GVCG 1950 2 pickup pine Esquire relic

[Chrissy]

I recently acquired a GVCG and thought you guys would appreciate some pics and a little tone report.

It's a 176 year old pine body, has a Hamel Alnico 3 neck pickup and the bridge pickup with steel baseplate is by Pete Skaltsis of Jake Jones. The neck is a 1" maple cap.

Jonathan's relicing is ever so tasteful and the guitar definitely has "the vibe". This is my first pine Tele and I'm a fan of the sweet tones I'm getting. Compared to my Nocaster this is a more rounded, delicate type of tone when picked gently, but it can bite as well if hit harder . The guitar rings loads acoustically and there is a lot of dynamic range just from picking strength. Thses are qualities that I love in a guitar so I lucked out there. Minuses? The neck is somewhat V shaped up to the 8th or 9th fret which is not usually my thing but I can get on OK with that and that is just a taste thing. Unfortunately, the Hamel neck pickup will squeal at higher gain/volume levels, but that is about it with the niggles.

Whilst I was waiting for the guitar to arrive from the US (thanks very much again Jim for being the middle man), I wondered if it would replace the Nocaster. The two guitars are different enough tonally that I'm loving having both now - good stuff!

Chris

[gkoelling]

Nice. Real nice! I'd love to try a pine body someday. It looks as if you've found a keeper.

Thanks for sharing.

[George Johnson]

.
Love it! :AOK


Jonathan made this one from an old piece of Oak and it sounds tremendous.

[Chrissy]

That's cool GJ, a twin! :AOK

So how does oak sound as a body wood compared to others?

chris

[George Johnson]

The Oak sounds remarkably like Ash but w/a bit more chunk.

Great guitars.

[gkoelling]

I never would have guessed oak to be a tone wood. It's so darn hard I figured it would be dead. Is it heavy?

[George Johnson]

This one's 7.2 pounds. Combined with the old Rolph flatpole, the harmonic swirl sounds like a choir. Crazy. :NUTS


PS: Sorry for the derail, Chrissy.

[Chrissy]

Absolutely no problem, George - I find that most interesting! The pine is quite a lightweight at 6.3 pounds. Do you have the vintage style frets (mine are 6230)?

Chris

[landru64]

Originally Posted by George Johnson

This one's 7.2 pounds. Combined with the old Rolph flatpole, the harmonic swirl sounds like a choir. Crazy. :NUTS


PS: Sorry for the derail, Chrissy.

my blackguard has that 'choir' effect. totally kooky is right! it has a lolar flatpole... but i'm not sure if that's what it's from....