Show Me Your Guitars

Otis_FunkmeyerOtis_Funkmeyer 1,321 Posts
edited November 2012 in Strut Central
My old standby, a 1999 Epiphone Dot Cherry semihollow (AKA The Red Destiny):



Very versatile, feels great to play, excellent intonation and stays in tune well.
It was my only ax for a while but eventually the frets wore down and it got other signs of aging so I started looking for a replacement. I've bought two this year and plan on a third. Picking which it should be is my latest addiction.

I had wanted a full hollow body for a while and picked up this beauty used for a great price this summer:

Chocolate Brown Ibanez Artcore AF95 with gold hardware and Abalone inlays:



It gives rich harmonics that you can only get with a full hollow body, and I can even use it with a fuzz pedal without getting feedback issues. One of the nut slots needs a little filing but other than that it plays perfectly.

Since I go to Las Vegas a few times per year to visit my in-laws, I decided I needed a guitar to keep there as well so I can practice. Also, Spidey has been hooking me up with jam sessions and I don't want to have to keep borrowing his guitar. This summer I was out there for a week and after monitoring craigslist for five days I got this:

Epiphone Les Paul Classic with Black Quilt top



In excellent condition and it came with a practice amp, stand, strap, cords, an even some picks so I am all set. So much fun to play. There is nothing like a Les Paul.

Now I still need a solid-body at home, and one with some single-coils. Time for my first Telecaster. I've pretty much decided I'm going to get a Nashville Deluxe model so I can get both Tele and Stratocaster sounds (it has a Strat pickup in between the standard Tele bridge and neck pickups). I also plan on modding it so I can get all combinations of series and parallel and in and out of phase configurations. I see a few used ones in EBay, craigslist, and even the Guitar Center website for decent prices, and I plan on pulling the trigger sometime before my birthday on the 12th.

After that, I need some P90s! Thinking about either replacing the neck pickup on my Ibanez, or going for a Casino.

Show me yours! Include any stories or reviews too. I have also gotten way into pedals so we can get into that too.



- The Lord of the Strings
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  Comments


  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,955 Posts
    My MusicMan...


    Ex-Captain Sensible, apparently. Scratchplate off The Charlatans.

    I am currently looking for a low B again, so in the market for a nice 5 or 6 string bass, with wide string spacing.

    My brother is the big guitar collectro, currently hunting a Gretsch White Falcon. I'll try and dig out some of his pics.


  • RAJRAJ tenacious local 7,782 Posts
    Oh shit... I just unboxed my gear and hung my guitars at the new spot. Pics to come later tonight.

  • skelskel You can't cheat karma 5,033 Posts
    No pix, but a few months back I sold:

    PRS custom 24 in golden quilted maple with bird inlays, 99 vintage for about 5000 of your dollars.
    Collings 99 vintage acoustic for another 5.

    All thats left is a 71 Strat in black and white with a bolted on synth pick up, beautiful tone but battered. Or if you prefer, weathered. Pre-loved maybe.
    And a baby Taylor that is my go-to. So tactile, warm, pure and, well, cute. Dinky even.

    I have some fx to go: a Boomerang floor unit with expanded memory. Such a killer piece of stage kit.
    And a Roland guitar synth floor unit with an amazing range of sounds. Playing arpeggiated chords of flutes backed with vibes is one of the most joyful things.
    Holler!

  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,955 Posts
    skel said:
    ... a 71 Strat in black and white with a bolted on synth pick up, beautiful tone but battered. Or if you prefer, weathered. Pre-loved maybe.

    "Age-correct patina" I believe is the correct expression.

  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,955 Posts
    Otis_Funkmeyer said:
    Epiphone Les Paul Classic with Black Quilt top


    I like that. Purposeful.

  • RAJRAJ tenacious local 7,782 Posts
    Without updated pics:

    Main axes:

    1959 Custom Shop Gibson Les Paul VOS



    Billy Gibbons / Jimmy Page for days

    2008 Bill Nash Timewarp Strat



    Reliced custom strat with Lollar pickups... Dakota Red with Gold Pick Guard.

    Looks, feels, sounds like a vintage strat without the price tag.


    1952 Fender Telecaster Reissue



    Country spank for days

    Martin HD-28V



    Fell in LOVE with this guitar at Guitar Center. Has a tiny hairline crack in the wood so I got a $1500 discount on it! Loud... thundering bass notes... Plays like a dream.

    2005 Gibson Hummingbird



    30th birthday present... Main axe when I play unplugged gigs... Definitive Keith Richards sound... not terribly loud. Compliments the voice beautifully

    2011 Fender Telecaster Acoustasonic



    Bought this for acoustic gigs... The emulator sucks... not a substitute for an actual acoustic. As an electric guitar it is awesome... just had to get it set up because it is Mexican Made.

    Some Basses.

    Geddy Lee Fender Jazz Bass (MIJ)

    Fender Mustang Bass (MIJ)

    and a couple other cheapies...

  • J i m s t e r said:

    My brother is the big guitar collectro, currently hunting a Gretsch White Falcon. I'll try and dig out some of his pics.


    A Casino and a Dot Royale, my kind of player!

  • My brother's brand new Epiphone Wildcat

    It's a semi-hollow but the sides and back are one piece, and are a little thicker than normal. Volume knobs for each pickup, one tone knob and a master volume.

    He gave me this electric-acoustic Mitchell MD-100 CE when my Yamaha acoustic got stolen. What a guy!


    This was my first electric. It served me well in high school and college. Ibanez EX-140.

    (not my actual one, I gave mine away years ago)

    Raj, looking forward to pix of your studio!

  • DelayDelay 4,530 Posts




    I had a really nice Taylor Acoustic, but it actually didn't sound all that great. I'm looking for a nice cheap japanese one to replace it

  • asstroasstro 1,754 Posts
    Cool topic. Raj that Nash is super cool, I've been lusting after one of his guitars for a while now but haven't gotten the scratch together.

    I like simple guitars that I can slam around, so both of my main guitars are Telecasters. The silver one is a 1997 American Standard Tele with a hotter pickup, and the green one I put together from various parts I scrounged up. I took the neck pickups out of both of them because I never use them and I think Esquires look cool.





    The Ampeg amp is the one I use sitting around in my basement, but my main gigging amp is a 100 watt Sovtek half stack that lives in my practice space. I also have a collection of 10 or 15 fuzz pedals that have been built for me by some pretty talented guys, no stuff from Guitar Center in my setup.

    I have a couple of other super-strat type guitars that rarely get played, and then there is my baby, this is a 1972 Strat that I got from a metal dude back in the early 90's, he had tricked it out with a locking whammy bar, mirrored pickguard, coil taps and phase switches, and he even had an extra fret added so he could hit a high D all the way up the neck. I've restored it to mostly stock condition, but it's gotten a little creaky in it's old age so I don't play it out anymore. I love this guitar to death, if I had to grab one material possession before a flood came this would probably be it.



  • crabmongerfunk said:
    Does that sound as good as I imagine? Is that an ES-125? (The George Thorogood Guitar)

  • DJBombjackDJBombjack Miami 1,665 Posts
    Gretsch Duo Jet double cut, with Bigsby tremolo.



    Sadly, I'm selling it if anyone's interested

  • crabmongerfunk said:

    Does that sound as good as I imagine? Is that an ES-125? (The George Thorogood Guitar)

    thanks, it does sound sweet. es-125 (good eye, my firend). my dad bought it in 1964 and it is all original.

  • crabmongerfunk said:
    Otis_Funkmeyer said:
    crabmongerfunk said:
    Does that sound as good as I imagine? Is that an ES-125? (The George Thorogood Guitar)

    thanks, it does sound sweet. es-125 (good eye, my firend). my dad bought it in 1964 and it is all original.

    Wow yeah that's a keeper. I never played one but I played a Godin 5th Avenue with similar specs that blew me away.

  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,955 Posts
    RAJ said:
    Geddy Lee Fender Jazz Bass (MIJ)

    My mate Nige, who sold me my MusicMan...


  • '73 Precision fretless:



    "76 Gibson Thunderbird:


  • DelayDelay 4,530 Posts
    Horseleech said:
    '73 Precision fretless:

    oh man... that's gorgeous

  • Possum Tom said:
    oh man... that's gorgeous

    Thanks, I really love it.

    Let it be known that I do not work it Jaco stylee.

  • RAJRAJ tenacious local 7,782 Posts
    J i m s t e r said:
    RAJ said:
    Geddy Lee Fender Jazz Bass (MIJ)

    My mate Nige, who sold me my MusicMan...


    I put some black nylon strings and a tortoise shell pick guard on mine and it looks totally badass.

  • DelayDelay 4,530 Posts
    i'm after new sounds. definitely want one of these:


    it's daunting, but i'd like to get one of these too:

  • RAJ said:
    black nylon strings

    How do you like these? Never tried 'em, but they do look cool on the right bass.

  • DelayDelay 4,530 Posts
    Horseleech said:
    RAJ said:
    black nylon strings

    How do you like these? Never tried 'em, but they do look cool on the right bass.
    i think it's a cleaner sound. carol kaye / axelrod

  • Epiphone Riviera Custom w/ 3 P90's and a Bigsby Tailpiece
    Fender Acoustic/Electric
    Attached files

  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,955 Posts
    Horseleech said:
    RAJ said:
    black nylon strings

    How do you like these? Never tried 'em, but they do look cool on the right bass.

    They only work on acoustic instruments IIRC. They are not metallic enough to affect the magnets in pickups. I played some of these strings on such an instrument and they were, to me, horribly bendy. Just not tense enough. I don't use a pick though, so they might give a certain ping if you play that way.

    I think I borrowed a fretless P-bass with flatwounds for that gig, and that sounded horrible too. Action was so high, I think Felix Baumgartner had bought it for practice. My fingers blistered to f*ck. In fact the whole affair was doomed. But I digress.

    Anyone own, or ever played a Godin-LR Baggs fretless bass? That was the best-sounding bass I've ever played. Just sang, like Ron Carter on steroids. You could throw it on the floor and it would sound like a Jaco solo. It was reserved for a dude from the Halle Orchestra and was waaaaaay out of my budget. But the shop never got another one in that I could get a deal on.

  • DelayDelay 4,530 Posts
    J i m s t e r said:
    Horseleech said:
    RAJ said:
    black nylon strings

    How do you like these? Never tried 'em, but they do look cool on the right bass.

    They only work on acoustic instruments IIRC. They are not metallic enough to affect the magnets in pickups. I played some of these strings on such an instrument and they were, to me, horribly bendy. Just not tense enough. I don't use a pick though, so they might give a certain ping if you play that way.

    I think I borrowed a fretless P-bass with flatwounds for that gig, and that sounded horrible too. Action was so high, I think Felix Baumgartner had bought it for practice. My fingers blistered to f*ck. In fact the whole affair was doomed. But I digress.

    Anyone own, or ever played a Godin-LR Baggs fretless bass? That was the best-sounding bass I've ever played. Just sang, like Ron Carter on steroids. You could throw it on the floor and it would sound like a Jaco solo. It was reserved for a dude from the Halle Orchestra and was waaaaaay out of my budget. But the shop never got another one in that I could get a deal on.

    talking about the tape wound strings:

  • DubiousDubious 1,865 Posts
    here's most of em


  • J i m s t e r said:
    Horseleech said:
    RAJ said:
    black nylon strings

    How do you like these? Never tried 'em, but they do look cool on the right bass.

    They only work on acoustic instruments IIRC. They are not metallic enough to affect the magnets in pickups. I played some of these strings on such an instrument and they were, to me, horribly bendy. Just not tense enough. I don't use a pick though, so they might give a certain ping if you play that way.

    I think I borrowed a fretless P-bass with flatwounds for that gig, and that sounded horrible too. Action was so high, I think Felix Baumgartner had bought it for practice. My fingers blistered to f*ck. In fact the whole affair was doomed. But I digress.

    Actually, they are made mostly for electric basses, to give a vintage 'acoustic' sound.

    Fretless P-Basses sound awesome, there must have been something wrong somewhere else in the rig.

  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,955 Posts
    Possum Tom said:
    talking about the tape wound strings

    Ah, thank you - And Horse - for clarifying. Yes, tapewounds. IIRC, they play better than flatwounds, sure. I've never owned a set though - and I think they go dead quick?

    I was speaking of the pure nylon things I'd tried BITD. I think Peter Hook may have rocked them on something? You could also get these freaky rubber/latex ones on this bizarre 1/2 size travel bass...

    Worst waste of money were Maxima gold-plated strings. They sounded dead when new and went downhill from there. They were obviously not cheap, I could not get these out of the shop for free. I bunched them up and hung them from the car mirror for a while, which is where they worked best.

    Re: Fretless P. Man, it was like a worse-than-Chinese-bad copy, before like China were even making things. I had to borrow it when all my stuff was stolen. It would break a string on every gig. That probably improved the sound, as it made me play less notes

  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,955 Posts
    Horseleech said:
    a vintage 'acoustic' sound.

    I got quite OK at that thing Marcus Miller does, where he mutes the strings with the pad of his thumb, and plucks with the outside of the thumb-tip. It gives a passable acoustic thud, even on roundwounds.

    I got a good method for getting fretlesses to growl like a thundering upright; pluck the string over the the octave (12 frets up on the same string) from the note that your are "Fretting". If that explains it clearly?

    So, for example, you want to play the low G on the E string, fret the 3rd fret on the E and pluck the E string over the 15th. If you get the touch right, you can hear the acoustic and harmonics come into it. Hard to do on a fretted bass as the plucks usually clatter.
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