Foggy Notion

I'm also a fan of the Italian at Home Slice, but lately I've been getting the chicken parmesan sandwich there. It's heavy, but really good. My other favorite in town is the Chicago-style Italian beef at Tucci's SouthSide Subs. Slow cooked roast with banana peppers, provolone and au jus.

Damn. I could stare at that all day.

Do it. My girlfriend is from NOLA so we make a couple trips there a year. We're actually heading there the day after Thanksgiving. City Park is another place to take the kids. If you're gonna be there through Thanksgiving weekend, you can catch Celebration in the Oaks which is like their version of Trail of Lights. If the weather is decent, drive a few minutes out to Marrero or Slidell and take a gator swamp tour. We did that on one of our trips and the kids had fun. I second the zoo and the aquarium, too.

I've never been a PRS guy myself NTTAWWT. There's not much official info on these, but the story is that Gibson was planning to put out a line of guitars called the Nouveau in 87. They were to be milled in Japan then sent to the US for assembly and finishing so they could put Made in the USA on the headstock. Those plans got scrapped, and instead Gibson decided to mill them in Korea and release them as Epiphones. Some people think they were assembled in the US, but others believe they were totally made in Korea. They were made for less than a year and then production stopped. There's some speculation that PRS had threatened to sue. Most of these were made with Steinberger tremolos and locking nuts, which was a poor design that broke easily. Gibson had just recently bought Steinberger, so the trem units were probably leftover parts Gibson wanted to use. Some believe the three-piece mahogany neck thru bodies on these were also leftover Steinberger parts. This one came with a Strat style bridge that they switched to shortly before ending production. The fretboard is ebonol, which is a synthetic material kinda like what bowling balls are made of. Here's a shot of the back and the headstock. I can post more pics if there are any other parts yall want to see.

Speaking of short-lived guitars from the 80s, yall ever seen one of these? 1988 Epiphone Spotlight

I finally figured out the mystery Gibson case. It's for an early 80s 335-S, which was a solid body shaped like a 335, but a little smaller. I'd never heard of this guitar before. Here's a link to one that I found online that has a buncha pics including one of the empty case which is exactly like mine: https://www.chicagomusicexchange.com/listing/gibson-335-s-professional-deluxe-sunburst-1980-s544/11012854

The ad says they were posted 27 days ago. Before I posted the link this morning, I emailed the guy to make sure they are still available. Just cuz sometimes people forget to take down their ad after selling an item. The owner responded quickly to my email and said they're still available.

Gasman, are you opposed to buying used? Here's a 3-piece satin black Renown shell pack in your area for $749 - less than the price of a new Catalina shell pack. I understand wanting to maybe buy a new kit since it's a Christmas present and all, but this is a lotta bang for your buck and something you won't lose money on if he loses interest. https://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/msg/d/gretsch-renown-maple-3-piece/6716542942.html

Congrats Harley. I've never played a Collings, but that looks like a fine guitar right right there.

If you read the back and forth on Twitter, it's clear that Tope is talking about Acho, saying he comes to their practices and acts cool and friendly to their face but trashes them behind their backs (on Twitter).

I'll take one and post it when I get home in a bit. That looks very similar.

Interdasting. I'm gonna see if I can find the specs on that guitar, compare it to the case and report back. Thanks Deej.

It's a Gibson case, probably from the 70s. I just tried to put my Epiphone Riviera, which is the same body size as a 335 with a slightly longer headstock, in the case. It's too wide to fit in there. Sorry for the poor lighting in this pic.

Yup, this is the main guitar I used in your studio back in 95? 96? I think I also had an old Alamo Fiesta that was only good for tracking feedback haha. I'm hoping you guys can help me solve a little mystery. When I bought this SG Jr., I asked if it came with a case. The guy at the shop said it didn't come in to the shop with a case, but he found a case in the back that would work and included it in the deal. What kind of guitar do you think this case was made for? Check out this pic again and see how the case doesn't fit the contours of the SG. A few months ago I was guitar-sitting for a friend while he was getting his floors done in his house, and I tried his Les Paul in the case. Didn't fit.

This is the original pickup on my 1969 SG Jr. I paid $300 for it at a small guitar shop in Nacogdoches in 1993. It had a repaired headstock crack when I got it that remained stable over the years despite not treating her as well as I shouldve. Last year I had a new bone nut installed, had the frets gone over, had the crack resealed and setup done. More pics coming...

Y'all want some P90 p0rn? I'm bored on a Friday night and I just learned how to post pics on here. And I don't think I've properly shown on this site the first electric guitar I ever bought. Hold on brb...

I didn't get to meet the owner's wife because I bought the Tele from a guy who is a friend of the family, but I spoke to her briefly on the phone when I bought it. She said she has several photos of the Tele over the years, including one of it on stage with Buck Owens at a show in San Angelo. I might take a drive and go visit her so I can get copies of the photos. If anyone is interested in reading an article I found online about the owner, shoot me a PM and I'll send you the link. Out of respect for him and his wife, I'd rather not post it publicly.

That's awesome, Mojo. I haven't played much with others since I had kids, but I'm starting to get that itch. Deej, here are some more pics of the Tele neck. You can see where the original owner carved his initials BR into the back of the neck.

Yeah man, for sure. I'll take some more pics and post em. Let me know if there's any specific parts of the neck you want me to focus on. I ended up reading a bunch about the maple Tele necks that Fender made in the late 60s while I was researching this guitar. They made a two piece maple cap neck and then a solid one piece maple neck with a skunk stripe. Mine has the one piece. The two piece maple cap necks made in 68 and early 69 are highly sought after just cuz there weren't that many made and some guys like the look of all maple on the back of the neck and no truss rod plug on the headstock. I can post some examples if that doesn't make sense.

I thought this was pretty cool. The original Fender luggage tag was in the case.

I'm pretty happy with it as is, but I'll probably make a few cosmetic changes myself. I might try to find an original set of knobs and a control plate or go with a relic repro set so they'll more closely match the patina of the bridge which I believe is original. I also want to replace the pickguard. The original pickguard was likely 3-ply with white on top, black in the middle and pearloid on the bottom. There's an original one right now on Ebay for $400 haha. I like black but it needs to have that little notch by the truss rod, and I want to mount the neck pickup on the body like it was originally so you don't see the height adjustment screws on the pickguard. Like I said, nerding out...

It was obvious that the guitar had been modified, but since the owner had passed, it was impossible to ask him about the mods he had done over the years. There was some paperwork from an appraisal that was done about 10 years ago and documentation of the nitro refinish. The first thing I noticed when I first saw it in person was that there had been some small holes drilled on the top behind the bridge. The holes were filled when it was refinished. I thought at first that maybe it originally came with a Bigsby. I later realized it would've been a toploader if the Bigsby was original. This one strings through the back, so I believe the Bigsby was added and then removed. Paint in the neck pickup cavity indicates it was probably Olympic White originally which is what the owner's wife recalls. It also looks like it might've been painted black at one time. She didn't remember it ever being black but admitted that he was always messin' around with it so it could've been. Some pickup routing that was filled and repaired when it was refinished. Here's a shot of the neck heel date stamp in green ink which uses a format that Fender used for a year or two starting in mid-1969. The 3 means it's a Tele neck. 129 indicates Dec 1969. B is the neck width code. The other three numbers might be a batch code. I think it might've been re-fretted and had the fretboard resprayed at the same time. I'm thinking the pickups that are in it are a set of Fender American Vintage 52 reissues. The extra SD bridge pickup it came with was in the box for the Fender set.

Thanks guys. If yall wanna nerd out on this guitar, I'll post some more detailed pics including the neck heel, pocket and under the hood. I'm still not sure what kind of pickups are in here, still haven't taken off the control plate either. Looking forward to spending some time with this one.

Yup, that's the one, Deej.