[kj] Look Familiar? 295 options

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<<what do they actually play like?>> fat pot


the real es 295?? 
they play very nicely. all notes have a very rich ring with equal 
tension and volume across all strings. hence the bells of horror and 
grace!! one's picking hand attack becomes very natural and develops a 
subtlety that is exquisit for rhythm approaches and dinosaur sized 
funk and twang.

of course they have sustain for eons and likewise feedback more than
other guitars. hence the roar of tyrannausaurus rex sized bells 
tumbling down on the village of infidels!!

if anyone is considering getting a knockoff, i.e., reissue gibson or 
epiphone, let me caution, yes fatty pot, i have had one, or two,,, 
'err both and ... they will not sound like geordie's!

the new ones are not constructed the same, with the gibsons - 
fingerboard overlays are glued onto the top so the vibration and 
response is different. with epiphone the dimensions are off, both on 
the body and the headstock, causing different responses for both 
tension and resonance. of course the all important missing feature is 
the tailpiece which has a remarkable effect on the response, tone and 
character of sound this guitar creates. however a gibson reissue with 
an old or new old stock wrapover bridge tailpiece will pretty much 
get the tone to satisfy most.  

if you have a classical guitar, like the alvarez rc20sc :
http://www.guitarstop.com/Alvarez/RC20SC.htm

(got mine for 150 US) 

then you have cheap beater that feels/responds very much like a 295 
with high access for kings and queens, the wait, song and dance - 
minus the punch of the arched-top.
in fact the 295 was designed as the first and still only, electric 
spanish guitar, and that is basically how it plays. anyway with a 
classical you can sit around the house playing geordie licks and be 
very much in the neighborhood of walkerville. just add vodka! 

the best blue collar option that i know of for one seeking the 
electrified version of that roaring bell sound is acquiring  
an early to mid 60's gibson es225cd. costing around 1,800 US, they 
are built to the same dimensions as 50's es 295 and 175's. they have 
p90's, yet have no aesthetic eccentricities like the more expensive 
models. the only modification you would need is a wrapover tailpiece 
instead of the standard fair. much better than shelling out 6 grand

you can purchase the tailpieces occasionally on ebay for around 100 
US. 


or go over the top like myself:  i puchased a vintage tailpiece and 
am using it as a model to remanufacture these tailpieces for some of 
my own guitars and am making progress.  thanks to a relative with a 
machine shop.

viva le golden harp

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On 4 Apr 2005 at 18:23, fatpotanga wrote:

Slobbers at all the 295 pics.
Having never touched one, what do they actually play like?
Todd, didn't you used to have one?
Actually Cliff's played THE one...

Envious sigh...


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