The Guitar Pron Thread

[dcbc 14388]

1 hour ago, locodos said:

There is a lot to that sentiment.   I just can't get past the marginal return issue.  Especially when you are taking about a teen.  A guy I went to school with given an early vintage strat (pre CBS blah blah).  Even back then it was worth more than his car.  He only got to play it when he went home because it was too valuable to take to college.   He is in a "Dad band" now and you know what?  He doesn't play it there either for fear of loss.  Plays a PRS instead.    Not quite the same thing, but now imagine a teen who might want to drag the guitar to school, friends houses, and later to a dorm, put stickers on it, garage relic it... you know act like a teen 

Now consider the kid might not even play it after 6 months.  I budgeted $600 for guitar and $250 for a practice amp for each of my teens.  It didn't stick with my daughter, but my son is playing off and on and just getting into music.  If he keeps playing and enjoying it a gift down the road might be a nicer American made guitar and tube amp, by then he'll know more of what he wants and probably appreciate it more.

 $1500 for an American Strat and $1000 for an amp is not a huge deal...  but man I got to be true to my Scottish heritage

 

I don't disagree.  For the first guitar, I spent $72.  But it's a better guitar than the price.  I'm not talking about my buying a teen an AmStd or the like.  But I have instilled in that teen the aforementioned maxim.  So for his first guitar that he bought, he bought a 1988 American Std. strat.  He looked at a lot of them and paid under market value for it.  He now has something that plays like a dream (best strat I've ever laid hands on) and that he can sell for more than he paid for it most likely.  If it gets dinged up, so be it.  But he takes really good care of it because he paid for it.  And he won't be putting stickers on it because he knows what that does to it valuewise (and he paid for it). 

 

As for the amp,  I bought him, it's well cared for and I don't think I could do much better for $350.  We'd bought him some little practice amps before that, but they all were garbage and failed within a year.  I might have saved $100 on that item, but he has taken care of it and still uses it. 

[Goredho 17301]

Got a link to who sells that, @locodos?

[dcbc 14388]

42 minutes ago, Goredho said:

It has a more modern C shape neck than 50s thick neck despite the 50s era target.

That was my next question.  Grab that one.  It's cooler looking.  But maybe some bee stickers instead of a sharpie.

 

Edit:  Also, you can get those "Fender" waterslide decals pretty readily.  As long as you're not trying to pass it off to a buyer as the real deal, I think they look better on the headstock if you want to replace the Squier decal (or just go naked on the headstock).

Edited December 15, 2022 by dcbc

[locodos 5329]

5 minutes ago, Goredho said:

Got a link to who sells that, @locodos?

https://reverb.com/item/12596806-ftgp-want-honey-bee-laser-engraved-wood-art-pickguard-for-stratocaster-plus-ftgp-sticker

https://reverb.com/brand/flatt-teknologisk-guitar-products?product_type=parts&category=pickguards

[dcbc 14388]

So she likes bees, eh?

 

 

There's also a wrap for teles.

 

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/dz4AAOSwWelgKIvO/s-l500.jpg

 

https://www.macao.ubuy.com/en/product/4XR41X50U-guitar-skin-axe-wrap-re-skin-righty-electric-yellow-bumble-bee-184

Edited December 15, 2022 by dcbc

[Goredho 17301]

14 minutes ago, dcbc said:

That was my next question.  Grab that one.  It's cooler looking.  But maybe some bee stickers instead of a sharpie.

Yeah, I took a look at some comparison videos this morning.  This one at this time in the video shows (from L to R) the neck thickness of a Squier Bullet, a Squier CustomVibe 50s and a Fender Player.  The Fender Player has the thickest neck.  Wildwood sells the player series and has neck thickness at 1st and 12th frets for all their listings, the Fender Player's are around .83 at first and 0.90 at 12th, give or take 3/100s.  The neck she's playing now is .82 to .88, so the Squier VC and Player neck will both probably feel ok to her.

One thing I think this video shows in its tone comparisons at the start (around 1:40), there is a significantly "better" tone in the classic vibe and player than the bullet.  I also think there's a "better" tone in the player than the classic vibe here, though not as stark.
 

 

Edited December 15, 2022 by Goredho

[dcbc 14388]

4 hours ago, Goredho said:

Yeah, I took a look at some comparison videos this morning.  This one at this time in the video shows (from L to R) the neck thickness of a Squier Bullet, a Squier CustomVibe 50s and a Fender Player.  The Fender Player has the thickest neck.  Wildwood sells the player series and has neck thickness at 1st and 12th frets for all their listings, the Fender Player's are around .83 at first and 0.90 at 12th, give or take 3/100s.  The neck she's playing now is .82 to .88, so the Squier VC and Player neck will both probably feel ok to her.

One thing I think this video shows in its tone comparisons at the start, there is a significantly better tone in the classic vibe and player than the bullet.  I also think there's a better tone in the player than the classic vibe here, though not as stark.
 

 

Stick with the C shape.  I have the U-shape "baseball bat" neck (roughly 0.84--0.96) on my 52 AV and it takes a lot of getting used to, even for a player who has no problem with Gibson 50s necks.  It's thick and wide.  The ultimate solution for me was to switch to 9 gauge strings on that guitar alone, at which point, the hand cramps stopped, and I fell in love with it.  Before that, I was wondering what I got myself into.  I want to try 9.5s at some point.

Edited December 15, 2022 by dcbc

[Deej 76508]

2 hours ago, dcbc said:

I learned a few lessons early on about buying guitars that weren't precisely good and, later, taking a bit of a bath when I realized their quality wasn't what I was after and trying to sell them.  Nowadays, there are examples of getting more for less in the guitar market.  But in the end, the maxim, "Don't buy crap and you'll never have to sell crap," holds.

The lower end stuff is so much better today. Buy a Classic Vibe for $400. If you end up selling it, you're out $100. Buy an American Tele for $1800, and you take a bigger loss when you go to sell. I wouldn't be forking out too much on a kid until they prove they are sticking with it.

[G650 13989]

24 minutes ago, dcbc said:

And he won't be putting stickers on it because he knows what that does to it valuewise (and he paid for it). 

In other inadvisable actions, I also sticker the shit out of my guitars.

3 minutes ago, Deej said:

The lower end stuff is so much better today.

Truth.

[Goredho 17301]

13 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Stick with the C shape.  I have the U-shape "baseball bat" neck on my 52 AV and it takes a lot of getting used to, even for a player who has no problem with Gibson 50s necks.  It's thick and wide.  The ultimate solution for me was to switch to 9 gauge strings on that guitar alone, at which point, the hand cramps stopped, and I fell in love with it.  Before that, I was wondering what I got myself into.  I want to try 9.5s at some point.

Yeah, I'm not a fat neck fan.  Have owned a couple guitars that were excellent, but had fat necks, and I always felt major hand fatigue in a bad way.  Painful, if I played too long.  A thin modern C is my ideal, a medium 60s C is good.  I don't think I would buy anything else anymore.

[G650 13989]

23 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Gibson 50s necks

[jimmyjazz 45512]

Totally agree that you should get her the guitar she reacted to.  Later on, as she gets better, she may value different things, but the whole goal at this point is to keep her interested.

[tbone_ 14020]

Isn’t it funny how things change? When I was a kid, my dad who was actually a guitar player and my inspiration for playing, said no money from me for a guitar for you. You want it you buy it. So I saved and bought a sears special for $89, then a Fender Bullet, then an 85 Les Paul Custom all before I was 17.

Totally agree with JJ, the goal is to keep them interested. But my dad didn’t gaf if I had a guitar to play and I’ve been at it 44 years now.

[DougO 5239]

1 hour ago, Goredho said:

Yeah, I took a look at some comparison videos this morning.  This one at this time in the video shows (from L to R) the neck thickness of a Squier Bullet, a Squier CustomVibe 50s and a Fender Player.  The Fender Player has the thickest neck.  Wildwood sells the player series and has neck thickness at 1st and 12th frets for all their listings, the Fender Player's are around .83 at first and 0.90 at 12th, give or take 3/100s.  The neck she's playing now is .82 to .88, so the Squier VC and Player neck will both probably feel ok to her.

One thing I think this video shows in its tone comparisons at the start (around 1:40), there is a significantly "better" tone in the classic vibe and player than the bullet.  I also think there's a "better" tone in the player than the classic vibe here, though not as stark.
 

 

Just for clarification, the Bullet is not in this video. But it may have the same body thickness as the Affinity, I don't know.  The bullet has string through the body like the classic vibe and Players.

My main grip about the  Bullet was the unfinished look of the neck, almost like a fresh piece of lumber where you could hardly even feel any lacquer. Frets, of course, are a bit rough, but get better with playing. Not perfect, but certainly good bang for the buck. 

[locodos 5329]

So Adorama has a suspiciously large selection of "USED" LPB Strats...   $439-479

https://www.adorama.com/l/Used/Musical-Instruments/Guitars/Fender~Electric-Guitars?perPage=75&sf=price

 

caveat emptor

[Deej 76508]

5 hours ago, Goredho said:

Yeah, I took a look at some comparison videos this morning.  This one at this time in the video shows (from L to R) the neck thickness of a Squier Bullet, a Squier CustomVibe 50s and a Fender Player.  The Fender Player has the thickest neck.  Wildwood sells the player series and has neck thickness at 1st and 12th frets for all their listings, the Fender Player's are around .83 at first and 0.90 at 12th, give or take 3/100s.  The neck she's playing now is .82 to .88, so the Squier VC and Player neck will both probably feel ok to her.

One thing I think this video shows in its tone comparisons at the start (around 1:40), there is a significantly "better" tone in the classic vibe and player than the bullet.  I also think there's a "better" tone in the player than the classic vibe here, though not as stark.
 

 

Classic Vibe and swap pickups. It's what I did and they sounded fantastic and still came out ahead. 

[dcbc 14388]

I just checked on the mojotone PAF pickups and realized there is a 16 week lead time to build them. They putting one wind a day in those things?

Edited December 16, 2022 by dcbc

[G650 13989]

Good grief.

[dcbc 14388]

Just now, G650 said:

Good grief.

I mean, I'm not in a terrible hurry and I haven't read anything but glowing reviews about them, but . . . .

[G650 13989]

4 minutes ago, dcbc said:

I mean, I'm not in a terrible hurry and I haven't read anything but glowing reviews about them, but . . . .

Yeah I feel you. I guess the charitable view is they are really doing a very conscientious job.

[dcbc 14388]

1 minute ago, G650 said:

Yeah I feel you. I guess the charitable view is they are really doing a very conscientious job.

Yeah, they're built in-house, and it's the holidays.  I've gone this long with the 490s and the circuit board in my SG.  I can go another few months.

[G650 13989]

9 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Yeah, they're built in-house, and it's the holidays.  I've gone this long with the 490s and the circuit board in my SG.  I can go another few months.

For sure. I'm still waiting on the PAF repros my guy here is winding for my '77. Roughly a month behind schedule lol. I am antsy to A/B them with the original PAFs in the 58.

[noharleyyet 2835]

Wish I'd taken a polaroid of my first guitar. It was awful but it was all I could barely afford and I didn't know any better. Our lead player loved it and ended up using it while I sang hands free. It was the least damage I could do.

Goddam that was fun. 

[dcbc 14388]

5 hours ago, noharleyyet said:

Wish I'd taken a polaroid of my first guitar. It was awful but it was all I could barely afford and I didn't know any better. Our lead player loved it and ended up using it while I sang hands free. It was the least damage I could do.

Goddam that was fun. 

I still have my first acoustic, which my Uncle gave me.  It's a 1962 Gibson LG-0.  Not the easiest thing to play, the top is a bit blistered these days, and the bridge is hanging on.  But not bad for 60 years old in the same chipboard case.  He also gave me an old 60s Japanese import strat copy with a single foil pickup.  I eventually sold it because despite being cool, it was pretty much unplayable. 

Looked similar to this one.

 

 

My first guitar that I got once I'd been in lessons for a while was a used 1978 Lawsuit Ibanez LP copy (PF230) 3-pickup.  This would have been around 1990 or so.  It's like the one on the left.  Kind of wish I still had it, but I have a real LP now, which sounds better and stays in tune reliably.

 

 

 

Edited December 16, 2022 by dcbc

[noharleyyet 2835]

My first good acoustic on the right, a DM...the 28 on the lefts is gone.

First good electric bought in 84...Dirty blonde Lollars and Gold guard added recently.

 

[G650 13989]

I still have my first guitar, an early 80s Hohner acoustic my aunt and uncle gave me. The back has cracked, and it's definitely not worth the repair cost, but for sentiments sake I plan on fixing it at some point.

[G650 13989]

We also need to have a Tweed Bassman off between @dcbc @noharleyyet and myself.

 

[noharleyyet 2835]

22 minutes ago, G650 said:

We also need to have a Tweed Bassman off between @dcbc @noharleyyet and myself.

 

[locodos 5329]

1 hour ago, noharleyyet said:

My first good acoustic on the right, a DM...the 28 on the lefts is gone.

First good electric bought in 84...Dirty blonde Lollars and Gold guard added recently.

 

I like that you have your own horn section.

 

 

[Celery Man 20873]

my first guitar, the DM on a day when I volunteered to take one for the team and go down to the work room for some time consuming all day shit work

 

[Goredho 17301]

This isn't the same one, obviously, but the p-bass I had back in 1983 looked pretty much like this.  I wish I still had it.

[dcbc 14388]

2 hours ago, G650 said:

We also need to have a Tweed Bassman off between @dcbc @noharleyyet and myself.

 

I just pointed DCBC Jr. toward a CL add for a Bassman Ltd. for $900.  He may be selling the AC10 if he can snag this. 

 

Also, isn't yours an original 1959 Bassman? 

[G650 13989]

1 hour ago, dcbc said:

I just pointed DCBC Jr. toward a CL add for a Bassman Ltd. for $900.  He may be selling the AC10 if he can snag this. 

 

Also, isn't yours an original 1959 Bassman? 

Indeed.

[Deej 76508]

NGD this week.

(Hint: 59)

Edited December 17, 2022 by Deej

[Deej 76508]

Edited December 18, 2022 by Deej

[G650 13989]

Gibson?

[locodos 5329]

Epiphone 59 lp standard is my guess...   heard good things

 

[Deej 76508]

Yep. Epi. Lots of good things. I played one this week and was sold. Gibson specs on the wiring and pickups. Long neck tenon. Just a nice axe. The one I had played as well as my 60's Standard, for almost 2k less. 

 

Have someone who wants to buy my Plus Top Pro, so I figured I needed to keep an LP in the stable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2022 by Deej

[G650 13989]

49 minutes ago, Deej said:

I figured I needed to keep an LP in the stable.

[Deej 76508]

Billy Gibbons, playing on the street in Helsinki, Finland.

 

[DougO 5239]

Stupid Deal of the Day at MF is a Placentia Tele-ish bluesboy in "expresso" for $240. 

[Fastbreak 3947]

Stupid Deal of the Day at MF is a Placentia Tele-ish bluesboy in "expresso" for $240. 

That has humbucker also

[DougO 5239]

4 minutes ago, Fastbreak said:

That has humbucker also

Yeah, the neck humbucker is the version they call bluesboy. The Plecentia models don't get the reviews as the previous ASAT import versions that were very popular. But still tempting at the stupid deal price point.

[Bogeywon 2518]

man I didn’t know this dropped! Had no clue it was being made but dang I wish I had this kind of cash
https://reverb.com/item/61004161-gibson-custom-shop-noel-gallagher-60-es-355?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=6556462740&utm_content=campaignid=6556462740_adgroupid=82353538201_productpartitionid=1898385543298=merchantid=647244256_productid=61004161_keyword=_device=m_adposition=_matchtype=_creative=391635704566&gbraid=0AAAAADRxZYV1gc_tuW10E-MJ8TzJWc8Ce&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1KCt29qG_AIVmv_jBx3afA_4EAQYAyABEgINlvD_BwE

[Deej 76508]

48 easy payments of $214 a month through Sweetwater. 

[Celery Man 20873]

I don’t normally get excited about a Instagram account but I’m going to make an exception here

https://www.instagram.com/p/CmWcNx2OdYk/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

 

Edited December 20, 2022 by Celery Man

[DougO 5239]

I have one.

 

[Deej 76508]

Me, too...

...and count those pickguard screws.

 

Edited December 20, 2022 by Deej

[G650 13989]

I gotta get my Melody Maker back

[Deej 76508]

New guitar day tomorrow.