Question HH AL Owners -(And EB staff) Some advice if you please...before I pull the trigger...

[Smellybum]

Howdy folks,

I'm 90/10 in favour of making my last guitar (EVER) - an HH AL - hardtail -but I have some questions, I know these will be answered on the website, but I want your take on it - No pressure!

so.....


Weight and thickness - My BFR 'feels' a little thicker and a lot heavier (oz's not lbs!) - any difference that's noticable weight between a single coil AL and the HH?

Rosewood neck - I've never owned one so have only had the smoothness of bridseye maple... is it 'as smooth'? - or is the grain noticeable?


Tone - I've watched the you tube stuff, but it's tough with compressions etc - how's thesound - beefy? - twangy with a wider field? -

As I say this will be my last ever - I want it to be right - EBMM staff/ BP - I know you could wait forever for the guitar of your dreams, but I don't want to buy this guitar and find out there's a BP AL on offer at summer NAMM - any inside story?


Matching headstock - is there a matching option for the HH AL's? - or does it not 'work' becuase it's rosewood.

BP - Is there a retiring 'pack' for knucklheads going to the field?? -hand signed by your good self?


I'm waiting on the lead times being confirmed, the window seems to suit me - so could well be a winner! - going to be weird not buying any more guitars, so forgive me if I milk this for all it's got!

Thanks in advance for your responses and help.... for anyone interested, my guitar collection will finish up 70/30 in favour of balls - not bad for 19 years of collecting and I onlly came to the fold in 2001!

 

[Smellybum]

Please also note that was my 2500 post - it's a sign!

 

[mikeller]

Smelly - I have never played a regular AL, and my HH has the vintage trem, but I can tell you - it is a rock n roll guitar - tons of crunch and grit, takes one by surprise.

The rosewood neck is a thing of absolute beauty, very warm and comfy feeling. I had my first gig last night with my new AL HH and I am reeling from it!

As far as the matching headstock - I can't image wanting one. The glossy finish on the headstock area rosewood really pops out - it is striking....

Hope this help brother,

Mike

 

[Coffeemug]

Smelly,

I don't own a HH Al (yet...) but I can assure you that the rosewood neck is incredibly comfortable and nothing to worry about...with the BFR necks there was no matching hs option and there isn't one for the HH Al either...and to be honest imo it would be a shame painting this beautiful wood.

 

[Big Poppa]

Smelly It is lighter..usually....it has the rock sounds but the positions2 and 4 are very nice bell tones...I dont want to promise that the BP Big Al wont make an appearance....

If this is Final Final....I dont know what to say...I may wait for the game changer but that is in legal hell

 

[GuitarHack]

Smelly, I have a BFR AL and an AL HH, both with trem. The AL HH feels a tad lighter, but I haven't weighed them. I've not noticed any difference in thickness or feel, except that the HH feels more resonant...it rings more acoustically, and I feel it more in my chest than the BFR.

The rosewood neck is grainer, but the smoothness is there. The rosewood feels warmer (as in temperature) to me than maple. Like Mike says, it's an extremely comfortable neck to hold and play.

The tone...always hard to put that in words, it's thick, yet woody and honky and articulate. I agree with Mike here 100%...it's a great clean or almost clean sound, but when it starts to get some hair on it, it can really roar, but it stays articulate, great string definition when chording, and never muddy. I have a 20th Silo, a 25th, and a rosewood ASS, and I think that EBMM hit it out of the park with all of them as far as HH tone. The AL HH is in that league.

One last thing, for what it's worth. I was messing around last night with the AL HH, on low volume with my little Cube 30 practice amp on the stack setting, a little bit of gain, pickups on position 3, volume knob rolled back a tad, and I started noodling the intro to AC/DC's "Thunderstruck". I just stopped and thought, man, that sounds just like the record, so I pulled out the iPod and it was DEAD ON. I'm not saying that's the Holy Grail of tone or anything , but it did sound like that riff dead on, and I like that sound.

It's a great guitar, versatile and great-sounding, I can't see you regretting one.

 

[GuitarHack]

....it has the rock sounds but the positions2 and 4 are very nice bell tones...

Bell tones, absolutely. I had to forget everything I thought I knew about mahogany and humbuckers when I first tried the guitar.

 

[MikeVt]

Geez Smelly - If I worked at EB, I'd give you a less then clear answer just so you'd be confused enough to rethink making it your 'last purchase ever'. What did I miss? Why the last one?

Mike

 

[zombywoof]

Yesterday I had my last beer!
I have been saying that since 1990!!!

 

[catdaddy]

Smelly I love my new HH AL. My MM90 is feeling a little neglected just now, but I love it too. No problem switching between the two necks, both feel great. Like BP said, the variety of tones is great too. Flip it in 2 and 4 and you'd swear you were playing a single coil guitar.

I've quit smoking for good but I ain't giving up beer.

 

[RacerS]

The rosewood neck is smooth. It feels great!

Steve

 

[Jack FFR1846]

Wood density can be quite different from one guitar to another. DuBaldo's had 2 SSS Als. One was a teal with trem, the other radiant red hard tail. At the same time, the Manchester GC had a cherry burst Al SSS hardtail. The radiant red one that Pete had was significantly lighter than the other 2. I don't mean that you'd have to be looking for the weight difference....I mean if you picked the 2 up back to back, you'd swear that the red one was chambered or semi-hollow.

You don't have to take my word for it, but the few HH Als I've played have been amazingly versitile. So much so that I have thought about replacing my Axis with one. I doubt I'll do that, but even thinking about doing that (I took a year to decide that I was buying that Axis) means that this thing has got to be something extra special. The TB HH Al that Pete just got in.......mmmmmmmmm.....

 

[azazael]

Should make the AL HP for Smelly....


Hen pecked

 

[paranoid70]

Not technically a 'matching headstock' but the rosewood looks pretty close to the body color on the sunburst AL. That one would definitely be my choice. It's a real player, you will love it.

 

[robelinda2]

The HH AL at my house is light, but all AL's ive had have been very light, apart from my LE 07 AL. Tons of rock grit with the HH AL, you wont be upset Smelly. RW neck is a thing of beauty, trust us!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Sweat]

Smelly get one you will not be sorry, it does it all and easy to play and yea the all rosewood neck is silky smooth and actually easier to maintain.

Wait until next weekend when I whip out some stuff

 

[Spudmurphy]

Wait Smelly until the gamechanger comes out - don't rush into it IMO

 

[Stratty316]

I'm 90/10 in favour of making my last guitar (EVER) - an HH AL - hardtail

Who are you trying to fool Smelly??? You know your addicted just like the rest of us! Your gonna get an HHAL cause everything you have heard about it is true. Then the 25th Silo is gonna come out next year and your gonna have to have one. Then BP will come out with the Game Changer and you will buy it. Then Fing is going to sell a guitar you have been admiring for... well... hours in Fings case... you can't win!

Haha, seriously the HHAL is an amazing guitar. If it truly is the last one you are going to buy its an amazing way to go out.

 

[Smellybum]

Thanks all, and thanks BP, I know I was fishing about the BP AL, will it make me sound like Joe Bonamassa, will it, huh?

I don't know whether you guys should consider trying out for the hostage negotiation squad, or drug dealers! - you make it hard to jump and hard to say no!

MMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


I'm back at work in the morning, and the last dealer will call me around 4pm - so I need to decide by then, for those who didn't read my last thread - go read that's why I'm stopping - Watch this space - decision around the corner...

 

[andynpeters]

Obviously as I play backwards, I have nothing useful to add to the AL discussion.


But as for the "last ever guitar" nonsense MY ARSE!!!!!!

The nature of an addiction is that the victim always thinks he can control it......one last drink.....one more cigarette.
I remember vowing that my Martin J40 would be my last ever guitar in 1988 (it's still the most expensive one I've ever bought)...at the time I had 4 guitars.......last count was 23........think of it this way Smelly.....your guitars cost you about 10% of the money you wasted on that car that's depreciating at warp factor 7......and they've held their value.

I deeply envy you your "problem" in choosing which AL to invest in