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Valentine NGD!

agt

agt

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 1, 2007
Messages
1,541
Location
The grand Ball room (CA)
My Valentine arrived today. LOVE this one! At 6 lbs 6 oz, it is light as a feather and incredibly resonant. It feels lighter than either of my Majesties. The neck profile is perhaps the best for me of any EBMM I have played, and I have played most of them. All pickup combos sound great, but I am digging the #2 switch position with the coil tap engaged.

I am posting a pic to prove its existence. With that out of the way, I am going back to playing it!

EDIT: I added a few more pics.

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Looks great , I really want to try one of those out. Hopefully the guitar center around here will get one one day.
Enjoy the guitar and have fun playing!!!
 
Congratulations... and welcome to the club.

...wait... we need a club!
 
I have to agree with you on the neck. My Valentine has what is most definitely the best neck I've played.
 
Thanks, everyone!

johnnyboogie said:
Congratulations, beautifully figured neck. I presume the picture doesn't do it justice..
Click to expand...

Johnny, I added a few more pics to the original post that hopefully provide a better view of the neck. The neck is not the most insanely figured one I have seen, but it does look nice!

radrock said:
That's hot!!
Click to expand...

I have you to thank! I was planning to buy one at some point, but your threads kicked the plan into high gear. The sound clip you posted was the clincher.
 
agt said:
I have you to thank! I was planning to buy one at some point, but your threads kicked the plan into high gear. The sound clip you posted was the clincher.
Click to expand...


Now that you have one, do you completely love the tones that come out of it? It's so spanky.
 
radrock said:
Now that you have one, do you completely love the tones that come out of it? It's so spanky.
Click to expand...

I totally agree. I love the bridge single coil. T-style tone, clear and biting, but never thin.

And the #2 position on the selector switch is my favorite so far, especially with the neck pickup split. Spanky and funky for sure. Quacky/clucky also, but in a way that a HSS or SSS guitar can't quite do, so it adds something beyond my Silhouettes and Lukes.

I'm still contemplating the Soul Driven pedal. My only hesitation is that I already have too many OD pedals. I am discovering that some pedals that I had taken off my pedalboard because they were not such a great match for the higher output pickups in my Majesties sound absolutely sublime with the Valentine. I'll have to explore that some more ...

Another thing I love is the neck! Sort of like my Silhouette Specials, but maybe a little smaller. It feels a bit thinner front-to-back, but not as thin as the JP models. Perfect! And this is my first roasted neck, so that is also a source of amazement.

I'm curious if other Valentine owners have kept the 11s or switched to a lighter gauge of strings. I played 11s almost exclusively for a couple of decades, so I am right at home with the 11s (except I put Cobalts on), but I enjoy 10s or 9s on some of my guitars. I may try Cobalt 10s at some point, but the Cobalt 11s sound like a great match thus far.
 
Awesome Valentino! They do have some great versatility. You may not be playing any doom metal with it but pretty much everything short of that you're golden.
 
I went to 9's immediately. iMHO, and people can say I'm nuts, but the difference in tone is so negligible to me as opposed to how much better I play with 9's


What OD pedals do you have already?
 
radrock said:
I went to 9's immediately. iMHO, and people can say I'm nuts, but the difference in tone is so negligible to me as opposed to how much better I play with 9's
Click to expand...

Your sound clip sounded great! Definitely no tonal compromises from switching to 9s. They may have improved the sound. IMHO, lighter strings provide more articulation and ping. Some of my guitars really sound best with 9s, and I string them with 9s as a result, despite the fact that I tend to prefer the feel of heavier strings.

radrock said:
What OD pedals do you have already?
Click to expand...

Friedman BEOD - my new favorite, especially with higher gain pickups like the Illuminators, less so with the Valentine, but still experimenting ...
Bogner Harlow - my secret weapon, not so much for gain, but it makes everything sound sweeter
JHS @ Andy Timmons - works well with the Valentine
Wampler Hot Wired 2 - took this one off the pedalboard a while back, but found it sounds excellent with the Valentine. The blend control is awesome! Back on the pedalboard.
Wampler Plexi Drive Deluxe - very versatile, sounds good with all my guitars
Mesa Flux Five - versatile, mainly used when the 5-band EQ is required
Xotic BB Preamp - sounds great with Valentine
Wampler Pinnacle - knocked off the pedalboard by the Friedman BE100, which does "the brown sound" better, but still a favorite
Bogner Burnley - does the plexi thing, but I have other pedals that do that better (i.e. Friedman BEOD, Plexi Drive)
Damage Control Liquid Blues - long forgotten, making a comeback with the Valentine

and a few others not worth mentioning.

My main amp is a Deluxe Reverb Reissue.
 
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