After some frustration with the current Yamaha acoustic, Pellie decided that a fuller, richer sound was required. While the ‘tinny, boxy’ sound of the old APX500ii has been featured on large number of songs so far like “Love Is A Red Dress”, “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll”, “Country Roads”, “These Boots”, “Stuck In The Middle With You” and many more, it has been retired for the time being.
“It was cheap, the first five frets or so are so worn they’re hardly playable. The body had holes punched in it when I bought it, the electronics weren’t working, the nut was falling off and just about everything that could rattle, did.” Pellie explained. “I restored and reinforced most of the body, glued the nut in place, fixed the electronics including the tuner and stopped the rattles and buzzes as far as possible. The main thing left to be done were the frets, but the amount of work – especially on a guitar without a detachable neck – would have outweighed the benefits.”.
Also dissatisfied with its sound as a backing instrument, Ody and Pellie set out to find a suitable replacement – or should one say ‘upgrade’.
Soon enough, a perfect guitar made itself apparent; an Epiphone Hummingbird. While it’s not exactly a top tier instrument it stands out by its powerful low end without becoming boomy and well crafted neck.
“I would have probably preferred one from the new collection as Epi’s now have the Gibson shape headstock for those models, but it also makes the guitar a bit of a pretender. It’s not a Gibson Hummingbird and it never would be, but at such a small fraction of the price I’m not complaining.” Pellie stated. He continued with some criticism, though; “It plays nicely, but I noticed the 9V battery connector dangling inside the body. I have very slim hands, so it was easy to grab, but I couldn’t figure out how to get it secured. It took me a good few minutes to realize that the battery pouch is in fact velcro’d in place and can be removed via the soundhole provided one slackens the strings. Not the best design if you ask me. Replacing a battery should not require you do de-tune the instrument. That said, I’m not likely to use the line out much, though it’s good to have.”
The first sessions have commenced and overall the guitar is sounding fabulous. More sessions are planned tonight for an upcoming cover that will allow it to shine a little in its own right.
A big shout out at this point to Huigens Total in Hengelo, OV – an excellent selection of gear and instruments together with friendly personnel and a great atmosphere in general.
