Recent content by TheNewSteveH

I have been playing my History ZSA-CFS (ES335 clone) recently, and I have also picked up a new Gibson electric. (ES195). The History is a relatively cheap guitar. You can find used ones online for around 800 USD. But when I compare it to the Gibson, it doesn't just seem comparable. It seems...

I am not too proud to accept help finding a place that has the ones I need! Maybe the people you know have good taste. I may have the wrong impression, but I believe I have seen a number of people saying the VH1s are preferable. I think the L8000s are great, but I don't have any interest in...

Checked out Alpha pots. I can't find any that fit a small hole AND allow coil-splitting.

Stuck with the Pearly Gates for now.

I thought I'd come back to this thread and point out that this has turned out to be a very sweet guitar. I put a Bigsby and a Vibramate on it. The pickups are wonderful for blues, and the neck is very nice. It weighs a ton, but I got an excellent Levy's strap that's 3" wide, so no problem. One...

I guess I'm stupid, but I already ordered the Pearly Gates pickups. Maybe they'll do it for me. I wonder how many people have thrown out their L8000 pickups, when people like me would have been happy to pay $50 for them. I want to set the History 335 up for coil splitting with push-pull pots...

I guess I'll try the Pearly Gates pickups and see what happens.

I have a Matsumoku Burny Les Paul with what appear to be L8000 pickups. I know most people think these pickups are undesirable, but I like them a lot. I'm interested in blues, not hard rock, and these pickups make some very sweet, hot, rounded sounds when you add a little distortion. Here is my...

I think the 335 copy was a better deal, although the brand-new ZLS was definitely a bargain. Wish I could just walk into a shop and haggle, but when you live in the US, all you have is the Internet, and most of the Japanese electrics over here are beaters. It sure beats paying three times the...

If this thing retails for over 100K yen, I feel pretty good about the deal I got. The guitar I just bought is a near-mint condition ZSA-CFS (ES-335 dot) in cherry. I can't figure out the reason, but someone put it up as a "Buy it Now" for 52,000 yen, so I grabbed it. I got murdered on the fees...

When I asked Shimamura what the differences between the ZLS-90CFS (my guitar) and the newer LPs were, they said:

I like it a lot. The Circle Fret thing seems to be for real, because the intonation is very good. I have noticed that some FGN (Fujigen house brand) guitars also have the Circle Fret system. I hate to admit this, but I like it so much I bought a History ES-335 copy. Waiting for it to get here...

The History guitar I put at the top of this thread.

This one has a sycamore veneer top. I don't know if that's good or bad.

I have already bought my second Japanese Les Paul. I need therapy. A while back, I bought a Matsumoku-made Burny, and I loved it, so I kept shopping. I found a crazy deal. Some guy had a grey "History" ZLS-90, which is like a Les Paul with a smooth heel. It was bought new in 2006 or 2007 and...