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Guitar
Username: Guitar

Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Thursday, November 16, 2006 - 5:00 pm:   

hello @ ICW,

i am michael, a musician from germany. 2 month ago, i could play
a natural coloured ES-175 copy called "Bradley" on the headstock and i immediately
loved its playability, perfect intonation, sound, big corpus and the sharp cutaway.

after some research on the internet i found out that there are a lot of 70th
ES-175 copys in the world, but i could not find one in the guitarshops or
from private sellers in my area. so my only possibility is to buy one blind
via internet or find a seller once or twice a year that sells via 2nd-hand-mag
or via ebay in my area = i can pre-check it.

i want to reduce the possible candidates to 1-3 manufacturers ( and yes, i read here
that ibanez made copys without "Ibanez" on headstock for other manufacturers + dealer)
of a 70th copy.
so here are the questions to you:

1a) which manufacturers/name on headstock did the best copys in playability, intonation
and jazztone? (i am not interested in 'collecting-quality' or 'nice-tuners/material')
1b) i am very interested in personal experience: if some one can compare 2 or 3 175-copys
like ibanez, greco, aria, kopy-kat, aztec etc that would help me too!?

2. does anybody know something about "Bradley" - where do they come from etc...?

3. special question: i am playing a GB10JS with nickel-wound (no flatwound) strings = in
a blues/rock setup with some modifications on the volume/tone potis for steady brightness
in sound when reducing the volume via the gb10-knobs: does anybody played a 175-copy with
wounded strings (but 3rd-G plain) and what was it good?

my actual guitars are: 70th Hashimoto W320 Western Guitar with 70th schaller electric pickup;
Gibson SJ200, Ibanez GB10JS.
Gemberbier
Username: Gemberbier

Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Thursday, November 16, 2006 - 5:16 pm:   

Phatphred has such a Bradley. It is identical with the Ibanez 2355m, same factory, same material. Factory was Fuji Gen Gakki, as far as I know.


Ginger
Petruz
Username: Petruz

Registered: 05-2004
Posted on Thursday, November 16, 2006 - 5:35 pm:   

guitar, a friend of mine has a very nice washnurn 175 copy, the J10. it's an incredible copy and in some senses an upgrade of the classic gibson design. these were made in japan in the eighties, are somewhat rare and highly desiderable in my opinion.
Phatphred
Username: Phatphred

Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Friday, November 17, 2006 - 9:47 am:   

Hi guys. Just returned to this planet after a brief absence to see my name being taken in vain!

Here's what I can say about the Bradley.

I have no way of explaining why, but this guitar plays very fast and comfortable under my fingers. Its sound has a very nice chunky attack followed by, some would say, a phat and resonant sustain/decay. When it arrived, it had ultralight nickel wound strings and the ST Gotoh tuneomatic type bridge in chrome sitting on an ebony base. I now have Thomastik Infeld 012 flats going over a William Gagnon solid ebony bridge. I can honestly say it's more fun and sounds funkier than my 2355BS of the same vintage. The tuning heads are much less fancy than the star tuners, but they keep the guitar perfectly well in tune. The only thing I don't really like is the very heavily ebonised rosewood fingerboard, which must have soaked in a large can of boot polish or something just as nasty. The bookmatched flame maple is amazing on what is often thought to be a guitar made in and for a cheaper bracket of the market.

The fact is that you will never know what the guitar is like until it's actually under your fingers and you have tweaked it to your liking. Always a big risk on the Bay, so thank God there were few lemons emanating from the Hoshino factories at the time. I would say that the Bradley is well made from good materials and is adjustable enough to suit anyone's preferences.
Guitar
Username: Guitar

Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Friday, November 17, 2006 - 3:52 pm:   

thanks evrybody for the postings till now.

i just got a phonecall from the owner of the "Bradley" i tested, that he now
wants to sell it. he sends it to me for some rehearsal. if i got it i post
some fotos here - maybe you can help me to find a reasonable price for it.
have a nice weekend
best + till later
michael

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