Guitars... what you've got / what you want

$1499 for a USA made semi-hollow is not a bad deal in guitars right now

― Joe Bombin (milo z), Thursday, June 3, 2021 3:02 PM (seven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Ooh, these look nice. Aesthetically maybe a little cooler than the Eastmans as well.

that american flag on the pickguard though, hope it's a sticker

xxxp yeah TGP's ads are a whole subculture of fetish objects masquerading as guitars, where "blue jean" is as commonly understood as "sunburst" in the norm world

most of the time when somebody says one thing is 'cooler' than another, and they aren't standing over two mounds of freshly made french fries, or two freshly baked pizza pies, etc., I assume they mean aesthetically.

and now i'm out for everybody who made fun of my beautiful baby

get em

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a hellecaster just got posted to reverb for $2500
https://reverb.com/item/41180106-fender-hellecaster-stratocaster-john-jorgenson-electric-guitar

does anyone know anything about fanned frets? one of those weird things from the guitar mag world that i've always wondered about and cannot quite understand what the advantage is supposed to be

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/msg/d/minneapolis-legator-ninja-fanned/7328070472.html

Near as I can tell, it gives you different scale lengths for each string. So I guess you might get a thicker / boomier sound&feel on low strings and a tighter/snappier sound&feel on high strings.

I cannot imagine doing that on a six-string because I play very chordally (and my sense of muscle memory is entirely set in stone), but I can kinda understand how it might work on a bass. You get a deeper tone on the low string and the higher ones have more tension for soloing. Like Lee Sklar's basses:

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/F7szuru5EebB2RqD6qAgTS-1200-80.jpg

i always wondered if it offered improved intonation for instruments with extended range like those 8 string basses or whatever they have now

yeah i thought it was related to intonation

but apparently that is incorrect

well shoot

I think I may have slightly garbled the advantage of the longer scale lengths. It is more that you can get the right tension at a particular string gauge. Not that you want the tension to be higher on treble strings. Sorry, I hope that's clearer. If you take the E on a normal bass with a normal scale length and tune it to, say, C, it will be floppy AF.

I gather that fanned frets give you a better shot at workable string tension for low B strings, without making the higher strings sound plinky? Maybe?

Yeah, by varying the scale length from longer for the low strings to shorter for the high strings.

https://reverb.com/item/41269675-fender-performer-1985-gun-metal-blue-metallic-just-serviced-w-case

Awesome looking Fender Performer but good luck to them getting $3500 for it.

Fanned frets are for when your headless guitar is not quite dorky enough.

I stopped at Guitar Center after lunch and they had a Squier Classic Vibe Mustang that I used to try out a Roland JC40 and that was a great guitar for $429 (given today's prices). Almost tried to figure out how to buy it.

waiting on that weird Godin I bought in the other thread to come back from my friend's shop, it's having an Extreme Guitar Makeover

I've been spending like an hour a day looking at fb marketplace guitar listings, this is bad. My bluesdad midlife crisis beginneth.

it’s quite a ride

Guitars I got:

-MIM "Arctic White" Tele with a Fralin bridge pickup, Gibson humbucker in the neck, and upgraded switches/electronics

-MIM "Lake Placid Blue" Strat '60s Classic Series reissue (forget what design year) with *I think* Lollar pickups.

-Epiphone Les Paul Gold Top '56 reissue, with noise-cancelling Fralin P90s and upgraded electronics and whatnot. This one is a real joy to play, and was a bargain, something like $400 all-in (including shipping)

-Gibson SG '61 reissue, which wins for both most expensive and least played.

-Modest starter Seagull acoustic (S6?).

I used to have a butterscotch '52 reissue Tele with Fralins in it that was awesome, but it was stolen some years back.

Dream amp acquired (assuming it survives shipping) - based on the Orange/Matamps of the early ‘70s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZGK2fzAxVM

really really cool although on that initial setting it may be impossible to play anything other than electric wizard riffs

argh i want this https://reverb.com/item/41371998-squier-vista-venus

woah never heard of that

xxxxpost Seagull S6 is an incredible value

it's essentially a courtney love signature model

I have been a longtime fan of the seagull S6. I almost regret not getting one instead of my beater 70s guild.

JIC you have a pretty ideal affordable guitar collection imo

lol, that was the plan, actually!

it is a cool collection of guitars! but if I may offer my contrarian view on the seagull s6, since it gets plenty of love anyway. the headstock is too narrow and then tapers down at the end, much like a toothbrush. a beater 70s Guild is much nicer looking and probably better sounding. The beater 70s guild will also hold value. seagull guitars flood the used markets of every college town the week of graduation. it is the quintessential "affordable guitar that you, a small guitar shop owner, can feel good about pushing on parents buying a first guitar for their kid, who will give up trying to play after a year." I am skeptical of the seagull vibe, pushed by small guitar shop owners everywhere, and repeated by more experienced players in their basement studios. And nobody really wants to own or play one. Your friend will play it and repeat the line from product literature, "that's a damn fine guitar for the price." But if you offer the same friend your Seagull guitar for free -- "please, you like it so much, take it. and play it at your next gig." -- they would politely decline and run away.

I am super jelly of the other guitars JiC listed, and I am not trying to make him feel bad about this one guitar I don't like. It makes sense in a collection that is clearly electric focused.

xpost

the whole brand is dorky, but I have found them to be great to play, esp the s6 folk because I like fingerstyle and they are one of the few mass market acoustics that have an extra wide nut and string spacing

record well too, esp with new strings, the cedar tops they use are darker sounding and don't sound so shrill with semi pro mics that someone like me uses

headstock is ugly but honestly I'm never going to play acoustic onstage

would love a 70s Guild, though if you have way to get one for even close to a used Seagull price please let me know!

fwiw I bought a really messed up Seagull on CL - had been damaged and really poorly repaired - and my luthier at the time remarked that when you take one apart to fix he's impressed the overall workmanship esp for a low priced guitar

this guy doesn't sell guitars, only makes expensive custom built acoustics and repairs vintage, so he has no horse in the race so to speak

I think that's kind of the selling point, isn't it? That as far as budget guitars go, Seagull has a reputation for going above and beyond what others do.

would love a 70s Guild, though if you have way to get one for even close to a used Seagull price please let me know!

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, June 21, 2021 1:24 PM (eleven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I got my 70s guild d25m for about $500 off Reverb - it had a lot of body damage that had been visibly (and kind of sloppily) repaired but it was mostly on the side of the body where it wouldn't be visible to anyone but the player, and the neck/soundboard/etc. were fine. Obviously this was an unusual situation - some kind of repair shop liquidation or something.

xxp Thanks for the thoughtful breakdown and anecdote. That all makes good sense, and I believe you that it's well made for the price. I'm sure you do fine buying one used. I guess the unfavorable 70s Guild comparison is indeed what set me off. Everyone on earth takes the 70s Guild. There's just a thick cloud of positivity surrounding some guitars' craftsmanship, which makes me suspicious. I spent some time hanging around a guitar shop in high school, and the shop was a dealer for a few boutique brands they'd always push. The guitars were very nice! A friend with wealthy parents worked there, and he bought several of them new. The same friend eventually learned that these guitars, unlike the models they copy, quickly depreciate because no famous guitarists played them on stage, no dentists had one when they were younger, nobody recognizes them, etc.

IDK, in college my housemate had a Seagull and I didn't know anything about them at the time and I loved it. That's all, never got any pitch from a guitar salesman. IDK if they "hold their value" or not but they're also not that expensive to begin with? My American strat sells for roughly inflation adjusted what I paid for it, but there were many years when it had dipped below that and only now because it's almost 20 years old has the value come back, is my guess.

And my Guild would be very hard to sell for the reasons I mentioned (same reason I got it so cheap)

OTOH I feel somewhat the way you describe about the Ibanez Artcore series. Constantly hearing "wow, what a great semihollow/hollow for the money!" But they're lame and a bit ugly and there's not that much special about their sound. Ok you can get a "decent" semihollow for $400-500, but why not just wait until you can afford a good semihollow since they're special instruments?

I was eying a beat up early '70s Takamine F-360, one of the (I think) "lawsuit" models. It's being sold pretty cheap because it needs some repairs to its bridge, but I dunno if I want to gamble. What would *you* do, ILX?

Craigslist Seagull you could get in the $250-$350 zone and they are not even comparable to low level new Fender, Ibanez whatever brand that you'd get new at that price, so much better

also in that price range being concerned about resale seems kind of beside point

but really if you stray from big legacy brand names on the high end or low end you're going to be in trouble on resale. on my local Craigslist there are super high end boutique ones that they are trying to sell for $4000 and I'm sure they paid more than that, but no one knows what it is

one of the few mass market acoustics that have an extra wide nut and string spacing

Recording King has some good wide-nut acoustics btw

I think some Breedloves too

oooh lord why do i look at craigslist, no way i can get this but what a beauty

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/msg/d/litchfield-fender-american-special/7348747899.html

thats awesome.

Tune-o-Matic Fenders are a crime against nature IMO.

Fender should do a run of Duo-Sonics with the three saddle Telecastery bridge though.

Mary Kay Stratocaster kinda dig it

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/msg/d/minneapolis-fender-american-57-strat/7352266107.html

It's hardly a collectable but I'm feeling quite pleased with myself, I just picked up a barely used 2012 Squier Affinity at an antique fair for £40, I may make a project out of it and replace the nut/pups/pots etc

love a mary kay