NGD Pelham Blue Junior

[brianr0131]

After seeing the pics and reading about the gloss finish on these, I decided to grab one up. I'm really glad I did. The one I got is super light (6lb 11 oz) and the body is one piece.I see 2 very minor finish flaws, one speck of blue paint under clear on side of fretboard, and a small white spec on side of fretboard near 16th fret or so.

The sound is really great. It cleans up nicely, and the pseudo-neck sounds you get by rolling back the tone knob are very useful. The color is really awesome in person, even more impressive than the pictures. It's a slightly metallic paint it looks kind of like a car finish to me.

It's really amazing how light this guitar feels on my shoulder or leg when playing. My Robot Special is about 10lbs so this is like a toy as far as weight goes, but not in a bad way. Acoustically it rings like a bell. There is a lot of sustain in this little beast, that's for sure.

The Obeche fingerboard looks a little like a very dark rosewood up close, or even a bit like Ebony from across the room. I would liken the sound to ebony I guess. I've never been one to be able to guess a fingerboard wood with a blindfold on anyway though.

Here is the Sweetwater link for my guitar and some of their pics for reference. Any pics I would take would probably pale in comparison, especially since it's night time.

http://www.sweetwater.com/guitargallery ... s125710519









If you're on the fence about one.....I'd say go for it! I am really liking this guitar a lot.

[Randy Bass]

It sure is purty! The color reminds me of a Nantucket Blue 1967 Camaro SS. They had a white nose stripe, so you will have to switch out the black pickup cover and pickguard for cream ones to get the full effect .

EDIT- Here is a picture of what I'm talking about:

[brianr0131]

.....and here she is with "Big Sister"

[myboss57]

just

Nice man!! A junior-esque Gibson with a single P90 is on my "one of these days" list.

[Y0UNGBL00D]

love pelham blue. want an EE SG

[brianr0131]

love pelham blue. want an EE SG

Save some money and get this:

http://www.samash.com/p/Gibson_SG%20Sta ... _-49946550" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Y0UNGBL00D]

i would love that. too bad my bonus i get on friday is going to other things.

[nguideau]

What is the radius on the neck? It looks very wide and flat. I love the sounds I always hear out of these guitars, but don't think my hands could cope with the width and flatness of the neck.

[baytamusic]

What is the radius on the neck? It looks very wide and flat. I love the sounds I always hear out of these guitars, but don't think my hands could cope with the width and flatness of the neck.

I really doubt it's really all that wide. Jrs usually have 50s style fat necks or else something in between a 50s and 60s style Gibson neck. Gibsons typically do have a flat fret board radius but I prefer this to a very rounded Fender 50s style 7.5" although I think a lot of Fenders have 9.5" these days. I've found the problem with that rounder 7.5" Fender radius is when you bend notes they often fret out. Gibsons are usually a 12" radius. I think you'd find the thicker Gibson necks easier on the hands. I do at least. My favorite are the Gibsons that are in between the 50s and 60s style. Not to thick, not too thin with a nearly flat fret board. You can get the action nice and low.

[nguideau]

What is the radius on the neck? It looks very wide and flat. I love the sounds I always hear out of these guitars, but don't think my hands could cope with the width and flatness of the neck.

I really doubt it's really all that wide. Jrs usually have 50s style fat necks or else something in between a 50s and 60s style Gibson neck. Gibsons typically do have a flat fret board radius but I prefer this to a very rounded Fender 50s style 7.5" although I think a lot of Fenders have 9.5" these days. I've found the problem with that rounder 7.5" Fender radius is when you bend notes they often fret out. Gibsons are usually a 12" radius. I think you'd find the thicker Gibson necks easier on the hands. I do at least. My favorite are the Gibsons that are in between the 50s and 60s style. Not to thick, not too thin with a nearly flat fret board. You can get the action nice and low.

I have an SG and while I like it, I much prefer the vintage Fender-style 7.25" radius for chording. Definitely true that for bends you are prone to fretting out on that tight radius, but I'm not much for playing licks. Maybe it's just an optical illusion from the lack of a binding on the neck, but the Jr. neck just looked wider and flatter.

To clarify what I mean when I say wider in this context, I mean the width of the fretboard from low to high side, not the depth of the neck from the front of the fingerboard to the back of the neck.

[brianr0131]

These have 60's slim profile necks which aren't quite as slim as you may think. They're just not super beefy like a 50's neck profile.

The radius is 12" like Bayta said. Chording is very comfortable though. Bending is a breeze. 2 1/2 step bends around the 12th fret without a ton of effort. Maybe you can check one out when they hit stores.

[OrangePaul]

Hmm very nice!
I'm guessing the bridge intonation is optimised for regular 10s?

[brianr0131]

Hmm very nice!
I'm guessing the bridge intonation is optimised for regular 10s?

You guess correctly! It's pretty good too.