I don’t think you mentioned it in this video, but when I discovered the push pull tone knobs on the swingster, it opened up another level of tones. I love the thing. I just wish it went past the 20th fret!
I dont recommend using WD40 as electronic cleaner in a guitar because its oily and that might attract more dust and other debris. Its safer to use a quick drying cleaner or even rubbing alcohol, just clean the wd40 thoroughly and apply the new product (make sure it actually goes inside the switch), run the switch back and forth a couple dozen times and that should solve the issue. If it doesn't then the switch might need replacing. Cheers!
The Epiphone swingster is beauty. I had a Eastman jazz box, strat and tele. Sold them all and prefer this old girl. It has that 50's vibe and crazy for the price. I also have the boss nextone amp...couldn't be happier😀👍
Iffy selector switch: a good tech would take the wiring harness out of the guitar, clean every bit of dust/rubbing compound, check and clean all connections, finally identify and replace faulty parts if there any. It should take about 30 minutes for someone who knows what they're doing. Why recommend spraying over sawdust and rubbing compound if not to send the customer away instead of doing the job properly? Beautiful Epiphone and nice blues licks. Great video!
Been following your videos with your Swingster and have chatted with you before either on here or in a facebook group. Been deciding for a while whether i should get one for my clean strumming solo gigs. I think I will. Also, I thought it was funny when you mentioned your 72 thinline tele. I have one as well (and a 69 thinline) and love it! Thinline teles may just be my all time favorite guitars. And yeah, I have yet to really bond with a strat. I think you and I have very similar taste. Take care!
Hi Rick, great minds eh? I have a lot of affection for my Thinline ( I was born in 72 too so it has a lot of sentimental value), it is a great guitar but I do feel like I need a single coil based guitar and interestingly, the Fender Telecasters ( and I have tried a few single coil versions) just don’t seem to get me excited, even the Nashvilles! That said, I had some fun with the Squire Paranormal Nashville Strat and I was surprised by how good that was even against something like a Vintera tele!! I would be interested to try out the American Performer Tele deluxe where you can split the coils. My PRS Starla, is probably my favourite guitar with the versatility that I get from it tonally. What I absolutely love about my Thinline is the rock tones I can get from the bridge pup, that is sublime!! Thanks for the comment and let’s stay in touch! Regards J
I love how Alembic instruments wires a set of leds incorporated in the neck that light up the position markers. Very cool high end feature I wish others would follow through with. Bass and guitar features that really help in dark stage occasions
I think the SE's weakest link is the switches! I have an SE Paul's guitar, had to contact spray the micro switches due to unreliability... Didn't work.....for a couple of weeks anyway! Now they're great, and doing the coil split perfectly, they seemed to be working backwards for a couple of gigs! But..amazing guitar, and so naturally loud when unplugged! Something very likeable in an electric.
That's very interesting. Clearly they need to save money somewhere in order to bring the cost of the guitar down but when its a £1k guitar you should not have had that experience!!
Beautiful Epiphone - love the style and colour. Have to say it really suits your musical style looks wise more than a PRS - has that classic look and sound. Hope you get the PRS sorted though - should be fairly simple fix 👍
Hey Martin, thanks for taking the time to comment. I absolutely love the vintage vibe of the Swingster and certainly I can cover most of my songs with it, so it definitely fits in. The SE Starla, is something special for me, it has inspired me to play better and the coil tap ability on it brings out a tone that really suits my finger picking style. I am lucky to have a few guitars to choose from having collected over a 30 year period. There is something to be said to be able to use different guitars in a gig especially if it helps tonally. My Fender 1972 Thinline Tele especially came into it's own on Saturday night and I had forgotten how much I love playing that guitar live. What stuff do you play?
I bought a prs se starla about 3 years ago. I ordered from zzounds. The 1st two had the same issue with the selecter switch in the bridge position. The 3rd and final one worked and still works just fine. I'm guessing it was a qc issue at the time.
I phoned PRS up and asked them about the issue. They didn't seem surprised and said that as it is an SE the selector is a cheaper alternative to what they put in the core models. They told me to get a C.R.L one which is now ordered. These are used by Fender too ( hence why my 15 y.o thinking saved the day!) The SE Starla is one of the cheapest SE guests so I do get it, but it's beautiful to play and I love the tone. I hope that their £1k SE McCarty or DGT don't have this problem! That would really annoy me if I spent all that money on one!
Do you have issues with the Swingster and strings popping out of the saddles? I even think about bending a string it pops out of the saddle. I've tried adjusting bridge height, "reverse" wrapping the strings and changed out the saddles. Different saddles helped most but it still is a problem if I do a big bend.
I have heard that this is an issue for some players. This hasn't been my experience with the Swingster so far. I am mostly a finger picker as opposed to a pick user so it may be that I'm not putting as much force on the strings. What style do you play on yours?
Stretching your stings and using pencil graphite in the saddle groove and on the string helps...what strings your using can matter too..if your using thicker gauges the resistance of the string in saddle groove is more where you really want the string to stretch to absorb some of the bend...light top heavy bottom gauges will help too..I think the jimi hendrix/vintage fender rock and roll gauges are great for taking the stretch and minimising string movment within the saddle during bends..
Oh that is a great question! I really liked both when I was looking. In hindsight, the controls of the Gretsch would probably be a better fit for me now (I like the master volume knob which the swingster doesn't have) , that said, I love the pull out tone knobs that give Parallel/Series Switching that the Gretsch doesn't have but I use a lot. With the Bigsby, I love the wire handle versus the Gretsch handle, it gets in the way less. The pickups are different between the two so obviously the sounds will be. I don't think the Swingster sounds like a 5420. So on balance, they are very different guitars and the choice will be subjective. If you want that Gretsch sound then don't get the Swingster. If you want a guitar that REALLY rocks then the Swingster is a great alternative to the Gretsch but the pickups will sound more like Epiphone/Gibson humbuckers but with more tonal variation. The choice is yours really. I got my Swingster with £200 discount so it was a no brainer. Without that I may have got the Gretsch. I like both! Sorry I can't be more helpful!!
@@blutonemusic Si está todo correcto. Simplemente me hicieron un regalo de esta guitarra y hay que invertir en dejarla perfecta. Y me gusta saber si es una guitarra que vale la pena arreglar o no. Igualmente muchas gracias
Yes it would appear that even though I purchased the 'Specialist Contact Cleaner' that is sold under the WD40 Brand, this this doesn't in fact play well with 3 way blade switches. www.amazon.co.uk/WD40-Drying-Contact-Cleaner-250ml/dp/B00KPUBO2S/ref=sr_1_3?adgrpid=50624906862&hvadid=259033523742&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=1006598&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=7661076701902043752&hvtargid=kwd-314793554336&hydadcr=29325_1792237&keywords=wd40+specialist+contact+cleaner&qid=1686216933&sr=8-3
@@blutonemusic I stand corrected (I remember now). It's a bit confusing thought, for this is a brand name that became a generic product name. When one is advised to use WD40 what do they mean? I used WD40 (the product) generously to loosen some screws in the bottom of my washing machine (what it's meant for) and found it left brown sticky residu all over the place.
