Comments on: Great Mistakes in the World of Guitar

By: Jim Smith

Jim Smith — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 06:07:33 +0000

Joey,

I love your articles! Great insights on Clarence Leo and Gibson’s mistakes that turned out okay.

Recently I raised some outrage on a car forum when by referring to the ’57 Chevy as a flop. After the screaming died down, I explained it was the ONLY year model Chevrolet that was OUTSOLD by the corresponding Ford. For a good 15 years before and after the year of Sputnik, Chevy was king, but 1957 was a great victory for Ford. Of course, in the “Fall” of ’57, Ford brought out a better idea called Edsel.

One correction, Gibson did not acquire Epiphone in 1963. They made the purchase in 1957, for a mere $20,000. One stipulation in the contract was that as long as Gibson owned the Epiphone name, a picture of founder Epaminondas (“Epi”) Stathopoulo would be hung prominently at Gibson headquarters. To this day, Epi’s portrait hangs next to Orville Gibson’s.

I found this information in a multi-page history printed in the front of the 2008 Epiphone catalog.

Keep up the good work!

-Jim Smith
collection includes Squiers, Danelectros, a USA Fender 12-string acoustic, my dad’s 1923 Washburn parlor guitar and one of 128 Eastwood Phantoms

By: Mick

Mick — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 23:31:12 +0000

What about Fenders biggest blunder the 71/4′ radius on the neck?

By: Martin Snijders

Martin Snijders — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:09:18 +0000

I use 11 gauge flatwounds on a Korean Les Paul copy, which I converted to P90 single coils. Acoustically they sound not to great, but amplified the tone, especially the bass area has improved dramatically. I use Pyramid Gold strings, which were around as early as the sixties.

By: Arttu Tolonen

Arttu Tolonen — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 20:22:56 +0000

I’ve used an acoustic baritone for slide. Killer sound. Big, bassy, growly… Charisma.

By: Chris Moon

Chris Moon — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 02:35:57 +0000

I use flat wounds for slide, a standard strat set up & a strat setup with Airline VVs and a lipstick in the middle. They sound great, especially the standard strat. You can really thump the base, hammer the strings, and you get a mid range that wails. I was getting frustrated with string buzz and weak tone, so I tried ’em.

Looking back, most of what I do that I would say is somewhat distinctive came about by screwing something up and thinking, “Huh, pretty cool.”

BTW, I’ve been playing an original 59 Bassman from time to time lately. It’s too loud for what we do, but Lord! What a great amp!

By: Jon Greenwood

Jon Greenwood — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 21:12:15 +0000

Hello Joey, This article on Leo Fauxpas is really GOOD. I’ve been playing thru Fender amps since 1965 (64 Princeton Reverb) & like em’. Remember what Leo called “Vibrato” is acually “Tremolo”….and he installed “Tremelo” bars on his Fender guitars (I guess they are “Vibrato” arms). Keep up the cool articles. Jon Greenwood.

By: Dave Goessling

Dave Goessling — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 13:04:00 +0000

+1 on flats on a Tele, or a Jag, or a Strat for that matter.
I always keep flats on my Jag – nothing better for that snappy “Diamond Head” sound. A while back I bought a big box of old string sets from a music store – in it were many sets of Fender Goldene flats. They sound amazing on any of these guitars, especially with fuzz, as Joey mentions. You young pups should try this!

By: Jon Fine

Jon Fine — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 07:45:27 +0000

By the time Gibson got around to reissuing the Les Paul in 1968, they had long since run out of original New York Epiphone pickups, so the mini-humbuckers used on Les Paul Deluxes were post-’62 Epiphone pickups made by Gibson. That model was rushed into production when they found out that players wanted LP Standards with humbuckers rather than the goldtop with P-90’s that was the first reissue.