NGDx2

[Greg_L]

Because it's only money....

A double NGD for me. Actually I've been sitting on these for a few weeks now.

First up...this one's as close as I'm gonna get to the real Johnny Ramone guitar....which just sold for a fucking million dollars. It's an early 90s pre-signature model Mosrite Ventures II from Japan. These are what became his Mosrite signature model in the late 90s. It's all spec'd out exactly like his famous white Ventures II. SD mini hum in the neck position, Dimarzio FS-1 in the bridge. Slim tiny neck, micro dots, small frets, all the correct stuff for Johnny's 1965 Ventures II. Came with original hard case. Fucking mint condition. I already gigged it once, it's so light and easy to play. What I like best about it is that it doesn't say "Ramones" anywhere on it like the sig models do. Not that I don't love the Ramones, I clearly do, but I like that it's just a Mosrite Ventures II.



And next, I've been actively hunting these for a while, looking for the right deal and condition. I found it on Reverb, but it was semi-local in San Antonio, so to avoid shipping and Reverb's fees I struck up a cash deal with the guy and I drove out there and got it. It's a 2001 Gibson Les Paul Custom in the awesome Alpine White. My love affair with white guitars is getting stronger. This one's just starting to get creamy yellow and it's got typical LP Custom specs, and it's very heavy. 11.4 pounds. Big chunky neck. It's not quite as heavy as my 78 Custom, but it's damn close. I didn't like the taper or values of the original pots, and they were scratchy and spotty, so I swapped in 500k CTS log pots, gave it "50s wiring" and it behaves and sounds much better. Doesn't have the original case, but it did come with new-ish factory Gibson standard LP brown case.



And here's me playing it already...

[muttley]

Doing your bit for the trade and the economy. Well played..

A little more on the pups and how they sound compared to your other stuff?

I love white BTW and it is fucking hard to do well.

[Tadpui]

Wow, nice haul! Both are beautiful examples of their ilk. That custom is particularly gorgeous.

[Greg_L]

Doing your bit for the trade and the economy. Well played..

A little more on the pups and how they sound compared to your other stuff?

I love white BTW and it is fucking hard to do well.

Ok well let's see...in the Mosrite....
The neck mini hum is pretty unremarkable. I'm not normally a neck pickup user so I'm pretty disinterested with neck pickups. It is what is supposed to be in that guitar for what it is, but it's not like I'll probably ever actually use it for anything. The bridge pickup though....it's pretty cool. It's just a super-hot Strat pickup. I've shielded the guitar so it's hum and buzz is really quite manageable, and the pickup sounds good. It has a lot of snarl and bite but still sounds like a single coil. Way hotter than a typical Strat bridge pickup, but not quite as meaty as a P90. The FS-1 is what Johnny had in his Mosrite, and the guitar will do "Ramones sounds" through a Marshall with no problem. Most importantly it just sounds good. But I will be putting the Ripper you sent me in it just for shits and grins. I really wanna try that pickup for myself and this is the perfect guitar for it.

The LPC....
The LP has your everyday run-of-the-mill 490/498 Gibson pickups in it. I was kind of meh on them at first, but the pot swap and rewire really opened them up. Again, I'm just whatever on the neck pickup, it's fine, sounds fine, whatever. But the 498 in the bridge drives amps really well. It's the hottest humbucker I have in a guitar. I think it's an A5 and it measures right at 14k DCR. So pretty hot. But it isn't muddy. I know people throw these pickups away but I'm pleasantly surprised. I'm not averse to changing it though. It's not my favorite humbucker by any stretch. But for now it's doing fine and sounds good enough, and it's a different "flavor". I don't want all of my guitars to just be sonic copies of each other.

[Greg_L]

Wow, nice haul! Both are beautiful examples of their ilk. That custom is particularly gorgeous.

Yeah thanks dude. White Customs...there's something about them to me. They're hard to find in the "just right" category. They're either too new and way too white, or they're beautifully aged and vintage and cost ridiculous money. This one straddles the line. It's in great physical condition but the white has started to get creamy.

[Armistice]

I've seen a couple of white customs come up locally lately - huge price tags, but jeez they look nice.

Good score.

[JD01]

They're both pretty gorgeous. I particularly like the look of the Les Paul!
You've got a particularly amazing guitar collection now.

[WhiskeyJack]

None of these guitars suck. But you and your constant deal hounding do suck!! SAVE SOME COOL GUITARS FOR THE REST OF US!!!!

Just kidding. these all need a good home and other than @Lt. Bob i can think of no one else better suited to be an owner of such things.

I am personally not a fan of the gold hardware aesthetic, but it doesn't much bother me on that white LP to be honest. It's a nice little contrast with the black features. It looks quite sharp. I haven't really paid too much attention to white guitars either now that I think of it.

Can't wait to hear these!! really want to hear that FS-1 in action.

[rayc]

The Mosrite LOOKS amazing. I'm not a fan of the look of an LP but the colour/tone is ace. Well done.

[Lt. Bob]

that Seymour Duncan mini hum is their Firebird p'up.
I have 3 of them in one of my Epi Firebirds ....... acxtually a pretty cool p'up in the bridge position too ..... I like 'em.

beautiful guitars ....... both 'em.

[Greg_L]

Thanks guys. Yeah I'm in pretty deep now.

I did sell a guitar to help facilitate all this nonsense. I sold my Angus Young SG for a massive profit.

I popped on to The Gear Page a few months ago. First time in forever. I had to dig through ancient emails to find my log in info. I never go there. But that one day I popped in the very first thread I saw was someone looking for an Angus SG. I thought, "well shit, I have one, I never play it" so I looked around the net and they didn't exist at that time. Not on Reverb, not on ebay, not in any craiglist ads. But I had one. I responded to the guy and a few emails later it was gone. That SG paid for all of the Mosrite and some of the LP. Win!!!!


And @JD01 I know you hate pickguards. Here it is naked.

I am personally not a fan of the gold hardware aesthetic, but it doesn't much bother me on that white LP to be honest. It's a nice little contrast with the black features. It looks quite sharp. I haven't really paid too much attention to white guitars either now that I think of it.

I'm also not usually a fan of gold hardware. But I think I've said before in here...that's just how Customs are so I'm good with it. Gold hardware on just about anything else is yucko.

[Lt. Bob]

personally I prefer that custom with the pickguard

[Greg_L]

personally I prefer that custom with the pickguard

Me too but JD is weird. He likes them without so I took it off just for him.

[JD01]

personally I prefer that custom with the pickguard

Me too but JD is weird. He likes them without so I took it off just for him.

Odd thing is, I think I prefer that white custom with the pickguard on.. dunno why. I think its cos its the James Dean Bradfield guitar and he has it on so I'm just used to seeing it that way... are you gonna do us a Manic Street Prechers cover that one?

[Greg_L]

Odd thing is, I think I prefer that white custom with the pickguard on.. dunno why. I think its cos its the James Dean Bradfield guitar and he has it on so I'm just used to seeing it that way... are you gonna do us a Manic Street Prechers cover that one?

Don't know who that is, and no.

[JD01]

Odd thing is, I think I prefer that white custom with the pickguard on.. dunno why. I think its cos its the James Dean Bradfield guitar and he has it on so I'm just used to seeing it that way... are you gonna do us a Manic Street Prechers cover that one?

Don't know who that is, and no.

Singer and guitarist for the MSP. Well known for playing a white Custom into a DSL.

Lovely looking guitar though. You got 3 LPs now?

[muttley]

Doing your bit for the trade and the economy. Well played..

A little more on the pups and how they sound compared to your other stuff?

I love white BTW and it is fucking hard to do well.

Ok well let's see...in the Mosrite....
The neck mini hum is pretty unremarkable. I'm not normally a neck pickup user so I'm pretty disinterested with neck pickups. It is what is supposed to be in that guitar for what it is, but it's not like I'll probably ever actually use it for anything. The bridge pickup though....it's pretty cool. It's just a super-hot Strat pickup. I've shielded the guitar so it's hum and buzz is really quite manageable, and the pickup sounds good. It has a lot of snarl and bite but still sounds like a single coil. Way hotter than a typical Strat bridge pickup, but not quite as meaty as a P90. The FS-1 is what Johnny had in his Mosrite, and the guitar will do "Ramones sounds" through a Marshall with no problem. Most importantly it just sounds good. But I will be putting the Ripper you sent me in it just for shits and grins. I really wanna try that pickup for myself and this is the perfect guitar for it.

The LPC....
The LP has your everyday run-of-the-mill 490/498 Gibson pickups in it. I was kind of meh on them at first, but the pot swap and rewire really opened them up. Again, I'm just whatever on the neck pickup, it's fine, sounds fine, whatever. But the 498 in the bridge drives amps really well. It's the hottest humbucker I have in a guitar. I think it's an A5 and it measures right at 14k DCR. So pretty hot. But it isn't muddy. I know people throw these pickups away but I'm pleasantly surprised. I'm not averse to changing it though. It's not my favorite humbucker by any stretch. But for now it's doing fine and sounds good enough, and it's a different "flavor". I don't want all of my guitars to just be sonic copies of each other.

Excellent. That's kind of why I asked and you summed them up pretty well.

I don't know a whole lot about Mosrite pickups as I haven't wound or measured any. The FS-1 is I believe DiMarzio's overwound take on the neck single coil Strat pup. Quite a few notable players like em. When I get time I may have a go at winding my take on it and pop one over to you for testing and feedback.

The 490/498. Yeh, I think you summed up the deal with them too. They were really out of fashion when I started winding. Mainly because they are so insanely hot for Gibson that no one had anything to compare them too at the time. My only comment is that they are possibly a one trick pony but it's definitely an option I think you would want in your arsenal. I'm not sure I would want them in that beauty but it's your guitar.

My final comment, it's odd that the gerg who has mostly always gone for vintage and underwound pups has just bought two classic guitars with massively hot pups in them. Enjoy the ride. Both look amazing and I'm sure they sound great too.

[muttley]

Odd thing is, I think I prefer that white custom with the pickguard on.. dunno why. I think its cos its the James Dean Bradfield guitar and he has it on so I'm just used to seeing it that way... are you gonna do us a Manic Street Prechers cover that one?

Don't know who that is, and no.

He's some Welsh nationalist rock God.





The Manics are a good band really.. They always deliver

[Greg_L]

Singer and guitarist for the MSP. Well known for playing a white Custom into a DSL.

Lovely looking guitar though. You got 3 LPs now?

Yup. 3 LPs, 2 SGs....and a Chibson Jr which is gonna get a refinish now that I'm a paint master.

[Greg_L]

Excellent. That's kind of why I asked and you summed them up pretty well.

I don't know a whole lot about Mosrite pickups as I haven't wound or measured any. The FS-1 is I believe DiMarzio's overwound take on the neck single coil Strat pup. Quite a few notable players like em. When I get time I may have a go at winding my take on it and pop one over to you for testing and feedback.

Awesome, I'd love to.

This Mosrite also came with what I believe is a SD Quarter Pound single coil. I tried it and immediately, no. It's super fat and mucky and kind of harsh and frankly the opposite of what I like in a pickup. I could hear why some players, probably blues-rock guys, might like it but for me it was a hard no. The FS-1 is a much better hot Strat pickup IMO. Back in like 1980 Johnny Ramone put the FS-1 in his Mosrite for, his words, "a more modern rock and roll sound". I don't know if his original Mosrite pickups failed, or if they were just too noisy (they probably were), but the FS-1 is the pickup he used from 1980 till then end. And it sounds cool. But for me, for my tastes and styles, I'm certainly going to try your Ripper in it. I don't care about being Ramones-spec in that regard. It's not like this was his actual guitar.

I also need to do a little fret leveling on it. It's not too bad but the frets could use a little touch up and polish.

The 490/498. Yeh, I think you summed up the deal with them too. They were really out of fashion when I started winding. Mainly because they are so insanely hot for Gibson that no one had anything to compare them too at the time. My only comment is that they are possibly a one trick pony but it's definitely an option I think you would want in your arsenal. I'm not sure I would want them in that beauty but it's your guitar.

My final comment, it's odd that the gerg who has mostly always gone for vintage and underwound pups has just bought two classic guitars with massively hot pups in them. Enjoy the ride. Both look amazing and I'm sure they sound great too.

I bought the LP knowing good and well that I'd probably change at least the bridge pickup. The only amp available when I tried it out was a little solid state Marshall combo so I didn't make any judgement calls off that. I just wanted to make sure the guitar was in good physical shape and it worked. Straight neck, no cracks, good truss rod, healthy frets, etc. When I got it home and played through some proper amps it sounded like it kind of had a blanket over the sound. Not terrible, but not my thing. I need some clarity. I immediately threw new pots in it and it made all the difference in the world. The stock pots were 300k linear, as Gibson tended to do back in the last century. So no wonder it sounded dark. The 500ks opened it up awesomely. It occurred to me that maybe all of the 498/490 haters out there never heard them through some good pots. They do not sound bad. They don't really chime on chords like nicer pickups will, but rock and roll leads sound great through the 490/498s. But again, I'll probably change the bridge pickup eventually. I'll be talking to you soon about it.