Autor: Konrad Martin

Fender PM-2 Deluxe Paramount Parlor is one of my favorite acoustic guitars. Love the small body sized guitar. And it sounds amazing to be heard on some tunes on my cd “On Scrambled tunes”. All the specs here:

Parlor corpus shape,, massive Sitka spruce top, massive Indian Rosewood back and sides, Ebony fingerboard, Mahogany neck (C-shape), bone nut and saddle

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The PM-2 acoustic is equipped with a Fishman and Fender designed PM preamp specifically voiced to the shape of parlor acoustic guitar, responding to playing dynamics and bringing out the most subtle tonal nuances. Sitting flush with the side of the guitar, its smaller footprint offers maximum control in a discreet design.

Complete with tuner, frequency (bass, master volume and treble) and phase controls, this collaboration in preamp design not only offers versatile ways to fine-tune your tone, but also imparts an elegant retro look reminiscent of vintage radio knobs.

The Paramount Series (started in 2015) are designed with elements of classic ’60s Fender models, including checkerboard purfling and rosette, pickguard shape, and abalone and mother-of-pearl ‘Concert Tone’ fingerboard inlays on the Deluxe models. Even with this art deco look, The Paramount Series acoustic guitars still retain their footing in modern design.

After buying my first R9 I saw this one on BTM Guitars Nuremberg´s website and fell in love. An amazing axe with the VOS treatement and a bit heavier than my R9. The neck is a typical 58 chunky one. In Hugo For Sale I often used this axe.

Specs

Back wood: Solid mahogany, no weight relief

Top: Plain Top

Fingerboard rosewood

Neck: 1 piece, with long neck tenon

Profile: 58 rounded

Pickups: Burstbucker 1 (R) 2(T)

Hardware : Nickel

Bridge ABR-1 Aluminium stopbar

Klopstock´s end, Klopstock II, Wired, Savage Blue, Hugo For Sale and finally Earl Grey…….

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What a great evening it was: a great venue, great folks and a fantastic promoter. From the first song to the encores the audience attentively listened to the music and wittty anecdotes about the Les Paul guitar. Thank you all!

Earl Grey´s lineup was (from left to right)

Conny Martin (Les Paul/ Vocals)) Xaver Hauck (drums) Stefan Gerhard (Vocals/ Bass)

Guitars used:

Gibson R8 Lemonburst nicknamed “Gary Moore” Fender Original ´50s Stratocaster White Blonde and Gibson BFG Gary Moore

Some more photos…….

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Amps used with Deeflexx- Sound System

Fender Blues Junior IV and Koch Jupiter

2006 Fender Stratocaster Jeff Beck Artist Series

Bought this 2006 built one Stratocaster in 2009 @ music butik (Darstadt/ Germany). It got some aging by heavy playing. Love the seafoam green color. Guitar got a three piece alder body. The neck is not as fat as the ones from the first Jeff Beck series in 1991 and they changed the old roller system for a better LRS Roller. In combination with the locking tuners it stays in tune. String changing is easy. Here are the specs:
BODY:

Body Material: Alder
Body Finish: Urethane
Body Shape: Stratocaster

NECK:

Neck Material:Maple
Neck Finish:Satin Urethane
Neck Shape:”C” Shape
Scale Length:25.5″ (648 mm)
Fingerboard:Rosewood
Fingerboard Radius:9.5″ (241 mm)
Number of Frets:22
Fret Size:Medium Jumbo
String Nut:LSR Roller
Nut Width:1.6875″ (42.8 mm)
Position Inlays:Pearloid Dot
Truss Rod Nut:1/8″ American Series
Headstock:Artist Signature on Headstock
Electronics

ELECTRONICS:

Bridge Pickup: Dual-Coil Ceramic Noiseless
Middle Pickup: Dual-Coil Ceramic Noiseless
Neck Pickup: Dual-Coil Ceramic Noiseless
Controls: Master Volume, Tone 1. (Neck Pickup), Tone 2. (Bridge/Middle Pickup)
Pickup Switching: 5-Position Blade: Position 1. Bridge Pickup, Position 2. Bridge and Middle Pickup, Position 3. Middle Pickup, Position 4. Middle and Neck Pickup, Position 5. Neck Pickup
Pickup Configuration: SSS

HARDWARE:

Bridge: 2-Point American Series Synchronized Tremolo with Stainless Steel Saddles
Hardware Finish: Chrome
Tremolo Arm Handle: Standard Tremolo Arm
Tuning Machines: Deluxe Staggered Cast/Sealed Locking
Pickguard: 3-Ply Mint Green
Control Knobs: Aged White Plastic
Switch Tips: Aged White

It´s got a great sound with the noiseless pickups. Used it on many gigs and demos.

Listen to the Fender Jeff Beck guitar:

2006 Gibson Les Paul Custom Shop R9 VOS Washed Cherry

One of my best sounding and looking Les Pauls. Great flame top. Bought back in 2006 @ Guitar Point, Maintal. After watching Joe Bonamassa in Aschaffenburg playing a Custom Shop Les Paul I had to buy one. And Guitar Point had a large selection of  Gibson Custom Shop Les Pauls. So I could select mine from ten Les Pauls then. On my way home I stopped several times to look after the guitar.

2006 was the first year the VOS (Vintage Original Specs) guitar line was introduced. The VOS guitars are lightly aged. Guitars finish is no gloss, and the hardware aged. By the way all my Custom Shop Les Pauls are VOS models. I don´t like the gloss finish. More in the video clip below.

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Body: Carved AAAAA figured maple

Back wood: Solid mahogany, no weight relief

Fingerboard rosewood

Neck: 1 piece, with long neck tenon ( greatest difference to USA Standard Les Paul)

Profile: 59 rounded

Pickups: Burstbucker 1 (R) 2(T)

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Hardware : Nickel

Bridge ABR-1 Aluminium stopbar

The guitar got a  great vintage tone, very dry sounding. It´s getting better by year. Real vintage bleeding and fading.

2009 Gibson Les Paul BFG Gary Moore Signature

Introduced in 2009 with thin satin Lemon Burst finish. Mine is 2009 built. Gibson ended them some years ago. And it´s on the way to get very rare and sought after. It is similar to the BFG model except two 60s knobs and one 50s knob. It has got a P 90 and a Bursbucker 3 bridge pickup. It´s really featherweight with the chambered mahogany body and acoustically really loud guitar. The body enormously resonates resulting in a lively ringing electric tone What I like is that chunky neck with 22 medium -jumbo frets, a baseball bat. This guitar sounds absolutely awesome. Listen to the vids.

Gibson Gary Moore BFG Advertisement

It’s no coincidence that Gibson USA’s Gary Moore Signature Les Paul guitar is a BFG – perhaps the mightiest and most extreme Les Paul to ever leave a Gibson factory. The Gary Moore Signature Les Paul BFG takes the raw, unrefined power of Gibson’s classic BFG and matches it with the look of Moore’s personal and legendary Les Paul Standards from the late 1950s, resulting in a beautifully radical Les Paul that certainly embodies Moore’s iconic status among the world’s finest guitarists.
With satin nitrocellulose finish, the Gary Moore Signature Les Paul BFG is a stripped-down Les Paul, with no body or neck binding. This model has an uncovered Zebra Burstbucker 3 humbucker in the bridge, with a single-coil P-90 in the neck, all controlled by two top hat style volume controls and one tone knob. The traditional toggle switch has been wired to act as a kill switch, and a smaller toggle pickup selector switch in the place of the missing tone knob controls pickup selection. The mahogany body is chambered for weight relief and the unbound fingerboard is rosewood without position marker inlays (although there are probably side dots).

Schon Reverse Custom 1988 Red

A rare axe and a real beauty:

Schon Custom Reverse 1988, only 50 Reverse Customs made in the world! Bought @ Musik Produktiv Germany in 1989. Neal Schon designed a signature guitar line first made by Jackson (1985?), later by Larrivée (1986). Production ended in the early `90s. I saw different Reverse Custom ones in the web: a blue, yellow and a two tone sunburst one, but not a red one like mine. Maybe this guitar is unique.There were different models – the NS Deluxe models ( I got a polar white one, which you will see in one of the next monthly guitar edition) in a more  futuristic design with a “Ferrari” tailpiece and the second line the Reverse models. There were some cheap Reverse models with bolt on necks, the Reverse Custom models were Schon´s premium product line.

Body and neck

Dark and smooth ebony fretboard, three piece maple neck trough body construction,  alder wings, deep carved AAAAA book matched flame maple top, light weight, round D neck profile, easy access neck heel (later used again for the Gibson NS Les Paul Signature!)

Electrics

2 single coils, one humbucker with no poles with white Schon script (by PJ Marx),

Five way switch, volume and tone knob, no push-pull circuit in the knobs

Hardware

Black original licensed Floyd Rose Bridge replaced for a better black Schaller Floyd Rose

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Black Schaller tuning maschines

Neal Schon´s son Miles Schon played on the Schon Reverse Custom while he spent some times at our home back in 2007. The guitar got an amazing sound. The single coils are excellent and very warm sounding. I prefer the neck pickup and the combination of neck and middle pickup. The humbucker is great for heavy sounds. Listen to this great guitar in the vids.

March Edition

1982 Gold Top 30^th Anniversary

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This is by far my oldest axe. Bought in 1983 and heavily used throughout the years. This serial (82 to 83) was together with the Heritage series (1980) the start of really good  Gibson guitars in the terrible Norlin era. Instead of the Custom Shop models this reissue doesn´t have a long neck tenon and the tone/volume knobs are not historically correct. It´s my heaviest guitar (10.3 lbs.). A special hum shield is to be found in the cavity on the backside. Mine is now aged by years to be seen on the photos. The neck isn´t a chunky one, the frets are wide. Only thing I swapped are the pick ups for custom shop burstbuckers 2 and 3. One of the original pick ups is in America; but that´s another story to be told.

Body and Hardware       single cutaway, deep carved maple top, mahogany back ( non chambered/ no weight relief, tune-o-matic brigdge with spring retainer, uniform-depth binding in cutaway

Neck     three piece mahogany neck, pearl trapezoid inlays, 30^th Anniversary engraved on inlay at  19^th fret, nickel-plated hardware, serial number with A-, B- or C-prefix followed by three digits

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The old Lifton case aged by use, the original tags and a guitar review by German “Fachblatt“

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