Back in the EBMM Saddle - NGD PDN AL HH

[John C]

Well guys after a couple of years away from having a 25 1/2" scale guitar I'm back in the saddle with a new EBMM. And as they say "go big or stay home" so I wound up with a PDN AL HH. What a nice guitar!; the PDNs really do hit it out of the park; I love the roasted neck. I just got it yesterday so I haven't really had a chance to put it through it's paces, but for once this die-hard single coil guy is really digging the humbuckers.

I haven't been around much lately, mostly because I thought I was going to have to permanently give up 25 1/2" scale guitars due to some left hand issues. In fact my olive gold Silo Special was the last one out the door (I only kept the old Fender my folks gave me back in the late 70s). But two years of working on my left hand technique to break bad habits that lead to wrist pain I think I have it licked. So back to EBMM it is.

Sorry I don't have my own photos yet; I won't get them up until the weekend, but since "no picture no guitar" here's a shot I snagged from the dealer before they took it down from their website (sorry for the thumbnail size as I still have these on my hard drive; please click for a full size shot):

 

[Tollywood]

Sweet - I love that one. Congrats!

 

[threeminutesboy]

very nice then welcome back John

 

[fbecir]

Very nice AL.
I am very happy for you that you can play again. Life without guitar sucks !!!

 

[John C]

Very nice AL.
I am very happy for you that you can play again. Life without guitar sucks !!!

Thanks. It wasn't completely debilitating; I just found it much easier to play Gibson-scaled guitars - in my case it's a Collings 290, which actually has a 24 7/8" scale that is normally found on fingerstyle acoustics. It has a fairly fat neck that pretty much forced me to move to a better more relaxed hand position.

However, I just really prefer the sound of 25 1/2" scale guitars so I'm happy to be back with them and playing pain free these days.

 

[Spudmurphy]

great guitar - welcome to the ALOC

 

[Jack FFR1846]

Wow.

Dat Al. Just Wow!

 

[KazJY]

Nice one! Be sure to report back once you put it through it's paces!

 

[mtrejo]

Glad things worked out John! Looks like you made a triumphant return with this gorgeous PDN AL. I bet she sounds really sweet.

 

[John C]

great guitar - welcome to the ALOC

Thanks Spud - actually this is my second go-around with an AL - I had one with MM90s back around 2006 or so. I found I didn't care for the MM90s in the AL (although I like them a lot in an Axis SS) plus back then I was a die-hard rosewood fingerboard guy so I sold it off and went back to Silo Specials.

I will say that I never forgot how comfy ALs are to play; as long as I continue to do well with the AL neck I suspect an SSS AL may be in my future plans.

 

[musikarero]

Really nice guitar. The Perfect Guitar in Baton Rouge has a couple of PDN that look terrific too.

 

[paranoid70]

That guitar looks freakin sweet.

For left hand pain issues, I would recommend seeing an acupuncturist occasionally. I had a few times where my hand was really sore and few sessions really made a huge difference. Also stretch your fingers and wrist before playing and during breaks.

 

[Stratty316]

oh that PDN thing still haunts me... should have ordered one.

Love that PDN HHAL!!

 

[Jackson2112]

Well guys after a couple of years away from having a 25 1/2" scale guitar I'm back in the saddle with a new EBMM. And as they say "go big or stay home" so I wound up with a PDN AL HH. What a nice guitar!; the PDNs really do hit it out of the park; I love the roasted neck. I just got it yesterday so I haven't really had a chance to put it through it's paces, but for once this die-hard single coil guy is really digging the humbuckers.

I haven't been around much lately, mostly because I thought I was going to have to permanently give up 25 1/2" scale guitars due to some left hand issues. In fact my olive gold Silo Special was the last one out the door (I only kept the old Fender my folks gave me back in the late 70s). But two years of working on my left hand technique to break bad habits that lead to wrist pain I think I have it licked. So back to EBMM it is.

Sorry I don't have my own photos yet; I won't get them up until the weekend, but since "no picture no guitar" here's a shot I snagged from the dealer before they took it down from their website (sorry for the thumbnail size as I still have these on my hard drive; please click for a full size shot):

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Awesome Guitar!!!!

 

[VinSun]

Gorgeous ....

 

[mikeller]

Welcome back!!! That is a killer guitar, congrats to you sir!!

 

[John C]

Hi everyone,

Thanks again for all the kind word and the playing tips; it all helps!

Now that I've spent some more time with the AL - what a really toneful guitar this is. The humbucker tones are very articulate - something that this guy's single-coil tuned ears usually find lacking in humbuckers. The two split-coil tone are very nice as well. While nothing beats real single coils, these are really close and work quite well. This one - and it may be the difference between the PDN having a maple neck with pau ferro fingerboar vs. the standard AL HHs having the rosewood neck - can get pretty jangly with the right amp settings.

As promised a few more photos of my own:

And a couple of shots of the neck:

 

[Tollywood]

Looks amazing! I love the headstock.

 

[spkirby]

Lovely Albert there, love the roasted necks...the 290 is an amazing guitar too, you keeping it?

 

[John C]

Lovely Albert there, love the roasted necks...the 290 is an amazing guitar too, you keeping it?

I'm not sure - I'm trying to hang on to all of them for a while to make sure I'm through the "honeymoon" phase on the AL and the Tele (although I've had the Tele for 6 months now - and it was a birthday present from my wife). It's all going to come down to how my hand does with the AL neck vs. the Tele neck - one of them could go and the 290 could stay, or the 290 could go as it has the fattest neck of all 3 by a wide margin (it's just a bit smaller than the average Gibson '59 Les Paul reissue).

That being said I haven't played the 290 much at all in the past 10 months; we were forced to relocate January. Due to logistics we were either in two cities or in temporary housing with everything in storage for several months, so no guitar playing to speak of at all from December until mid-April. Since then I just haven't felt the urge to get the 290 out much and I'm sticking with the other guitars.