Grateful Dead Music Forum

Phred's new Ace model seems to be coming along very nicely, I'll be getting one for sure.

Interesting how many Phred guitars get the neck through treatment.

A shame they had to do it their Travis Bean version, too. If they had used a standard Fender sized bolt on neck, it might be worth copping one to try it with an Aluminati neck.

I'm not one who's especially up on Weir's guitars but I do like how they wired the one you're getting. Enjoy it! And please post a review once yours arrives.

Weir’s Ibanez Cowboy Fancy, the guitar the “Ace” is copying, was a neck-through.

Bill, tgo

Jon S. wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 8:25 pm Interesting how many Phred guitars get the neck through treatment.

A shame they had to do it their Travis Bean version, too. If they had used a standard Fender sized bolt on neck, it might be worth copping one to try it with an Aluminati neck.

I'm not one who's especially up on Weir's guitars but I do like how they wired the one you're getting. Enjoy it! And please post a review once yours arrives.

Yeah I appreciate them going the extra step of wiring it up like the original Ibanez, the only are it is lacking in is it won't have the body inlays. I will be sure to post a review.

lbpesq wrote: ↑Thu Mar 18, 2021 12:17 am Weir’s Ibanez Cowboy Fancy, the guitar the “Ace” is copying, was a neck-through.

Bill, tgo

As I said, I know little about Weir's guitars (if that didn't show enough before, it does now ). I was commenting primarily on the TB "copy." I'd have preferred Phred at least were giving the consumer the option of replacing a wood bolt on neck with an aluminum one instead of a wood neck through (versus Bean's aluminum through). Knowing that Weir's Ace was neck-through, though, does enhance the Ace "copy's" appeal.

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Interesting.
I always thought a key aspect of Bean sound was that the aluminum neck housed the whole shebang - neck, pickups, bridge, etc, all tied to the same piece of metal. A Kramer style neck is cool, but I bet it won't have the same sound.

NeilG1 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 7:25 am Interesting.
I always thought a key aspect of Bean sound was that the aluminum neck housed the whole shebang - neck, pickups, bridge, etc, all tied to the same piece of metal. A Kramer style neck is cool, but I bet it won't have the same sound.

You're right but Phred is not in the business of building true replicas. Rather, they build mostly cosmetic copies to a price point.

Interesting how the Electrical Guitar Company puts it in their currently running Reverb listing for their last already-built TB500 replica:

"Only 1 more available, already built so no wait time. There is a company making fake ones with wooden necks? so disappointing, here is the opportunity to get the real thing." https://reverb.com/item/37580888-travis ... 021-1-left

Personally, I don't get why the EGC thinks that, to effectively hawk its TB500 replica at a selling price of $10,500, they need to put down another builder's $789 instrument in this way. If anything, it seems to me the EGC is undercutting themselves by even suggesting they're in competition with Phred. But such is the way of the world.

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More TB hijack…

About a year or so ago there was an actual vintage Travis Bean (I think 1000s) on my local CL at less than half the price of that EGC replica, and it looked really nice with natural finish and in excellent condition. I had the coin but couldn’t justify that kind of money for what is essentially a toy for me. Maybe I should have bought it as an investment, but I think I’d have been afraid to take it out of the house.

Back on topic, anyone actually get much use out of the onboard EQ? Also hoping these won't weigh too much.

wabisabied wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 12:56 pm More TB hijack…

About a year or so ago there was an actual vintage Travis Bean (I think 1000s) on my local CL at less than half the price of that EGC replica, and it looked really nice with natural finish and in excellent condition. I had the coin but couldn’t justify that kind of money for what is essentially a toy for me. Maybe I should have bought it as an investment, but I think I’d have been afraid to take it out of the house.

Well you can always just buy this one, they are only asking $100,000.

https://reverb.com/item/16339446-travis ... t=16339446

Eastwood is building a TB copy as well and an Alembic Series 1 guitar.
]https://eastwoodguitars.com/collections ... jects-list

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The Alembic looks like Carlos Alomar’s Alembic that he played with David Bowie. The six-in-line headstock is unusual for an Alembic. Of course I doubt the pickups and electronics will even attempt to copy Alembic’s.

Bill, tgo

I just checked, the reason the Eastwood Alembic looks like Carlos Alomar’s guitar is because it IS Alomar’s guitar - exact same grain pattern, just different controls photo shopped.