shims. I also made a new volume knob out of a .45 Caliber bullet shell stuffed with cork.  It works alright (sort of too slick for quick volume changes mid-strum) but it looks badass, so it's good enough for now. The eye of Sauron remains scratched into the paint, and gives this guitar it's inevitable name, "The Necromancer," which is, of course, the nickname of Sauron in the Hobbit when he... oh never mind. The important thing is that it's set up fairly nicely, and sounds great.

The last decision I had to make before this guitar was ready to go was what string gauge to use. I've been playing acoustic guitar almost exclusively for about the last 20 years, and I mostly use medium gauge strings. This is probably why every time I pick up an electric I can't help but bend the shit out of every note, making whatever I'm playing sound really sharp. Also, one thing about Tele's is that they have a really nice punchy, twangy, slappy sound to them, but in my opinion the bridge pickup (at least mine) is pretty harsh sounding with anything but a high-end amp. My amp (which I'll get to in a post coming soon) ain't high end, so I figured I would see if I could darken up the tone with heavier gauge strings, and make it easier for me to play at the same time (more acoustic feeling, I guess.)  I strung it up with Beefy Slinky's by Ernie Ball, which colored the tone nicely and gave chording a nice heavy feel that was easier to really dig into without unwanted bends. Basically, I don't want to play lighter, I want my strings to accommodate my playing style. I quickly realized, however, that a lot of the riffs I was writing were requiring moderate bends on the D string and some pretty extensive bends on the G. So I started mixing in the D and G strings from the Ernie Ball Power Slinky's, which are a slightly lighter gauge, but still fairly heavy as far as electric strings go. Thus my string selection for the Tele is:

11   E
15   B
18p G  (switched from 22p)
28   D  (switched from 30)
42   A
54   E

So how does it sound? Some (read 'those who believe that price equals quality) might say that the fact that this is a Made in Mexico (MIM) Tele takes away from its ability to provide reliability, tone, etc; basically the differences are that the body on a MIM is Alder, not Ash, and that the fretboard is maple rather than rosewood. The pickups are some low end stock single coils. Supposedly this combination of cost saving measures kills the 'Tele tone' (the pickups and brighter sounding Alder body) and negatively effect playability (the maple fret board with poorly finished frets) and for that reason a lot of folks on the web are pretty anti.

To be honest, though, I don't give a shit. I've got vintage acoustic guitars with plywood bodies that sound fucking great. The neck is straight, worn in nicely, and the fret ends are smooth. The pickups in this guitar are Noiseless Tele single coils which were installed at some point to replace the stock ones and they sound really good. My favorite tone comes out of the neck pickup. Deep, dark, and hollow- it really howls with a good dose of overdrive and a touch of delay. For straight up, balanced tone the mid position (both pickups) sounds really nice- crisp and dark with just a hint of twang. Of course the bridge pickup  pure country goodness, especially with some compression and delay. Overall, no matter what pickup is selected, this guitar rocks harder than I was expecting. Our songs cover quite a range of tones, and it can do it all handily. I love the fact that I can go from a nice country sound to a low growl with a couple flips of the selector switch and a roll back on the tone knob. Add my new favorite pedal, the MXR Custom Badass '78 to that combo and faces begin to melt.

So do I stick with this awesome axe for all duties required of me as a lead guitar player? Hell no. Not when a sweet deal on a low end Gretsch Synchromatic comes along on Craigslist... but that's for the next post.

HIGH TIME FOR A MUSIC RIG POST

WELL, it has, again, been too long since I posted anything on this, my blog that details the shit I build, compile, or otherwise cobble together. The past year or so, I've been focusing a lot on motorcycles, and the Yamaha XS850 project is still in progress: more to come on that soon.  But this blog has also focused, at times, on music; or, more specifically, the instruments I've built/repaired. Lately I've been pouring much of my creative energy into relearning (well, lets be honest- learning) to play lead guitar.  The old time band I was playing with for several years split up at the end of the summer, and about two days later I was sitting at the bar down at Terry's in A-Town with my buddy David who happened to be looking for a lead guitarist/multi-instrumentalist for his band which could best be described as, I guess, ''garage alt-country.'' It's been a LONG time since I strapped on an electric (hell, at the time I didn't even own one) but I was happy to give it a shot, so over the past few months I've been spending a lot of time putting together a rig on an incredibly tight budget. As I've been endlessly researching guitars, pedals, amps, etc, (most of which I'll never be able to afford) I've realized that there's not much out there in the way of helpful product reviews and honest evaluations, especially from the point of view of novice players who are really into trying for interesting sound (and also dead broke.)

Most reviews are written by illiterate assholes who don't take time to mess around with their gear before reviewing it online, or by the same sort of folk who scoff at anything inexpensive or less well known. These are the people with full Boss pedal boards, a Jackson seven string, and a Line6 modeling amp.  Fuck them. So I decided it was high time to share what little I've learned recently about playing secondhand guitars through a some pedals and amps I scrounged up and the sounds I've achieved. Much of what I've learned proves that I have a long way to go, but I think my recent quest to put an extra pair of balls in some alt-country songs has led to a few victories at least. So my next few posts are going to share what I've learned. Hopefully it helps. If not, you're welcome to close the page and go buy a double necked Ovation. Have fun at Guitar Center.