General info and how-to's regarding fly fishing, fly tying, backpacking, hiking and camping in the Rocky Mountains, USA. Plus bonus material about guitars, amps and general tomfoolery music making.
This design combined with a small Fender like tube Amp Princeton style with a 12 inch celestion alnico gold. Super looks and sound. Great job.
@100deep100115 күн бұрын
Thank you so much!
@danielbarbieri819919 күн бұрын
I I bought this guitar recently. It was good but when I wanted to adjust the intonation, one of the screws had a problem. Then when I looked at the frets to set the action to the lowest, I noticed that there were several frets that were higher. So I leveled the freights. The trussrod had to be adjusted. Then I noticed that the pickup had a good clear sound, for playing jazz it was very good, but with overdrive the sound was not good because it was too low for that. Overall it's a good guitar especially for the price, but a demanding musician will have to spend some time to get the tuning optimal. Some negligible finishing defects exist, nothing insurmountable. So I had to change the bridge, put a shim under the pickup, and change the nut to have a reliable and efficient setup. The tuners are OK, although I think they will need to be changed later. For a beginner or an undemanding amateur this is a very good guitar. For an experienced musician, you need to know how to tune your instrument, otherwise luthier fees can make the total cost daunting. It is still necessary to take into account that guitars of a higher price are not necessarily better and very often need to be optimized in the same way. Overall it's a good investment for an archtop. The acoustic sound is weak, but it is a semi-hollow. You can't expect the same sound as an acoustic archtop. I must add that the tone potentiometer acts at the end of rotation. This isn't really a problem, but more progressiveness would have been better. I will rectify this later. It is not eliminatory. (I use a homemade Princeton Reverb 65 point to point board.)
@PNNYRFACE21 күн бұрын
Thanks for the effort and the video. I see you have a thing for the natural finish. I like to see the grain of the wood too
@bobmanners862425 күн бұрын
Great comparisons. Loved the graphs.
@timlaine626827 күн бұрын
Are these full size pots?
@hikefishmakemusic27 күн бұрын
@@timlaine6268 no, shorties.
@TheTrueforeigner29 күн бұрын
Is this the same as a keyboard
@jimmyhaley727Ай бұрын
not much diff to my ole ears
@alets94Ай бұрын
omg i've spent hours finding how to use the transport section on my mvave smk 25 on cakewalk without any results. But this video helped me a lot, it works now, tysm
@seakyle8320Ай бұрын
best video for this topic!! greetings from germany.
@indiedavecomixАй бұрын
I have another modeling amp I think sounds better, but for size, features and the used market prices, you really can't beat this one! Perfect desktop practice amp.
@rikkitikkitavi3118Ай бұрын
I had bought one of these guitars. The neck angle was so far off that the bridge height couldn't go high enough to get a decent string height for playability. I returned it the same day it arrived.
@skullheadwater9839Ай бұрын
Is it just me or does the stock pickup sound the best?
@bobmanners862425 күн бұрын
It's not just you. The Grote sounded great.
@guitarsfunmods398618 күн бұрын
Me too like the stock, it's really clear and vintagey
@guitorbАй бұрын
Thanks for this. What I learned, don't by Epiphone P-90 pickups 😆This was a good comparison. Thanks for sharing! I didn't hear a tone comparison with the original bridge. For these Jazz Box's the bridge is a tone deal breaker. I thought the original P-90 sounded great. Nice and crisp, just what I look for in a P-90 and flat wound strings will need that extra high end. Pickups are important, but I've found that I'm able to overcome any issues with a little EQ and Gain finesse.
@breft3416Ай бұрын
Nice! You tastefully showed it's a matter of taste. Tuning pegs, oil and an eq pedal/program could do ya while you save up for pots.
@triniman1219Ай бұрын
Thank you brother I'm on my way
@scrivs1989Ай бұрын
The most unappreciated video about camping on KZread. No messing about, just get it done and here's how to do it. Cheers
@rodrigomarino9813Ай бұрын
Hello again! I am having some light buzzing when playing the first two frets of the upper E and A strings. How would you fix this? Thanks a lot!
@hikefishmakemusicАй бұрын
If your actuon is at the preferrd height, then you most likely have a high fret or two. Isolate the frets that are buzzing and use a flat edge to gently press them in further. If that doesn't work, then YT how to level frets and follow those instructions. You won't need to level much.
@rodrigomarino9813Ай бұрын
@@hikefishmakemusic thanks a lot again! Great to connect with you!
@skullheadwater9839Ай бұрын
Sounds like you need to level your frets. That's why they buzz, quick fret job, can you blame them for less that $200
@davidsullivan272 ай бұрын
Top quality workmanship. Was completely mesmerized by your process. Have tried, unsuccessfully, to do the same thing you have perfected and my hat's off to you! I now know where I have gone wrong and can now correct my mistakes. So,so glad I found your video. Your process is so well presented and interesting. Thank you very much!
@murilolima2 ай бұрын
how is the neck profile? More D shape (flat) or C fat super rounded?
@stephenpearson90312 ай бұрын
Did u notice any changes in the tone and /or playability when u swapped out the bridge? Steve P
@hikefishmakemusic2 ай бұрын
Yes, most definitely. An all walnut bridge made it more midrange focused and not so bright. A rosewood bridge with a bone insert was the most balanced and my preference.
@rodrigomarino98132 ай бұрын
Could you please explain how to fix a loose volume knob on this guitar? It would be of great help! Thanks a lot!
@hikefishmakemusic2 ай бұрын
Pull the plastic knob straight up and off, then tighten the thin nut to firm but not too tight for fear of cracking the guitar finish. Rotate the stem completely to the right and press on the plastic knob so that "10" faces you as you play. Done.
@rodrigomarino98132 ай бұрын
@@hikefishmakemusic Thank you so much! Appreciate it a lot!
@rodrigomarino98132 ай бұрын
If possible, could you now explain how to change the pickup? Is it a complex process?
@hikefishmakemusic2 ай бұрын
@rodrigomarino9813 it's more involved than a few simple sentences in a reply. I strongly suggest searching KZread for pickup replacements. There are plenty of great tutorials on YT that can help you out. I can tell you that this guitar has the simplest pup replacement process, so it's a great project guitar to practice on.
@rodrigomarino98132 ай бұрын
@@hikefishmakemusic I will! Thanks a lot for the advice!
@junito19572 ай бұрын
SOUND FULLER AND WAY MORE SUSTAIN
@junito19572 ай бұрын
BELIEVE ME WHEN YOU MOD A GUITAR IT WILL BE DIFF.AND BETTER I DO IT TO ALL MY GUITARS 8 OF THEM
@uhoh0072 ай бұрын
This is a fanstastic guitar. I got the natural color. Threw flatwounds on. Very slight work with Truss rod. Nut and frets were good. Intonation is close.....and adjustable TYG. It vibrates like a living thing...plugged in. Awesome range of tone from a single pick-up. It's so good I wish there was a cut-out version. I'd buy it. I also have a Grote 335 I bought several years ago. It was almost 100USD cheaper..but I'm still working on it LOL. It sounds good but frets are all over the place. Of all the Grotes..these by most accounts are the most ready to play.
@breft3416Ай бұрын
An es-135 style would be killer. Even a single pickup model.
@RichCriss-vm8lf2 ай бұрын
Collinsoutdoors offers some good third-party accessories to round it out.
@user-ev9qw3om1g2 ай бұрын
Redid makes a 189 dollar version that requires no setup
@hikefishmakemusic2 ай бұрын
Set-up is very subjective to each individual player. I've never met a guitar that didn't need anything done to it.
@Nazman062 ай бұрын
all guitars require some setup
@DavidUK642 ай бұрын
This was/is incredibly helpful! Thanks for taking the time to do this, and for sharing!
@richardernest16122 ай бұрын
Feel players don't realize how much the tone and volume pots and capacitance have on tone and articulation. But after this the stock pickup didn't sound bad. The Epi was quite muddy.
@billsmith50543 ай бұрын
I like the sound of the Grote P90 best. I did not notice much improvement from the stock guitar. Although that is a good thing. I feel like I could pull this guitar out of the box and play it for quite a long time before customizing it. I really like the thoroughness of your reviews.
@MoonbeameSmith3 ай бұрын
What kind of probe is that? Where would I look for one? Thanks for this video..
@andrewjm1243 ай бұрын
How'd you manage to restore the hardware to shiny and new?
@rpwbassman44373 ай бұрын
Did you ever raise the height of your replacement pickup, and if so, how much did it affect the sound? As others have mentioned, a technical details video on how to replace the pots and pickup (including the copper shielding you said you use in a comment--reply) would be appreciated by many. Also, thanks for doing this video - well done.
@hikefishmakemusic3 ай бұрын
You have to be cautious in raising p90s too close to the strings. The sound will get harshly loud and lose clear definition. It's ultimately a taste thing. From experience, I tend to keep p90s on the more moderate side of things, not too close.
@waynemiller60703 ай бұрын
Having transport controls, particularly forward and backward in 1 measure increments, is worth the 👍. Thanks for the post!
@scottbatdorf36644 ай бұрын
I have the same axe on the way. I am interested in replacing the tone pot and bridge.
@silasmarner75864 ай бұрын
Hmmm.. in the a/b it sounds like the vanson tone is turned 3/4 the way down. Very dead, not real tone to speak of. I love the Grote P90s everywhere. The Vanson tone should have been higher everywhere... it sounded muffled.
@hikefishmakemusic4 ай бұрын
I recorded the pick ups unedited so the listener can truly evaluate each different P90 volume, tone and responsiveness to different playing styles. So if you hear the Vansons as being "dead" and you hear the Grote P90 as best to your ears, then you should choose to keep the Grote P90 in your guitar!
@user-dv5yt9yc9x4 ай бұрын
When placing the carrying handle on the cabinet body, I would rather focus on the center of gravity of the final cabinet and speaker design. Such a cabinet will be less likely to hit obstacles and will be easier to carry. It's my personal opinion. And the job was done perfectly! Worthy of a piece for an exhibition..
@donbratton4 ай бұрын
One more. Would you consider upgrading the frets to SS?
@hikefishmakemusic4 ай бұрын
I think that would be a $200-$300 cost that would not be worth it, just my opinion.
@donbratton4 ай бұрын
Hello, how does one close up the big gaps where the neck meets the block? Oak shims? Epoxy? Your thoughts are needed. Thank you.
@hikefishmakemusic4 ай бұрын
Well, I have just left things alone with the thought that as long as the neck wood has good contact with the body, that gaps won't impact sound a great deal. Adding epoxy would add a harder substrate than wood, so it would impact sound I would think. Adding wood shims would closely imitate the substrate of the body and neck and thus theoretically would retain more of the natural resonance. But in all honesty, I doubt you would hear a difference between the three options. As such, I would just let things be as they are and save the extra effort that would yield almost no noticeable gain.
@thomasd92374 ай бұрын
Grote makes surprisingly good guitars for beginners or for modifying 👍
@caleb1rshelton4 ай бұрын
You definitely made some good improvements. I was surprised by the quality of the stock pickup. This video has me thinking about how I would mod the guitar. Probably do what you did with the pots. Maybe keep the stock pickup? Swap the tuners for a klusson style with a butterbean tuner. Then swap the saddle for either a bone or wood saddle. I might take the pickguard off completely or swap to the tortoise shell like you did. Lastly, given my experience with that style of jack, I would for sure mount a plate there to add stability and protect it. Had a similar guitar that someone ripped the jack out of when I let them borrow it.
@jazzguitarneophyte-christo79884 ай бұрын
To my surprise, I love the original
@RobVespa4 ай бұрын
Thanks for the commentary. This was a thorough look. I think it's a beautiful looking and sounding guitar. With a competent set-up and a few low cost upgrades, this will be a superior instrument - Well worth it! All the best.
@querochita5 ай бұрын
Really? I buy a new Epiphone!
@hikefishmakemusic5 ай бұрын
Good for you!
@CreachterZ5 ай бұрын
Any ideas about larger holes from embers melting synthetic materials?
@billtownsend5 ай бұрын
I'd love to see a video of how you get all the hardware out of the hollowbody. Is it simply attaching the tubing and then pulling the wires from inside to get them out? Also, what size tubing do you use?
@scottcarter81555 ай бұрын
I used 300k pots and .033 caps with p-90s.
@hikefishmakemusic5 ай бұрын
I'm sure that can make it sound sweet, too.
@keeleyjones81915 ай бұрын
My pan pots don't really work. Hmm just realized they are just working as a 128 point rotator. I can reset the start point with the mouse by dragging the pot on the screen but their range is only 128% whereas cakewalk has a 200% range for them (100 L and 100 R). Wonder if you can put some kind of multiplier in there somewhere to get the full range.
Пікірлер
Thanks!
This design combined with a small Fender like tube Amp Princeton style with a 12 inch celestion alnico gold. Super looks and sound. Great job.
Thank you so much!
I I bought this guitar recently. It was good but when I wanted to adjust the intonation, one of the screws had a problem. Then when I looked at the frets to set the action to the lowest, I noticed that there were several frets that were higher. So I leveled the freights. The trussrod had to be adjusted. Then I noticed that the pickup had a good clear sound, for playing jazz it was very good, but with overdrive the sound was not good because it was too low for that. Overall it's a good guitar especially for the price, but a demanding musician will have to spend some time to get the tuning optimal. Some negligible finishing defects exist, nothing insurmountable. So I had to change the bridge, put a shim under the pickup, and change the nut to have a reliable and efficient setup. The tuners are OK, although I think they will need to be changed later. For a beginner or an undemanding amateur this is a very good guitar. For an experienced musician, you need to know how to tune your instrument, otherwise luthier fees can make the total cost daunting. It is still necessary to take into account that guitars of a higher price are not necessarily better and very often need to be optimized in the same way. Overall it's a good investment for an archtop. The acoustic sound is weak, but it is a semi-hollow. You can't expect the same sound as an acoustic archtop. I must add that the tone potentiometer acts at the end of rotation. This isn't really a problem, but more progressiveness would have been better. I will rectify this later. It is not eliminatory. (I use a homemade Princeton Reverb 65 point to point board.)
Thanks for the effort and the video. I see you have a thing for the natural finish. I like to see the grain of the wood too
Great comparisons. Loved the graphs.
Are these full size pots?
@@timlaine6268 no, shorties.
Is this the same as a keyboard
not much diff to my ole ears
omg i've spent hours finding how to use the transport section on my mvave smk 25 on cakewalk without any results. But this video helped me a lot, it works now, tysm
best video for this topic!! greetings from germany.
I have another modeling amp I think sounds better, but for size, features and the used market prices, you really can't beat this one! Perfect desktop practice amp.
I had bought one of these guitars. The neck angle was so far off that the bridge height couldn't go high enough to get a decent string height for playability. I returned it the same day it arrived.
Is it just me or does the stock pickup sound the best?
It's not just you. The Grote sounded great.
Me too like the stock, it's really clear and vintagey
Thanks for this. What I learned, don't by Epiphone P-90 pickups 😆This was a good comparison. Thanks for sharing! I didn't hear a tone comparison with the original bridge. For these Jazz Box's the bridge is a tone deal breaker. I thought the original P-90 sounded great. Nice and crisp, just what I look for in a P-90 and flat wound strings will need that extra high end. Pickups are important, but I've found that I'm able to overcome any issues with a little EQ and Gain finesse.
Nice! You tastefully showed it's a matter of taste. Tuning pegs, oil and an eq pedal/program could do ya while you save up for pots.
Thank you brother I'm on my way
The most unappreciated video about camping on KZread. No messing about, just get it done and here's how to do it. Cheers
Hello again! I am having some light buzzing when playing the first two frets of the upper E and A strings. How would you fix this? Thanks a lot!
If your actuon is at the preferrd height, then you most likely have a high fret or two. Isolate the frets that are buzzing and use a flat edge to gently press them in further. If that doesn't work, then YT how to level frets and follow those instructions. You won't need to level much.
@@hikefishmakemusic thanks a lot again! Great to connect with you!
Sounds like you need to level your frets. That's why they buzz, quick fret job, can you blame them for less that $200
Top quality workmanship. Was completely mesmerized by your process. Have tried, unsuccessfully, to do the same thing you have perfected and my hat's off to you! I now know where I have gone wrong and can now correct my mistakes. So,so glad I found your video. Your process is so well presented and interesting. Thank you very much!
how is the neck profile? More D shape (flat) or C fat super rounded?
Did u notice any changes in the tone and /or playability when u swapped out the bridge? Steve P
Yes, most definitely. An all walnut bridge made it more midrange focused and not so bright. A rosewood bridge with a bone insert was the most balanced and my preference.
Could you please explain how to fix a loose volume knob on this guitar? It would be of great help! Thanks a lot!
Pull the plastic knob straight up and off, then tighten the thin nut to firm but not too tight for fear of cracking the guitar finish. Rotate the stem completely to the right and press on the plastic knob so that "10" faces you as you play. Done.
@@hikefishmakemusic Thank you so much! Appreciate it a lot!
If possible, could you now explain how to change the pickup? Is it a complex process?
@rodrigomarino9813 it's more involved than a few simple sentences in a reply. I strongly suggest searching KZread for pickup replacements. There are plenty of great tutorials on YT that can help you out. I can tell you that this guitar has the simplest pup replacement process, so it's a great project guitar to practice on.
@@hikefishmakemusic I will! Thanks a lot for the advice!
SOUND FULLER AND WAY MORE SUSTAIN
BELIEVE ME WHEN YOU MOD A GUITAR IT WILL BE DIFF.AND BETTER I DO IT TO ALL MY GUITARS 8 OF THEM
This is a fanstastic guitar. I got the natural color. Threw flatwounds on. Very slight work with Truss rod. Nut and frets were good. Intonation is close.....and adjustable TYG. It vibrates like a living thing...plugged in. Awesome range of tone from a single pick-up. It's so good I wish there was a cut-out version. I'd buy it. I also have a Grote 335 I bought several years ago. It was almost 100USD cheaper..but I'm still working on it LOL. It sounds good but frets are all over the place. Of all the Grotes..these by most accounts are the most ready to play.
An es-135 style would be killer. Even a single pickup model.
Collinsoutdoors offers some good third-party accessories to round it out.
Redid makes a 189 dollar version that requires no setup
Set-up is very subjective to each individual player. I've never met a guitar that didn't need anything done to it.
all guitars require some setup
This was/is incredibly helpful! Thanks for taking the time to do this, and for sharing!
Feel players don't realize how much the tone and volume pots and capacitance have on tone and articulation. But after this the stock pickup didn't sound bad. The Epi was quite muddy.
I like the sound of the Grote P90 best. I did not notice much improvement from the stock guitar. Although that is a good thing. I feel like I could pull this guitar out of the box and play it for quite a long time before customizing it. I really like the thoroughness of your reviews.
What kind of probe is that? Where would I look for one? Thanks for this video..
How'd you manage to restore the hardware to shiny and new?
Did you ever raise the height of your replacement pickup, and if so, how much did it affect the sound? As others have mentioned, a technical details video on how to replace the pots and pickup (including the copper shielding you said you use in a comment--reply) would be appreciated by many. Also, thanks for doing this video - well done.
You have to be cautious in raising p90s too close to the strings. The sound will get harshly loud and lose clear definition. It's ultimately a taste thing. From experience, I tend to keep p90s on the more moderate side of things, not too close.
Having transport controls, particularly forward and backward in 1 measure increments, is worth the 👍. Thanks for the post!
I have the same axe on the way. I am interested in replacing the tone pot and bridge.
Hmmm.. in the a/b it sounds like the vanson tone is turned 3/4 the way down. Very dead, not real tone to speak of. I love the Grote P90s everywhere. The Vanson tone should have been higher everywhere... it sounded muffled.
I recorded the pick ups unedited so the listener can truly evaluate each different P90 volume, tone and responsiveness to different playing styles. So if you hear the Vansons as being "dead" and you hear the Grote P90 as best to your ears, then you should choose to keep the Grote P90 in your guitar!
When placing the carrying handle on the cabinet body, I would rather focus on the center of gravity of the final cabinet and speaker design. Such a cabinet will be less likely to hit obstacles and will be easier to carry. It's my personal opinion. And the job was done perfectly! Worthy of a piece for an exhibition..
One more. Would you consider upgrading the frets to SS?
I think that would be a $200-$300 cost that would not be worth it, just my opinion.
Hello, how does one close up the big gaps where the neck meets the block? Oak shims? Epoxy? Your thoughts are needed. Thank you.
Well, I have just left things alone with the thought that as long as the neck wood has good contact with the body, that gaps won't impact sound a great deal. Adding epoxy would add a harder substrate than wood, so it would impact sound I would think. Adding wood shims would closely imitate the substrate of the body and neck and thus theoretically would retain more of the natural resonance. But in all honesty, I doubt you would hear a difference between the three options. As such, I would just let things be as they are and save the extra effort that would yield almost no noticeable gain.
Grote makes surprisingly good guitars for beginners or for modifying 👍
You definitely made some good improvements. I was surprised by the quality of the stock pickup. This video has me thinking about how I would mod the guitar. Probably do what you did with the pots. Maybe keep the stock pickup? Swap the tuners for a klusson style with a butterbean tuner. Then swap the saddle for either a bone or wood saddle. I might take the pickguard off completely or swap to the tortoise shell like you did. Lastly, given my experience with that style of jack, I would for sure mount a plate there to add stability and protect it. Had a similar guitar that someone ripped the jack out of when I let them borrow it.
To my surprise, I love the original
Thanks for the commentary. This was a thorough look. I think it's a beautiful looking and sounding guitar. With a competent set-up and a few low cost upgrades, this will be a superior instrument - Well worth it! All the best.
Really? I buy a new Epiphone!
Good for you!
Any ideas about larger holes from embers melting synthetic materials?
I'd love to see a video of how you get all the hardware out of the hollowbody. Is it simply attaching the tubing and then pulling the wires from inside to get them out? Also, what size tubing do you use?
I used 300k pots and .033 caps with p-90s.
I'm sure that can make it sound sweet, too.
My pan pots don't really work. Hmm just realized they are just working as a 128 point rotator. I can reset the start point with the mouse by dragging the pot on the screen but their range is only 128% whereas cakewalk has a 200% range for them (100 L and 100 R). Wonder if you can put some kind of multiplier in there somewhere to get the full range.
Just a horrible sounding name
It should be pronounced 'grow-tee'.