[MAS4R]

My first post here! I have been a fan of Steve since Slip of the Tongue (my musical journey began with WS 87) and my second kid's first concert ever was Steve's Inviolate tour last September at the Celebrity Theater in Phoenix where he had played with Zappa when I was 6 or so. I will cherish this particular experience for the rest of my life.

Yet, though I am close to 50, I only began playing...last June, yup 2022. And so it was my plan to stay with my very nice Player Plus Fender Telecaster for a couple years and then buy for myself something "special" either a Jem or a Wolfgang as I develop a bit.

Well, I have been very diligent but I am now 3 months into dealing with hand issues, blood tests, ultrasounds, and so on. If I will be inherently limited, I will not be waiting 2 years and I will not be developing an all-around competence but rather I will keep specializing in my favorite songs and nothing more. I have no application for guitar outside of home anyway. I have completed Justin Guitar 1, 2, and most of 3 as well as his Practical Theory 1-5.

Yesterday I took my Boss Pocket GT, Sennheiser studio headphones, a cable, and a pick to Sam Ash and Guitar Center playing different guitars through a number of presets with which I am familiar.

5150 (not a great sim, but it is what it is): 4 EVH riffs
A Marshall-ish simulation for Hold the Line, Highway to Hell, Rainbow in the Dark, Holy Diver, Crazy Train start only, obviously being a beginner.
A Fender clean sim for some blues licks
An acoustic sim for U2's One.

At the end, I played a Jem 7VP followed by two actual Gibson Les Pauls, one Standard and one the GC version.

OH MY DID THE JEM BLOW ME OUT OF THE WATER!!! Any ideas of getting a Gibson LP, always a long shot, are now completely dead. THE JEM WAS PHENOMENAL ON ALL SETTINGS....

I loved the EVO pups as they burned air even through the mediocre Boss Pocket GT simulations. But how do the EVO and Gravity Storm (and Utopia) compare in your experience?

Not asking for buying advice, just saying "hi" and being curious about your tonal experiences and preferences. And obviously as a beginner, a PIA is out of the question anyway. Looking at the JEMs.

I know, me and a Jem would be like a pig in a Ferrari, but bear with me

Cheers!

 

[SkeletronPrime]

Welcome! I just turned 51 and although I've been playing for decades I think it's excellent that you're getting into it now. I'm currently dealing with some health issues for the first time in my life and I sympathise.

I've owned more guitars than I can remember, not with all the pickups you're interested in, but I do have a PIA and I think the UtoPIA are really quite special.

I don't know. The Internet tells me that with my current blood pressure I could drop dead any moment, so my attitude is that you should get the best thing you can afford as long as it doesn't put you or your family in a financially precarious situation.

Have fun!

 

[MAS4R]

I don't know. The Internet tells me that with my current blood pressure I could drop dead any moment, so my attitude is that you should get the best thing you can afford as long as it doesn't put you or your family in a financially precarious situation.

Let's hope your blood pressure gets normal quickly! I could not agree any more. Tomorrow may never come, so I have always tried to maximize the present without, however, jeopardizing the future.

 

[ruscio]

Welcome! I just turned 51 and although I've been playing for decades I think it's excellent that you're getting into it now. I'm currently dealing with some health issues for the first time in my life and I sympathise.

I've owned more guitars than I can remember, not with all the pickups you're interested in, but I do have a PIA and I think the UtoPIA are really quite special.

I don't know. The Internet tells me that with my current blood pressure I could drop dead any moment, so my attitude is that you should get the best thing you can afford as long as it doesn't put you or your family in a financially precarious situation.

Have fun!

Really sorry to hear about the high blood pressure, I hope you're able to manage that successfully. I'm also 51 and I've had my own health issues in recent years, nothing life threatening but enough to tell myself essentially the same thing: Enjoy my hobbies (including guitar) while I can, as long as it doesn't compromise family finances.

I haven't played Gravity Storm pickups, but I do have Evo's in a PIA-style guitar I built from parts and UtoPIAs in two PIAs. They're both excellent, but I agree with @SkeletronPrime that the UtoPIAs are something special. Very versatile.

 

[SkeletronPrime]

Thanks for the good wishes! I’m taking it seriously and hope to turn things around.

No matter what, I’m convinced that playing guitar is excellent for mental and possibly consequently physical health.

Pickups though - I’ve never tried them, but I do like the covers on those Dark Matter pickups. That steampunk vibe is fun.

 

[diablomozart]

i have evos in a jem 7vwh...i like them...i have gravity storms in 4 other guitars because i prefer them...two very different pickups...both articulate, but the gravity storms have a more pleasant mid range and top end so it's quite a bit warmer and smoother sounding to my ears...keep in mind though the evos are in alder and the storms are in basswood...no experience with the utopias so i can't comment on those...much luck with your search...d.m.

 

[JemSLO]

I became a huge fan of Vai with the DLR albums, and those are still my favorite Vai albums of all time, even though I own most of his solo albums. I love hearing Vai with a band and vocals and songs..... Eat Em and Smile and Skyscraper- just a nostalgic part of my life, combined with the Crossroads movie that I used to rent every single weekend from my local VHS movie rental place. Anyway, I have EVO's in most of my Jem's, and through my Soldano's, they cry and bleed and sing like no other pickup I've ever used,,,,except the Duncan Distortion pickup in my old ESP M-II. Was closest to EVO that I've ever heard. I just prefer ceramic pickups I guess, as the Bill Lawrence L 500 XL in my old N4 was ceramic, too, and gave me the same vibes.

 

[MAS4R]

I personally like virtuoso guitar either purely instrumental or with highly distinctive vocals like GC or DLR or Sammy for that matter or Plant (though I am not fan) or Gillan, or A. Rose and so on. But not with commonplace vocals like in the Story of Light. Just my own taste. Anyway, I think Steve remained commercially relevant enough while pursuing his wildest sonic dreams and I am very happy for him because he was such a shining light in difficult for me teenage years.

But I also think that, say, Eric Johnson who is a fantastic musician but lacks any stage presence (happy to see him play 10 days ago) would have been commercially more successful had he teamed with a distinctive vocalist. I think Wolfgang Van Halen should team with a powerful and distinctive female vocalist. I really like seeing potential maximized and there simply is no way to be a top guitar player and a top singer at the same time....

Anyway, that drifted away in a hurry, cheers!