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

I have:

1997 Japanese John Jorgenson signature "Hellecaster" (heavy as fuck champagne sparkle/gold strat/G&L Comanche style guitar with Z pickups)

― hiroyoshi tins in (Sgt. Biscuits), Saturday, May 29, 2021 8:09 AM (thirteen hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

holy shit, i remember seeing this guitar in catalogs. can you tell me how you ended up with it? i was looking and apparently there are only like 500 of them. also, this incredible fact from jorgenson's website:

Due to a factory error, the total run of guitars ended up with an extra resistor on the bottom tone control which made the guitar sound as is if the treble was completely rolled off. After getting many enquiries about the tone of the pickups (my personal guitars were prototypes and didn’t have the problem) I finally had the chance to compare a factory model side by side to my own, and was dismayed to hear the difference in tone! Luckily the remedy is very easy, just unscrew the pickguard and clip out the resistor closest to the bottom of the guitar and voila, it sounds as intended! Most players and owners by now have already done this, but I do believe that this error initially hurt the sales and image of the model.

Elvis, there is a synth zone thread

- '72 tele thinline reissue c. 2000, natural finish, made in mexico. a few months ago i put the new wide range humbucker reissues in this.

- 2005 MIJ '66 jag reissue in lake placid blue. tricked out with duncan antiquties, mastery bridge, and mastery trem before i bought it.

― call all destroyer, Friday, May 28, 2021 6:13 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

would love to see pics of these.

My main guitar is one of those thinline reissues. I plan on installing those creamery humbucker reissues once the guy starts taking new orders again. A couple years ago I got a Trem-King installed on it, which is a lot of fun.

About halfway through a rebuild of a shitty Davison warlock knockoff I got new for 100 bucks a decade ago. Installed a floyd rose bridge and new neck on it. Still have to finish routing a pool, designing a pickguard (gonna install lace sensors), and revamping the electrics.

I've got one of those short-scale Airline Map basses that Eastwood makes. Love her dearly.

I also have an old beater bass that's a hollowbody with no brand name and scratchy electronics but it was supposedly Jenny from Erase Errata's first instrument so I rock out on it occasionally for the good juju. I want plenty more but just don't have the space in our shoebox in SF.

As for wants, I've never played a baritone guitar but have been lusting after that Ronquillo edition of the Rivolta Mondata and regret not pulling the trigger on it before it sold out even though it would've been a foolish financial decision at the time.

here's my gretsch's l-r:
- 2015 Panther Prototype MIJ (center block, hardtail)
- 1995 Brian Setzer 6120-SSU
- 1979 Chet Atkins Country Gentlemen 7670
- 1963 Streamliner 6103
https://i.imgur.com/M2Ccs3d.jpg
got the three on the right at an estate sale a couple weeks back, all are in ridiculously good shape. the binding is usually breaking/coming apart on a lot of 60s gretsch's but this one has no issues. planning on keeping the chet and selling the other two i think. the panther was my parting gift when i left fmic.

Here's that 80s hondo i was talking about. i cant find much info on it but its supposed to be like a kramer baretta. pulled the pickup in hopes it was one of the dimarzio humuckers that were in some early hondos... it was not. it sounds pretty cool tho. $10 at goodwill.
https://i.imgur.com/gIwMqvW.jpg

Here's my list of shame. I could make excuses for any one of them individually, but collectively? no chance.
1950? Unknown parlour guitar
1965 Sadao Yairi classical
1965 Teisco TG-64 guitar
1966 Fender USA Mustang
1966 Mory Jazzmaster
1966 Teisco TB-4 bass
1966 Yamaha SG-3
1967 Morales ZES-300
1968 Höfner Galaxie 175
1969? Canora MIJ classical
1971 Yamaha S-50A classical
1972 Greco TL-350 (shortscale Tele)
1973 Greco TE-500 (Tele Thinline)
1975 Greco TD500 (Tele Deluxe)
1976 Eston (Suzuki) acoustic 12 string
1977 Greco Super Sounds (Strat)
1978 Fender USA Musicmaster
1978 Ibanez Concord acoustic
1981 K Yairi DY-51 acoustic
1982 Squier JV Tele Custom
1983 Squier JV Strat
1983 Squier SQ Tele Custom
1985 Fender Japan Jazzmaster
1985 Fender Japan TL33 Tele
1985 Ibanez Roadstar II bass
1987 Fender Japan TL52 Tele
1988 Fender Japan ST-456
2000? Epiphone Casino MIK
2012 Fender Japan Bass VI

call all destroyer, there was exactly one of those Jorgenson Hellecasters in a music shop in Birmingham (UK) leading up to Christmas 1999, and I basically went all in on getting it via every family Christmas present I was getting and a 12 month payment plan on top. It was actually reduced to £580 just before I bought it but I guess is worth a bit more now. I remember the other music shop across town also had the blue sparkle Jerry Donahue model which I was also kind of tempted by. It's a little more uh elegant looking than mine

People aren't kidding about the muddy tone, didn't get that fixed until a few years later. Once I had it fixed up it plays beautifully though, so easy to get around.

I believe there may have been 500 in the west and 500 more in Japan; mine is 234

that’s so cool. the thing i read said that there were 500 total with 250 staying in japan but either way, very very limited.

Yah I’d never heard of that looks super cool

here is everything except the FGN which is in the other free corner of the room (also observant viewers may see part of my cat as he jumped up while i was taking this

https://i.imgur.com/lPeyCty.jpg

That’s like the exact jag I’d want

i believe ilx user albert broccoli also has this jag!

Definitely feelin the Jag envy

i think the jag is the one fender model where things like the block inlays, neck binding, and matching headstock actually look better than standard fender austerity.

i was just thinking the other day about looking for like a black/white/black 3-ply guard for the tele thinline....it's a rock machine with the new wide-ranges and i'm not sure if the white pearloid is the right spirit. anyone like or hate that idea?

Just go all out with one of these and install some LEDs in the f-hole

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/5MIAAOSw8Ipcsv75/s-l1600.jpg

lol oh no. i'll be required to join a 5th tier jam band that plays amorphous "festivals"

Black would look cool. Kinda like a tele deluxe from that era

yeah i was thinking of those, and i also feel like i've seen some natural with black hardware 70s strats that are kind of nice

+1 for I would buy that exact Jag

The Jazzmaster I have has a matching white headstock and block binding and I think it looks p great

i'd love to see it if you can post a pic!

i just find the chrome explosion on the jag body invites excess everywhere else.

i do feel very lucky that i snagged that jag. i didn't plan on buying when i did and it was a little more than i intended to spend, but between the aesthetics and the upgrades that had been done it was tough to imagine finding a better jag for me.

Have:

1950s Martin D-18 (inherited from grandmother)
1950s Martin O-18 (inherited from grandmother)
1976 Guild D-25
2015 Gibson ES-335 Studio
1993 Fender American Standard Stratocaster
Johnson Solara (cheap electric I have for weird reasons but am sort of fond of)

Want:
Some kind of telecaster-style guitar, possibly with a gold-foil neck pickup and a regular tele type bridge pickup

Considering selling the strat - I just recently got it back from someone who had borrowed it for years (long story) and I never loved it or strats generally.
I already feel like

*I already feel like I have too many guitars. No way I would have three acoustics but for the fact that I inherited two, and then bought a third because I felt nervous taking heirloom guitars out to some playing situations.

Actually would also love a Gibson ES-175 or L5 type full hollow, and maybe a baritone guitar.

https://i.imgur.com/NHsP3gn.jpg

Yamaha FG 380 acoustic
Yamaha Revstar RS502T
Gretsch Electromatic G5120
Ibanez AS73G
Ibanez TMB100 (bass)
Postitive Grid "Spark" amp

Not pictured:
1989 Squier Strat, Late 90s Epiphone double cutaway Les Paul Special (tv yellow), neither of which is currently in working order.
Vox VT100X amplifier, which is more amp than I need, and I've been meaning to sell since I bought the Spark amp.

Also, a cat.

*FG 830

xp holy shit those martins - I'd love to play one but would be terrified to handle it.

xp nice arrangement and that is a lovely and large-looking cat

If I had it to do over, I'd have gotten the Yamaha RS502 without the tailpiece. Would've been more versatile re: modification. But it's a fuckin tank and I'm sure I'll own it forever.

xp I love the D-18 a lot. Definitely has taken some wear - there's a small crack right by the pickguard, and I had to have another crack in the side repaired. I haven't really figured out the O-18, have not found the right strings for it possibly and don't love the sound right now.

As noted I bought the Guild recently at a cheap price (it had some damage but is very playable) because I wanted a beater acoustic that still had a vintage dreadnought sound - something I wouldn't be scared to travel with/use at a local singalong or a small gig if I ever play one again.

https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--IUxrKZ4E--/a_exif,c_limit,e_unsharp_mask:80,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_south,h_620,q_90,w_620/v1426607907/fwmddtneq7o8pxqlzmqi.jpg

This is the Jazzmaster I have. It's not my actual one, I don't own a barn

I don't think that person does either. That's a set if I've ever seen one.

https://i.imgur.com/8cJAm1E.jpg
- 2013 Jackson Soloist
- 2015 Charvel San Dimas
- 2013 Fender Pawn Shop Super-Sonic
- 1983 Hamer Phantom A5 (with the 'triple humbucker')
- 1984 Hamer Phantom 12 (same thing but 12 string)
- 2008 Fender Jim Adkins JA-90 Telecaster (prototype with block in-lays, MIK)
- 2008 Jackson Warrior

i play the super-sonic and JA-90 a ton, and the charvel quite cos its so comfortable.

That soloist reminds me - I'd also love to get a ridiculous 80s shredder superstrat. It's absolutely got to have the pointy headstock and shark fin inlays and would preferably be neon pink crackle or something equally over-the-top

Monkey grip handle or gtfo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Performer

^^ my ‘80s shredder of choice if I ever found one

I was trying to recall where I'd spotted a Performer recently, and it was in this deeply regrettable image:

https://gayebykersonacid.wixsite.com/gayebykersonacid/gallery?lightbox=image15ci

No embedding, damnit. Gaye Bikers on Acid gallery, towards the bottom of the page.

https://i.imgur.com/Lij63UE.jpg

Jazzmaster w/ my JMJ signature Mustang bass (corny mass produced relic but the only traditional Mustang bass in the lineup these days?)

Nothing corny about the JMJ Mustang! It's a thing of beauty and I treated myself to one when it turned Shell Energy owed me a grand

I got a bit obsessed with wanting a Fender Performer recently. It's the guitar used by Bill Callahan up to and including Dongs Of Sevotion (he's playing it on the cover)

It sounds so good. I've got a set of the appropriate La Bella strings but haven't had a chance to drop it off for a setup with the new gauge.

Was intrigued by how many guitar dudes vouch for their quality. They look proper odd but Bill always wore it well
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqT2djn-m2Q

I apologise for my obnoxious post upthread, I asked a mod to delete it but no response as yet so I guess it'll stand as a monument to tone deafness. It actually made me think a bit, I am wondering if collecting mania is a mental health issue for me. Most of those I bought cheap but I sure don't need them all. Anyway the rest of this thread is cool and I love this site so I will find a way to work on my own shit elsewhere.

Can someone advise me on my 1995 fender strat plus? It’s been packed away since I got a gretsch electromatic and I think I want to put some money into revamping it. I never loved the locking tuning pegs and the bridge is a weird thing with ball bearings. I kind of want to replace them with basic but good components. Anyway I own like 6 guitars and have been playing for nearly 30 years yet still know very little about guitars

xp hi matt, i don't think that's the type of thing that would typically get deleted and speaking for myself i found the post not obnoxious but maybe more overwhelming? like that's a lot of guitars but it's really not my business why someone has the number of guitars they do!

Xxp don't think anyone is offended matttkkkk. Thread is moving fast. Post some stories/details about items in that list though. Curious about the "1950? Unknown parlour guitar", naturally.

People online can get weird about instruments, like it's wrong to own any of them beyond your immediate need to write a hit record. No weirder or worse than collecting anything else IMO.

1976 Guild D-25

my early '80s lefty d-25 is my single favorite object in my life. the first real guitar i bought (used, from some dude in new jersey). i've walked into walls with it, dented the body against a door knob, generally mistreated it, and every single mistake i've made has somehow made it sound better. it records incredibly well. i have a martin d-28 that sounds technically superior in most ways and stays in tune and that i protect like a child, but i'll never love it the same way and i'll probably never play it as much. the guild probably knows me better than i know it, and i treasure it for that.

I've never played an old Guild, but I think I read about some artist loving his old Guild, maybe a 12-string?, and that makes me automatically swoon about an old Guild. Guitar mags + impressionable youth, but maybe something is there.

I’ll post about my archtop, why not. I have a couple songs where I fade up an Eventide H9 on the “Mangledverb” setting and it was always making my Sigma feed back. “Try a Godin,” they said.

So I got this Acousticaster. I fucking hated it. Too light, neck felt flimsy, sounded vaguely annoying. But it didn’t feed back. I took it out on tour but hated the sight of it, it felt like I was dating somebody who wouldn’t stop quoting The Simpsons.

I was on tour in Japan. I was walking in Shibuya. I had never played an archtop before. Sam Amidon plays one, I looked it up after seeing him live, it’s some kind of an L6 or whatever, so I knew what they were. I walked in to Walkin. I wasn’t even planning on it, I literally just saw the place as I was walking by and though “ooh a guitar store”. They stock Westville guitars, almost all new stock, and a cheaper factory-made line called “Archtop Tribute”.

I didn’t know anything about electric pickups. I played every guitar in that store. I got to their Archtop Tribute ES-350 clone, it had a single P90 on it. I fell in love. I bought it on the spot.

I didn’t know about humbuckers or Charlie Christians or anything. Over time I started to realize the drawback of a P90– the hum. I thought about getting a second pickup installed, for the phasing trickydoodle, but I play fingerstyle, and I had been told (and had noticed) that you lose your transients when you do that. So I frittered away wondering how on earth I was going to solve this problem and then bit the bullet and bought a Kinman and my friend Andy installed it and it sounds so fucking good.

I wish Archtop Tribute would make more 350s! I follow them and look at all the axes that come out of their factory. Really good price for those guitars.

that's awesome thanks for all that info, i do want a small body guitar i should keep an eye out for a sigma

i've always been skeptical of noiseless pickups and i have no idea why i am

Yeah, I spent a good two years trying to find “the perfect cheap acoustic” and Sigma won by a mile. But I play small body and prefer mahogany, so my range of choice is pretty small

And weirdly, regarding the Kinman? I was so stressed. I spent three weeks trying to figure out what the hell I was gonna do. Emailed the guys in Shibuya. Consulted all these different guitar techs. Went to the antique store and tried a bunch of other archtops with other pickups. I even was trawling through Internet Archive stuff trying to find more information on other Archtop Tribute models.

After a thousand hours of reading forums and subreddits I saw somebody post “just buy a Kinman”. It had to be a blind buy, I didn’t know anyone who had one. I bought it. Definitely it is in my top five most successful blind buys of all time. Sounds fantastic.

loved those stories - and I am a sucker for people gifting instruments, a beautiful and selfless act. Giving an artist a voice? Gets me everytime. I gave both my daughters nice electrics for their 18th birthdays and I get such a rush hearing them play and enjoy them.

Gave my friend's son my Boss Katana when he started playing before COVID, he's still using it onstage with his psych band. Which is good because at the clubs they're playing it's only a matter of time before someone breaks into their hand me down van.

I love my Kinman Jazzmaster pickups, completely noiseless but still 100% JM pickups.

Ah! There you go. Yay for Kinman

Yeah I briefly had a MIJ JM with a Kinman prototype in the bridge, it was a wonderful pickup, all that top end glass and husk.

do triple p-90 guitars do the out of phase thing strats do? I had a firebird with that config like 10 years ago and don't remember it. on the other hand, I didn't really play clean tones at the time so I'm not even sure I checked.

my guitar is the same but i got a yamaha desktop amp that is keeping my still new-seeming casino very amusing. i know it's ot, but it is guitar adjacent at least. my bad chords now have new fiddly dimensions.

I tried a triple P90, sounded great to me. I was told that the disadvantage to “more pickups” is that it’s more magnets dampening the string resonance. I did notice this! Still sounded great.

Jazzmaster pickups look like P90s, and apparently “are very different”, but they sound v similar to my ears, the couple times I’ve had the joy of playing one

milo, syd's esquire was an opaque blonde finish originally, and he covered it in mylar sheets to make it silver and added the mirrored discs.
he probably chose the blonde enquire because of the similarity to Steve cropper's telecaster.
I think a more fitting tribute would be to take a guitar you already have that is associated with another player you admire and decorate it with found materials to divorce it from that association, y'know?

Has anyone bought guitar's at estate sales? Not sure if I should get overhyped but there's an estate sale from a lower-budget instrument collector and one of the items is a Telecaster Nashville Power Deluxe electric guitar w/ Fishman PUP. I don't know what a Fishman PUP is, but I've wanted a tele for a while now. Hoping I can get it for a couple hundred. it's hard for me to justify buying another guitar on-site if I'm not getting a sweet deal

Piezo bridge so you can sound like the worst acoustic guitar on Earth.