The Guitar Magazine – July 2019

ARE FRIENDS ELECTRIC?

Dear Guitar Magazine, I can never understand the following:

1 Why do people enjoy social eating? Food is fuel, you don’t need to make
polite conversation...
2 Why do people like dancing? What’s all that about?
3 Why do saxophone players think they are so good, playing monophonic
tone machines?

But the one that really gets me is... Why do guitarists have to put pickups
in acoustic guitars? If you want to go electric, plug in your Strat, or your
Les Paul, for that matter...
ANDREW S REDDING, ROTHERHAM, UK

We’re perhaps not the best qualified people to discuss your first three observations,
Andrew, but there are very good reasons to have a pickup system in an acoustic
guitar. There’s still no substitute for high-quality microphone when recording, but if
you want to play acoustic music live to audiences of more than about 20 people,
you simply have to find a way to amplify your guitar, and a pickup system is the
cheapest, most practical and most controllable solution. Ever tried playing Blackbird
on a Les Paul? It just doesn’t cut the mustard. That said, hybrid instruments are
edging ever closer to the ‘real thing’, so perhaps one day soon you’ll flick a switch
and that Les Paul will mimic a pre-war D-28 with startling accuracy.

FRETBUZZ

Your letters and observations on the world of guitar Join the conversation Email us at [email protected]

KICKING OFFSET

Dear GM, I wanted to drop you a line to say that

I really enjoyed The Offset Issue. After years of

being a Stratocaster devotee, I first dipped my toe

in those comfy offset waters about five years ago.

Not knowing whether it would turn out to be

a long-lasting liaison or just a brief flirtation,

I opted for an Indonesian-made Squier Jazzmaster

for the princely sum of £250.

Despite my misgivings about how good this

guitar would be, once treated to a fret-dress,

set-up (thanks for all those tips over the years,

Huw Price!) and a set of heavier strings, it’s a

pretty damn good instrument!

My only modifications have been those heavier

gauge strings and a generic Mustang-style bridge

for £15 off eBay. On this particular incarnation of

Jazzmaster that loose vibrato arm is an easy fix:

lay the guitar flat on the carpet, be brave and

press that arm in really hard where it enters the

collet. It goes in and stays in. Job done!

I’m now finding that I pick up that Jazzmaster

more often than my Strats. It’s not only a lot more

comfortable to play, but that vibrato mechanism

is so smooth and the arm falls so much more

readily to hand than that of the Strat. I’ve

definitely become an offset convert!

STEPHEN DAVIES, VIA EMAIL

FROM SOCIAL MEDIA

Ron Thorn is an awesome luthier and a fine

gentleman! I own several of his guitars.

KEITH HIBBITTS, FACEBOOK

I got to hold Clarence White’s Telecaster last year

and I literally felt an energy in it. Unplugged, it

resonated through me... I think it changed my

body chemistry!

WILL MCFARLANE, FACEBOOK

I’m proud to have a ’61 Strat, which is the same

year as Rory’s... but it certainly hasn’t been

played in like his!

MICHAEL BENNAN, INSTAGRAM

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CORRESPONDENCE