Richard Hawley

Richard made a good point about Gordon Smiths that I'd forgotten; they are a bit titchy!
At least the Gypsy/Les Pauls are. If you're a six footer then you might want to carry on looking, they may sound good and play good but it may well look like you borrowed it from yer little sister.

The Gibson 'TV Special' (which is what they're based on) is a little bit bigger.

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http://www.myspace.com/the56special

5'10'' my olde Ibanez is a titchy guitar but I love it It's my favourite.

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''Rocka-Jazza-Blues-A-Billy''
http://www.myspace.com/dcthecustomatix

Hi all. I stumbled across this thread while looking for a GS forum, of which there seem to be none. I'd like to share a few pics of my GS1.5-40, I had it made a couple of years ago for my 40th birthday and I love it to bits. Its a bit unusual and differs from the 'normal' GS range with a 25.5" scale and the headstock off the Graf model. It has a tapped GS HB at the bridge and a SC neck pickup and is one of only 2 that have been made (mine is the first one, pictured on the website and certified as such by GS . Hope you like it. They do make semis too, check the Gypsy SS and the Galaxy on the website. They also make a thinline Tele which isnt on the site see pics, with a semi acoustic galaxy for good measure

Thanks for looking (PS I dont work for them at all - just a major fan of them)

www.gordonsmithguitars.co.uk

Hi, as it happens I'm a Gordon Smith main dealer, but that's due to the fact that I have owned a GS2 Deluxe for 10+ years now and think they're just great guitars. The model I have in my own collection is rare, in as much as, it's a Californian redwood body. Believe it or not it even smells great and the tone it puts out, is just superb.
Size-wise the bodies are a little smaller than a Gibson, for instance, but only by about a 10mm! The reason for this is that the single cutaways join at the 17th fret, not the 16th, so even with a SC (-60 model) you get slightly more room for your thumb up at the dusty end. The standard double cuts are perfect for high access, they join at about the 20th fret (vs 21st fret on a DC Les Paul), the angle of the join is much steeper on a GSG so it gives you loads more room.

One of the best things about GSGs is that you can define the guitar you want in what amounts to a custom shop. i.e. Wrap around bridges are standard but tune-o-matics cost £21 extra... Etc. etc.
They've really worked out how to make a guitar that has a fast action, a thin body option which sustains forever and a light weight which is appreciated when gigging. I think their own pickups (single coils, P90s and Humbuckers) are all good too. However, you can spec which pickups you want (i.e. Duncans).
It's great to have such a skilled, world reknown luthiers on our doorstep here in England.

Cheers! BBZGuitars

Although I have never owned a G&S guitar I have a few experiences that can vouch for them. Though if I found one cheap and affordable enough Id snap it up.

I was in a band with a guy who owned a lefthanded battered G&S junior style axe. He would always be buying other new guitars and thinking that they would be the greatest, but he would always come back to his original guitar. Eventually he sold off them all apart from his trusty G&S

I think G+S did a semi called a Galaxy. They also did a short run of a solid body guitar that was the same size as a Gibby 335.

The other side of G+S, a Mr Grodon Whitton use to teach at Leeds College of Music on the electric guitar course. His consistent piece of advice he used to give students every year was "Never make a green coloured guitar"

The final word in G+S endorsement has to come from a certain John Otway. When asked why he continued to use G&S guitars, he replied that it was the "Only guitar that you can play onstage cricket with" This being where the bowler bowls a Shure SM57 and the batsman holds a guitar. Apparently Otways G+S guitars have survived many an innings.

G & S guitars are built like tanks and in England too.

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Maker and converter of Sollophonic solid bodied resonator guitars. Guitar repairer and renovator. Guitar teacher.