👕 Get New Ernie Ball Merch Now!
  • Ernie Ball
  • Music Man
  • Sterling by Music Man
John Myung Bongo 4

NGD!!!! - AL HH Trans Walnut

E

edhalen

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Messages
1,830
Location
Illinois
So, I let the GAS get the best of me. About a month ago like a complete dumb@$$ I traded in my beloved white Reflex to get a Purple Sunset Morse with a Floyd on it. WTH was I thinking? BIG mistake. While the Morse is a great guitar in its own right I just didn't bond with it for a number of reasons. So, this past Friday I returned the Morse. GC's 30 day return policy is really nice. So, I'm without a guitar to play while I decide what to do next. Turns out trading in the Reflex was the smartest thing I could have done. I ended up with a better guitar. Read on... :)

So, I do some research for a replacement and realize there is a 2nd swiss army knife of tone in the EBMM family - the AL HH. With its Mahogany body, dual Axis humbuckers, Rosewood neck and fretboard along with the coil tap (which mine has) you've got a veritable buffet of tones at your disposal. Having learned this I decide to try out a different AL at a local GC store to check out the neck. It was a 2014 PDN SSS. Out of my price range and I really wanted the AL HH. But the neck was to die for! I thought nothing could beat the feel of the Reflex neck profile for me but the AL IS IT for me. Unbelievable. Even though it's a 10" radius vs the 12" of the Reflex it's the neck profile that makes the difference. The more pronounced C shape of the AL neck is perfect for me. A dream to play.

Fast forward to Sunday. I find this beauty for sale on the GC used site. It's about a 8.5 to 9 out of 10 on the condition scale. The wait begins. Today finally arrives. I almost tackled the UPS guy when he showed up. I couldn't wait. I absolutely Love the rosewood neck and fretboard. Sounds are out of this world! From chimey cleans to hard rock, etc and everything in between! Cleaned the heck out of it, put a fresh set of EB M-Steel 10's on it and it looks and plays like a million bucks. I can definitely see another AL in my future. I could never say that about the Reflex. Time to start stashing away 20's for the 2nd AL fund :). Sorry for long post but the journey to finding the AL was pretty cool as it turns out. I'm really glad I ended up with this guitar. NOW I understand why some here have a bunch of the same model guitar :D. Time for a few pics. NOTE - the trans walnut color is quite a bit darker than in the pictures.

EDIT - almost forgot - hey Spud, when do I get my ALOC membership secret decoder ring??? :)


View attachment 27712View attachment 27714View attachment 27713View attachment 27710View attachment 27711
 
Last edited:
C'mon Ed...you should know that we love the long stories here on the forum. :) That's great news that you have found the perfect fit for you. The Al HH is an amazing instrument. Congrats!
 
Outstanding....welcome to the club!

As for your 2nd Al, all I can say is .....
MM90 !!!

...only problem with an MM90 is, it will quite possibly knock your new HH off the throne....or at least demand equal time...
:)
 
What's the neck made of? Front of the headstock matches, but can't see if the back is maple...

And, won't give you crap about unloading the Morse - different strokes, right? :)

Kevin
 
Neck is Rosewood. From what I've seen on EBMM's if you see a Rosewood headstock then the neck is Rosewood as well. Yeah - I gave it a whole month to get comfy with the Morse. Just didn't work for me.
 
Disgust, on my part; for not pulling the trigger on an AL GC special like yours about a year ago. I couldn't put the guitar down and it was a killer deal. Congrats edhalen, I definitely missed out. Killer guitar.
 
edhalen said:
Neck is Rosewood. From what I've seen on EBMM's if you see a Rosewood headstock then the neck is Rosewood as well. Yeah - I gave it a whole month to get comfy with the Morse. Just didn't work for me.
Click to expand...

How far away did the guitar have to travel?
 
Very very nice guitar that! You remind me of "me" almost 10 years ago, when I discovered what a great guitar/neck the Albert actually is.
The HH is one I don't have but I have played a HH in the past and it was great.

Yup get saving for that second one!

We've had a run on the decoder rings of late, but one will be winging it's way to you very soon. In the meantime I have e mailed the secret handshake instructions and details of the ALOC meetings ;)
 
I just love the Albert Lee's!!!! They are the best guitars in the world.
I'd really have a hard time to chose the one I prefer.
The two HH are of course very similar. Though the "regular" HH with the coil tap push-pull is a bit sweeter than my PDN2012, which has a little more "bite" to it.
The PDN 2014 SSS is just a killer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Flex Capo
Back
Top