Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

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11-04-17, 21:44
Vimana.

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veg1960

Got an old Greco Strat - Lovely! Not as nice as my battered old JV Squier though -Had that for 25 years and still my main squeeze

Good stuff :malky:

Edit: yeah .. I spelled Squier wrong earlier ..;)
11-04-17, 21:45
Veg1960

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyclops

I've got a Floyd on an Ibanez so I know what I'm getting. Although the Ibanez has a thinner neck, I find it harder to play than the Washburn because of the jumbo frets. The up-side is when I go back to the Hawk, it feels so fast!

Those EMGs will be a lot more aggressive sounding that the old Di Marzios in your Wing series. It's great to have the contrast between the two
11-04-17, 21:51
Veg1960

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vimana.

I'd never seen a Washburn Hawk, or at least I had forgotten if I had - I had to google it.
Looks like it comes from the same factory or 'gakki' (Matsumoko I guess) as the venerable Westone Thunder.
But yeah, it's much prettier ;)

I like old late 70's - 80's Japanese guitars too, mainly the F style.
I've bought and sold a few over the years, Greco, Fernandes, early Tokai, Antoria , early Ibanez etc . Early JV Squire's too.
Not kept any. Doh...
My Strat still has an old Tokai body though ;)

I picked up a Westone Thunder Jet for £15.00 a while ago. One of my students has a Gibson Les Paul Tribute - The Westone is a better guitar in every respect
11-04-17, 21:52
NYCBlue

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veg1960

I've never had a decent semi, so not really familiar with them. I once passed over a Cherry Red Edwards 335 in Cash Converters for £125.00 - I didn't know what it was. Doh! By the time I hit google it was gone

Ouch!:frown:
11-04-17, 21:52
Heathblue

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veg1960

Got an old Greco Strat - Lovely! Not as nice as my battered old JV Squier though -Had that for 25 years and still my main squeeze

I used to have an EKO 12 string Jumbo with a pick-up, my Dad got it for me, fell off a back of a lorry ended up in the Rompney Castle where he acquired it for me :-)
11-04-17, 21:56
Cyclops

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veg1960

Those EMGs will be a lot more aggressive sounding that the old Di Marzios in your Wing series. It's great to have the contrast between the two

The blurbs re: the pick-ups - "The 85/15 set is based on Paul Reed Smith's 1985 Standard Treble and Bass pickups, much-respected for the ability to offer great humbucking and single-coil tones. These new humbuckers are wired through a master volume, master tone (with a built-in push/pull coil split) and a three-way pickup selector blade switch offering both pickups solo and combined. Textbook stuff.

Time to plug in. Running through our amp's clean channel, the bridge 'bucker unloads a whole sackful of sparkle. While this setting works great for choppy rhythm stuff, we prefer adding the neck pickup into the mix. This combination retains the bright clarity of the bridge pickup but adds some warmth. Switch to single-coil mode and you're almost in Hendrix Little Wing territory'

http://www.musicradar.com/reviews/gu...stom-24-646172
11-04-17, 21:58
Veg1960

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nelsonca61

I used to have an EKO 12 string Jumbo with a pick-up, my Dad got it for me, fell off a back of a lorry ended up in the Rompney Castle where he acquired it for me :-)

Those old Ekos were built like tanks, I had a 12 string and a 6 string. I remember a time when everyone in Caerphilly had Gretches for a while after the warehouse got turned over:hehe:
11-04-17, 22:04
Veg1960

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyclops

The blurbs re: the pick-ups - "The 85/15 set is based on Paul Reed Smith's 1985 Standard Treble and Bass pickups, much-respected for the ability to offer great humbucking and single-coil tones. These new humbuckers are wired through a master volume, master tone (with a built-in push/pull coil split) and a three-way pickup selector blade switch offering both pickups solo and combined. Textbook stuff.

Time to plug in. Running through our amp's clean channel, the bridge 'bucker unloads a whole sackful of sparkle. While this setting works great for choppy rhythm stuff, we prefer adding the neck pickup into the mix. This combination retains the bright clarity of the bridge pickup but adds some warmth. Switch to single-coil mode and you're almost in Hendrix Little Wing territory'

http://www.musicradar.com/reviews/gu...stom-24-646172

My mistake - had assumed they were EMG 85/81 set. Totally different kettle of fish.
11-04-17, 22:11
Former Labour leader

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by ninianclark

George Ostricher owns Cranes, he does the range of TangleWood guitars which he imports from a factory in South Korea. Mike the manager of Cranes left him last year to go and work at PMT and ever since then Crances realised they couldnt or didnt want to compete.

George is not a daft man though, he owns the Cranes building as well as countless other large buildings in Cardiff - so he wont be destitute any time soon. Last time I spoke to him he was thinking of opening a smaller shop and doing high end products only somewhere else in Cardiff.

A lovely fella and there is an old saying - if George has sold something to you - you have paid too much, if you have sold something to George - he hasn't paid enough for it.

A crafty old devil, that loves his music, he came to Cardiff in the 1940's with his parents from Hungary - and is a self made man.

He once sold me a guitar and a bike in my lunch hour - when all I wanted was a set of drum sticks .........

Blimey, there's a blast from the past. I recall meeting him when he was running a wimpy bar on Westgate St, must be 35 years ago. I remember him as a really nice guy. Clearly a business man, but when he picked your pocket you couldn't help smiling.
11-04-17, 22:22
Vimana.

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

This thread has taken an interesting turn (well, 'interesting' for some of us maybe) ;)

I am a bit of a fan of the underdog / alternative / outsider (goes well with supporting the City) and although I had ownership dreams as a young man, I prefer something interesting or quirky over a Fender or Gibson.

Some memorable / favourite 'alternatives' over the years have been:
Maison 335 style (decent quality late 80's? MIK) that particular one just had that something. So .. I sold it :shrug: (one of many 'FFS' moments)
Mid 80's Fernandes 'The Revival' Strat . Wowza. Also sold that. There is a pattern here !
But my dearest possession/memory was a 70's Ibanez 'Custom' LesPaul clone which was my everything for years, many, many moons ago.
I played/abused the **** out of it until it truly died. I still have the tuner pegs ;)
11-04-17, 22:29
Cyclops

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

My first guitar was a Rosetti Super Solid Seven. I was 14 and paid for it on the never-ever from my paper round. It was a deep red and had a whammy bar. Used to play my 45s thru the pickups. Discovered some time later that Macca also played a RSSS.

This was it aka Egmond: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVdt1PPSAm4
11-04-17, 22:33
Veg1960

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vimana.

This thread has taken an interesting turn (well, 'interesting' for some of us maybe) ;)

I am a bit of a fan of the underdog / alternative / outsider (goes well with supporting the City) and although I had ownership dreams as a young man, I prefer something interesting or quirky over a Fender or Gibson.

Some memorable / favourite 'alternatives' over the years have been:
Maison 335 style (decent quality late 80's? MIK) that particular one just had that something. So .. I sold it :shrug: (one of many 'FFS' moments)
Mid 80's Fernandes 'The Revival' Strat . Wowza. Also sold that. There is a pattern here !
But my dearest possession/memory was a 70's Ibanez 'Custom' LesPaul clone which was my everything for years, many, many moons ago.
I played/abused the **** out of it until it truly died. I still have the tuner pegs ;)

The only guitar I truly regret selling was a PRS Classic 24, that I bought from Mike at Cranes on my 30th birthday. It was beautiful to look at and played like a Rolls Royce.The sound was great but it didn't really twang/thud like a good strat or grunt/scream like a good Les. It definitely had something though!
11-04-17, 22:49
Vimana.

2 Attachment(s)

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyclops

My first guitar was a Rosetti Super Solid Seven. I was 14 and paid for it on the never-ever from my paper round. It was a deep red and had a whammy bar. Used to play my 45s thru the pickups. Discovered some time later that Macca also played a RSSS.

This was it aka Egmond: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVdt1PPSAm4

Nice!

My first fiddles when I were a lad in t'70's:

Martin Coletti 50's Archtop (and I still have this one ;) )
Attachment 1421

60's Futurama II
Attachment 1422

Photos not mine.
12-04-17, 09:41
Vindec

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veg1960

The only guitar I truly regret selling was a PRS Classic 24, that I bought from Mike at Cranes on my 30th birthday. It was beautiful to look at and played like a Rolls Royce.The sound was great but it didn't really twang/thud like a good strat or grunt/scream like a good Les. It definitely had something though!

My regret is selling my 1963 Strat. It was bought for £150 in 1965 which was the equivalent of about £1200 in today's money. How much is it worth now I wonder.
12-04-17, 10:00
Zenith

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vindec

My regret is selling my 1963 Strat. It was bought for £150 in 1965 which was the equivalent of about £1200 in today's money. How much is it worth now I wonder.

Around £9-10k now
12-04-17, 16:38
Wales-Bales

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zenith

From experience, Cranes were never able/wanted to compete. They only stocked selected brands - for a music shop of that size in the city centre to not check off all of the big boys is madness. Roland is the one that comes to mind.

If you could get, say a pedal for £150 in Cranes and PMT were selling it for £130, were willing to price match and they also offer interest free loans who are you going to go with? I've also experienced much better customer service in the 10 mins I spent in PMT than I ever did in the many years I visited Cranes or Gamlins.

What kind of bike have you got?
12-04-17, 16:43
Wales-Bales

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Anybody buying new instruments nowadays has got to be nuts. The prices are way up, yet the prices of used gear is falling.
12-04-17, 16:53
NYCBlue

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

My first guitar was very similar to this. I still have the body somewhere. I got it in swap with a kid at school. He swapped it for Live And Dangerous by Thin Lizzy. A Double LP for an electric guitar! It just needed a couple of spots soldered.

https://reverb.com/item/3010554-earl...stream-electra

We didn't have the Internet back then, so at the time so I didn't know what I had.
12-04-17, 18:23
Cyclops

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

How many guitars do you guys play?

I currently have four. I like to swop them around which I find keeps my practice fresh. Two have whammy bars - one a Fender; the other a Floyd Rose - and each calls for a different technique, particularly when doing squealies.

Something else I use to keep fresh is different effects - wah-wah, tube screamer and a Line 6 Pod X3 which simulates different rigs.
12-04-17, 19:28
NYCBlue

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

I just have one bass these days, a Thunderbird. I've also got a Yamaha 6-string acoustic.

My wife has a '63 Gibson Melody Maker and an Epiphone SG. The Melody Maker is sweet.

Sometimes I toy with the idea of getting a short-scale bass, like an EB-0. I've also always wanted to get an Epiphone Rivoli and a Rickenbacker 4001. I've played both quite a bit but never owned either.
12-04-17, 19:38
Vimana.

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Crikey. Seven.
Too many have come and gone.

I like to 'roll my own'.
Strat - Tokai body, Fender neck, SD p'ups
Tele - Fender / Allparts
Esquire - Fender / Allparts

Seagull S6 Acoustic
Hohner Congress Archtop - '64
Martin Coletti Archtop - Early '50's
Aria Fretless Bass.

I enjoy the Esquire the most as a one-pickup guitar makes me work to get the nuances out of my right hand and riding the vol/tone controls.

Not much into effects.
Preamp set to edge of breakup, a little dab of reverb and ride the volume and (having tried quite a few) a Tubescreamer does it for me.

I have a Fender Princeton amp , but my everyday 'amp' is a PC running Scuffham S-Gear these days.
S-Gear is simply incredible ;)
12-04-17, 19:46
Cyclops

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vimana.

I like to 'roll my own'.

I'm a fair way down the path of actually building guitars. Got a £70 Tele kit; several How To books; some specialist tools including a sander and a router and have been following the Crimson Guitar Vids on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/CrimsonCustomGuitars)
I've also got a Harmony H77 on which I'm going to experiment - including adding a Bigsby.
12-04-17, 19:55
Colonel Cærdiffi

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

I actually invented the guitar.
12-04-17, 19:58
Heathblue

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyclops

How many guitars do you guys play?

I currently have four. I like to swop them around which I find keeps my practice fresh. Two have whammy bars - one a Fender; the other a Floyd Rose - and each calls for a different technique, particularly when doing squealies.

Something else I use to keep fresh is different effects - wah-wah, tube screamer and a Line 6 Pod X3 which simulates different rigs.

I just have a Tele now but, post my brain clot cannot play very well, I find it difficult to co ordinate my left hand fingers, my lad has an Ibanez 4 string bass, his 1st bass, I bought it for him in Cranes, an Ibanez Roadstar II 4 string bass (a 1984 model), again I bought it for him from Cardiff guitars, A fender Jazz 4 string which he has had defretted by Dave Dern, A fender Jazz 4 String, A fender Jazz 5 string, a fender hybrid (jazz Precision), a squire 4 string Precision
12-04-17, 19:59
Vimana.

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyclops

I'm a fair way down the path of actually building guitars. Got a £70 Tele kit; several How To books; some specialist tools including a sander and a router and have been following the Crimson Guitar Vids on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/CrimsonCustomGuitars)
I've also got a Harmony H77 on which I'm going to experiment - including adding a Bigsby.

:thumbup:
The guy from Crimson is a good resource. He is quite intense though ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colonel Cærdiffi

I actually invented the guitar.

U dun evn go 2 Cranes
12-04-17, 20:08
Colonel Cærdiffi

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vimana.

:thumbup:
The guy from Crimson is a good resource. He is quite intense though ;)

U dun evn go 2 Cranes

:hehe:
13-04-17, 01:24
Wales-Bales

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster, A near vintage Gibson Les Paul Standad, 1983 Squier MIJ '57 reissue JV Precision, and a Kemper Profiler amp. All bought used, and in fantastic condition with regards to age. TBF, I've saved myself quite a bit of money, and will probably make a profit or break-even on anything I sell. I still need 3 more guitars though. A Gibson J-45, Gibson SG with P90's, and a Schecter Hellcat VI. I'm just waiting for the right deals to come along.
13-04-17, 06:02
Cyclops

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wales-Bales

Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster, A near vintage Gibson Les Paul Standad, 1983 Squier MIJ '57 reissue JV Precision.

Yes, yes - but how many frets do each of them have and, more importantly, what COLOUR are they?
13-04-17, 06:19
Wales-Bales

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyclops

Yes, yes - but how many frets do each of them have and, more importantly, what COLOUR are they?

I have conservative tastes .. black /mn bass, white /rw strat, wine red /rw LP, and white blonde /mn tele. Have you got one of those Kemper gadgets? I sold all my amps and pedals for a pretty penny, much better now I can play at all hours, and it's marvelous for recording :thumbup: The benefits of not drinking and giving the football a miss since Red Vince came along is an enhanced mancave :biggrin:
13-04-17, 06:52
jon1959

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Air guitar! It never lets me down.
13-04-17, 07:05
lardy

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Anyone played a Brian May? I tried one at A Strings in ponty (Andrew is my favourite dealer around S Wales, recommend a visit) and thought it was amazing. Couldn't believe the range of tones just by flicking a switch on the body.
13-04-17, 08:22
Zenith

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by lardy

Anyone played a Brian May? I tried one at A Strings in ponty (Andrew is my favourite dealer around S Wales, recommend a visit) and thought it was amazing. Couldn't believe the range of tones just by flicking a switch on the body.

From experience I have found A Strings a bit useless, when I went in with my Jazz hollowbody for a setup (I phoned beforehand as well) the guy took a look and said yeah not much we can do really, that's the best it'll be. Now I know guitars very well and I damn well knew it could be a lot better.

Then the main guy, Andrew, just went off on the phone and said I'll be back in 5 mins - half hour later he wasn't. The younger guy moved the floating bridge a couple times and said yeah this is great now, bollocks was it. I said I would pay for the time anyway and he said buy a couple packs of strings to cover it, which came to 30 feckin quid.

Got it set up in Blackwood and it now plays like it should do. On another note, Took my Strat Elite (2016) to Gareth in Cardiff as I was recommended by a few people and he did feck all on that as well. The problem I had with fret buzz was still there 10 days later with no difference, I said this at the time and he gave me a load of bullshit and said £78 please. Daylight robbery here guys.
13-04-17, 09:04
Cyclops

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zenith

Got it set up in Blackwood and it now plays like it should do. On another note, Took my Strat Elite (2016) to Gareth in Cardiff as I was recommended by a few people and he did feck all on that as well. The problem I had with fret buzz was still there 10 days later with no difference, I said this at the time and he gave me a load of bullshit and said £78 please. Daylight robbery here guys.

I set my Strat and Tele up using Haynes manuals by Paul Balmer. Totally eliminated fret buzz.

Get excellent mpg now!

(PS I also find coconut oil to be effective for the moving parts of a Floyd Rose)
13-04-17, 10:10
Wales-Bales

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zenith

From experience I have found A Strings a bit useless, when I went in with my Jazz hollowbody for a setup (I phoned beforehand as well) the guy took a look and said yeah not much we can do really, that's the best it'll be. Now I know guitars very well and I damn well knew it could be a lot better.

Then the main guy, Andrew, just went off on the phone and said I'll be back in 5 mins - half hour later he wasn't. The younger guy moved the floating bridge a couple times and said yeah this is great now, bollocks was it. I said I would pay for the time anyway and he said buy a couple packs of strings to cover it, which came to 30 feckin quid.

Got it set up in Blackwood and it now plays like it should do. On another note, Took my Strat Elite (2016) to Gareth in Cardiff as I was recommended by a few people and he did feck all on that as well. The problem I had with fret buzz was still there 10 days later with no difference, I said this at the time and he gave me a load of bullshit and said £78 please. Daylight robbery here guys.

I feel a "who's the best luthier" conversation coming on :biggrin:
13-04-17, 10:34
Cyclops

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wales-Bales

"who's the best luthier"

Isn't it nailed on?

:hehe:
13-04-17, 14:42
Steve R

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vimana.

:thumbup:
The guy from Crimson is a good resource. He is quite intense though ;)

U dun evn go 2 Cranes

:hehe:
13-04-17, 20:03
life on mars

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Being replaced by Storks I believe.
13-04-17, 20:14
Vindec

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Here's one out of left field. Having owned several decent guitars including a 1963 Strat the one with the best action was a Marlin Loner bought in 1988. You probably can't buy them now but it the only guitar I currently own.
14-04-17, 13:26
headlight

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

My guitar (mine is burgundy) http://www.vigierguitars.com/page/fi...hp?id_prod=227
Pity I can"t play it like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJi8iSpzq9I
After 30 years playing listening to this often makes me want to give up.
Look at her picking !
16 years old :facepalm:
14-04-17, 14:59
Vimana.

Re: Cranes in Cardiff has gone, I see

Quote:

Originally Posted by headlight

My guitar (mine is burgundy) http://www.vigierguitars.com/page/fi...hp?id_prod=227
Pity I can"t play it like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJi8iSpzq9I
After 30 years playing listening to this often makes me want to give up.
Look at her picking !
16 years old :facepalm:

I admire other players and love to try to cop some grooves or riffs. But none has ever made me want to give up. :)
They play like they do, I play like me.
That's all there is to it as far as I'm concerned.

TBH I've never been into shredding though.
Dave Gilmour is about my pace and - after all these years - he is still the player that I admire most from the 'guitar-slinger'/rock genre.

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