Questions for ALOC members ....

[JMB27]

What first got you interested in the Albert Lee model?

How has owning and playing the AL changed your playing/tone/sound/style since?

And, what amps/effects/set-up do you find works well with the AL

Just curious .....

cheers always, eh

Joel
p.s. apologies if these questions are noob-ish ... finding AL to try-out before buying is somewhat of a challenge ....

 

[lenny]

When i saw AL playing on Tv i said i wonder what they heck that guitar is.....years later i found an Axis ....which showed me the quality ....started playing Country rock again ...so got an Albert and never looked back ....for me ....it HAS made me a better player .....i took the Tele the other night to the gig ...and after an hour my left hand was beat...and i wasnt playing the way i could....even my wife noticed hat my tone wasnt there ....grabbed the albert ....the cramping went away and i played all the licks and fills and intros cleanly and comfy......it affected me sooo much that i traded away my Axis Sparkle for Another AL.......and i am in the process of trading the SILO Sparkle for yet ANother AL....because the same thing ...it was comfy as all get out BUT i still didnt have MY tone.......why 3 AL"S ...well i like to take different guitars to the gig each week ...and if the Al is THE guitar that makes me play better and cleaner then its gonna be all AL's for me .....i have yet to find something as nice .....My father in law who owns the music Store for 33 years said to me yesterday after playing fenders all his life ...that if he was playing guitar in a band again ...he would have an AL......

 

[Spudmurphy]

Joel
I'd not really played much for quite some time and had always been a humbucker man.

I got the bug to play again and started looking at getting another guitar as my Les Paul was getting "long in the tooth". I also wanted to play a completely different style.

Got looking a Teles with a b bender fitted and liked the idea of noodling around on one.

Then I was in Cardiff guitars and tried an AL for like 1 minute - (as it was brand new and on order.)
Saw Big AL playing one and knew I had to have one.

Ordered my BCB and fell in love with the ease of playing - now able to do things I couldn't do on the Les Paul.

Love the neck love the pickups - then got another AL with MM90's and Rosewood neck.

Played it through my Marshall - nice.
Through my Mesa F50 - has great cleans and turns to a real Blues Breaker with an overdrive pedal would really like to try a BB plus pedal with the mESA.
Through a Matchless - the owner said he had never heard it sound sooooo nice - he has a Tele.

Some are put off by the shape - I'm not one of them.

It certainly raises eyebrows at some venues when you can see "guitar geeks" saying - "Hey look - an Albert Lee" ha! - don't seem to get that response when Teles Strats or Gibbies are unzipped.

Out of my guitars my BCB is my no1 - love the LEAL love the EVH + JP (closest to my Les Paul).
I think through a Z amp it would sound AWESOME !!!

Oh yeah and get a piezo if ya can.

 

[Spudmurphy]

My father in law who owns the music Store for 33 years said to me yesterday after playing fenders all his life ...that if he was playing guitar in a band again ...he would have an AL......

He would be a welcome member of the ALOC

Thought a picture or 2 wouldn't go amiss!!

 

[lenny]

He would be a welcome member of the ALOC

Well if we had a rep come to visit our store i think he may !!.......we currently dont see anyone from the EBMM guitar/Bass side of things for the Maritimes ...but i am trying to track the rep down for the Sterling Line at least!

 

[jamminjim]

In my case if it weren't for Robelinda and Sir Spud I'd never have an Al. Their constant Al rants just drove me like a wild animal out to purchase an Al.

And I thank the heavens for their leadership! Because I got so tired of fiddling with the common named SSS guitars that I couldn't stand them anymore. You pay all that money and get mediocrity. With an Albert Lee you get superior quality, superior playability, superior tone to the bone, and superior comfort.

I do believe I am a better player on an Albert Lee. But then I'm a better player on all my Music Man guitars. I feel better playing them...

Buy an Al, as Robelinda says "Can't beat them ALs".

 

[Smellybum]

Great thread...

I was a solid strat player since 1991 - couldn't see past 'em, I ordered a luke as it seemed a better deal than where Fender were going, I'd bought an axis, and recognised the craftsmanship.

Then I got the chance of a used AL cheap from Dwight Shultz, (Thumbtack) and imported it, and loved it, pretty soon all stats and tele's were gone.

Never looked back, the AL sounds amazing through a fender amp, and has all 'those' tones you'd need for strat tele sounds, it's so much lighter, and although the shape is unusual - I like it - who wants to look like everybody else on stage???

And did you say pics??? -

Here's the double duo - I need a rosewood one with MM90's - spud??

 

[fogman]

JOEL JUST BUY ONE!!!!! LOL!!!
You're as bad as me. You've been inquiring about the Al for 2 years now. And not just on this forum either.

 

[jamminjim]

amps effects set-ups

any amp effect or set-up will be made better with an Al as it's signal generator.

personally I love running my Als straight into a 1979 Princeton Reverb, no effects.

 

[threeminutesboy]

didn't bond with the shape in the begining. heard a lot from Rob and Spud and took the jump

did not regret it at all !!!! same story as Smelly all other non EBMM were sold (Fender Strat and Yamaha SG2000)

tried some Fender relic recently (Gilmour) needless to say I was disapointed 4000 bucks for that guitar is way to much and with all respect to Leo and Gilmour.

if you have that amount of money to spend then buy 2 AL one BFR and MM90

 

[banjoplayer]

I recognized Albert Lee playing this strange guitar many years ago. EBMM got my interest through Steve Morse as I´m originally a great Deep Purple Fan.

Buying one happened after some guys on this forum constantly praised the AL-guitar
Until that I had (for Singlecoil-sounds) 2 part-o-casters, one Tele and one Strat. They´re both good guitars as I used good quality components (not high end, but neat). I seldom play them nowadays as the sound of the AL is so sweet and clear. Compared to the AL both others sound a bit dull

The AL fits to everything I play except the hard tunes (i do not play Country-music nor can I play a single tune of Albert Lee - although I´m going to visit a concert on 26/03/09) I cannot say that it changed my playing but it gives me a lot of joy.

As I´m switching between Morse and AL during a set, I´m using the same Equipment (Crate VC30, Laney LH50R, Tube Works Tube Driver, Boss DD-2, Boss CS-3)

 

[paranoid70]

Good questions. The simple answer to "What first got you interested in the Albert Lee model?" is I plugged one in at Guitar Center!

I don't find that I changed my playing much, but I have only just joined the ALOC a few months ago. I know Albert Lee plays country style, but the AL guitar can absolutely nail those blues guitar sounds.

I basically use the same amp/effects setup as my other guitars. However, I do prefer the twangy and bluesy sounds. It's not light years different from a Silo, but does definitely have a unique sound. I have only had it since December, but I find I am enjoying it more and more and have lately been favoring it over the Silos.

 

[travs]

Wonderful guitars

 

[Spudmurphy]

^
Travs man, that guitar looks so nice in that config.
That neck looks good too.

 

[Sweat]

Well the first time I saw one I thought cool azz looking guitar, bought a couple but did not bond right away, not sure why, most likely because I am the crazy fingbeagle and was still on my search for what I liked.

It all changed when I gave it one more try with the BFR AL, these are tone monsters and it made me a beliver since added my trans orange AL and even added another thats not here anymore, more of my craziness

Get one you wont be sorry, and hey I buy most of mine site unseen or not played first, never been an issue, and since this has turned into post your pics thread heres some to tempt you to make the leap.

 

[MrMusashi]

im a bass player but i had to have a gittar too and the shape of the al did draw me in

same as the bongo, the shapes are intriguing

MrM

ps: a picture from me too

 

[fogman]

I teased you Joel, but this is a cool thread.
I personally cannot wait to own one.

I have a white ice pickguard waiting for one!

 

[travs]

^ Fogman, I have a couple of spare sss pick guards if the white ice fails to match a paint. Get the Al soon you will be rewarded with a fun guitar.

 

[JMB27]

I teased you Joel, but this is a cool thread.
I personally cannot wait to own one.

I have a white ice pickguard waiting for one!

no worries .... yes, I am taking my sweet time ..... prolly 'cause I've been such a gear-junkie in the past coupla years .... I wanna make sure that I ain't gonna be crying, lovin' n' leavin' on yet another guitar ... and then go thru the whole ordeal of re-acquiring or trying to find one to make me happy all over again ..... and, while I streamlined my collection (all I got left in the collection are my 3 Axis Super Sports and a coupla Z Amps) to re-acquire two Super Sports it was a touch painful in the pocket book to pay for my wheelin' and dealin' .....

cheers always, eh

Joel

 

[TonyEVH5150]

I bought mine mostly off of word of mouth advertising. I was thinking of getting a MM-90 loaded Axis Sport/Super Sport, but robelinda (who should be the head of advertising for the AL) raved over the same config on the AL. I did try a single coil model in a shop here in Nashville, and liked it, but I wanted something with a little more bite. The AL with the 90's did it.

I haven't noticed my playing changing too drastically. I have noticed myself using the tone control and different combos with the 5-way, which I rarely messed with.