My Guitars
"Lilianne" - 1996 Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus Top
I bought this guitar on 1st December 2008, the day I quit drinking for good. This guitar is my main guitar and very special to me, one I will never sell. I named her Lilianne as a tribute to my grandmother and had the brass truss rod cover made to honour that. I have done many upgrades and alterations to her and I'll list them all below.
- LATEST CHANGE: Sanded down and paint removed to reveal the lemon drop/ honey finish below
- Electronics Upgraded To American Pots & Caps, Output Jack & Selector Switch (CTS & Switchcraft)
- Vintage Amber Switch Tip
- Tuners Upgraded To Grover Vintage 135 Series With Green Tulip Buttons
- Custom "Lilianne" Brass Truss Rod Cover
- Bridge Replaced With Tone-Pro's T3BT Metric "Nashville" Wider Bridge
- Guitars Entire Finish Sanded Down To A Satin Finish Instead Of The Standard Plastic Looking Candy Coat (The Last Picture Was Taken Before I Did This So You Can Compare How Ugly It Was Before
- N-Tune Onboard Tuning System Installed In Neck Pickup Volume Position
- Magnet Reversed In Neck Pickup To Create Out Of Phase Sound (The Peter Green Mod)
"To Be Named" 1996 Epiphone Sorrento
I had wanted a hollow bodied electric for about a year and I had always planned to buy an Epiphone Sheraton II, but while I was searching around for left handed hollow bodies (and there aren't that many in my price range) I discovered this beauty on Ebay. I went for it and paid over the odds for her but I'm glad I did and got myself a slightly rarer guitar than the Sheraton I planned on buying.The Sorrento was the Epiphone equivalent to the Gibson ES-125T; many Gibson Instruments had an Epiphone equivalent, and some, like the Sorrento, were very similar indeed.
It sold moderately well in the first half of the 1960s (although nowhere near as well as the ES-125TC and TDC), with 1966 the peak year. Sales dropped off considerably in the later part of the decade. The published shipping figures are reproduced below, with several inconsistancies, and unknowns included. The grand total of 2631 Sorrentos shipped in the 1960s corresponds to just under 10000 ES-125TC and ES-125TDC guitars over the same time period. The Sorrento then made a brief comeback in the 1990's, it generated some success but the model was discontinued by the end of 1999. Making this a guitar made exclusively in the last millennium.
This guitar fills two catagories for me actually because not only is it a Hollow Body but it also has P-90 pickups. This will probably be another guitar for the "own for life" collection.
It sold moderately well in the first half of the 1960s (although nowhere near as well as the ES-125TC and TDC), with 1966 the peak year. Sales dropped off considerably in the later part of the decade. The published shipping figures are reproduced below, with several inconsistancies, and unknowns included. The grand total of 2631 Sorrentos shipped in the 1960s corresponds to just under 10000 ES-125TC and ES-125TDC guitars over the same time period. The Sorrento then made a brief comeback in the 1990's, it generated some success but the model was discontinued by the end of 1999. Making this a guitar made exclusively in the last millennium.
This guitar fills two catagories for me actually because not only is it a Hollow Body but it also has P-90 pickups. This will probably be another guitar for the "own for life" collection.
"Midnight" 2007 Westfield E4000LH
This was my first ever electric guitar so has a special place in my heart, in case your wondering what MIS stands for, it's Made In Scotland. Westfield guitars are unheard of in the US i would presume, but are well known budget guitar makers here in the UK. Do not be decieved by the very low price tag, these guitars are extrodinary value for money, £139 for their SET NECK (not bolt on)E4500 LP custom style guitar. Obviously at this price the quality of wood is not going to be top grade but i guarantee you will not find a better guitar for that price. I wish i had gone for that model, but i went for the LP Standard style E4000 with a bolt on neck. It has nice pearloid inlays that are actually nicer than my Epi ones, the rosewood fingerboard is a much lighter brown than my Epi also. The headstock shape is unusual as most have the Gibson open book style, but mine as you can see has just a curved top, i don't know if this is an earlier model than i thought, but it was brand new in the box when i bought it.
I named this guitar Midnight after my fiance's internet screen name which she has used since the early 90's. It was under that name that we both first met and fell in love. I named this as a tribute to her because like this guitar, she is my first true love that i will never part with. I think Midnight is a good name for the look of the guitar too. I recently had the aluminium TRC made to mark this tribute.
I named this guitar Midnight after my fiance's internet screen name which she has used since the early 90's. It was under that name that we both first met and fell in love. I named this as a tribute to her because like this guitar, she is my first true love that i will never part with. I think Midnight is a good name for the look of the guitar too. I recently had the aluminium TRC made to mark this tribute.
Guitars I No Longer Own
2004 Squier Stratocaster
I bought this guitar in 2008 on Ebay because I wanted to experiment with new sounds and I had not really played with the single coil sound much. At the time I was looking for a cheap practice amp so that I could boost the sound going into my Amp simulation software. I did this because when plugging in to the microphone or line in plugs of a computers sound card, the sound you get is a weak signal, so you lose a lot of your sound quality. By adding an amplifier in the chain before the computer this significantly boosts the signal and gives a much better sound. While searching for an amplifier i discovered this guitar on Ebay which was being sold along with a practice amp. I won the auction and paid £50 for both the guitar and the amp which was a real bargain.
When i purchased my Epiphone Sorrento in 2011 I decided to sell this guitar to part finance some of that buy. The guitar had a great tone and was always a pleasure to play. I was sad to have sold it but I had to to make room for the Sorrento.
You can hear this guitar on my song on the Music page: Last Strat Blues.
When i purchased my Epiphone Sorrento in 2011 I decided to sell this guitar to part finance some of that buy. The guitar had a great tone and was always a pleasure to play. I was sad to have sold it but I had to to make room for the Sorrento.
You can hear this guitar on my song on the Music page: Last Strat Blues.
1959 Gibson Les Paul
Now obviously I do not own this guitar. It is owned by Phil Brodie a musician and guitar collector who lives locally to me www.philbrodieband.com. He had a hit with the band Bitter Suite. He often brings his '59 Les Paul out to the pub to play with his band because unlike most collectors he hates that it sits there unplayed. He was nice enough to let me have a picture taken with it and I also had a little play on it even though I'm left handed.
