Gergely Kalapis Music

What a find! Another one from Nextdoor. Every now and then I still browse the “neighbourhood market” just to see what’s on there, even though I now have virtually no space for my instruments lol, plus I have a big project on my mind which I might share some other time. So there I am, thinking, well, you never know what you might find. And indeed! The ad for this guitar with the below picture came up about 2 months ago, it was advertised for £50, which is not a bad deal, but I didn’t really look to buy another acoustic, my old Ibanez served the purpose very well since I got it around 2004. I even remember right before I bought it, I did try a Fender acoustic as I was looking for a standard  acoustic sound, something you can hear on Bryan Adams’ “Room Service” album, for example. Nothing special, just a good all-rounder, almost without a personality. I remember putting the two side by side, and the Fender, for some reason didn’t feel as comfortable, nor was its sound convincing, so d...

Just a couple of years ago, my friend, Peter has already embarked on his mission of creating instruments, and his projects have since been some of our most talked about topics. You will find out why soon, but believe me when I say do check him out ,  I have a very good reason to say so. His informal mission statement was “affordable guitars, made for you.” The idea behind it all was the fact that although many musicians have a good idea of what they would like their dream guitar or bass to look, feel and sound like, they are restricted by their budgets and simply can’t afford buying them even from the second hand market. But truth be told, I think the main reason he dived into it all was quite simple: because he loves to craft. His first work was another Strat, followed by a Tele featuring a painting of his on the body and I must admit, even those two were easily above the league of standard entry-level guitars (think of Squier bundles) despite the relatively cheap components. Bo...

This was around the time when the Starcaster came out, and I have to admit I really wanted one. However my collection of guitars already started growing beyond the extent of justifiable, plus sadly it cost more than what I could afford with a good conscience. My friend, Peter of EP Guitars was somewhat of a collector himself before he started making instruments, and at some point had to make the painful decision which I am incapable of to this day - selling some of his rarely used instruments. As we have been close friends since childhood, we played together more and for longer than we have in any other formation, I knew all his instruments and also had the honour of trying out most of them. Hence I was rather puzzled when he told me he was going to sell his Ibanez guitar . “What Ibanez guitar?” - I asked. Turns out he did have one, and even more surprisingly he would have bought it around the time when we still lived in the same area and saw each other often. “It’s a jazz guitar, bu...

After I sat down with myself and agreed “NO MORE GUITARS!” Yes, I was asking for trouble. There is this app called Nextdoor, where you can keep up to date with what’s happening in your neighbourhood (stray cat, dumped rubbish and nail technicians - Wembley top 3), but also buy/sell stuff. I have been looking for bargain buys, but really bargain ones only. This 2006 guitar was advertised for £90 by a chap who bought it to learn how to play, but after a few weeks of self-teaching gave up and went on to play piano instead, consequently it had barely been used. Although I am aware this model has been produced in vast quantities (it’s likely still in production) and is an entry level guitar, it really is more than convincing with solid, round lows and mids, and is quite a versatile instrument and a nice addition to any home studio on my level. There is a bit of Slash's soul in it :) Long story short, you can’t beat a good double humbucker :) Oh, and still can’t find another one under £...

When I thought “I think I have enough guitars to cover my needs.” So what happened was.. I really wasn’t looking for a new guitar. I already had my Squier Strat, my Tele , agreed with EP Guitars on a custom Strat that he would build for me, and bought his underused Ibanez jazz guitar. It may have started off with the rookie error of me signing up to Fender newsletters and regularly browsing different guitars, although the Jag always escaped my notice. When the 60th anniversary series came out, I watched a few videos of it, learnt a bit of it’s history, but that was it. I must admit I really liked what I saw and heard, plus I remembered Kurt Cobain and Noel Gallagher had them as well, but I stayed strong. A couple of days later I required a guitar case at a short notice to transport my Squier Strat to EP guitars for a good clean and adjustments. This happened while I was in Lincoln for work. Thankfully, I had about an hour until my train back home and there was a music shop 4 minu...

I am not going to lie; it has to be one of my best purchases. I have been wanting to buy a Telecaster to get a bit of vintage in my songs, but as I have only been producing a couple or so songs a year, I found it hard to justify the investment. Then in 2012, I was halfway through recording the song "The Chemist" when the signal from Squier Strat I was using went dead. After a superficial investigation I came to the conclusion that something in the electronics must have broke, but the show (or the recording, rather) had to go on. So I went to the music store in Wembley and tried a few entry level Teles, when the chap in the guitar section showed me this blonde "Baja" Telecaster, which was a limited series edition with custom shop roots. I must admit I could then only hear a subtle difference in sound between a standard Player Series Tele and this one, but the chap was selling it quite well and credit to him, he also offered me 20% off for a minor chip on the body (a...