The Ones That Got Away

Pawn Shop Find of the Month

2011-12-16T08:52:00.000-08:00

As always, I am on the lookout for cool stuff at pawn shops, thrift stores, swap meets and anywhere else I happen to be poking around. I am not a diehard, every day junk picker, but if I see a good spot and I have time I will definitely pull in the parking lot and see what's lurking in the corner somewhere. Quite awhile back I posted a story about finding a seriously beat up vintage Yamaha FG-160 at a local thrift store for $25. After cleaning it up and fixing a few things, it turned out to be an amazing sounding guitar.

Well, fast forward to this past weekend and, after walking into a local pawn shop, the first thing I spied was an old Yamaha looking right at me...calling my name. I walked over and picked it up and, sure enough, it was another one from the early '70s. A very rare and very high quality Yamaha FG-450. I didn't really realize just how nice it was at first...I was too busy finding an employee to get a price. The lady informed me that it also came with it's very nice original hard case. We did a little haggling and eventually I walked out the door with my new baby. Maybe the best $130 I've spent on any musical item. Yep, that's right...only $130. A true bargain.

My original intention was to get it home, put some new strings on it, and sell it on Craigslist for a decent profit. However, after restringing and sitting around playing it for awhile, it became more and more obvious that this guitar wasn't going anywhere. What a beauty! The sound rivals any of the finer acoustics I own or have owned in the past. This just might be, dollar for dollar, the best guitar I've come across. I say dollar for dollar because I am lucky enough to own a really nice, expensive handmade acoustic that just can't be beat. But I paid dearly for that guitar and it will be with me 'til I'm a goner. But for the money, this FG-450 is one heck of a guitar.

I should add a few details here: this guitar features a spruce top with jacaranda back and sides with a mahogany neck, and has an ebony fretboard and bridge...all this according to the Japanese Yamaha instrument website. The site is mostly in Japanese but you can figure it out and find what you are looking for.

The great thing about these old Yamahas is that they really did a great job with the serial numbers and records. It was super easy to find out that this guitar was made on June 20th, 1972 at the famous Nippon Gakki factory in Japan and was the 350th guitar that the factory built that day. Love it. Try getting that accurate on most any other vintage guitar and you'll be out of luck.

Prior to finding that old FG-160, I had no idea that these old FG's have quite the cult following in the guitar world. I was at home with this FG-450 and thinking that there was no way I was going to sell, but making myself list it on Craigslist anyway just to gauge the interest. The first email I got about it was from an FG collector who let me know how rare this model is and how badly he wanted it...if only he had the extra cash. I'm glad he didn't because I probably would have ended up selling it for a little extra Christmas money and regretted it later. After a couple of other emails from interested folks I took the ad down, wrote back to them and told them I had changed my mind. This one is staying with me...at least for now. I have learned to never say never when it comes to guitars, but I have a feeling this one will be with me for awhile.
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Vox AC15 CC1 Amplifier

2011-06-07T20:14:00.000-07:00

Haven't written in awhile, but I've got a few things to add lately. This first one is a little amp that sounds so good, I've saved the guy's email and phone number that I sold it to so I can maybe buy it back some day. It's a Vox AC15 amp, which is commonly known as the little brother to the legendary Vox AC30. This is the CC1 model, which stands for Custom Classic. It's a reissue that was made sometime in the double oughts...otherwise known as the 2000s. I found this amp listed on Craigslist for $400 and that's what I paid for it. Worth every dime. It was owned by an officer in the military. I live very near Camp Pendleton in Southern California, and many times guys in the military will get shipped out or get out of the military and move back home and they don't want to take extra gear with them. You can find some good deals without taking advantage of our brothers in the service.

This guy was extremely nice and was bummed that he was moving. He had raised his family...wife and two kids...right here in the area while stationed at Camp Pendleton, and was very unexpectedly reassigned to somewhere in Texas. He didn't want to have to move the amp, so Craigslist was the answer. The price was very fair and I was happy to get such a great little amp. These things put out only 15 watts of tube power, but it was nice and loud for only 15 watts. I had the opportunity to use it when I opened up for Chris Shifflett of the Foo Fighters when he was on tour with his band the Dead Peasants, and it really filled the room. The sound was fantastic and I had a few people actually ask me what I was playing through.

One thing I will mention about this amp is that, when I first got it, I was pretty disappointed with the reverb.

I'm a Fender geek and this was not up to standards. I found the correct Accutronics brand replacement for the reverb tank and made the switch...super easy to do. And boy howdy did it improve the sound. All the difference in the world. Plus, I put the Vox reverb tank on eBay and got most of my money back. Sweet. I don't have a great photo of this amp, but you get the idea. I would really recommend this amp to anyone looking for a smaller size amp, with one 12" speaker and not so much volume that it alerts the neighbors.
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UPDATE: Well, here is a happy update to this story. A few months have gone by since I sold this amp and I have regretted it ever since. I started putting a few pennies away to get another one at some point and started keeping an eye on Craigslist. Lo and behold, I happen across an ad that has a Vox AC15 for sale. I clicked on the ad and it was MY old amp. The guy that had bought it was in the military (ironic, since I originally bought it from a military guy) and he found out he is about to get discharged. He decided to sell the amp rather than take it home with him. I recognized his name and shot him a quick email. I would have the money in three days if he could just hold onto it for me. He agreed and the rest is history. I have my own amp back and it still sounds extra fine. Pretty pleased about this one.
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Unknown Vintage Lap Steel

2010-10-22T22:17:00.001-07:00

This is a really cool vintage lap steel guitar that looks to be home made...in every single aspect. Not only is every part of the body hand made, but even the pickup and pickup cover were probably put together from scratch in someone's garage a long time ago. Oh, and the case is also home made with some really nice hand painted flower motifs. Yep, this is one very cool instrument.

Much like the pedal steel guitar I most recently wrote about, I found this instrument in a pawn shop while I was driving across the country on vacation. My goal was to find a few instruments along the way that I could bring home and sell for a profit. I really thought this one was going to be more profitable than it turned out to be, but you can't win them all. I did turn a profit, but not a huge one.

I found this lap steel as I was driving down Main Street in Henryetta, Oklahoma...which also happens to be my parents' old hometown.

I was headed to the home of an old friend of my father's and missed the turn. Glad I did. As I was craning my neck, trying to read the street signs I passed the pawn shop. Looked almost empty to be honest. But right there in the window was this lap steel. Seven string lap steel to be exact. I went inside and inquired about the $175 price tag and the haggling began. We ended up at $120 and were both happy with that. I pulled out my credit card and was told "cash only." Luckily I had a few bucks on me and the deal was done. As we chatted about how unique this lap steel was we discovered that the owner of the shop knew my parents from way back when. How cool is that? He showed me another lap steel that was still in pawn that was really cool as well but just not for sale yet. Wish I could go back for that one.

So as far as I can tell, this lap steel is made of solid mahogany, has seven strings, all the parts are hand carved or cut, and the designs on the lap steel itself are old water decals. There is a 1/4" jack on the very end and no volume or tone knobs. I guess you just have to use a volume pedal. The case was also hand made and the artwork on the case was all hand painted. Very nice slice of Americana really. The old Stevens slide bar and metal fingerpicks were also included.

I put it up for sale on eBay and it sold for only $175. I have to admit I was a little disappointed...almost wish for that price I had kept it. But that's not why I bought it in the first place...I have learned my lesson about lap steels. I always think I want one and then, once I buy one, I realize I have no business trying to play it. I'm glad someone got such a cool instrument for their collection. I hope they enjoy it as much as I did in the short time I had it.
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Beck Musical Instruments Pedal Steel Guitar

2010-10-06T20:10:00.000-07:00

Hey, it's been awhile but I've got some new stuff to write about. This first one is actually still in my possession (but it's for sale...let me know if you are interested). I decided awhile back that I would love to just hop in the car and go on vacation and stop where I pleased, sleep wherever I ended up, and of course, look for stray guitars that need a new home. Somehow I talked my employer into letting me take two weeks off all together and I made arrangements for the kids with the ex and all that stuff. Finally the day came and off I headed in my mini-van...headed towards the midwest to meet up with old friends and have some fun along the way. I live in the San Diego area, so anywhere is a long drive. I played a breast cancer benefit show on Sunday afternoon and then hit the road on Sunday evening, driving until 3:00 AM. I pulled into a truck stop and climbed into the back of my van with a pillow and sleeping bag and got some sleep.

When I woke up it was around 8:00 AM and quickly got it together and hit the road again. The first town I came to was Las Cruces, NM. I drove around looking for a pawn shop or music store and finally came across a pawn shop on the corner. I went in and there wasn't much to look at. I asked the guy if there was another pawn shop in town and he pointed me in the right direction, saying that they owned the other too. I kind of figured that meant they wouldn't have much there either, but I was mistaken. As I walked through the door in pawn shop number two, the very first thing I spied was a dirty, dusty pedal steel guitar. They didn't have it put together correctly, but it appeared to all be there. I looked at the price sticker and it said, "Mexican Fender Telecaster $999."

Hmmmm. They didn't even really know what they had. I played dumb too.

"Hey, what's this thing with 10 strings?" The guy said it was a pedal steel and I sort of pretended to maybe kind of know what that was. I told him it looked interesting to mess around with but not for a thousand bucks. He asked how much I'd be interested in paying. "Oh, maybe more like $300." I figured he'd say no way and I'd be on my way. I only had about $500 to spend on fun stuff on this trip and $300 would take up a big chunk on day one. He hollered back, "Okay, we can do $300."

Oh shit. I asked if that could include tax and everything. $300 out the door? "Sure." Well, now I better figure out if this thing is worth it. I told him I needed to go outside and call my wife and see if I could spend that much. I don't have a wife by the way. I started frantically looking on my phone internet for Beck Musical Instruments. I'd never heard of that brand before. I found their website and sure enough, the cheapest instrument they make sells for $2875 and another $350 for the case. I'd say this thing is a bargain and although it's the first day of the trip, I should go ahead and get it.

I walked back in and said, "Well, the wife won't really go for $300 but I talked her into $250. Any chance we could do it for that?" Nope. He won't go that low. As I'm negotiating I look over and on the pawn shop TV is that show, American Pickers. Guys literally doing exactly what I'm doing right at that moment. I was inspired and I said I guess I'd just have to pass at $300. He told me to come back if I changed my mind. I told him I was on the road and wasn't planning to be back in Las Cruces in my lifetime. To my surprise he said, "Awww, okay. We'll do it for $250 plus tax." Sweet. We basically met in the middle once the tax was added up. I took the thing apart and put it in the case before he had time to actually look the thing up and figure out how much it's worth.

I headed out the door and struggled to get it in the back of the van. Damn, those things are heavy. If you play pedal steel I admire you my friend. Carrying a pedal steel AND an amp and whatever else you need to a gig has got to be puttin' muscles on you. After my trip was over I headed on over to the world famous Buffalo Brothers Guitars and had my friends take a look at it. We got it all put together and their resident pedal steel guru Rick put it through it's paces. Very nice! So these things are heavy and incredibly complicated to play. He gave me the scoop on it, telling me I had found a really nice single neck, 10-string pedal steel made by Beck Musical Instruments, which was originally founded by pedal steel Hall of Famer Zane Beck. Zane was the first to incorporate knee levers into his instruments and now they are pretty standard issue. This particular steel has 3 pedals and 4 knee levers. What we couldn't decide was whether it had started life as a double neck or a single neck. It has the padded arm rest where a second neck might be, but I believe this came from the factory this way. The pickup sounded great and was clean...no scratchiness...especially for how dusty it was when I found it.

So, it's currently sitting in my living room and I suppose I could hang on to it just to mess around with. But I think I am going to sell it for a fraction of what it's worth, but still a profit to me. Someone is going to want this nice pedal steel at a great price. It just might not be right away. San Diego isn't exactly a pedal steel capital. If you are interested let me know.
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1964 Epiphone Frontier Rope & Cactus FT110

2010-05-21T22:11:00.000-07:00

It is with GREAT sadness that I report the departure of this guitar. A lot of guitars are pretty or cool or have expensive features or parts. This guitar had SOUL. It had MOJO. I got it through eBay a couple of years ago and loved it the minute I came across it up for auction. It wasn't mint condition...nope, far from it. You could say it was beat to hell. But functionally it was perfection. It just had that certain something that you can't put a price on. It is a 1964 (or possibly '63) Epiphone Frontier dreadnought acoustic guitar. It's the one that's got the coolest pickguard in history: the rope and cactus tortoise shell pickguard. This was Graham Parson's guitar of choice and a lot of Graham disciples have to have one. That wasn't my case, but certainly is true for many. This thing has scrapes and dings and nicks and the finish is checked and then checked some more. There is play wear in places I didn't know you could play.

If it were a Fender Relic you'd be paying an extra $2000 for this kind of a relic job. But this one is real. This one is earned.

It had that sound. Magic. And as a songwriter, this guitar just seemed to have songs in it. I'd say that 9 times out of 10 when I picked up this guitar I was inspired to come up with something new or the spark of an idea for a song. From speaking to the original owner, I don't believe it was previously owned by a songwriter. I believe it did it's time playing covers in the bars and around the house. When I got it, the first thing I did was write about 4 new songs. They were just busting out of this guitar. Maybe it's the folk art portrait of Hank Williams in the soundhole...maybe it was channeling Hank. I don't know. All I can say is that I have never finally made up my mind to sell a guitar and then nearly reneged on the deal more than once.

The guy who bought it turned out to be a great owner of this guitar...very respectful of the magic it contains. He owns quite a few gems already and was looking for something not like anything else out there. Yes, he came across it because he was looking for a Frontier, but he bought it because it was different...imperfect...soulful. He came by my office today and took it out of it's case and strummed a few tasteful chords. He smiled and knew it was what he was looking for. He immediately took the money out of his pocket and handed it to me, as though maybe in this last second, this one last chance to bail out, I would change my mind if he didn't get it over with. And he was right. It's a good thing the wad of hundreds was thick and my need for new transportation outweighed logic. Because if you've read everything I just wrote, there is no logic in selling this guitar.

It makes no sense. But it's done and the Frontier has a new home. A good one I think. And my faith was restored when the new owner looked at me as he was leaving and said, "If you ever change your mind and want it back, let me know. I have a lot of guitars and I understand. We'll work it out."

Man...that's too good to be true. I hope he meant it because there will come day when I will be calling him. As the guy in the Men's Warehouse commercial says, "I guarantee it."
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Fender Concert Amplifier

2010-04-10T21:28:00.000-07:00

Story submitted by John Shields

Back in 1982 I was in a working band playing 6-7 night a week. I was using a Peavey Renown amp with two EV Force speakers that weighed 2 or 3 tons. My sound man dragged me to a place called Music Museum in Pitman, NJ, and told me to get an amp with tubes. Out I walked with a new Fender Concert. It was great and I used it for a couple of years.

We started playing bigger rooms and I traded it in on a Marshall half stack. Years went by and I thought about it from time to time like a favorite old girlfriend. I even started looking for one a couple of years ago but the prices scared me off. While searching Craigslist a month ago, I was logging off for the night and caught site of an ad for a Fender amp out of the corner of my eye. I opened up the ad and there was a Fender Concert looking back at me. It had no Fender logo, changed jewel pilot light and replaced speaker. When I bought mine back in '82, I took off the logo, changed the pilot light (don't ask why because I have no idea) and replaced the speaker.

I quickly called the gent and arranged a meeting to see the amp. As I looked at it, I knew this was my old amp. He said it had been in a music store for three years before he bought it. He was asking $600. I offered him $475.

He looked at me with vigor in his eyes and defiantly said to me, "I won't take anything less than $450.....!?" I said, "SOLD!"

All cleaned up and sporting a new Vintage 30 Celestion speaker, I've got my girl back! Boy I missed her.
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Hey, We're Featured in Guitar Edge Magazine

2010-03-29T13:51:00.000-07:00

Well, you are definitely going to want to pick up the new issue of Guitar Edge magazine. Articles about Nels Cline of Wilco, the Way Huge Aqua-Puss reissue (of which I already got one 'cause I'm cool) and, let's see...oh yeah, a feature about this here ol' blog.

If you are already a regular reader of Guitar Edge then start looking for it now. If you are new to Guitar Edge, be sure to click here to check out the story about this blog and check out the rest of the digital online version of the mag too. Great stuff.

And by the way, stay tuned this week for a couple of new gear stories that will be posted as well as a story and photos about some Fender history that is really cool.

Fender Stratocaster Tom Delonge Model

2010-01-07T21:54:00.001-08:00

I'll make this one quick because I really just bought this guitar to resell. I found it in a pawn shop near my house that was having a half off sale for the last week of the year. I haven't made my way into too many pawn shops lately because A) they mostly just have a bunch of second rate crap these days, and B) they want MORE than retail for the decent stuff they do have. For the life of me I don't understand where they get their pricing. I have ranted about pawn shops on this blog before and got quite a few comments supporting my view. So, I'll leave it at that for now. This time I guess I got lucky.

When I walked in I spotted the Daphne Blue Strat hanging amongst the usual crap. It stood out. I immediately noticed it was a Tom Delonge model. These are easy to spot because they have one pickup and one knob. That's it. Blink-182 style all the way. Now most people would say that this is a lame concept. But I actually like the idea. I'm not the most amazing lead player in the world, though I'm not a bad rhythm player. I usually find one pickup setting on a guitar that I like and pretty much stick with it. That's just me. So, if I could design my own guitar, I'd probably do the same thing...find a pickup I like and connect it to a volume knob and be done with it. BLASPHEMY! Whatever.

So, I asked the lady how much the guitar was and she said it was $700...but they were having a 50% off sale. So, $350 (duh).

I knew this guitar HAD to be worth more than that. She told me that they had actually sold it on eBay the week before and then the guy that won it emailed them asking if he could make payments for 6 months. Who does that?? So, they just wanted it sold. I came home quickly and looked up previously sold Tom Delonge models and figured out that I could make a few bucks by buying it and posting it on eBay. I actually tried to get the lady to come down to $300 but she was a tough cookie. She knew she had me by the balls and she ran with it. I finally agreed to pay the full $350. I asked what kind of case it had and she gave me that typical pawn shop answer..."oh, there's no case with it." Right.

There's never a case that comes with a guitar at a pawn shop, yet miraculously there are tons of cases sitting around in plain sight.

I knew I had a nice spare Fender gig bag at home, so I didn't even get into it. I brought it home and cleaned it up. Amazingly they were trying to sell guitars at this shop, but just left them dirty and sticky and very unappealing. They actually had a decent black MIM Telecaster I could have picked up for $200 but it had sticker residue all over it and the tuning pegs were coated in grime and knobs were missing...it was just too easy to see that this guitar had not been cared for in the least. Once I got the Tom Delonge all cleaned up and looking good I posted it on eBay and put a very reasonable (but still nicely profitable) price on it. I think it turned into a great deal for everyone. The guy who bought it today is a big Blink-182 fan and also owns one of the Gibson Tom Delonge hollowbody models as well. So, he's happy. I'm happy. We're all freakin' happy! And now I can try to buy that blonde Fender Blues Junior on Craigslist I saw this afternoon.

It's always something!
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One Comes Home

2010-01-07T00:36:00.000-08:00

Well, if this isn't the most heartwarming story on this old blog, I don't know what is. Let's go backwards in the wayback machine to the early '90s. My daughter (who is now 20) was just a little tyke and for her 4th or 5th Christmas I wanted to get her something to keep forever. I happened to walk into Moonlight Music in Encinitas, CA and there, hanging on the wall, was a reissue of the Fender Telecaster pink paisley guitar. It was made in the late '80s and I know it had not been in this store for the whole time, so maybe he picked it up NOS from another store or something. I decided that I would get it for my daughter and it could be something she kept forever and hopefully learned to play when she was older.

It's really a cool guitar. Some of you might have man issues with a guitar like this, being pink paisley and all, but keep in mind that it was made famous by James Burton who played with none other than the king of rock n roll himself, Elvis Presley. The original models from the late '60s now command huge dollars...tens of thousands of dollars. (Here is a great link about Paisley Teles). I am not positive, but I believe these reissues from the late '80s may have been the first time these were reissued. The quality is fantastic...they were Made In Japan at a time when the Japan factories ruled. I'm still a fan of the Japanese Fenders and actually prefer them over the USA models. The paisleys have since been reissued a couple of additional times, but the vibe is just not the same as these first reissues. In fact, they have started to command quite a bit of money themselves.

So, sadly my daughter never really took up the guitar. I say sadly mostly because she really has a knack for it and just never wanted to put any time into it. She could accomplish more in 20 minutes of learning than I could in days and days of practice. As she got older the guitar sat in its case in the closet. When she was almost 18 she moved out of the house. She was a tough one. After being out on her own for a year or so I figured she could probably use the money, and a friend of mine had become a huge fan of country star Brad Paisley. I guess if they made a guitar with my last name on it I would probably play one too, much as Brad Paisley had become known for playing original Fender Paisley Telecasters.

So I suggested to my friend that he see if my daughter would be interested in selling the Tele. I gave her my blessing and the deal was done.

I was happy that it had at least gone to a friend of mine and "stayed in the family" so to speak. My friend Rob is a guitar player, but his first instrument is drums. Amazing drummer actually. He loved the paisley Tele and did maintenance on it and kept it sounding fantastic. It's a really great sounding and playing guitar just straight up stock from the factory. So a couple of years has gone by and I have always told Rob that if he should want to sell it to call me first. Yesterday I got the call. Rob needed to unload a guitar and hounded him to sell me the Paisley...bring it back into the fold. After an evening of anguish he finally agreed. I drove over to his house tonight and picked it up and he practically cried handing it over.

The news was leaked to my daughter who is ecstatic that I have managed to bring it back home. I think she may be slightly mistaken though...it's MINE now. I guess she can have it when I'm dead and gone, but until then...

Memphis Bass - Rob Halford: The Metal God

2009-12-29T18:45:00.000-08:00

No, I didn't get rid of this one. Just wanted to share the fact that Rob Halford of Judas Priest signed my bass a couple of weeks ago. Yeah, I know, I'm pretty cool. I was never even really all that into Priest but if Rob Halford walks into your office and your bass is sitting there with you at your desk, you very politely ask him to sign it. He signed: "Rob Halford the Metal God." Yes he is. And he was super nice by the way. I work for Tony Hawk and we have a radio studio in our office for Tony's Sirius XM radio show. Sometimes the one and only Jason Ellis does his show from the studio and has guests drop in. Sometimes it's Rob Halford and sometimes it's a karate kicking naked Penthouse Pet of the Year. Either way, you can't lose.

I did some recording with it yesterday and I'm pretty sure it sounds better now.

Oh yeah, and Pete Dee from The Adicts was in the office the other day too. I talked guitars with him until they made him leave, but he promised to write up a good story and send my way. Be sure to check out the Pete Dee signature model from Schecter...it's pretty cool. Tele style with two humbuckers and a Bigsby. Nice.
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Harmony H22 Hollowbody Bass

2009-12-26T22:53:00.000-08:00

Face it, sometimes you just get lucky. Of course, you're not going to get lucky if you don't put yourself in position to find the luck. One day I happened to walk into a thrift store that I had been in a million times before with very little luck and there sat this Harmony H22 hollowbody bass guitar over in the corner. Sunburst with a big, weird shaped pickguard and those beautiful F-holes. It looked to be in pretty good shape from a distance and had a crappy chipboard case next to it. I don't think I had ever owned a bass up until this point, but I knew I wasn't going to pass up this one. I checked out the price tag and it was a more than fair $75. I knew it was mine.

If you are like me, and god help you if you are, sometimes $75 is a piece of cake and sometimes it's the most money in the world. Lately it's been a hefty sum anytime after the 10th of the month. So, luckily when I came across this gem I was doing just fine and was able to fork over the dough. I rarely take much cash with me when I'm out junkin', so there is always that horrible feeling that I need to find an ATM machine and find it fast and hope that the lady at the counter will hold whatever it is that I need the cash for. In this case the lady was nice enough to hold it for me for 30 minutes, "but no more." I scrambled out the door as casually as possible so as not to raise any suspicions. Came back, forked over the bills and smiled my way out the door.

I really didn't know much about this bass and was really just beginning to get into cool vintage instruments. I wish I had come across it now instead because I think if I had, I might still own it. As it turns out, I believe I only kept it for a short period of time and eventually took it to a nice little vintage shop and sold it for about $350-400. Can't remember for sure. I was just looking on eBay a second ago and noticed that one sold within the last two weeks for well over $700.

So, not only did I miss out on continuing to own a sweet bass, I missed out on the financial appreciation as well. I usually do.

I got this info (and some photos) from vintageguitars.org.uk: "The H22 featured a laminated top, back, bolt-on maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, and is only really let down by its cheap looking plastic knobs, and too-small guitar style tuning pegs. The electronics feature a passive DeArmond pickup, volume and tone controls, and a 'bass enhancer' switch that really makes this instrument rumble. The Harmony company was based in Chicago where the H22 was manufactured. The company was disbanded in 1975, having produced thousands of instruments for itself and other companies."

The H22/1 featured double cutaways and looks just about as cool. I found some photos of this model and a few other Harmony basses here. I have to say, even though it's not that big of a difference between the single cut and the double cut, I really like the single cutaway better for some reason. Maybe the double just looks more standard or Gibson-esque.

Squier not Squire

2009-12-20T22:36:00.000-08:00

This is just a pet peeve and I need to get it off my chest. All day long, every single day, here in the San Diego area on Craigslist people list guitars and basses for sale by Squire. I'm sure they do it in your area too. People! It's right there on the headstock. It's spelled S-Q-U-I-E-R.

I feel better now. As you were.

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Creston Guitars (very cool)

2009-12-17T10:42:00.000-08:00

This is not a paid promo or anything...I just came across a link to these guitar this morning and wanted to share. I don't usually blatantly promote stuff on here, but these are darn cool. The photo I included shows a few hand-painted guitars, but most of them do not include this style of artwork. Many are made from or include materials supplied by the person commissioning the guitar...old pieces of wood from a barn, or pieces of metal from a childhood home. Jay Farrar of Son Volt had Creston build him a guitar using pieces of an old rock, some wood and an old carriage bolt from the childhood home of Woodie Guthrie.

Anyway, check them out...very cool instruments. CLICK HERE

Oh, and credit where credit is due...I found the link about these at Draplin Design, a great graphic design site and blog.
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1978 Fender Antigua Hardtail Stratocaster

2009-12-16T19:34:00.000-08:00

Submitted by Michael Rose • Madison, NC

1984; I'm in college at Western Carolina University (Cullowhee NC, about an hour west of Asheville). I had been playing guitar since I was 13, but didn't get an electric until my third year of college. A Memphis Les Paul copy ... after a year of that, I was ready to get something better. I was a college student with limited funds. But I did work each summer, and during the Fall semester I had scored a job as a short-order cook three mornings a week at a restaurant right on campus.

In the spring semester I got a small tax refund check and was ready for a guitar upgrade. I planned to drive into Asheville on a weekend and hit all the music shops and pawn shops in one Saturday. If that panned out, I would go to Atlanta the next weekend and hit Rhythym City.

It was then that I learned about a student in my dorm who was in a bit of a predicament (we'll call him Mr. X). Mr. X missed a lot of classes and always seemed to be hanging out in his room...laying on his bed in his underwear...eating a large bag of Doritos, watching TV...and a record might be playing at the same time. Mr. X drank a lot too...not just on weekends. Mr. X had a baby pet squirrel that fell out of a tree. He kept it in his room for about a week but rolled over on it in his sleep and it died. Mr. X was a little overweight...and Mr. X was in trouble. BIG trouble. Mean people were looking for him...people he had purchased substances from...so there was a large debt he couldn't pay, we're talking about a lot of money.

Mr. X was going to go away, but he needed some money.

So, Mr. X was selling everything in his room that wasn't bolted down. Including a '78 Antigua Stratocaster I had played several times when visiting. I knew nothing about guitar values, rarity, and the "Vintage" market (this was pre-Internet, after all). All I knew was that it was a Fender. Stratocaster. Maple neck. Hardtail, so it always stayed in tune. And, he had the original case.

Mr. X knew I played and told me the guitar was for sale. He said he was hoping to get $500 for it. I told him it was several years old and had a couple of scratches. He came down to $450. I could tell by his state of mind (and the state of his room) that he was desperate. I offered him $175 cash! He got upset, but didn't rise from the bed. He said it was way too low. I told him about my tax refund check and, that if he didn't sell me the guitar at that price, I was going to Asheville Saturday morning to buy one. And that was that. My best deal, ever.

I "grew up" on that guitar - it was inspiring to play a professional, American-made instrument. In a couple of years, boredom set in ... the folly of youth. As stated earlier, I didn't know anything about guitar values. I put a Strat-sized humbucker in the bridge position. Later, the neck started fretting out. Instead of getting a fret job done and keeping the original neck, I replaced the entire neck ... and the guitar shop kept the original neck. And then I traded the guitar in to the same shop for something of lesser value which I shall not name. A year later, I was in the same shop and saw my guitar on the wall. A Fender Stratocaster decal had been carefully placed on the headstock of the replacement neck. At least I knew that was creepy, and told all my friends to steer clear of that shop.

Because of the Internet, it's a lot easier to learn about guitar values today ... but it's a lot harder to find deals like I did. Whenever original Antigua Strats do pop up on ebay, Gbase, or Craigslist, they typically go for between $1800 and $3000.
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Music Man 112 RD One Hundred (another one)

2009-12-12T16:32:00.000-08:00

Yes, I have had this exact model amp once before and even written about it here on the old blog. The only difference I can tell about this new one I got last night and the old one is the background color on the logo nameplate. Otherwise they appear to be exactly the same except this one does have it's original EV speaker, which, after looking at it, may explain why this amp weighs in at slightly over 1200 lbs. Okay, obviously I'm exaggerating, but not by much. It's a small 1-12" combo amp and it weighs over 70 lbs. Luckily it has casters.

Okay, but so more to the point of why I'm already writing about this amp if I just got it last night. No, I haven't sold it yet (UPDATE: SOLD), though that was the original plan. And I never rule out the possibility of almost any of my instruments taking a walk. But the story of how I got this was too funny to pass up, so here you go...

I was doing my hourly check of the music section of Craigslist here in the San Diego area and up pops an ad with the title Music Man Amp - $150. I figured either something was wrong with it or it was a misprint. I clicked on the ad and sure enough, there was a photo of the amp (blurry) and one short sentence saying it was for sale and it was in Lakeside, which is WAY far from me. But for $150 I'm willing to drive a bit. There was a phone number, so I quickly dialed the number before anyone else jumped on it. A somewhat young girl answered the phone and I asked if I was speaking to Jennifer. She said yes. I said I was calling about the amp for sale and was it still available. She said yes. I asked if it worked properly and she said yes. She really offered up no other info and sounded sort of clueless. At this point, especially since she sounded young, I asked if this was her amp. She said no, it had been her dad's and he had recently died and they were selling some of his stuff. Oh. Shit. Now I just felt bad. My instincts as a decent person were to stop and tell her to shut down her ad and relist the amp for $350-400 and make some more money off the amp. But in that split second I decided that, instead of just buying it and turning around and reselling the next day for a profit, I could really use a good amp and I would buy it for the cheap price and hang on to it. I kind of felt weird about profiting from her family's misfortune.

So, I asked for an address, assured her I would be coming to buy it that evening and to be sure to hang on to it for me. Check. All systems go. I got off work around 5:00 and had to go pick up my kids. I live in the San Diego area and, as you may know, it doesn't rain much around here. But, when it does, all chaos breaks loose. You'd think it snowed 25 inches...cars are sliding around and slamming into each other on the freeway, no one slows down to allow for the slicker roads due to the oil and water buildup, and traffic turns into an even bigger nightmare than it usually is. I headed out on this adventure figuring it would take me about an hour or so to get there. Lots of weird backroads and two-lane highways and other weirdness as I went to a part of the county I'd never been to. Lakeside is sort of known as a bit of a redneck area...yes we have rednecks here in California...maybe bigger rednecks than half of the south.

I don't know if these people I was about to encounter were rednecks or survivalists or meth dealers or what, but they didn't resemble my neighbors much.

Keep in mind, I have a 7-year old and a 5-year old in the back seat. I FINALLY find the address and pull up this long driveway up to a house on a slight hill. The garage door is open and I notice a few people milling around in the garage, very curious who the hell is pulling up in their driveway. As I open my car door and tell the kids to get out, two guys saunter out of the garage holding rifles. At this point I notice many other rifles leaned up against the wall and the work bench and the lawn mower. So I quickly holler out, "Hi, I'm Jaimie." The guy on the left says, "So." Uh, well. Hmmm. Don't shoot. The guy is sizing me up. Thank god just about this time some lady comes walking quickly out of the house and tells everyone to chill out, it's just the guy who is here to buy the amp. They put down their guns. Oddly my kids never noticed the guns because about three tiny chihuahuas came running out of the garage and my kids are deathly afraid of dogs. Any dogs. Even ones that resemble rats.

The lady invites me to come in and check out the amp. I decide to be cordial and I shake the hands of the guys in the garage. Just bein' friendly and all. Please don't ambush me when I go in. At this point I'm wondering what the hell I'm doing. It seems okay, but I also don't ever recall going to pick up any other guitar or amp and being confronted by gun-toting paranoid garage dwellers. I went inside, saw the amp, quickly surmised that it looked good and complete and I gave the nice lady her money. I picked up the 1200 lb. amp and headed to the door. I wasted no time getting it in the front seat, getting the kids buckled in, and hitting the road for the long drive home.

Once I got home, I plugged in the amp and gave it a quick test. It was sweet. These old Music Man amps are just awesome. This thing has enough power to blow out a small town. I got the kids to bed and couldn't turn the amp up past .5 or so. I plan to give it a better work out tonight. I am planning to keep it...at least for now. I'm sure at some point I will come to the conclusion, just the last time I had one of these amps, that it's just too much amp for me. But until then...guns, dogs and rock'n'roll.

UPDATE: Just thought I'd throw this in. I was just doing some research on this amp and found an old Music Man price sheet. Brand new this amp was $695.
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Fender Champion 600

2009-11-30T14:08:00.001-08:00

Much to the chagrin of my good friend Rob, I have a new entry into the old blog. There was a short period of time recently that I owned absolutely zero guitar amplifiers. I live in a small place now and had sold my ridonkulously loud Rivera Hundred Duo Twelve. I'm not in a band that requires electric guitars. And lately I've been doing some recording in GarageBand with their all new guitar modeling that is really pretty amazing. Especially considering how cheap it is. So, I was out at my buddy Rob's house and he was thinking about parting with his little Fender Champion 600. He's got a sweet Vox AC30 and lots of room for loudness, so the Champion was really just more for fun for him. He sold it to me for $100 and I was happy to be back in the amp business, no matter how small.

So I had the Champion and was actually playing around with it quite a bit. Last weekend I went to the Swap Meet in Oceanside, CA and found a Korg Toneworks AX3000G modeling pedal thing for a mere $60. This thing is so much fun to play around with. But, again, not something I have a need for. Hence, the reason it is currently on eBay for a really good price. Maybe you might like to get it?

But all this amp playing made me really want to get something a tiny bit more substantial.

If you've read lots of the stories here on this blog you might remember that I'm a big fan of the Fender Blues Jr. amps...perfect combo of size, price, and sound. At least for me anyway. So, I decided to get myself back in the Blues Jr. business.

Just as I was deciding that's what I wanted to do, a guy ran an ad on Craigslist wanting to buy a Fender Champion 600. I emailed him and we struck a deal. I put the amp in a backpack and hopped on my Vespa and even delivered it to him. Voila! Now I have the seed money for a Blues Jr. Maybe once the Korg pedal sells I'll be able to come up with a few extra bucks and get one very soon. I do have to say though, I really like the lacquered tweed models I see pop up on eBay sometimes. However, they are a couple of hundred bucks more than the standard black. And now Fender seems to be putting out some special colored tolex models that match guitars. I've seen a surf green tolex and a red version. Interesting. I guess we'll have to see.
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Thrift Store Find: Yamaha FG-160

2009-11-15T21:49:00.001-08:00

This weekend I needed to put some miles on my car...I just had some work done to pass my smog test and the computer was reset, causing me to need to put about 100 miles on it before going in for the retest. So I headed out to a a smaller town about 25 miles away and wandered into a thrift store. First thing I noticed was an acoustic guitar behind the counter. It was pretty beat up, scraped up, had a tuner and some bridge pins missing, about 10 inches of binding gone, only 3 strings and enough dirt and grime on it to hide what was once a decent guitar.

It was marked at $49.95, but then I noticed that everything was on sale for 50% off. I decided to take a chance. I needed a less expensive guitar to take camping with me and thought maybe, if I could just clean it up a bit and put some new strings on it, it might work.

I took the old strings off...they must have been original to the guitar because they practically disintegrated in my hand when I took them off. There was a dustball inside the guitar about the size of a golf ball. I started to just clean it off, but then I just kept going and ended up buffing and waxing the whole thing. As beat up and dented and scraped as it was, you could tell it just wanted to try to look nice again. Like an old stray dog after it's first bath in years. It still had the scrapes and dings, but underneath it all was a really nice guitar. I found an old tuner I had and screwed it in and found a couple of old bridge pins I had saved from some other old guitar.

I put a new set of Martin SP strings on it and tuned it up and guess what? It sounded fantastic.

Definitely the best $24.95 I have ever spent on music gear.

It's a Yamaha FG-160, made it Taiwan. I hopped online and started doing some research and determined it was made in 1983 and the internet is full of people who just go on and on about how much they love their old Yamaha FG-160. I'm telling you, this thing sounds darn good. It will definitely be the best sounding campfire guitar around. I haven't had time to take any photos yet, but the one I have put here with this story was found on some Japanese website. I will post some of mine when I get the chance.
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MOJO STOMP BOX

2009-11-10T22:18:00.001-08:00

This isn't really one that got away, but just wanted to share a cool new percussion box. It's the Mojo Stomp Box. It's one part folk art and one part old time percussion. It's as simple as you get...you keep rhythm with your foot while you are playing guitar (or banjo or uke or whatever you've got). It's got that old jangle sounds from the bottle caps loosely nailed all over the box. There's even a bottle cap opener on the front that doubles as a handle. These are hand made and no two are alike. Pretty cool. Might make a good Christmas gift for that guitarist who has everything.
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Vintage Takamine

2009-10-25T19:15:00.000-07:00

Story submitted by Tim M. (Tim, how about a photo?)

About two weeks ago I was onstage about to start “my gig” when one of the tuning keys on my Takamine broke. There wasn’t anything I could do about it at that moment, so I grabbed a guitar from one of our other guitarists and used it for the performance. The next day I decided it was time for a new guitar. I’d had that old cheap Takamine for about ten years and had always known I wanted to buy a better guitar. I took this broken tuning key as a sign that today was the day! So I drove down to Guitar Center, dragging my Takamine along with me to buy a replacement tuning key, but mostly with a new guitar in mind.

After a couple hours in the holy of holies, I decided on a Breedlove acoustic/electric. Nothing particular special about the guitar, but it had a great pick up, solid build, and felt great in my hands. And rather than dishing out the money I’d need to pay for the Takamine repair, I decided to instead trade it in on the Breedlove. And thus the heartache began…

The minute I walked out of that store I regretted trading in my Takamine.

It was cheap, but I had played that thing all over the world; from the Eastern seaboard of the United States, to all over the UK and Ireland, to France and even Eastern Europe. The thing had become an old friend and was full of memories for me. And now I had sold it over $100 worth of new tuning keys.

I literally had trouble sleeping that night. In fact, I didn’t even pull my new guitar out of its case to play that night. And the next morning was more of the same. What had I done?!!! And so, twenty-four hours after trading it in at Guitar Center, I found myself driving back to Fairfax to see if they still had my guitar. They did. And I bought it back at full price. Hahaha!

Oh but it was worth it. I love my new guitar and it will likely be the one I play on stage from here on out. But my old friend is back home with me and, when I’m in the mood to have a guitar in my hands while I’m laying around the house, my Takamine is the one I reach for.

Good to have you back old friend!
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Haunted 1930s Kalamazoo Archtop

2009-09-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

Taken from an eBay auction by Statewide Antiques

If ever there was a guitar that has character and possibly a soul, this 1930s Gibson Kalamazoo is it ! Measures 39-1/2". Lower bout is 14-7/8". Depth is 4-3/8". This guitar shows the battle scars of an old time blues player. I think his spirit is still connected to this guitar, so if you're superstitious you shouldn't bid on this guitar for real as I will explain below.

There's a lifetime of heavy playing wear on the upper back of the neck. Pick wear and scratches on the entire upper bout. Fingerboard wear on the first 3 frets from someone who obviously loved to play. Despite the obvious open split on the back, this guitar with old strings plays surprisingly well! Action is low and neck is straight. First 3 frets need leveling or replacing.

There's something about this guitar that captivates and draws you in to play it. For the short 2 weeks I've had her, while playing, it's as if the spirit of the old bluesman starts playing through you. I'd keep her but the strange vibe attached to this guitar has given me 2nd thoughts if it should remain in my home. I've noticed a strange feeling when playing just this guitar. The best I can describe is imagine losing your identity, as if you start becoming someone else as you play.

This guitar is right out of a twilight zone novel. Many people would embrace a guitar with this ultimate mojo. The last straw that has forced me to sell was my wife being awakened hearing what she thought was me playing a guitar and humming around 3:00 AM. She went to roll out of bed to check why I was up so late only to roll over and find me by her side in bed. She wakes me up freaking out and told me to listen. I heard it and nervously went down stairs where I keep the guitar. As soon as I entered the room there was complete silence and the hairs on my arm were standing. For the record I don't hum when playing a guitar.

This indeed is a special guitar for someone who is OK owning a guitar with a possible paranormal connection. It really doesn't bother me but when it starts freaking out the wife, it's time to sell. Only reason I'm sharing this is so the right person ultimately buys this guitar. Preferably someone without kids. Perfect if your mother-in-law lives with you. The only history I know about this guitar is it was purchased from an elderly couple who relocated from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Good luck !
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Black Cat Pedals - Shameless Plug

2009-08-25T16:41:00.001-07:00

Awhile back I was contacted by the fine folks at For Musician's Only, who make and sell some of the best effects pedals out there. They had just acquired Black Cat and wanted to do a makeover on the graphics. I was more than happy to be involved and, long story short, they just announced the relaunch of the Black Cat brand, complete with the logo I designed for them.

The good thing is that, although the pedals came out looking great, they sound even better. Yes, they are boutique and a little pricier than your standard DOD or Boss, but good sound is worth the price.

Check 'em out by clicking this link.
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A REAL Gibson Les Paul Flametop

2009-06-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

I found this item for sale on eBay and asked the owner if I could share the story here at The Ones That Got Away. This is an amazing true story. Check it out, man.

Story by Charlie

GIBSON LES PAUL "REISSUE FLAMETOP" MODEL FROM 1985, STRUCK BY LIGHTNING

I guess this is kind of an unbelievable story but it is all true. I left the house one day and my near mint 1985 Gibson Reissue Flametop was safely perched (or so I thought) on top of a another guitar case, in the corner top edge of my music room. When I returned home a few hours later I was not prepared for what I discovered. I walked into the room and the Gibson case was on the floor smelling of smoke. I looked up to see black soot marks at the top corner of the walls where the headstock end of the case had been sitting. When I turned back and inspected the case I was appalled at what I found.

First off, I noticed that there were three holes directly above where the bridge would have been sitting inside the case. I proceeded to open the case with the latches, even though much of it was disassembled. Upon opening the case I realized that the guitar had been struck by lightning . How could this have happened!!? I basically screamed. It seemed impossible.

I found out that when I was gone, a severe thunderstorm had come through. Outside of the house was a huge pine tree and, upon going outside and inspecting the tree, there was clearly a visible line coming down the tree until it came to an area directly across from the trim of the house. The lightning had struck the huge pine tree and traveled down the trunk until it reached the nails holding the trim to house. Then it jumped across through the nails, went through the drywall, and struck the top edge of the case.

It then went into the case and down the neck of the guitar, vaporizing the strings, (remnants of which can still be seen on the fretboard and frets) also apparently traveling down the truss rod inside the neck. Then it blew out the last few frets on the fretboard above the end of the truss rod before apparently melting the insides of the pickups. It then proceeded to explode some of the bridge saddles outward through the case. Apparently they are responsible for holes I initially saw in the case, which I had no idea how they got there.

I also found where the lightning had grounded into the carpet and cement floor of the room and blasted out a half moon size pocket in the cement about the size of the silver dollar. I have posted pictures of various aspects of the outside house damage and pine tree. The lightning strike also killed the tree.

As I said, before the incident, the guitar was in near mint condition. It remains as I found it, the day of the incident. I have not tried to clean it up in any way. As a one-of-a-kind collectible, I would be very surprised if there is another one of these anywhere one in the world. As a project, it will take some work but I believe it can be repaired with the proper parts and skill. I am including the frets and parts of the fretboard that blew out, as much as I could find. There is only one remaining bridge saddle.

Years ago, two of the original pots were removed, though the original knobs and pointers are still with the guitar. The tailpiece is gone, but the original bridge is still with the guitar. One of the features of this model is the "Thicker '59 Style Neck." In 1991 this model was renamed "The '59 Les Paul Fame Top."
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link to the auction
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Something New

2009-06-29T23:33:00.000-07:00

Well, since I sold the Swamp Thang I haven't unloaded anything else and no one seems to be sending in their own stories (hint, hint people!). So I thought I'd share "before" photos of a guitar I have on the way. Yes, I've been selling some stuff off because of tight times, but I paid for this one way back in about October '08 and it's finally almost done. It's a resonator guitar hand built by Mike Franks at M.J. Franks Guitars.

Mike was nice enough to send me photos of the guitar just before it went out the door to get the finish done.

So, I thought maybe I'd share some photos and then, when it's all done, post the final beauties. I have a good feeling about this one...it's going to have a Fishman resonator pickup in it for playing live and I'm not worried about the rest...Mike makes 'em right. It's going to have a dark, dark stain on the back and sides and vintage sunburst top. Oh, and it's all solid mahogany. Just glad I paid for this back then so I could still get my hands on it. Mike suggested picking up the new Fishman Jerry Douglas Aura Imaging pedal at some point to go with it, so if Mike says so, I guess I'll have to start saving up again. Enjoy the photos and I'll post more when it's done.

In the meantime, please, send me your stories. I'd love to keep this thing rollin' and I know everyone who reads this has a story of their own.

UPDATE: Here are a couple of photos I just got halfway through the finish. It's getting a stunning antique sunburst finish and I'm getting antsy. Shouldn't be too long now.

UPDATE FINAL: Here are a couple of photos of the final instrument. It's a beauty and it sounds unbelievable.

I Just Threw Up a Little in My Mouth

2009-06-10T22:03:00.000-07:00

I just did something I SWORE I wouldn't do. I just listed my Swamp Thang pedal on eBay. Dammit. Jump on it quick if you want just about the best sounding tremolo pedal there is...short of buying an old blonde Fender Tremolux. I will be buying another one some day...I think that will be the running joke on this site...how many Swamp Thang pedals will Jaimie buy in one lifetime?

Blech!
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UPDATE: Sold! But I'll get another some day. Man oh man. Can't believe it's gone.

Gretsch Way Out West Cowboy Guitar

2009-05-28T23:00:00.000-07:00

Hey, long time no post. Sorry, but I have moved and divorced and lots of stuff and just have not had time to post anything. As always, I'd love to have more of your stories. Send 'em my way...I know you've got them.

Anyway, in the midst of all the change, one thing that has happened is I've sold a fair amount of gear lately. Not much in the way of guitars, but plenty of other stuff...digital recorder, monitors, etc. Friends of mine have actually been using Garage Band to record with, and I was really hesitant to admit that it sounded darn good. I wanted to justify my stand alone Korg digital recorder that I have come to know and love...a Korg D16XD. However, when times are tough you start to decide what is expendable. After visiting a recording session at my friends' house and seeing how well Garage Band was working, I decided to give it a go. I'll let you know how it goes.

Now, on to the guitar that got away.

I think I posted something previously about attending a Gretsch Guitars night at Buffalo Brothers guitars in Carlsbad, CA. Fred Gretsch IV was there in person and spoke eloquently about his rebirth of the family business. Although I once owned a Gretsch Sparkle Jet from just about the time Fred took over the company, it is now long gone (Hey, there's another story I can write) and the only Gretsch I owned was one of the really cool Gretsch Cowboy guitars from a year or two ago.

I took it with me in hopes of getting Fred's signature on it...which I did. He was semi-gracious enough to sign the back of the headstock for me. These guitars are super cool and bring back memories of some of the old stencil westerns from the '40s and '50s. However, what I liked best about them was that they were definitely updated in theme. Somewhat tongue-in-cheek tributes to the old guitars. The one I got was the "Way Out West" model, which featured artwork of aliens coming down and capturing cows straight off the plains to take back with them to, I'm assuming, probe and prod...or maybe they just wanted a good hamburger.

The boxes that came with the guitars were equally as well done, paying tribute to old line cut advertising complete with retro-style graphics. There were four different models and I'm sure many collectors bought one of each...they were seriously affordable. I believe I paid $150 for mine brand new, tax included out the door. Thanks Bob!

So, fast forward to a month or so ago and I see an ad on Craigslist asking if anyone has one of these to sell. I was looking for a few extra bucks at the exact moment and decided to take the guy up on his offer. I sold it for $80, which is one of the few times I've lost money on a guitar. I have to admit I've done well in that department. But this is not a guitar that is going to be super valuable I don't think, so I didn't feel all that bad about it. A cool guitar that played surprisingly well, but not one to necessarily feel bad about losing. Anyway, it's in the home of someone who really wants it and that's a good thing. Collect 'em all, trade 'em with your friends!
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Squier Classic Vibe Duo Sonic

2009-04-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

Story submitted by Jackson D. Green

This thing did not have a long life in my hands, but for the time I had it, I loved every minute.

I purchased this guitar on Craigslist a few months after it came out for a relatively cheap 165 USD (especially because these currently sell new for 330). Now, I know a bargain when I see it, and I love the Fender Mustang, so I snapped it up in a heart beat. The seller was nice enough to ship the guitar to my house for no extra charge. A few days later, it had arrived. I can't even describe the feeling I got pulling it out of the box. It was just such an amazing moment, and I knew that this guitar was truly a special instrument.

I can't think of one thing I DIDN'T like about the guitar, other than the toggle switch which broke during an especially rigorous practice session and was easily replaced.

The aesthetics were great, the neck rivaled that of an MIJ Mustang, and the pickups rang rich and jangly, with plenty of warmth coming from the basswood body. Unfortunately, she never saw a gig.

I needed money to pay off some friends, so it was either get rid of the Duo Sonic, or get rid of the Fender Cyclone, the first Fender I ever owned, a birthday present from my parents, and an all around great guitar. The choice was made, the Duo Sonic had to go. I sold it on Craigslist a few weeks later (I was sick the day I actually sold it, go figure) for $200. I have since recovered economically, and recently purchased a red Squier Affinity Series Duo Sonic from the '90s, which I'm hoping will fill the void of the great guitar I let slip away.
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Squier Musicmaster Bass Vista Series Reissue

2009-04-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

Damn, this one didn't last long. I just got this bass a couple of months ago from Craig's List in Orange County. It was actually listed once before and by the time I got around to contacting the guy, the ad was gone and it was sold. Or so I thought. Evidently ANOTHER case of Craig's List Flake-itis caused this one to come back up for sale a week later. This time I jumped on it.

I drove up to Orange County from San Diego...the guy was nice enough to meet me halfway...and met in the parking lot of a Guitar Center. It's always fun to do a transaction for a cool instrument within steps of a giant supermarket of a guitar store. I actually had a guy who wanted to meet me at a guitar store and then do the deal inside the store so he could try out the guitar through one of their amps. I drew the line there...just not kosher.

Anyway, so the guy meets me and he turns out to be a very cool guy with some great punk rock roots. He also knew a few musicians I knew and we ended up chatting about instruments and the weirdness of Craig's List for way too long. The bass was in excellent condition and we both had decided that anyone who is afraid of a classic shell pink Fender because it might mean they are gay is an idiot. This thing looks really cool and classic...yeah I know...I just used the word classic in the previous sentence. But it's true. Do not be afraid people.

I had the bass for a couple of months and really liked it. It's a short scale instrument and it was strung with flatwound strings, which I'd never had before. As my boss would say, "Me likey." Not sure why my boss says that. Even though the bridge is a pretty basic piece of hardware that was originally designed to be a budget student instrument back in the day, it stayed in tune just fine. Again, loved the instrument, but unfortunately I'm still in financial survival mode from the recent split with the wife, so it came down to Fender bass or refridgerator. I like my butter solid and my mayo unspoiled, so I went with...refridgerator! I have to say it was a good call too. I have enjoyed many a fine cool beverage out of the fridge but I really only used the bass once for a quick recording.

I sold the bass to a touring musician from L.A. who came down and practically did surgery on the thing right at my desk at work during my lunch hour. Maybe you'll see it out on the road somewhere.

I had loaned my nephew a '70s Memphis P-bass copy a couple of years ago, and I happen to know that he no longer plays it. So, I made the call and my sis is shipping it back to me as we speak. So, I will soon have a home recording bass that, if I remember correctly, actually sounded pretty decent for what it was. It was one of the made in Japan models from Memphis and they are pretty decent for super cheap.

In fact, just today, I took a chance and bought a Memphis Les Paul Junior copy off eBay. It's sort of a cross between a Junior and a Special...it's got the style of the Junior but with two P-90 dog-eared pickups. Sunburst with a tortoise guard. I've been wanting a Jr. since I became a fan of Keith Urban (the man can PLAY the guitar), but can't afford a real one right now. So I kept my eye out for either a Memphis (which are HARD to find) and were made in Japan in the Fujigen factory in the '70s, or an older Univox. The Univox Junior copies (the model is called the Limited Edition...here's one on eBay) are supposed to be really nice too. I see them for sale somewhat regularly, but they are a little pricier. Still much cheaper than a real one. If you are looking for a budget Junior, be sure to scour eBay for a Univox or a Memphis. I'll let you know if the Memphis was worth the chance.
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Another Successful Guitar Center Dumpster Dive

2009-03-31T22:30:00.000-07:00

I'll make this one short and then tomorrow I'll finally have a new story for you. If you've read a lot of the stories on this blog you might remember that every time I go to Guitar Center I can't help but drive around back and check out the dumpster. Now I don't check the dumpster everywhere I go...you won't find me scrounging for slightly rotten apples at the grocery store. However, almost every time I go to Guitar Center I find stuff in the dumpster of value. I've found and sold everything from electronic drum parts to mic stands to Hartke bass cabinets.

This weekend, as we were driving past GC, my kids even got into the act and suggested I check it out. We pulled around back and, holy crap, sure enough...15 new or almost new guitar gig bags. I pulled out the large plastic bag they were in and tossed them all in the back of the Explorer and headed home. Once I got home I realized there were some nice bags in there, some still with tags on them. In one bag there was also a nice guitar tuner and a pack of nice Ernie Ball Slinky coated acoustic strings. They now reside on my '64 Epiphone Frontier. And the tuner works great.

I kept one of the nicer gig bags that was slightly smaller for my Gretsch cowboy guitar and then set aside the two Dean Flying V padded gig bags.

Who knew you could get form-fitting gig bags for Flying V's?

Anyway, I gave the rest to my oldest daughter who sometimes works at a band rehearsal studio and she's going to try to unload them for a little gas money. I put the two Flying V bags on eBay last night and they both sold in less than 24 hours for $20 each. I know, it's not going to make me rich, but that's basically $40 FREE MONEY to buy some new tunes on iTunes with or maybe pick up a cheap pedal on eBay. Maybe some strings. Again...FREE MONEY.

I don't know what's going on at Guitar Center, but please, keep it coming.
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Home Boy: The Best Guitar Ever Made

2009-03-07T23:01:00.000-08:00

Story submitted by Kotornut from Jemsite (an Ibanez fansite)

There's this story my friends and I used to tell people. We'd tell them the story of "the best guitar ever made." I made it, and that's the funny part. But since almost no one has ever seen the guitar or played it, no one can effectively argue that the guitar wasn't the best guitar ever made. It was one of a kind and only a few of my friends and myself ever played it, so it can't really be compared to another guitar by any one else.

When I was fifteen years old I played high school basketball. During a game late in the season I went for a lay-up and when I came down I felt the most excruciating pain I had ever felt in my knee. I had blown my ACL out. At first the doctor thought it was just a sprain but after twisting my knee a few more times and being off my feet again for another couple months the eventual MRI showed that I had no ACL. How does this relate to guitars? Easy. What did I do with myself when I suddenly had all that free time sitting around my house? I played guitar. But even better, my father and I built a guitar.

I had this strange guitar. It was an Epiphone Strat copy form the Eighties. It was white on white and it was a hunk of guitar junk. I had put two humbuckers in it but it still wasn't good. I liked the neck however (probably not these days but then, I was fifteen). It looked like a Jackson neck and felt pretty good. So I decided I wanted to make this guitar better, or make a better guitar completely. My dad ordered a mahogany body blank, a new hardtail bridge, some cream knobs and pickup rings and a graphite nut. He also got some tools for guitar woodworking. He let me decide what shape to make. I went through all the guitars I liked every day thinking what to make. I settled in on a Strat or soloist styled guitar. I had a great time helping my dad cut out the body and doing all the body contours. In the end I had this mahogany soloist shaped guitar with two Gibson humbuckers, a set neck, a Schaller 475 flat hardtail bridge, one volume and one tone and a three way switch. We glued the neck because we thought that was better than bolting it on it was due to my old guitar construction beliefs.

To be honest, it must have looked like a mutt, but to me at that time it was amazing. The guitar did have better tones than the Epiphone Strat copy and miles of sustain. It was oiled orange and smoothed with steel wool so left it natural looking. It was unlike what any of my friends had. I loved it.

We all called it "Home Boy." A Satch related joke if you get it.

I played that guitar every day for three or four years. It was the guitar I used in the turning point of my playing. I went from a beginner to an intermediate with it and I really did play so much my fingers bled. Eventually, I got some cash and I bought a G&L Legacy (another guitar that got away) and played it more than Home Boy but I never felt like Home Boy was a bad guitar. In fact, I let the singer in my band borrow it because he didn't have a good guitar. It helped our sound quite a bit, but that was also how the guitar got away.

The singer took the guitar to his church and used it to play with the church band too. I didn't mind, I told him he could use it. I thought, as anyone would, that he would keep it with him and take care of it. You shouldn't trust other people with things like this. He left it at the church and he never took it home. I never knew. He just left it in the case in the youth group room. Well, the church was a place that was always bustling, with in and out all day and one day the guitar was gone when he went to practice with the church band. He called me and with a terrified voice told me about the guitar. He was worried I would be really angry and so on. I told him it was "just a guitar," but inside I was pretty disappointed. I had built most of that guitar and designed it too. I didn't want to lose it. I couldn't have sold it for anything anyways. But most of all I trusted him with it and it turned out to be a mistake. I learned my lesson and I think he learned his, because he never had the same problem again. I think I did the right thing by letting him off the hook and maintaining our friendship, because as much I liked the guitar the loss of a friend, but I did think it was a pretty huge mistake.

I eventually got some money given to me by the church's insurance company. It was more than I had spent on the guitar, but I didn't really care because I had lost the "best guitar ever made." For me it was the memory of making the guitar and knowing it was all mine that was the important part. I even laugh when I think about someone trying to sell it, pawn it or whatever, because they won't get anything for it. There was no serial number, there were no maker logos. All of that I had sanded off. There's something to be said about a guitar that signals a time in your life and that is by your side when you go through some of life's experiences, and this guitar was the symbol of my youthful guitar days. The summer I was laid up with a bum knee was the summer I tripled my guitar skills through six hour-a-day practice sessions. I had nothing else to do but play Home Boy all day and night. That's what makes a guitar memorable and something you want to hold on. Not a price tag or a maker's emblem. It's the memories.

Currently, I have a guitar that, to me, is perfect; A 1991 Ibanez RG560 (It won't get away). But the allure of Home Boy is so strong I'm currently calculating the cost of buying Warmoth parts to make a Home Boy tribute.

We'll see.
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New Feature: Swap Meet Finds

2009-02-23T21:06:00.000-08:00

I don't go the the swap meet or thrift stores or pawn shops regularly, though from the number of stories on this blog with ties to those places you'd think I lived there. But, when I DO go I think I have a pretty good eye for spotting the interesting stuff. And not always guitars...I have a house full of pretty cool furniture and decor that has originated from second hand stores and the like. When I do find something I thought maybe I'd share my treasures...BEFORE they become stories on this old blog.

On Sunday I took the kids and headed to the Oceanside Swap Meet in Oceanside, CA. I have a knack for finding good stuff there and, after hitting almost every aisle with no luck, I came across a pretty cool Marshall Micro Bass stack. You know the ones...they stand about three and a half feet tall and look kind of cool...or kind of goofy...depending on your point of view. Usually you see the mini stacks made for guitar, but this one is a rare bass mini-stack, which I have now found out is known as model 3505 and were only made from '87 to '91. There is NOTHING on the internet about these other than one review at Harmony Central. The fine folks at Marshall tell me they don't have the original manual for it either. I'm on my own.

I asked the guy selling it if it worked correctly. He said, "It works perfectly except the speaker jack on the bottom cab has been pushed in and needs to be repaired." I figured that is an easy fix. Of course, once I got home and cleaned it up and plugged the top cab to the head...nothing. Actually I got a little tiny bit of scratchiness from the volume knob, but that's it. The silver lining is that I only paid $40 for the whole thing...the Celestion speakers that are in the cabs are worth no less than $75, so I'm not worried about getting my money back. But it would be cool if it worked. I guess I'll have to see if it's a cheap fix.

And that's today's installment of: Swap Meet Finds!

Update: Rather than pay to get the Marshall fixed I posted it on eBay "as is" and ended up selling it for $150. Not bad! Too bad it didn't work correctly from the beginning.
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Rivera Hundred Duo Twelve amp

2009-02-16T23:17:00.000-08:00

If you read regularly you know that I just recently got this amp...and now it's gone. I really liked this Rivera Hundred Duo Twelve a lot, but getting divorced sucks and I've been having to sell a few things to get moved into a new place. It's not the end of the world, but when you have worked hard to get a few nice instruments and some cool gear, it's not fun losing it for the wrong reasons. But, as Mike Franks of M. J. Franks guitars reminded me, "they're just things and things are not that important." Thanks for putting it in perspective.

So, the short story behind this amp is that many years ago I was in a band called the Deadlites. We recorded an album at a studio in San Diego called Double Time, a place where Blink 182 and Rocket From the Crypt and a ton of other well known San Diego bands have recorded. They actually had the 24-track tape deck that Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins and a lot of other bands that Butch Vig recorded used on some of the most famous records of all time. I guess none of that really made our album sound better, but it's a good story. In that studio they also had a Rivera Hundred Duo Twelve amp that we ended up using on a lot of the guitar parts, and I think I tracked my MandoGuitar through it as well. From that session on I wanted one of those amps.

A couple of years ago I wandered into a pawn shop and saw one sitting there, where it sat for over two years with no buyers. If you go back through this blog you can read the story of how I ended up with the amp right before Christmas for a ridiculous deal. So, I've had it sitting in my house, playing it now and then and thinking it's got to be one of the best, most versatile sounding amps I've ever played through. But I'm not in a gigging electric band and don't have an actual NEED for it. So, when the time came to come up with some cashola to move to a new place, the Rivera was on the chopping block. I see these sell for anywhere between $800-1100. So, I started my price out on the low end and put it on Craig's List (you know how I LOVE Craig's List) at $800. No takers. I needed to sell it quickly, so I dropped it to $750 in a couple of days, then down to $700. No interest whatsoever. I was kind of shocked actually that no one even seemed interested in giving me a lowball offer.

Actually, one clown did offer me $500 and he kept sending me the strangest emails. Some guy named Tonedowser. Very full of himself. Gotta love Craig's List. Anyway, I got an offer from a guy in Florida who really wanted the amp, but that would require shipping and payment through Paypal (there goes another few percentages of profit). He couldn't believe no one wanted it locally. Neither could I. Just as I got it all packed and ready to ship across country, I got an email from a local who was willing to pay the same $650, but pay cash and pick it up that day. He came and checked it out and was super excited to be getting the amp. It all worked out.

Although I came down on the price quite a bit, I still made out like a bandit based on how much I paid for the amp in the first place.

I suppose I will end up with something else sometime this year. Need to get a few extra bucks together. I still love the Fender Blues Juniors for what they are and someone else recommended a little Vox tube amp that is great for recording. Anyone else want to throw their two cents in? Cheap, smallish and good. That's the only criteria.
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1959 Cherry Sunburst Gibson Les Paul

2009-02-10T21:16:00.000-08:00

Story submitted by Bob Fallin

It's 1968. I am 16 years old and my cousin calls me and tells me the old guy across the street is selling a Les Paul and did I want to come look at it. My mom drove me there and I played this wonderful guitar. I paid the guy the 200 bucks he was asking and went out the door. He came running out and gave me the strap I forgot.

I had the guitar for a year when a guy came up and offered me $1,000.00 for it. I figured I must have something, so I refused to sell. I kept that 1959 cherry sunburst Les Paul and used it in night clubs and shows until 1985. I was afraid to take it to the clubs anymore and had bought a metal flight case to transport it. In 1985 I finally went to Guitar Exchange in Ellicott City, MD and got $5,000.00 for it. I bought a new 1985 PRS for $750.00 and some recording equipment.

Fast forward to 2008. The guitar I sold for $5,000.00 is now worth close to $300,000.00.

My wife never lets me forget it. I am not allowed to sell any of the other guitars I own, a 1956 Goldtop, a 1955 Gibson Country Western and some other fine instruments. I still have the PRS. It's a first year production and is now worth much more than when I bought it. I called Guitar Exchange a few years after selling it to him and tried to find out where it went.

No luck.
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Good-Bye California

2009-02-04T22:08:00.000-08:00

No, I'm not moving. Just doing a little shameless self-promotion. When I'm not doing a million other things, what I really love doing is writing songs, recording them on my Korg D16XD 16-track recorder through a fairly limited amount of gear, and then making CDs for the people I work with (and a few to sell at gigs). Hey, probably just like some of you.

As much as I love guitars, I'm not the most amazing guitarist for sure. I sometimes enlist the help of a few friends (like Dave and Rob and Mike and Oliver), but mostly I play all the parts myself and do all the singing. And there are times when you listen and think, "Maybe he should have called Dave for that one." That's okay. I decided long ago that my recordings are for me, warts and all, not anyone else...even though I like to share the music.

Since the last time I pieced together a CD's worth of material things have changed. And that's only over a few short years. Now you can order short runs of CDs from any number of places with full graphics and everything for a relatively small amount of money. You can do digital downloads from iTunes and Amazon and others. What I found the other night is a site called CreateSpace.com. You can upload your artwork and all your music files and people can order your CD one (or more) at a time...you don't have to order a bunch or spend any of your own money out of pocket. You set your price and make as much or as little profit as you want. I'm sure many of you know all of this already. Well, I'm pretty stoked because today I got my first copy of the CD to approve and it's amazing the quality of the product. I plan to order a few at a time to sell at gigs and send to my dad.

So, if for some wacky reason you'd like to purchase one of my new CDs, you can do so by clicking here. If you'd like to buy a digital download instead, go here to Amazon digital download store.

The new CD is called Good-Bye California, and a lot of it was written about living in California but contemplating a move to the east coast. There is a little heartache, sarcasm, hope, defeat, and ultimately the demise of a relationship. Fun stuff! My music would best fit the category of alt.country or folky country rock or whatever you want to call it. I just hope you enjoy it. And thanks for the opportunity to share it with YOU.

1963 Gibson ES-335

2009-02-02T23:13:00.000-08:00

Story submitted by Tim Birchard

The year was 1985 and I was a junior in high school in a small town in Texas. A dear friend of mine told me she had a guitar her father had given her when she was a child, and asked if I'd be interested in seeing it. Being a 17-year-old metalhead, I told her 'of course!' She went back into her bedroom and moments later emerged carrying a Gibson case. An old Gibson case. My curiousity was piqued. I opened the case, and there before me was a flawless 1963 ES-335, cherry red finish, with block inlays and a suspended bridge. The serial number was "130971." My mouth dropped open when she asked if I wanted to play it.

I sat there for probably thirty minutes playing it and refusing to put it down, when she asked me if I wanted it. I just looked at her as if she were speaking Martian. Her father, who had given it to her, agreed that it made more sense for it to be with someone who really appreciated it, and since no one in their family played guitar, and since it was obvious that I appreciated it, they offered it to me as a gift.

I said yes.

I took it home and tried to play heavy metal on it. I dragged it across the country, risking damage and loss in the luggage compartments of airline flights. I soon developed a cocky and cavalier attitude, as if I somehow truly understood the value and beauty of this guitar. And worse yet, that I somehow deserved such a guitar.

Fast forward three or four years and I'd moved to Austin, TX with only one semester left at the University of Texas, studying audio production. There was only one problem—I didn't have the $400 in tuition I needed for my final semester. The woman I was dating told me she wasn't going to date a "loser" and that if I wanted to keep going out with her, I had to finish college. While I'm grateful for that motivation now, I cringe to remember what I saw as 'the only way out.'

I drove down South Lamar to Ray Hennig's Heart of Texas Music, put the case on the counter and told Ray I was interested in selling my guitar. He opened it up and his eyes seemed to light up for just a second, then he said, "Well, I could sell it on consignment, but I can't give you anything for it now."

I looked out his storefront windows across Lamar and said, "Well maybe Music Makers will be interested in buying" and I started to close the case. He said, "Whoa! Hold on a minute there," and came around the counter to stand next to me. "How much do you need?" I told him (cringe) "Four hundred dollars."

He took a minute to call his brother in Waco, talking with him in low tones, and then hung up. He counted out four one-hundred dollar bills and I was out of there, with tears in my eyes. I went straight to the Registrar's office and paid my tuition before I could be tempted to blow the cash.

And in the past 19 years I've gone back into that store at least three different times asking about serial number 130971… and strangely there's "just no record of that guitar."

For what it's worth, Ray has been generous enough to give both of my nieces brand new acoustic guitars because he's friends with my sister-in-law. Maybe it's karma, since he has no idea who I am, and has never remembered me (why should he?) whenever I've gone back into his store. Actually, now it's mostly his grandson I see behind the counter… who used to be just a little whipper-snapper ripping off hot riffs on his guitar when I used to go in.

I guess that kindness to my nieces should take some of the sting out of it… I don't know. But I do know this: if I ever find 130971 again, you can bet I'll pay whatever it takes to make her mine again.

(If you know the whereabouts of 130971, please contact me by email here)
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M.J. Franks OM-D acoustic

2009-01-29T23:20:00.000-08:00

As I'm writing this one, the guitar hasn't actually gotten away. This one is for sale right now (anyone interested?) and I hope it sells quickly. I've written stories about losing a guitar to needing money for the IRS, putting money together for another guitar, just plain needing rent money, and plenty of other scenarios. But this one is one that I wish I wasn't selling for a variety of reasons. The first is that it's probably the best sounding guitar I've ever played. Not just the best I've owned, but the best I've played...and I've played a lot of nice guitars. I got lucky with this one.

I acquired this guitar from Mike Franks, builder of some of the finest guitars on the planet, in exchange for building his website. This OM-D size guitar is the seventh guitar Mike ever made, and I have to say he hit a home run. I didn't get to play it in advance...we just worked out the deal and once I finished the site he sent me the guitar. How lucky am I? It's hand made with "master grade" adirondack spruce top and braces and "master grade" indian rosewood back and sides. It's got the fancier snowflake inlays on the bridge and custom inlays on the fret markers. It's got a Fishman Matrix endpin pickup built in and it's just the best sounding guitar. And the neck has a slight vee shape to it. Feels great.

Have I sold you on it yet?

But the fact of the matter is that I'm getting divorced. And with the times being what they are and finances tight, to be able to move out and onward it's going to take a lot more financially than I can afford. Something has to give. So, I had to take a hard look at what that's going to take and the simple, sad solution is to sell a guitar. Even my future ex-wife knew that this was not an easy thing to conclude, but we both knew it was what had to be done.

Now, how do you take a look at a few really nice guitars that you've worked hard to accumulate over the years and decide which one has to go? It's like picking the least favorite of your children. Eventually I just decided that the one that is being played the least goes, and although this is the best sounding guitar, it has been spending the most time in its case for a variety of reasons. Mostly because I've been doing a lot of acoustic gigging lately and I'm never completely comfortable taking this one to a gig. So I practice with the ones that I'm going to be gigging with and the OM-D patiently waits its turn. It's also one with enough value to help my situation.

Once I decided that it was the one to go, I opened its case and took it out for a last sit-down. As I played it, I couldn't believe that I was having to give it up. And for what? First and last month's rent on a shitty apartment? Money that will be burned through for no good reason, rather than owning an actual investment that might be with you for a lifetime. It just makes no sense. Yet, it's the reality of the situation. I wish I didn't have to sell it because it's a nice guitar. But more so I wish I didn't have to sell it because, if my relationship was different, I wouldn't be writing this story at all. The sale of a guitar would be far from an issue. It's not really a guitar story...it's a life story. And being that guitars are part of my life, this is just the crappy frosting on the cake.

If you are interested in the guitar, go to mjfranksguitar.com and go to the Gallery section. The photos of the OM-D model on the site are my actual guitar. It's a beauty. Then email me for the details. I'll post on here when it's gone.
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Telecaster Acoustic Thinline MIJ

2009-01-19T14:22:00.000-08:00

Don't be confused...this is not one of those cheap-ass Telecoustic guitars that Fender makes (no offense Telecoustic owners). This is a very cool Thinline Tele with a piezo pickup in the acoustic style bridge and a single coil in the neck position. I actually have owned two of these; a sunburst model and before that, a black model. They both played very nicely and had a great, electric style feel to them, but giving a fairly convincing acoustic sound.

I have always loved Thinlines, and always been a Tele guy, so the first time I saw one of these I was intrigued.

I have always played acoustic gigs over the years and I thought that maybe this would come in handy. But where I really thought it would be good was in a band situation, providing both an acoustic and electric sound out of the same guitar. I only got to try it that way a few times and it worked out pretty good. Not an amazing acoustic sound played through an electric amp, but it works in a gig situation.

I have also been a big fan of the Japanese Fenders from the '90s. They just feel good and sound great. These are no exception and, if you have the need of a guitar that does what this one does, I'd say I could give it a pretty good recommendation. The hard part is finding one. They made them in steel string and nylon string versions, though the nylon string version doesn't include the single coil pickup for obvious reasons. I was reminded of the ones I had because I just happened to see one on eBay today.

Usually I try to include in my stories why I sold the guitar I had or how it was that it got away, but in the case of these two, I just don't remember. I'm sure it was just trading to get something else. In my case, probably a different Tele.
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New RSS Feed Added

2009-01-16T09:35:00.000-08:00

Hey, just wanted to let you know that I've added a direct RSS feed over there in the left column (go ahead, take a look) for a site called AudioFanzine. They are constantly posting the latest stories about gear and instruments and all that good stuff that you like to read about. There are tons of new stories since the NAMM show is currently happening. I'm headed there myself this weekend and hopefully I'll be able to pass the word along to some well known guitarists to send me their stories. Anyway, if you like this blog, do me a favor and click those Audio Fanzine links when you see a story you like. THANKS!

I Love Craig's List. I Hate Craig's List.

2009-01-14T00:05:00.000-08:00

Here in the San Diego area where I live, Craig's List is a thriving, jam packed place to advertise and buy musical gear. I know that in some cities it's big and in other places it barely exists. In fact I have checked out the Musical Equipment section in some decent size cities and I'm shocked that there might be only a couple of listings a day. Well, maybe that's for the best.

There is a love/hate relationship for most people I come across that frequent Craig's List. In fact, if you look up the word "flake" in the dictionary, I'm sure there will be a picture of a guy selling a Squire (sic) Stratocaster on Craig's List. It's almost unbelievable at times and, just when you think you've run across a good, upstanding, reliable person...sometimes even sharing your own horror stories of dealing with the flakes...they turn out to be one too.

Why am I wasting blog space with this subject? I don't even know. Maybe just for my own sanity. I am sure that many of the idiots who pull the same dumb crap on CL might read this and say to themselves, "Man, I know what he's talking about!" So, it's not going to help really. Here are my last two experiences...trust me, I'll feel better if I just type it out.

Over three weeks ago I answered an ad for an MXR Carbon Copy analog delay pedal for $100. I've wanted one of these ever since my buddy Rob got one and we ran it through its paces. Really nice pedal and a great deal even at full price. However, I just didn't want to spend full price for one and hoped one would eventually show up online for cheap. I emailed the person selling it and inquired about the pedal. I also mentioned that I live in the extreme northern part of San Diego County and wasn't able to drive to the extreme southern part of San Diego County...so, I was just curious what part of town he was in. From one end to the other takes over an hour, so it can really eliminate which ads you answer. This guy didn't mention where he lived. He wrote back and said he lived pretty far away, but his bass player lived near me. He said they would be rehearsing the next day and he would give the bass player the pedal and we could hook up. Naturally they didn't end up rehearsing, so we postponed the hook-up until later in the week. Of course this didn't work out either and it goes like this, emailing every couple of days, for over 3 weeks. Finally I email the guy and say that I'll drive wherever, but can we just meet. He writes back and says, "No problem, just give me a call!" Well, there is a problem...I can't call you if you don't give me your phone number dumbass. I give him my number and many days later I still haven't heard from him. Deal over. I spent the money on a nice steak dinner with my daughter.

So, after my frustration with that deal had subsided, I decided to list a Squier (I actually spell it correctly...it's written ON the instrument...how can you get it wrong?) P-Bass for sale for $100. It's a cool bass and worked out well for recording, but I just recently acquired a really cool Squier Vista Series Musicmaster Bass in a lovely shade of shell pink with matching headstock.

So, since no one should really own more than one Squier, the black P-Bass has to go. I list it and get an email pretty quickly from a guy who wants it. We couldn't hook up in the afternoon, so we agreed to talk again in the evening, at which point I was headed to dinner (to spend the Carbon Copy money on a nice steak at Ruth's Chris). I called him and offered to drive the bass to him, which was not a short drive. But he had been accomodating of my schedule earlier and I thought I'd be nice and make the effort. I called him and he said he was too tired to do the deal that night but would be happy to drive to my place the next evening. Now I don't know how much energy it takes to open your door and take money out of your pocket, but I guess I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Maybe he has Epstein-Barr or something.

I called him the next evening to make arrangements and he said, "Oh, sorry, I bought my neighbor's bass instead." Sigh. I pointed out that he could have at least emailed me early in the day to let me know so that I could contact other people that inquired about the bass and tried to sell it that evening. His response? "Oh...uh...yeah. Sorry."

So what's the point? Here's the point people: at least have the human decency to be courteous to others. If you make an appointment to go see an instrument, and then you decide not to go, at least call or email to let the person know you're not coming. They may have rearranged their whole day to accomodate you. If you change your mind about buying something, tell the person so they can sell it to someone else. If you are going to have the nerve to flake on someone, at least be a big enough person to let them know. And when it comes to describing your items, be honest and don't waste people's time. Give LOTS of information in your item description. I can't tell you how many times I have seen an item listed with this description: "Guitar for sale. $650. Serious inquiries only." Are you kidding? Is it an acoustic or electric? Six or 12-string? What brand is it? Does it even work? Does it have a case?

Is it shell pink?
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Roland Double Beat AD-50 Fuzz Wah Pedal

2009-01-11T08:34:00.000-08:00

Many years ago, long before eBay and Craig's List, I was walking around downtown San Diego just basically being a tourist in my own town. I live about 25 miles north of San Diego proper in a little beach community, and unless I'm headed to a Padres game or I have a gig, I just don't head downtown all that much. So, when I happened upon a pretty cool pawn shop on 5th Avenue I had to wander in and take a look around. It was one of those pawn shops that tries to be sort of old-timey, with a wooden indian by the front door and a giant antique scale and other antique decor. They had a few guitars, but nothing too nice. Then, up on a glass shelf, I spied what looked like the remnants of some old science experiment. Or was it a weird wah pedal?

I asked the lady if I could take a look and she carefully pulled down a double handfull of pedal, wires, capacitors and a battery and put it on the counter. I'd never seen a pedal like this before, but it turned out to be a pretty beat up Roland Double Beat Fuzz & Wah pedal, missing it's bottom plate. Although it looked like a mess, it did appear to all be there...just missing the plate.

I asked how much and she said $50. I said how about $20, since I only had about $20 to my name. However, I knew I needed this pedal for some reason and, even if it was my last few bucks, I was going to offer it up. To my surprise she said okay, and the pedal was mine. Now I had to carry it around for awhile with all the wires and guts hanging out.

I'm sure I looked like an amateur bomber walking the streets.

I got the pedal home and found a piece of thin wood which I cut out to fit the bottom. I screwed it all together and it actually looked acceptable. Barely. But the cool thing is that it worked. I played around with it and got some funky fuzz tones out of it. It has a knob that lets you choose between three fuzz waves. Then you can kick in the wah and either do fuzz wah or plain old funk wah with no fuzz. The pots could have used a cleaning, but otherwise it was pretty decent.

Like I said, this was before eBay and the like, so there was no way to really get this in the hands of someone who knew it's value and would be willing to pay top dollar for it. I took it down to my local music store one day and used it as a partial trade for something...no clue what. But I do remember the guy being pretty happy to get this rare pedal. I never went back to see what he was actually selling it for. Sometimes that's for the best...get what you can, be happy with it, and don't look back.
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One of the photos "borrowed" from DiscoFreq, a GREAT pedal archive
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Fender Blues Junior

2009-01-07T20:52:00.000-08:00

This is the second Blues Junior I have owned and sold and I would be lying if I said I thought I'd never own another one. These are just great little amps and in a lot of ways I probably should have kept this one. But the truth of the matter is that I play acoustic gigs and I'm not in a band and what the hell do I need an amp for anyway? I have finally owned up to the fact that I'm probably never going to be in a rockin', giggin' band again, so a Blues Junior is really the perfect amp to own if you just want to be defiant about it and own one anyway. And they are fantastic for recording.

I bought this one off Craig's List for $225 and I sold it for $300, so I did make a profit and you can't argue with profit. You won't find this blog asking for any government bailouts. And when it comes time to unload the amp I bought that replaced the Blues Junior, I'll be making a hefty profit too. In fact, that's the real reason I kept it. A few columns ago I wrote about my dealings with King's Pawn Shop in beautiful Econdido, CA (note the sarcasm when describing Escondido). Although I'd had mixed reviews of the store in the past, the owner contacted me and in and effort to make things up to me, gave me a "deal I couldn't refuse" on a Rivera amp. The problem is that this amp is so awesome that it's really too much amp for me, sitting around my house, with no band and no electric gig. But I want it.
Don't we always want more gear than we need?

So, when I acquired the Rivera Hundred Duo Twelve (that's 100 watts through two 12" Celestions), it was such a great deal that I kept it and sold the amp that made the most sense. The only thing that did make sense about selling it was that I sure as hell didn't need TWO amps sitting around doing very little. So I guess the Rivera is an investment. The guys in my acoustic group all sent me emails saying to be sure to let them check it out before I sell it...of course being cynical about how long I would hold onto it. But my goal is to keep it as long as I can make myself. However, if you've read this blog, you know that's not an easy task for me.

Eventually I'm going to want something else and I'm going to sell the Rivera for about a $500 profit and get another Blues Junior for cheap off Craig's List and the balance of the amp world will be back in order.
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Comment Round-Up

2008-12-31T16:33:00.001-08:00

Because of the nature of this blog, lots of people find it for the first time because they are Google searching for a particular guitar or amp. Lots of comments get left on past stories that probably don't get seen by regular readers. So, I thought maybe I'd start a new thing from time to time and round up the latest comments about archived stories. Here goes:

Regarding the story about the Gibson MK-35: "I bought my MK-35 in 1977, still have it, play it daily and it sounds better with each passing year. Had some issues with it way back when, bridge lifted and I sent it back to Gibson for repair. When it came back they had refinished it in Sunburst, it was originally natural. took a little getting used to but I came to like it after a while. It is a different looking beast for sure but mine plays well and sounds good. Came new with three different bridge saddles so that you could do your set up, just loosen the strings as slide one out and another in. I did put the pickguard on after much deliberation, sometimes wish that I hadn't but probably would have worn the finish off if it hadn't been installed. It's a good old guitar now, wouldn't trade it for the world!" -- Anonymous

Regarding the story about the Fender Flame...I received an email from the current owner of the guitar who wanted to contact the person who contributed the story to see if he wanted it back. Here is what resulted: "I just heard back from the current owner of this guitar. I don't think I can afford to buy it back. So it goes." -- Alex

Regarding the Cort Jim Triggs model: "I just bought this exact guitar. It's beautiful and has amazing tone. Thanks for the story." -- Ed

Regarding the the Music Man RD 112 One Hundred amp: "About 15 years ago, I was living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and there was a 210HD at a local music store for $200. I loved it and was THIS close to buying it, but as I was playing primarily hard rock, I finally decided against it (not without agony). Now, older and wiser, how I wish I could go back. And here's one that somehow didn't get away. As a 16-year-old metalhead in the mid-80s lusting after a modified Marshall stack, I wasn't too impressed with the tiny tweed Fender practice amp given to me by my aunt, after my uncle passed away. He had MS, and I never knew he played guitar until she gave me the amp. For some reason, I held onto the amp, because of sentimental value I guess. And now that I'm a 39-year-old playing everything from rock to blues to jazz and even metal, I've grown to understand just how awesome that 1955 Fender Champ sounds!" -- Chaotic Smelt

Regarding the Alvarez Yairi DY58 9-string acoustic: "I read and loved your piece on the DY58 9 string Yairi. I found mine in a similar manner at a pawn shop around 1985. The guy at the couonter didn't know what he had (for that much neither did I at the time). I played it once and then immediately knew I had to have it (I spent my Rent Check). I'll never forget the guy at the pawn shop saying "I recon it was a 6 string before,but it looks like somebody added some tuning pegs to it....I'll let it go for for $300.00...I'll through in the hard shell case just to get it out of here". SWEEEEEEET...I still have it but I don't anything technical about it. Like what wood did they use on the fret board, sides, back and top? What inspired them to make it and is it true that John Paul Jones of Led Zep may have used one?" -- Michael Perea

Regarding the Guyatone Bass: "I ever seen Guyatone Bass '70s at a second hand music instrumental shop. The body is like Yamaha Guitar '70s. The weird thing is that it has switch up-down to switch the pick up, just like guitar. So I wonder if it is really a bass, I thought it's a guitar that had been modified into bass. The sound is very very mellow when the switch turned to UP. It's brighter and harder when turned to DOWN." -- Erlangga

Regaring the Princeton Reverb amp: "Hi, I'm from Switzerland. I'm a percussionist. My son Simon loves playing guitar and he's very good at it. Now, for business reasons I met a customer in his office, and there, in the corner, I saw this cute amp with blue writing "Princeton Reverb." Later I found out it's a Fender 1977. I asked the owner if he's still playing. He said "No, and I have also an Electric Guitar." It was a Fender Mustang 1978. I told him that I would like to buy it for my son and asked him how much it would cost. "$400" he said "both!" Well, guess what I did...They look brand new and sound awesome! " -- Anonymous

And also this: "Good call on the pawn shops. I remember going to them and always seeing junk that was overpriced to boot. I specifically remember a highlighter-colored Charvette hanging in one." -- Alex

Regarding the story of the Epiphone Crestwood I used to own with the name 'Johnny Ruddy' scratched into the back of the headstock: "I bought the 'johnny ruddy' crestwood recently on eBay for $450 and shipping...I love it!" -- Anonymous
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1994 Rickebacker Jetglo 360

2008-12-25T21:32:00.000-08:00

Submitted by Ellen Rugowski

Let me introduce myself. My name's Ellen. I'm a Gen Xer. I've been playing guitar for just shy of 30 years—part of that time as a lead guitarist in semi-pro rock bands. I come from a guitaring family. My grampa was an acoustic guitar luthier [(he made me my first guitar, when I was little) who also played jazz guitar in Big Bands; my uncle (my Dad's youngest brother) still plays off and on in pickup bands.

During the 1990s, I was a Gibson Girl big time. But, I decided that I'd like to have a Ric as a second guitar. In the early '90s, I never seemed to find one I liked or could afford. But, in February 1995, the opportunity occurred for me to buy a Ric at a Milwaukee area music store (Cascio Music) that I could just afford. The guitar in question was a 1994 Jetglo 360. It was originally ordered by a guy in 1994 who refused it (according to what I was told at the music store) due to a minor finish blemish. The guitar sat in the music store collecting dust until I bought it, making me the original owner of the guitar. I grew to like my Ric 360 to the point where my main guitar (a 1980 tobacco sunburst Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion) was basically collecting dust (a tall order, considering I play a lot of heavy rock - but the Ric was better than it at clean stuff, and could still sound surprisingly good, playing the heavy stuff). I ended up selling the Howard Roberts Fusion, and my Ric 360 became my main guitar. I called my 360 "Baby" (because I often used to say to myself, "come to mama baby, it's time to play").

In August of 1999 I was between bands. I hit a money crunch.

I'd sold off my good amps (Mesa Boogies), and was feeling that I needed a change in sound. I could not justify economically at the time having 2 guitars, so I traded my Ric 360 for a Fender Toronado at Mars Music (remember that chain of music stores?—its been out of business for years). Within two months of doing this trade, I realized just how much of a fool I'd been for getting rid of my Ric 360 and wound up regretting my decision. But, I'd pretty much written off ever seeing Baby again, and I was so broke that a Rick was financially out of reach for me anyway.

I am a regular on the Harmony Central Electric Guitar Forum. When many of the members get a new guitar, they will often post an NGD (New Guitar Day) thread. On Nov. 1, I read an NGD post from a member, who'd gotten a Ric 650 Atlantis (I remember posting on the thread, congratulating the guy, and telling him that I used to have a Ric 360 that I missed and wished I had back). After reading this NGD Ric 650 thread, I decided out of curiosity to take a look online to see what was available in Rics. Those I saw on eBay were a bit pricey for me (I'm still paying off bills from the same hard times when I sold off Baby). Just for a laugh, I decided to look on the Music Go Round website for Rics. I just about had a heart attack! A Music Go Round store about 35 miles away from me had listed (with a photo), a 1994 Jetglo 360 for sale! Not many Rick 360s were sold in Wisconsin (where I live) back in 1994 or 1995. All I could think was "ohmigod! is that Baby?" The next day I drove to the Music Go Round to check out the 360.

I took a look at the guitar. Sure enough, it was Baby. I found the minor head stock rash I'd put on Baby back in 1998, when I didn't watch where I was going, and bumped the headstock into a wall. To say I was floored is putting it mildly. I asked if I could play Baby (I even brought a guitar strap with me). As soon as I strapped Baby on and started playing it was like meeting an old friend again. I started ripping off licks as though I'd never quit playing Baby 9 years ago. Baby seemed a bit thinner sounding than I'd remembered it sounding in the past. I wondered if it was the JCM2000 I was using at the Music Go Round, especially since a guy near me was getting a nice thick sound out of a Strat with single coils from a Peavey Valve King. I plugged into the Valve King and started playing again. Yep, it was the amp. Baby sounded nice, rich, and full, both clean, and at full on grind through the Valve King.

Then and there I decided that I had to get Baby back. But it's price of $1300 was more than I really could afford (I even grumped to the salesman that the price was $400 more than I originally paid for the Ric 360 when it was new). But I wanted Baby back. So I adopted a "whatever it takes" attitude. So I wouldn't lose Baby again, I ended up having to trade in the three mid- and low-priced guitars I had, just to put Baby on layaway (it's a good thing I did so— while the sale was being written up, a guy called asking about Baby). Two weeks later, with a bonus from work, some of my paycheck, and the sale of a ham radio on eBay (I've had a ham radio license for almost 31 years) I scraped together the rest of the money to finish paying for my Ric 360 and I took it home for good.

The more I play Baby the more I'm reminded as to why I basically moved heaven and earth financially to get it back almost 2 months ago after so foolishly letting it go nine years ago. Two nights ago I was given a profound reminder of my Ric 360's value to me.

As I mentioned earlier, I like to play heavy rock (metal, thrash metal, hard, rock Stoner Rock , Doom, etc.). I also like using my Ric 360 for the heavy stuff. Many players don't realize that the Rickenbacker Hi-Gain single coils and the Rickenbacker humbuckers have just as much output (in some cases more) as your typical humbucker. While playing two nights ago, my Jetglo 360 proceeded to floor me by sounding both brutal and beautiful in equal measures. The clarity and the crunch, with that wonderful Ric high end shimmer (but NO shrillness) made me want to keep playing and playing. I didn't even consider plugging in my other guitar (a Danelectro Hodad). I can't wait to play out live with Baby! My Ric 360 is NOT for sale! I will NEVER make that mistake again!
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Happy Holidays!

2008-12-24T09:20:00.000-08:00

Thanks for a great first year! I have enjoyed all the stories that have been sent in and love all the feedback to my own stories. I hope you all get all the cool guitar gear you want for Christmas! My new Jodi Head custom guitar strap just arrived in the mail and I'm pretty pleased. Be safe!

Les Paul Special and Fender Strat

2008-12-23T23:29:00.000-08:00

Submitted by Wade Tam

I’ve got a story about my first two real electric guitars whose stories are intertwined, so here goes it. A few years ago, I was living and teaching in New York City and, during one of my free summers, I was hit by the music bug to join a band and start playing guitar. I had always toiled a bit with an old acoustic that my godmother had given to me as a gift, but, being a piano player, I never truly mastered the instrument. Well, this time around I walked into the famed Manny’s Music on 48th Street and was simply amazed by the stunning array of guitars adorning their walls.

There were hundreds of shiny, beautiful Fenders, Gibsons, Ibanezes, Rickenbackers, and everything else that just shouted, “BUY ME, NOW!” to an unassuming young teacher like me. I had come in a few days before and had purchased a Squier Affinity Strat, but, dissatisfied with my choice, I came back to find a better guitar. With a friend in tow (who I had dragged out with me . . . and he was on vacation), I finally decided on a MIM Fender Satin Stratocaster. It was an absolutely stunning guitar—gunmetal blue satin finish, rosewood fretboard, black pickguard, and the reassuring “Fender” logo on the headstock. The guitar looked mean, but played like a dream . . . even my impatient friend commented, “That guitar is just bad-ass.” Well, I took that guitar home proudly and played it every night through a Fender 85 and BOSS DS-1 pedal (with a few complaints from my neighbors . . . they would return the favor with God-awful gangsta rap).

A year after I purchased my Fender, I was venturing downtown when I stumbled into 30th Street Guitars, a little hole in the wall that is stocked with an awesome collection of vintage guitars and gear (if you’re ever in New York, check this place out . . . the owner is pretty damn cool and has the best prices around) [ed.note: WILL DO!]. I didn’t mean to buy anything that day until a 1996 Gibson Les Paul Special in cherry red stared straight at me and begged me to be played.

Well, I took it off the wall, plugged in, and lo and behold, we had a winner.

The guitar played amazingly, had a fantastic punch for rock and a glassy tone for jazz from its P-100s (wannabe P-90s that are configured like humbuckers), and looked like Bob Marley’s Les Paul Special. I was hooked and the price was right . . . $600. I put a down payment on the guitar and did some research at home; many people disliked the P-100s, but I found an endearing, warm, and diverse quality about them . . . you could play almost anything with that guitar.

A few days later, I made the decision to buy the guitar, but unfortunately at the sacrifice of my beloved Fender Satin Strat. I walked into the store with my Strat in one hand and my tax refund in the other and bought the Les Paul. I would play that Les Paul until I moved back to the Bay Area and JetBlue (damn those guys) refused to allow me to take my Les Paul as a carry-on and checked it into baggage claim. You can guess what happened . . . they snapped the headstock clean off the guitar. I eventually had it repaired, but the guitar never played or sounded the same, and I sold it some country picker in Berkeley for $350.

Man, those were two fantastic guitars I wish I had back . . . . I guess we live and learn as now I have a nice 2008 Tele, a Gibson Advanced Jumbo, and a Seagull S6 that I won’t give up.
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Story Update

2008-12-22T22:00:00.000-08:00

Back in February, I told a story of a Taka J-200 copy acoustic that included some fairly disparaging remarks about the store I bought it in. Not too terribly long after I wrote and posted the story I got an email from the owner of King's Pawn, the store in question. She had come across my story and was horrified that my experience in her store was less than fantastic. She apologized and, to make it up to me, let me know that, if I was still interested in the Rivera Hundred Duo Twelve amp they had (you'll have to read the story), she would give me a ridiculous deal on it. Today, months later, I walked into King's Pawn in Escondido, CA and, even though it was super pre-Christmas busy, got a nice "hello" and another employee offered her help if needed. I asked for the owner and introduced myself as the jerk who complained about her store online. The Rivera amp I was in love with was still there and, true to her word, the owner hooked me up with the most smokin' deal in history. I just got finished plugging it in and jamming on it and it's an amazing amp.

So, thanks to Heidi and everyone at King's Pawn...I truly do appreciate that she took the time to correct a situation in this world where customer service is dwindling and stores put customers last instead of first. You can bet I'll be poking around King's Pawn (the friendliest store in town) again regularly.
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Gibson Firebird III 1965

2008-12-21T21:55:00.000-08:00

Story submitted by Dan Brinkmeier

In 1973 I was barely out of high school and I bought a ’65 Gibson Firebird III from an older hippie-type college student who lived in an old farmhouse outside of my hometown of Mount Carroll, Illinois. I had been playing bass a bit and had just started getting into guitar. One time when I was there he offered to sell me one of two guitars he had leaning up against the wall, the Firebird and an old Telecaster; he wanted $125 for each, which was a lot of money for me at the time. I chose the Firebird because it was so odd looking, and it had three pickups, not just one pickup like the Telecaster.

He warned me that it didn’t stand up very well against the wall but fell over a lot.

I learned how to play guitar on that Firebird. It was completely stock when I got it, with a dark-reddish Mahogany finish, and it had a whammy bar. The sliding pickup switch on it eventually stopped working and I put in a toggle switch, and also replaced the original white plastic tuning pegs with nice Schallers because the original pegs wouldn’t work anymore...the guitar had fallen over so much while leaning against the wall. I bought a 50-watt Fender bass amp head with a huge bottom and I played the Firebird through that for many years.

I lived on a small farm and would just leave the amp and the guitar (in it’s beat up old case) sitting on a hay rack out in the machine shed, and walk out and plug in, turn the amp up all the way and just play. The thing really echoed through the shed and out into the countryside. Later, when I would come home from college in the summer, I rented a nearby abandoned farmhouse from a neighbor to use as a painting studio and kept the amp and Firebird there all the time so that I could play when I wanted with friends. I can’t believe I just left the guitar there sitting in its case on the floor. The house wasn’t locked, so anybody could have come along and just taken it when I wasn’t there.

Later on, when I went to grad school at Iowa State University in Ames in 1983, I found that I just didn’t play the Firebird anymore, So, one day I just got up and took it to a tiny guitar shop on Main Street in Ames and sold it to the guy there for $250, which I thought was a lot of money. I went down to a small town south of Ames and used the $250 to buy myself a used acoustic guitar from a guy in a wheelchair—a Guild D35NT. I still have that Guild, and when I play it I often think of that Firebird and wonder where it is and whether it is still out in Central Iowa someplace. I recently bought myself an Epiphone Firebird copy. I really like it and play it all the time.
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Danelectro Nifty-50 Guitar Amp

2008-12-21T08:14:00.000-08:00

A few years ago I went to Charleston, SC with my wife to visit family. We were there for a week and I was getting antsy. I wanted to go look around at some pawn shops and thrift stores in a new city...you never know what you are going to find. My wife and mother-in-law were doing their best to accomodate me but were getting a little over it. As we drove past downtown I spied one last pawn shop and asked them to pull over. Sitting on the shelf was this slightly dirty Danelectro Nifty-50 guitar amp. I was in a big hurry, so I just asked the guy how much and if it worked correctly. He said he'd take $35 for it and it worked perfectly. Deal. I didn't even test it.

As Scooby Doo would say, "Rut ro."

So, later in the day I get it home and clean it all up. It looks pretty nice but I do notice that one of the knobs didn't turn all that easily. We were flying home to SoCal that night, so I wrapped it up in a layer of bubble wrap and a few of my dirty t-shirts and underwear and put it in my big suitcase. It's not a large amp and this worked perfectly. It's solid state, so no worries about tubes. The next day I pulled it out and plugged 'er in for the first time. Hmmm. The volume control doesn't work correctly. Well, not at all actually. It's just on. At least it was on. The only way to control the volume was to adjust the tone controls. And the headphone jack didn't work.

Yeah, works perfectly.

Needless to say this amp didn't get a lot of use and I had a friend who was wanting to learn to play guitar. So, I gave him the amp to mess around with. I guess it's a good thing it was so cheap, but I have learned my lesson about testing stuff in pawn shops. I get the feeling that they aren't very thorough when taking items into the shop, so it's got to be on me to make sure it works. I wouldn't mind having another one of these one day...in fact there is one on Craig's List today and that's what spurred my brain to remember this one. Of course, the headphone jack on it doesn't work. Figures.
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2008-12-18T21:34:00.000-08:00

Story submitted by Bill Bielby

It was my first electric guitar, an 8th grade graduation gift in 1961. In early April, my Dad and I went to Zordan's Music on South Michigan Ave in the Roseland area of Chicago, and Al Zordan was showing us new guitars in the $100 range. Even in those days, before Japanese imports, $100 didn't buy much of an electric guitar.

So, Al says, "Wait a minute."

He goes in the back room and brings out this beat up hard shell Les Paul case. He opens it up and framed in the pink lining is a '53 Gold Top with P-90s, except it isn't gold but midnight blue, almost black...what is sometimes called "oxblood." The pearl inlays had aged considerably and it was obvious it was a guitar with miles on it. But, apart from cosmetic wear, it played perfectly. So, we agree to buy it on layaway and every week for 10 weeks we headed for Roseland and gave Al another $10. Al also explained that the previous owner was a South Side blues artist known as Guitar Red.

Guitar Red (Paul Johnson) was a bit of a legend to aspiring guitarists on the South Side in those days. He recorded for Excello, Checker and Chess, and was known for his flamboyant playing style -- over his head, behind his back, even played the thing with his feet. Anyway, in June of 2002 I had tracked down Al Zordan to interview him for my book project on the early rock scene in the South Suburbs of Chicago. I hadn't seen him 35 years. We of course talked about my first guitar, and he mentioned that he had seen Red perform in a suburban club recently, and eventually I was able to track down Red and interview him in his home on the South Side. Red entertained me for hours with stories (including the one about playing that Les Paul with his feet) and with songs ranging from "Moonlight in Vermont" to "Little Wing."

In '63, my band, The Newports, needed a bass player. So, I traded that Les Paul in at Zordan's for a Hagstrom bass.

I'm guessing that guitar would be worth about $20K now.
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Fender Lead II

2008-12-16T23:14:00.000-08:00

I was racking my brain trying to think of other guitars that I used to have and, DOH!, how about the very first electric guitar I ever owned? In the early '80s I lived in the small town of Enid, OK for a couple of years. I have documented this previously a number of time (most lovingly here), so I'll spare you the details of most of it. However, the important thing is that my good friend Russ tells me one day that he's got an electric guitar and amp that he'd like to sell and, hey, would I be interested? I had only owned an acoustic up to that point and thought that sounded like a darn fine idea. I will tell the story of the amp next time, but just to whet your whistle, it was a Hiwatt head with a very cool Musicman cabinet. I had NO idea what I had.

Anyway, the guitar turned out to be a Fender Lead II. This was the late '70s, early '80s student model put out by Fender at that time and was very much in the image of a Strat. The one I had was all black with a black pickguard, had two single coils, a fixed bridge, and was maybe ever so slightly smaller than a regular Strat. The guitar actually played really well from what I remember and was a sweet guitar. I looked them up on eBay today to see what was for sale and there is one pretty much just like it for $350. I checked the items already sold and they seem to sell for $250-350 for the most part. People have them advertised for more, but that doesn't mean a whole hill of beans.

As my Great Uncle Willie used to say, "It ain't what it's worth, it's what it brings."

By the way, that old redneck saying is included in my book...yes I'm sort of an author..."Redneck Words Of Wisdom," a collection of real redneck sayings that real rednecks really say. How do I know? My wife is from South Carolina. 'Nuff said. Anyway, click here to check it out and maybe even get a copy for someone for Christmas. Or just to read on the toilet.

Back to the guitar. This is the official description: Lead II, 1979-1982: Two specially designed X-1 single coil pickups, one at the neck, and the other at the bridge. The X-1 pickup was also used in the bridge position on the "Strat" and the "Dan Smith Stratocaster" models. 3 position pickup selector switch (neck, neck and bridge, bridge), 2 position phase shift switch (in phase, out of phase) which operates only when both pickups are selected (middle position). Master Volume and Tone Control.

So what the heck happened to the Lead II? If you are old, like me, you might just remember when Fostex came out with the very first 4-track cassette recorder. I remember seeing an ad in a guitar magazine for one and I couldn't believe it. How was I going to get one? HAD TO HAVE IT. I drove on over to Stillwater, OK (home of the Oklahoma State Cowboys) to a music store that had one. These Fostex recorders were expensive. The X-15 if I remember correctly. I told the guy I had to get one and asked if they took trade-ins. He said they did and I carted in the Hiwatt head, the Musicman cabinet and the Fender Lead II in it's original black tolex case and asked if they would trade straight up. The guy knew a sucker when he saw one and told me I'd have to pay the tax. I did and walked out with a little box that fit in the front seat rather than a carload of gear that I'd arrived with.

Now he may have gotten the better of the deal in retrospect, but that little 4-track recorder put me on a path of songwriting and home recording that I continue on today. In the meantime I've bought and sold dozens of guitars and amps. So, I'd have to say it was well worth the trade in terms of what was right for me. HOWEVER, now that I look at these photos of the Lead II, I really want one. Quite a bit. Very cool guitar. I just got my Christmas bonus at work and depending on how I ration it out, I might just have to consider a Lead II.
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Hey, one more thing...I got the photos of the Fender Lead II at this fan site. There is a TON of information about the Lead series guitars there and you should check it out.
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Nice Write-up in Premier Guitar Magazine

2008-12-12T20:29:00.000-08:00

Just thought I would share that the fine folks at Premier Guitar magazine wrote a nice review of this blog. I'm especially grateful because they have a great magazine, so to be recognized by them is a nice honor. THANKS GUYS!

Be sure to check out their website as well...it's pretty darn chock full of content. I found out from their news section the Reverend Guitars is making a Pete Anderson model that looks really cool, so it was well worth the perusal.

www.premierguitar.com
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Fender Musicmaster 1973

2008-12-10T11:28:00.000-08:00

Story submitted by Darren Ewing

The short version of how I came to acquire the Fender Musicmaster in 1978 goes like this; I had a pool table, he had a guitar. A trade, straight-across, and a backbreaking trip up the stairs to deliver the pool table, left me the proud owner of my first electric guitar. I had taken lessons for a few months with a cheap classical guitar, but I was young and full of angst, and the Raffi twanger just wasn't fulfilling my dreams of metal health. So when the opportunity arose, I went for it.

I needed the room for my drums anyway, so getting rid of the pool table was a relief. The trouble is, the drums called to me louder and stronger than did the guitar. So, for the next 30 years, the Fender sat, largely unused in the original case.

Occasionally I would take it out and strum the strings, but it became clear to me as the years rolled on that I wanted to be Neil Peart more than I wanted to be Eddie Van Halen.

A guitarist friend of mine nicknamed the guitar: The Banana. It's odd, off-yellow coloring puzzled me. I found out later that the original color of the instrument was actually white. Being that the Fender Musicmaster line came along in the late '50s in order to create an affordable line of student sized electrics, apparently the choice of paint was one of the cost cutting measures employed to ensure affordability. I'm not aware of any white Musicmaster's that haven't turned yellow, though I'm sure they exist.

I tried several times to ascertain the year of origin of the guitar, though I'll admit, at first, I only made a half-assed attempt. Unable to determine what year it was manufactured, I chose to hang on to the guitar, thinking maybe I had stumbled across the deal of the century. Last year I decided the guitar needed to get used, so I took it to a professional for a setup and a nut replacement. He determined, from looking at the serial numbers on the original pots, that it was made in 1973. Hmmm. Not exactly pre-CBS, but not exactly uncool either. With a new nut, strings and intonation in place I took the guitar home...where it sat yet again. I didn't really need the room and I didn't really need the money, so I just left it in the closet where it had always been.

I suppose it was my tendency toward sentimentality that made me feel sorry for the old girl. She was something of a classic, and she was not being appreciated. I took her out one last time, plugged her into my practice amp (I'm still something of a guitar hobbyist) and realized that this relationship just wasn't going to happen.

I placed the guitar on eBay, and I'm confident that she has gone to a place where she will get the love and attention that she never got from me. It's been only a few weeks since she left the familiar confines of my bedroom closet, so I still don't know if I'm going through separation anxiety or not. I only hope that wherever The Banana resides, she remains a-peeling.

Sorry. No really...I...I just couldn't resist.
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1973 Fender Twin Reverb

2008-11-17T19:06:00.000-08:00

Story submitted by Alex Herrlein

Ever had a "too good to be true" moment? The story of this amp is one of those. At some point I got the "vintage Fender amps are so cool" bug, and knew I wasn't going to afford anything but a silverface Fender, if that. I once played a silverface Twin and a Fernandes Tele at Gryphon Strings in Palo Alto, CA, and my recollection was that I couldn't hit a bad note. Fast forward ten or so years.

I found the pictured Twin in a small music store among a lot of new, cheapo stuff. It sure wasn't new, but it was kind of cheap at $450. I could tell that the tolex and grill cloth had been replaced, but I figured that was about it. Oh, maybe the speakers too.

It came with a nifty story about being the house amp at a bar in the Caribbean, where the sea air ruined the original tolex and so forth, necessitating a costume change into the Nudie suit of blonde all around. Still, it was a good deal.

It sounded pretty much what you'd want a Twin to sound like. It had the master volume, but not the pull boost on the knob. Being that I used it as a practice amp, it soon became clear that this massively heavy, loud amp was not the ideal choice for that. I decided to sell it and took it to a local vintage shop, where the guy started to poke around in it. I guess the transformers and the worn tubes were original, and I don't think the scratched and dented faceplate could be anything but original. Just about everything else wasn't, down to the masonite replacement back panels under the tolex. I thought they seemed awfully flexible when I bumped them.

The cabinet itself elicited the comment "well, somebody got an A in wood shop."

I guess the tube chart was missing for a reason. My ears burned, but I stuck around waiting to see if they'd buy it. No dice. Turned out it had a bad master volume pot to boot, which prevented the other store I took it to from buying it. A couple hundred bucks in repairs later, it was the perfect player's amp--running and sounding fine, but far from original and fairly homely, unless your tastes run to not-really-professionally-applied faux-early-60's blonde tolex on a very '70s-era amp. It also ended up with mismatched speakers after one of the magnets fell of—I still don't understand how that happened—one of its unmarked aftermarket speakers, and I replaced it with a newer Fender blue-label one. In the end, I sold it to a nice guy who didn't care about anything but the sound. That's really the way it should be, even though I know I can't ignore aesthetics myself.

I don't really miss that amp, but I'd like to have another silverface Fender one day.
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Send In Your Story!

2008-11-16T22:39:00.000-08:00

Hey, things have been a little slow here and that's because I've just about run out of my own stories. I know every single one of you who reads this blog...and there are actually a lot of you believe it or not...has a story to tell. Send it in!

Gibson GA-19RVT Falcon Amplifier

2008-11-11T21:17:00.000-08:00

Today at work I received an email from one of the guys I play music with in The Small Pox Mountain Boys. Oliver is also the singer/guitarist in a great band that deserves some recognition called Deliverance Machine. Okay, now that I've gotten the "props" out of the way, the reason he emailed me was to let me know there was a cool vintage Gibson amp on Craig's List. I clicked on the link and, lo and behold, it was exactly like an old amp I'd found at the swap meet and completely forgotten about. Well, you know that means there's a new story to tell on the ol' blog.

The Gibson Falcon I used to own pretty much sucked.

There, I said it. Start with the truth. I found it at the local swap meet, back on the back row. Some guy had quite a few guitar related items including this amp. They don't just have power cords running all over the place, so I asked the guy how much it was and if it worked properly. He said $50 and yes, it worked perfectly. I decided to take him at his word and not try to lug the thing around to some outlet and to see if it came on. He didn't really have a guitar to plug into it for testing, so the best I could have done was plug in and see if the light came on. I got it home and it did all that just fine.

What it didn't do was sound good. I think if I were an amp tech I could have tweaked on it, changed out some amp parts stuff (whatever that is in there) and probably ended up with a pretty sweet little amp. I've often heard that many older Gibson amps are underrated and pretty nice. These Falcons were made from '62 to '67 and pumped out 15 watts. They had one 12" speaker and reverb and tremolo according to this website. The one I had came with the original footswitch, just like the one pictured (I stole the photos from the listing on Craig's List). I checked out the reviews on Harmony Central and there were some "sounds awesome" type reviews, so mine probably just needed some TLC.

I eventually traded it in on a Strat at Guitars West and everybody was happy. Even the douche at the swap meet who sold me an iffy amp under false description.
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Update on Epiphone Crestwood

2008-11-03T12:21:00.000-08:00

Hey, a kind of cool thing happened today...someone left a comment on a story that was posted earlier this year about an Epiphone Crestwood I once had: click here to link to original story. Evidently a reader of ours recently bought this very guitar on eBay for $450. Very cool to hear about one of my old guitars...if for any reason you have come across one of the guitars on this site be sure to drop me a line!
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1961 Harmony Rocket

2008-10-26T21:06:00.000-07:00

Story submitted by Alex Herrlein

Besides the fact that I can't afford a Gibson or a "real" vintage guitar, I actually always liked the old Harmonys. I remember seeing a kid in high school's Harmony Meteor, and maybe I had that image stuck in my head when I bought this one. I was in Yellow Springs, Ohio one day and saw a little shop that had a bunch of older-lady-looking crafts in the front room, but...some guitars were peeking out from the back. I got this one for the tag price plus tax, which made it $106. The neck pickup didn't work, it was missing half of the original white pickguard, and a couple knobs were mismatched.

Otherwise, it was pretty cool. Great sunburst finish, quite playable action, and a good sound out of the remaining DeArmond-Rowe pickup. I had no idea they would be more collectable down the road, so I installed Ping tuners on it, since I really wanted it to stay in tune more than anything. I also found a sort-of-replacement tortoiseshell pickguard to replace the broken white one, which helped the looks a lot. I strung it up with heavier strings to get a little more acoustic volume, but it was definitely a garage-a-billy guitar more than a jazzer, which was fine with me. After being pretty happy with it for a while, I decided to try to fix the silent neck pickup.

That became one of those "can't leave well enough alone" events.

The inside didn't look like other guitars with the wires inside these coiled metal shields. To make a long story short, I never got the pickup working, but did manage to unground it in a howling, buzzing kind of way. Since I couldn't figure out how to undo that, I took it to a vintage-oriented store, and got $150 back on my $106 investment. I've tried owning some other cheaper hollowbody guitars before and since, but none that I actually missed playing. Maybe one day I'll buy another one when I really need to dispose of some disposable income.
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Magnatone High Fidelity Custom 480

2008-10-22T21:35:00.000-07:00

This one will make you feel like throwing up in your mouth just a little. There is an Amvets thrift store somewhat near my house that used to always have pretty good stuff (not so much any more). Weird swirly bowling balls and cool vintage bags, interesting furniture, cool western shirts before everyone including surf companies started making western shirts, and I even found a couple of lap steels here. One day I walked in and sitting in the middle of some dog cages and fake plants and old people's walkers was a Magnatone Custom 480. I walked over to it very quickly so as not to draw attention to myself, but not let anyone else get there first...as though that was going to happen.

To be honest, from a distance I wasn't 100% sure it was an amp at all. I thought maybe it was one of those old style console stereos or something. But as I got closer I knew it was an amp. I didn't know much about Magnatones, but in the back of my mind I sort of remembered something about Robert Cray playing one. I plugged it in and got nothing. I noticed that the fuse was missing. This would be obvious to anyone with some amp knowledge because it was right there on the control panel. I went over and sweet talked my way down to $25 for the amp and it was a done deal. I picked it up...I should say I tried to pick it up...and, man, it was heavy. Finally lugged it out to the car and headed to Moonlight Music, which was a local guitar store. He actually had the correct fuse with the screw on cap built in, which was a very lucky score.

We turned it on and, SWEET. It worked!

It had inputs for guitar and accordion and maybe something else. For you geeks I found this info and the photos at vibroworld.com (a very cool amp site): The Custom 480 originally sold for $499.95. It has 13 tubes, 1 transistor. The 2 input channels (each with high & low gain) are preamp'd by 6EU7's. Each has a Loudness, Bass, and Treble control. There is also a stereo input. Stereo vibrato is handled by 6CG7's and a 12BH7 to amplify the oscillator. A 6DR7 drives the input to the reverb pan, and a 2N306 transistor takes care of the return. Phase inversion is acomplished with twin 12AU7's. Four 6973's drive the stereo transformers along with two 12" Oxfords. It had approximately 50 watts.

Anyway, I kept the Magnatone for awhile but didn't feel comfortable gigging with it. Plus, it was just too heavy to drag around. I eventually traded it in at a guitar store and now can't remember what I traded it for. I do remember getting $250 in value for it. Not bad for a $25 thrift store find. I'm sure Robert Cray would have wanted this one.
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Fender Princeton Reverb Silverface

2008-10-21T22:55:00.001-07:00

I'm pretty sure everyone should own a Princeton Reverb. I've owned at least two and maybe three...I've lost count. There is a good and a bad side to these amps though...they're really not loud enough to gig with, but they sound absolutely fantastic. I'd love to have one again just for recording purposes and I'll probably keep hoping that one day I'll come across one at the Swap Meet or at a Pawn Shop somewhere and the owner won't know how much it's worth. "What? That old '70s amp in the corner? Heck, I'd take $30 for it I guess." We can all dream can't we?

And what's the deal with pawn shops these days?

Do they all think that they can charge more for a guitar than it's worth? What happened? Pawn shops used to be places that you could find a good deal on a guitar for the simple reason that when you go pawn a guitar in the first place they give you about four nickels and a couple of dimes for it and act like they've done you a favor. So, they could sell them for a good price and still come out way ahead. At some point in about the late '80s all pawn shops decided that they were retail shops and started jacking up prices on crappy Squiers and Johnsons and other weird brands from Pakistan or somewhere. They've all got those little Gorilla practice amps too, don't they? I digress.

The last Princeton Reverb that I had, I traded away exactly because it just wasn't loud enough. I was in a band that was rehearsing in a small little rehearsal spot and I could just never hear myself over the Carvin half stack our other guitarist cranked through. And by the way, while I'm digressing, why won't people admit that Carvin makes some pretty darn good sounding gear for the money? Their amps have always sounded really good...they make a tweed called (I think) the Bel Air that sounds nice and their stacks always sound very crunchy...I'd rather have a Carvin half stack than a lot of those other non-Marshall brands that try to pull it off. And I will go on the record that their PA gear is unbeatable for gigging folks like you and I and extremely cost effective. This sounds like one of those sneaky blog ads or something but it's not. I just believe that Carvin should get some credit and I don't think you're going to find many folks willing to say it. Especially when they're supposed to be writing about Fender Princetons.

Okay, no more digressing. Fender made the Princeton way back in the '40s, but the Silverface version I have owned were made from '68 to '82 when Paul Rivera released the Princeton Reverb II. From what I remember and have barely researched just now, these put out about 12 watts, which is perfect for recording and fine if you don't mind micing the amp and not being able to hear yourself, but not really practical for most guitarists on stage. Over the years of this model they had lots of different specs and small variations on features. The last one I owned had a pull pot, amazing clean tone and beautiful reverb. Man, I'm talking myself into wanting another one even more as I write this.

The best part of this story though is how I eventually ended up trading it. There is a fairly well known guy in vintage circles named J.R. who owns Sunset Music in Idaho. However, before he moved to Idaho he ran a small guitar store in Encinitas, CA called Blue Ridge Guitars. He was always fair with me, so one day I decided I really wanted a Gibson ES-125 Cutaway he had that had suffered the classic neck/headstock repair, which dropped it's value but didn't change the way it sounded...amazing. He had been sitting on this guitar for awhile and it was worth approximately the same as my Princeton Reverb. I walked in with my amp and just said, "Hey, no one is buying that 125 and I don't have any extra cash to sweeten the deal...why don't we just trade straight up fair and square and you'll have an amp you can more easily sell and I'll have a guitar I want." This kind of bargaining never works. But for some reason J.R. saw the logic in my deal and shook his head and said, "Okay, let's do it." He asked if the amp worked fine and I said it did. We didn't even write up a receipt...the whole thing took less than 5 minutes and I was out the door with a pretty cool guitar.

So, thanks J.R. for a cool deal. Wish I had that amp back though.
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Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

2008-10-20T22:43:00.000-07:00

I think it's about time to run through a few amps again. I did a whole week of amps here on the site and it seemed to get quite a few responses, so, since no one else is sending me stories, and I've told most of my guitar stories, we'll go with amps.

I saw this one listed on Craig's List and I was jonesin' for a new amp. It's a pretty standard Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and it was made in the USA the first year of production. A guy had bought it in 1996 (I believe that's the correct year) and put it in his living room and played it about once a month. He had a cover for it and it basically looked brand new. I went over to check it out and he couldn't turn it up much because he had a toddler asleep. So, not only did he not play it much, he didn't play it over about volume level .5 or so. It had the original footswitch and was just a really sweet amp.

These Hot Rod amps from Fender are great sounding stock amps in my opinion and I'm sure you can download about a gazillion mods and tweaks from the internets and I'm sure you could upgrade the speaker(s) and the tubes and you could even hire a cool guy with a Stevie Ray Vaughn hat on to make it sound just like Texas. But you know what? It sounds pretty darn good just how it is and, for the money, that's a good deal.

Not everyone can spend an extra $600 on a used $350 amp.

Now the downside of this amp, and the reason the guy who originally owned it sold it, and the reason I eventually sold it is that they are just too much amp for most of us home guitarists. I don't gig electrically any more (though I do play lots of acoustic gigs...who woulda thought?), so I don't need a whole heck of a lot of amp. I've got my Blues Junior which is really a scaled back version of this Hot Rod Deluxe when it comes down to it. That's pretty much what I did...I sold the Hot Rod Deluxe and downsized to the Blues Junior. I'm pretty sure that if I had an electric gig I could actually do the gig with the Junior mic'd in the PA. I've got some friends that tour and they have three guitarists in the band and they each tour with Blues Juniors and their own distinct pedal boards and they save a ton of room in the van, they save their backs each night hauling gear, and they sound great.

Anyway, the Hot Rod Deluxe is a great amp if you need lots of power and have a strong back. Cranked up to 11 it sounds fantastic.

You can hear this amp on my MySpace page, click on the song Gone Long Gone and (after the intro) all the lead guitar work was done by the great Dave Quillen using this amp and a Nash Telecaster I have profiled elsewhere here on the ol' blog. One take Dave.
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1969 Martin D-41 with Custom Inlay (maybe 1970)

2008-10-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

I've been holding out on this story simply because I don't have actual photos of this guitar...and to properly tell the story it would really help to see the inlay on the neck. But, since I'm running out of my own stories, and you folks are starting to send in a few...but not many...of your own, I decided to go ahead and write this one up.

As previously noted, I moved to California in 1987 and, at the time, I had an Ovation 1984 Collector's Series guitar (story here) and a 1974 Fender Telecaster (story here). I was pretty happy with my guitars at the time, but one day I walked into Guitar Center down in San Diego (the old one down on El Cajon Blvd. for you San Diegans) and saw a guitar I just had to have. It was a 1969 (if I remember correctly) Martin D-41 and, in addition to the standard fancy inlay on the body, it had a sort of non-standard vine inlay down the neck that was really intricate and I later found out was added to the guitar after it left the factory. It was just stunning and it caught my eye from all the way across the store. It was far from perfect though...whoever had owned it previously either played it very roughly or had flipped it at some point and played it left handed. There was quite a bit of abnormal wear around the top of the soundhole and a fair amount beyond the edges of the pickguard.

I decided that I had to figure out a way to get this guitar even before I knew how much it was. I asked the guy to get it down for me and I'm fairly certain it was the first really nice, expensive guitar I ever had my hands on. He told me it was $2000 (I think) and gave me the line about having a couple of other people very interested in it. I inquired if they took trade-ins and he said they did. I went home and got my Tele and my Ovation and set out to come as close as possible to trading even. Of course that never works out and, although I don't remember how much additional money I had to come up with, I do remember that it was more than I could afford at the moment. I had only been at a new job for a short time and wasn't making all that much. But I knew I had to have this guitar and somehow, some way, I made it work.

I was only slightly sad to see the Ovation go. I take that back...I wasn't really sad to see it go at all.

But I was sad to see the '74 Tele go. It was sweet and definitely one of those ones you wish you could have back. I think the word for it would be "pristine."

I played the Martin with great pride for a number of years. At that time there weren't a lot of acoustic gigs around and almost no coffeehouses...this was pre-Starbucks, etc. But there was a small coffeehouse down by San Diego State University that had an open mic night every Tuesday and I would drive 40 minutes down there every Tuesday to play my three songs. Eventually I became the host of the open mic night and I'm pretty sure I was sort of known as "that guy with the really fancy Martin." Probably no mention of how awesome a guitarist I was.

You can read about how I ended up selling the Martin here...I was finally joining my very first band and needed an amp. The short version is that I traded the Martin for a Gibson Dove and an amp so I could rock the house. The Dove was actually a much better sounding and playing guitar to be quite honest. Although the D-41 was an awesome guitar in many ways, it was never the best sounding guitar I have owned. Now that I know more about these things I could probably take the time to get it dialed in better. But at the time, not so much. I could barely afford strings let alone the money to have someone spend time adjusting the guitar.

One other note about this guitar: One day I was at work and thinking about the Martin and wondering if the inlay had been done at the factory or afterwards. There is a label inside the guitar from McCabe's Guitar Shop, which is a very well known store that hosts really cool acoustic shows and sells some darn fine instruments. I actually called the Martin factory in Nazareth, PA and it was after hours. A gentleman named Mike Longworth answered the phone and spoke to me at length about my guitar, pretty much assuring me that the inlay was done post-factory. What I now know is that Mike Longworth is one of the most historical figures in the history of Martin and I now feel honored to have spoken with him about my guitar.

No matter what, this is one of the guitars that probably inspired this blog in the first place..."man, I wish I had that one back!"

As noted, the photos shown are of a D-41 from the same year, but the inlay on mine was so fancy and intricate that I have simply blurred out the neck in the photo so as not to cause confusion.
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Walnut Gibson SG

2008-10-03T20:18:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Matthew Malin

I had an Alamo Fiesta that my parents had bought me for Xmas of 1977. My buddy and I were going to bust out of this small Iowa town and be the next band to be bigger than KISS! For that we needed some real equipment. The Alamo just wasn't cutting it so I decided I needed to get a 'real' guitar. The summer of 1979 I detassled corn for eight solid weeks. I was able to make a whopping $370. After I got all my checks from the seed corn company, my dad and I headed off for the 'big' music stores in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids Iowa. This was a major shopping trip.

We went to a few stores in Iowa City and really nothing caught my eye. Finally we went to Carma Lou's House of Music in Cedar Rapids. Hanging on the wall was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. It was a solid walnut SG. Satin finish and open pickups. It was pretty cool to me. I was about $30 short on the price so my dad kicked in the rest. I walked out of that store on Cloud 9. That guitar was my lifeline. I played in my band on theweekends. Played in high school jazz band and swing choir with it during the week and just played the hell out of it.

After HS I took off and bummed around Iowa dragging my SG and silver face Deluxe Reverb with me. About 1987 I was in a real bind. I had no money for rent and I was paying for college. I found a sympathetic house mate that bought my guitar only as a 'bridge' loan. Well I never really got back into the black for about 10 more years. By then I'd lost touch with the house mate and that guitar was long gone. I've thought about calling the guy up but there are about 50 people in the US with that name.

Also, I don't want to hear some horror story about how they traded it for a dog or something.

So listen up, if you get a good guitar and you get in a bind, don't sell your guitar! Good times and money come and go but you're guitar is a part of you and you should always keep them!
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Note: photo is not of actual guitar in the story.
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Romanian A-style Mandolin

2008-09-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

Story submitted by Karl Catteeuw

I've been to Romania quite often, and in spite of two decades of Mariah Carey tapes, stringed music is still hot there. Anyway, for the abundance of fiddles, mandolins and guitars at every party, there's really only one big place where they make them. And miraculously Reghin's also the brewery capital of the country. Here's something few people know: the Hora factory, the main manufacturer, originally made boats, which wasn't a great idea given the fact that it sits 500 km from the Black Sea. So in the 1950s they switched to musical instruments, which also involved bending woods, but they held onto the sloop logo until the 1990s.

Anyway, there I was, wandering through the town and walking into a record shop, and behind the counter full of CDs and cassettes they had all kinds of musical instruments. Behind the counter, mind you, so you had to ask to be served. Some cheap looking guitars, harps, recorders, and an odd A-shaped mandolin with a guitar pickup on it. Factory installed. I got away with it. Since it was the mid-nineties, it was dirt-cheap for me.

It was surprisingly loud, and an uncle who plays bowl-back in a mandolin orchestra actually liked this flat-back. It wasn't a pretty mandolin, with a varnished fretboard and stamped-in frets, but it sounded good. The pickup worked, but the pots quickly went bad - with some soldering, that's an easy replacement. I even sanded off the original sunburst, installed strap buttons, got it a plaid gig bag and put on a Gibson volume knob. Everything you'd do to an instrument you intend to keep.

And still it got away.

Too many instruments, too little time to play them all. The buyer got it dirt cheap as well, and complained about my postage rates. If not for the mandolin itself, I'd undo the selling because of the buyer. Until I opened up the latest Fretboard Journal, and lo and behold, what was David Lindley toying with?
--

Gibson MK-35

2008-09-24T21:22:00.000-07:00

I feel horrible telling this story. I've always felt like I did something wrong and wish I could fix it. Back in about 1983 I lived in the little town of Enid, OK, having just flunked out of Phillips University and not yet ready to move back to reality. They just opened a real live honest to goodness mall out on the edge of town and everyone was buzzing. I got a job at Hastings Records and thought I was pretty cool. I was the guy at the record store in the mall. Our regional manager was a pretty cool guy named Jerry from Dallas, TX and he would come check on our store quite often. We had an issue with an employee that was stealing out of the register (as it turns out) and they were trying to figure out what the hell was going on. I got along with Jerry really well...we both had a pretty sarcastic sense of humor and really loved music and knowing about music and all that geeky stuff that makes someone a good record store person.

I played guitar at the time, but was still in my very beginning stages. I had a pretty cheap Fender acoustic and didn't know much about quality instruments. One day Jerry walks into the store carrying a guitar case and says that he has this interesting Gibson that I could use if I wanted to. It was unlike any other guitar I'd played and, to be honest, didn't sound that good or play that well. What I now know is that it probably just needed some new strings and a set-up. I had the guitar for quite awhile and Jerry never really asked about it.

I guess I kind of figured it was pretty much mine, but in the back of my mind I knew it was still Jerry's guitar.

As it turns out, the guitar was a Gibson MK-35, or Mark 35, and was part of a new series that very much departed from traditional designs. The bridge was very different and modern looking and the soundhole had a sort of plastic ridge around it. From doing a little research I now also know that it had a completely different bracking system and, although pretty much a failure with the public, it gained quite a following with the Nashville picking community at the time for it's sound. They only made the Mark series from '75-78 from what I can tell. There were a few other Mark series models as well, featuring nicer woods and more elaborate features as you went up the scale.

So, fast forward a short period of time and I happen to walk into a little guitar store in Enid and fall in love with a 1984 Ovation Collector's Series guitar...what did I know? Although I'm not much of an Ovation fan now, I sure fell head over heals for it at the time. Blame it on Glen Campbell probably. You can read the story of this guitar here. So I start figuring out how I'm going to come up with the money for it and decide maybe I can trade in the Gibson. I guess I must have talked myself into believing Jerry wouldn't want it back. I just wanted that damn Ovation. Now fast forward again another short period of time and Jerry asks me about the Gibson. I didn't know what to say, but finally stammered something about it being gone and sold and I didn't know he wanted it back and whatever else came out of my mouth. Jerry looked bummed. Super bummed. I guess he also didn't know what to say and for whatever reason just let it go. Not much else we could do at that point.

So for all these years I have felt like I owe Jerry a Gibson MK-35. I came across the one shown in the pictures at my local guitar store, Buffalo Brothers, and it reminded me of the whole thing. I may have been subconsciously blocking it all these years. So Jerry, if you're out there, shoot me an email so I can properly apologize. I was young. I was dumb. I still feel bad.
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Sho-Bud Heart Model Acoustic Guitar

2008-09-23T22:57:00.000-07:00

This story is not about "one that got away," but was left as a comment today on the entry about the Sho-Bud Club Model. It was such a great story that I thought I'd post it as an entry to make sure it doesn't get passed over. So, without further ado...

Submitted by Gary

Love to hear that there are others who know about the Sho-Bud acoustics first hand! I bought my Heart Model brand new at The House of Guitars in Phoenix, AZ on 5/22/80. I still have the receipt and price tag that was dangling from the machine head. I was about 17 and we didn't have much money. I had to buy all my gear, and the Italian restaurant I worked at didn't pay much...I would ride the bus down and play the 100's of guitars on hangers. The guy was really cool, knew everything about guitars.

From the first time I picked it up I fell in love with it.

The sound was unlike anything else in the shop, and the inlay was just breathtaking. I was pretty sure I would never get to play that guitar anywhere but in the store, and each time I went there, I went right to it, surprised that somebody (!!!) hadn't bought it yet.

My grandmother died and left my mom a pretty decent chunk of change, and I asked my mom if she would buy a replacement for my Ross distortion box (I fried mine, and electric guitars just aren't the same without that option...). It was the first time she had ever been with me in there and, after we got the distortion box out of the case, I said "Hey mom, come here, you've got to hear this guitar." I played a little ditty and she fell in love with it. I said, "Before we go on vacation, ( which was rare ) would you buy it for me?" She said, "I'll buy it right now if you really want it." I was nearly in tears. The clerk said that for a guitar like that we'd better buy a real nice case too. It was easy to see that a guitar this special deserved a nice case, so we were pretty easily talked into getting a really plush case for it, where it has spent much of it's time when not on a stand.

It has brought me more joy than any of the guitars I've owned over the 30 years I have been involved in music. I have gotten so many sincere compliments on it and several envious looks. I had a high dollar pickup installed under the bridge quite a few years back, and to play it through a Boss chorus and then a Boss analog delay creates a rich, lush sound that has to be heard to be appreciated.

Mom's gone now, but I'll never be able to play that beautiful instrument without her in mind. I have another story about something just unexplainably unique involving this guitar, but I've gone a bit long here as it is. Perhaps another time, as I rarely get sick of recounting so many years of just pure joy that this sweet guitar has given me. She has been my best friend and truest love. Got a Sho-Bud story? Drop me a line: Gary's Email
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1983 Fender Concert Amplifier

2008-09-19T09:20:00.000-07:00

This was definitely one of my favorite amps I've ever owned. At one point I even bought a second one and ran them in stereo. How cool am I? This was a 1983 Fender Concert amp that was part of the series of amps that were designed by Paul Rivera. In 1982 Paul basically saved the Fender amp line that was floundering and getting off-track back in the early eighties...he also came up with the Champ II, the Super Champ (one of the most coveted modern era amps of all time), Princeton Reverb II, Deluxe II, and the Twin Reverb II. Maybe more.

The specs I found on the 'net include: 1-12" speaker - 60 watts, all tube with 2 channel w/switching, point to point wiring - bright push-pull on clean channel, mid-boost push-pull on gain channel - gain channel has gain/vol/master for fine adjust of distortion level - effects loop has return send trim pots.

The best part about this particular amp is that I found it over in the dirty, dusty corner of a pawn shop in San Clemente, CA that just had the word "GUNS" real big on it's sign out front.

Lots of surf boards and other crap and one dirty, dusty Fender Concert amp. I talked him down to $200 and loaded it in the car. Got it home and took the better part of a Friday night cleaning the whole thing up. Getting the dirt out of the inside of a combo amp always seems like the biggest pain in the ass, but once you get it all looking nice you feel pretty good about taking the extra time to do it right. The older style blackface look to this amp is really nice and, once I got the tolex all ArmourAll'ed up and shiny, it was looking sweet.

I plugged it in and, man, this thing sounded great. The sixty watts were more than enough and it really had a sweet spot that you rarely get to crank up to unless you are gigging in a large club. I remember it being fairly heavy for a 12" combo and, now that I think about it, right about the time that I was lugging this thing to gigs I ended up getting a hernia. Now I'm not blaming Paul Rivera or Fender for the fact that I eventually had to have surgery, but I'm pretty sure that pulling that thing in and out of the truck didn't help.

Anyway, great amp and I would highly recommend grabbing one if it wanders too close to you and no one is watching. The only reason I let mine go was because I hit a point where I wasn't playing live and I finally talked myself into believing that the space it was taking up (c'mon, it's only a 12" combo amp...not a stack) could be better used by a plant or something. My bad.

Humo Cigar Box Ukelele

2008-09-15T21:22:00.000-07:00

Story Submitted by Karl Catteeuw

The trouble with ukuleles is that they are so small you lose track. In fifteen years of guitar playing I only bought four and sold two. In four years of ukulele playing I truly lost count. I even lost two by misplacing them somewhere. Try that with a double bass.

This one is one I’d like back though. It’s made by a luthier called Terry Horvath, presumably from Indiana, but was at one time owned by Dave Talsma, a luthier I admire very much. In fact, I bought it from Godfrey Daniels because we both presumed Talsma made it. If you think it looks crudely made, well… we thought that was done on purpose. A rough and tumble, distressed metal cigar box ukulele with a pickup literally glued on top. How much down-home sophistication do you wish for?

The other reason was that, although Humo cigars did truly exist, Humo is also a very popular weekly magazine here in Flanders, kind of a cross between Mad and Rolling Stone. So I dreamt about showing off this cool and odd looking cigar box with a pickup, and everyone would ask where I got it. Sure.

Rule number one: it’s the sound that counts. Not coolness.

Not eponymity. Not the maker. And this one sounded, well, like a tin box strung with metal (!) ukulele strings (which is not really good). The plugged sound was slightly better, but still… I tried turning it into a four-string mandolin, tried the best ukulele strings in town (worth browns and Aquila nylguts, in the odd case you were asking), but the sound never caught on. I happened to have another Terry Horvath cigar box ukulele (ukuleles breed, remember?), so, the minute I received it, I recognized the style and found the signature. Out went one reason to hang on.

So I put it on eBay and along came another reason to hang onto the Humo ukulele. Among the bidders was one ‘musicomic’ guy probably born in ’53, whom I immediately recognised as my musical hero, Jan De Smet of De Nieuwe Snaar, an exceptionally fine musician, clown, singer and collector of records and instruments. And he was outbid.

The Humo ukulele is now somewhere in France, but if I’d love to have it back, and then I’d give it straight away…”
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Okatava MK-319 Microphone

2008-09-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

Once again, not a guitar story, but since the last Guitar Center fiasco went over so well, I thought I'd share another one. The Oktava MK-319 condenser microphone is kind of one of those cult following kind of things It's a GREAT recording mic for a very good price and, a few years ago, Guitar Center made some sort of deal to be the exclusive dealer for some period of time. They must have ordered a gazillion of them or something and they had them on sale for $99 most of the time. I had read that they were good, so when I saw an extra special sale where you could get TWO of them for $99, I called up my friend Rob and asked if he wanted to go in on a pair...$50 a piece. He said yes and I headed down there to buy our mics.

I picked them up and dropped one at Rob's house on my way home. He checked his out and it was in excellent working condition. Sounded great. There are websites that do mods to these mics that make them sound even better...some people say that with the mods they rival some of the top mics. I got mine home and...dud. Something wrong with it. So I saved the receipt and a couple of days later head back to Guitar Center to exchange it. Uh oh. Houston we have a problem. They don't have any more in stock. These were the last ones they had. They call around Southern California and can't find one anywhere. The guy that helped me out was actually a big jerk about it and said he'd try to figure something out. Never heard from him. I finally call back after a few days and the guy has an attitude again. I decide it's time to talk to the manager.

Here I am...trying to be nice when the product I bought doesn't work and they are being rude about it.

I talk to the manager and he is very apologetic and gets on the phone himself to try to track one down. He finally finds one somewhere in the USA and does the request to get it sent to my store. Not only does he do that, he decides to give me 50% off for my trouble. So now I'm getting TWO Oktava mics for only $50. For you math geniuses, that's only $25 a piece and that's one heck of a deal. Now, a few years later, they are selling used for anywhere between $100 to $150 and I'm not sure how much they are new.

I actually have this one on eBay at the moment for $125 with a shock mount and case. It's a great mic and a great deal, even though I only paid $25. You should buy it!
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Hartke 4-10 Bass Cabinet

2008-09-11T20:01:00.000-07:00

I'm really only writing about this because it's got a funny story. It's not an amazing item or anything and hardly worthy of the original thought behind this blog: "Man, I wish I had that one back!" I could care less about this one. But on to the story...

One time when I went to Guitar Center to buy something and after I left I cruised back to the back of the store to look in the dumpster for a box to ship a guitar in. When I looked down into the dumpster I found a whole bunch of electronic drum parts, some booms for mic stands and a few guitar stands. At first I thought they must be all broken or something, but not so. I grabbed them all and eventually sold the drum parts on eBay for over $200. I'm still using the boom stands and gave the guitar stands to friends.

So, the next time I went to Guitar Center I couldn't help but cruise back to the dumpster for a look see. This time I found some new cables and an Ortofon backpack for a DJ. Kept the cables, gave away the backpack.

Next time I go the Guitar Center I go straight to the dumpster and, sure enough, find two brand spankin' new padded drum gig bags, still in the box. Kept those. So, now I'm obsessed. Now I'm finding reasons to head down the freeway towards Guitar Center just to look in the dumpster. I have a couple of visits without any freebies and I'm kind of thinking my luck has run dry.

Then one day I actually needed to go to GC and I go inside and buy some stuff. I decide to give it another try and cruise around the back and about crapped the front seat. Sitting right next to the dumpster is a pretty decent condition, vintage Hartke 4-10 bass cabinet.

I pull up and take a look around...am I on Candid Camera or something? Am I about to get punked?

I opened up the front seat and put the cab in the car and headed down the road. I kind of figured it didn't work or something. Surely it's not a perfectly fine speaker cab. I head straight to my buddy's house and we plug 'er in. Works perfectly! Yet I have no need for a bass cabinet.

I took this photo and put it on Craig's List and by the next day had it sold for about $225. Just for checking the dumpster. I'm going to go out on a limb and bet that the next time YOU go to Guitar Center you just happen to mozy on back and check the dumpster. Let me know what you find.

Lafayette Model U-750A Amplifier

2008-09-07T12:05:00.000-07:00

Story Submitted by Alex Herrlein

This amp got its own story not so much because I miss it, but because it was an odd one. I don't know what I was searching for on eBay, but I found, bid on and won this 1968 Lafayette combo for probably less then $200. It was pretty obviously made by Univox, since they didn't do anything to change it from the equivalent Univox except make the logo read "Lafayette" in the same font. These were made in Japan and featured a circuit board with the words "muscal amplifier" printed on it (see the picture). That's not a typo, that's how they spelled it!

The amp had two 12" speakers mounted vertically, one of which was an original Jensen C12S, which must have been the bottom of the line for Jensen. I replaced the mismatched one with a reissue Jensen C12Q. The power tubes were weird--6973 I believe, which I found out were much more common in jukeboxes than in guitar amps. I think the amp put out around 15 watts. The rest of the amp was all tube, and it had just tone, volume, and tremolo controls. I remember the tone knob after a while working more as a midrange control than a treble roll-off.

The tremolo was pretty nice and I think made to sound more Vox than Fender. Since there were two channels with two inputs apiece, you could jumper the channels and get a little more gain. However, gain wasn't really the issue so much as headroom. The sound was pretty nice at low volumes; somewhat more jangly than a Silvertone, but not as lush as a more expensive amp. The headroom was stupidly low--when you got it past normal speaking volume it started to break up. I tried a Groove Tubes plug-in solid-state rectifier in place of the 6CA4 tube, but it was what it was. Ultimately, I realized that it was too much amp for too little wattage. It would have made a better 1x12" combo, but as a vertical 2x12", it was too tall for what was otherwise a cheap low-wattage amp.

I took it to a music store and pitched it as a poor man's AC30, but I don't think they were buying it.

I ended up putting it on consignment and eventually someone else got intrigued for $199. It's just as well that I don't have it anymore, since I might have tried to cut the cabinet down at some point and ruin what little collectibility it had.

1984 Fender Flame

2008-09-04T22:35:00.000-07:00

Story submitted by Alex Herrlein

Back when I was in high school, the place to buy guitars was the Starving Musican in Santa Clara, CA. I think it has changed some over the years, but, in the early and mid-'90s, it had a lot of used gear at good prices. I was ready to move up from my first guitar (an Ibanez Roadstar in white, with a black neck from another Ibanez) to a better one. I saw a 1984 Fender Flame and figured since it said "Fender" and was black (which was where my heavy-metal color preferences fell in those days) it had to be good.

The price tag was $250, and I got $75 in trade from the Ibanez. These guitars were supposedly made only in 1984 in Japan, around the time when Fender wasn't doing any American production. They made a very similar Esprit and eventually they became the Robben Ford model. I guess the idea was to compete more with Gibson, since this had humbuckers, a set neck, a quasi-Tune-o-matic bridge, and a slightly arched top like a Les Paul. From what I heard, the slightly smaller humbuckers were made by Schaller, and I think the tuners and bridge were too. I believe the body was alder with a maple top. It was gleaming black, with cream binding around the body, neck, and headstock.

Too nice for a high schooler's second guitar, but there you have it.

I didn't care for the stock humbucker, which I thought was kind of muddy, so I had Starving Musician replace the bridge pickup with a Seymour Duncan Hot Soapbar P-90, which I believe fit pretty closely. That was my main guitar in my high school band, but got less play afterwards when it became the backup to a 1979 Gibson "The SG," which I still have. Predictably, it played great and was well-made. I sold it for $300 a few years later to a friend and band mate who I believe still has it. I've considered contacting him to buy it back, but I decided to let it go.

Note: this picture is not of mine, but looks just the same.
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Dixon Mandolin

2008-09-03T23:43:00.000-07:00

I think this might be the first in a long line of mostly inexpensive (except for the Eastman) mandolins I have owned, then realized I don't really know how to play more than five chords, then eventually sold. Not a long story here...I decided to try to learn a few chords and started looking on eBay for a cheap, but cool mandolin. I came across this one by Dixon. I wanted something I could plug in and this met the requirements. It was made in Japan and I have seen at least five different brand names slapped onto this exact model mando over the last few years. They usually go for around $125-150, but somehow I snagged this one for $95.

It came with an old, original hardshell case that smelled like Charles Barkley's shoe closet.

No offense, Sir Charles. It actually had pretty good action and the electronics on it worked perfectly. Knobs mounted on the pickguard and some quality plastic in the pick-up. The acoustic sound was okay...nothing spectacular, but it did stay in tune. Plugged in sounded just about how you'd imagine it...somewhat cheap...but mess around with it a bit and it was acceptable. It would actually be good for the acoustic group I play with right now...again, nothing amazing, but very affordable and would add a nice little touch here and there without breaking the bank.

I hung onto this one for about a year and, when I decided that maybe I could use a slightly better mando (again, I'm delusional regularly), I sold it back on eBay for $135. Hey, nice little profit (and I do mean little) and someone else got a good deal as well. But, would I want it back? Well, if someone handed it to me and said, "Here you go doofus, it's all yours!"...I'd take it for sure. Might be fun to have lying around. Especially since I've long since sold the one I got to take it's place.

1971 Black Fender Telecaster Thinline

2008-09-01T08:43:00.000-07:00

This story shapes up to be a little embarrassing to tell, but the guitar is so cool...and I REALLY wish I had it back...that I will tell it anyway. Hey, we've all had our problems. I live in the San Diego area known as North County. As the name implies, we're still in San Diego county, but north of the city of San Diego itself. This puts us in pretty close proximity to Los Angeles and some of the cool vintage guitar stores around L.A. At least the ones that used to be there...last time I was up that way they seemed to have disappeared for the most part. One day I headed up to the Hollywood area to look around at Guitars'R'Us (Bruce Springsteen was in there when I walked in...he was friendly and we even talked about a particular Tele on the wall). Around the corner from G'R'Us was a place called Voltage, which always had SOMETHING I wanted, and there is Freedom Guitar on the corner...a store I dislike quite a bit. They also have a store in San Diego and my personal experience at both stores has been a staff that is less than helpful, a bit arrogant, and prices that are less than desirable. But how do you really feel?

Anyway, Springsteen left the store and after a few minutes I decided to go down to Voltage to see what they had. I had some money in my pocket to buy a pretty nice guitar, but was trying to be very patient and not just buy the first thing I saw. I turned the corner and saw The Boss walking into Voltage. I didn't want him to think I was stalking him, but I did want to check out the guitars. When I walked in the door I saw my favorite electric guitar I have ever owned. It was a black vintage Telecaster Thinline. I'm guessing here, but I think this was around 1995 or so. It was slightly relic'd looking from wear and tear, but in pretty good shape overall. It sounded fantastic and played perfectly. Great action and the pickups had that sweet Tele spank. I have been a Thinline fan for years and always wanted a black one. Most of the vintage models you see are sunburst or natural, so the black was a custom color at the time. I later added a vintage italian pin-up water decal on the front...I know, it's not original and may cut the value, but I was planning on keeping this one forever. FOR EVER. If I remember correctly, the pin-up girl was on a blue flower.

Have you seen this guitar? Can you send me photos? Or sell it back to me?

On my way home I stopped in a store in Huntington Beach to try out a Way Huge pedal (they were new at the time). The singer for Los Lobos walked in and was looking around. He saw me strumming my new guitar, checking out the pedals and came over and asked about the Thinline. I told him I had just bought it up at Voltage. He asked if maybe I'd be interested in selling. Man, I'd only had it a couple of hours and famous people were trying to buy it right out of my hands. No sale.

When I bought it the guy told me it was a '69, though I later found out it was a '71 (if memory serves me correctly). This didn't matter to me that much until the fateful day I had to sell it. I work as a graphic designer (for the amazing Tony Hawk these days) and, at the time, I was working for Snowboarder Magazine. For a couple of years prior to that I only did freelance work and had not been good about paying my taxes (yes, here's the embarrassing part). So, one day, just after payday, I go to get my rent money out of the bank and find out I have a balance of zero. What the F? Turns out the nice folks at the IRS had taken all the money out of my bank account. With a 3-year old daughter to house and feed, and being a single dad, I had no choice...sell the guitar. AAAAHHH. Luckily I had a back-up guitar to get me through, but this was the most painful loss of a guitar I ever had. And there was nothing I could do about it.

I went down to the local guitar store to see if he was interested in a sweet, vintage custom color Thinline Tele and, of course, he was. We struck a deal for less than I had paid for it, but what was mostly fair under the circumstances. Of course, since it had turned out to be a '71 rather than a '69 there was some loss of value there. But I practically cried when I walked out the door. That guitar was just me. I loved everything about it. Man, I wish I had that one back.

Note: I don't have actual photos of this one, so I have found a few that match up pretty well. If you know the guitar I'm talking about (it's pretty distinctive) send me a photo!

Guitarbecue II

2008-08-27T09:26:00.000-07:00

This isn't a story of one that got away...but I hope you'll find it useful. Earlier this year one of my buddies that is into gear as much as I am had a great idea. He suggested that we get all of our "guitar friends" together for a barbecue and bring whatever guitar gear we wanted to share with each other and just sit around and geek out on gear. It seems like every time one of us gets some new pedal or finds a great deal on a cool amp on Craig's List or comes up with a new guitar, there is an email that goes around, bragging about the new acquisition. We're always happy for each other, but we also want to check out the new gear and see how it sounds. Especially when there is a new pedal we've never played through before.

So, combine a bunch of amps and guitars and pedals and whatnot in a large living room with a couple of grills working overtime and plenty of cold beer and you've got...Guitarbecue!

My group of friends actually just had our second Guitarbecue and it was amazing what new gear had been acquired since the last one only six months ago. Everyone traded guitars and plugged into other rigs and jammed on way too many three chord blues progressions to make the normal person comfortable. It was truly only an event that a real guitar geek could identify with. And I'm proud to say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself. If you've got a group of friends that you geek out with, I highly suggest launching your own Guitarbecue.
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1962 Fender Jaguar/1965 Kent "Mutt"

2008-08-26T10:21:00.000-07:00

Story Submitted by Keith Campbell

So here's the story. It's a "gone, but not far" type of story.

I was about 15/16 years old (so the purchase happened in 97/98), and I was on vacation visiting my grandparents in Florida. I was at the Daytona Beach flea market, which is one of the larger flea markets in the country, when I come across a guitar that's certainly seen better days. It's a 4-pickup, sunburst guitar with a Bigsby-ish trem and a Fender neck. I didn't quite know as much about vintage models then as I do now, and I thought, surely, this would be worth something. I ask the guy running the booth how much he wants, and he says $50. I had $30 in my pocket and didn't think to negotiate, so I tracked down my mother and pleaded my case for buying this instrument ("It's gotta be some rare production model!" "If I don't like it, I could probably sell it for a lot more!"), and got the extra $20 to buy the guitar.

So I got it home to my grandparents' house, and got ready to put new strings on it (the guitar had four strings that were at least 10 years old still on it), when I realized a couple of problems: one) the bridge had no saddle, two) the pickups were extremely high, and three) to compensate for the pickup height, the previous owner had done a terrible shim job to jack up the neck. The fixes for problems two and three were simple enough at the time: I super glued down the stripped pickup screws at an acceptable height, and removed the shims (should I ever get the guitar back, I am going to attempt replacing the screws).

When I removed the shims from under the neck, I found something out: the guitar neck had a 1962 stamp on it. Jackpot! A '62 Fender!

(Sort of, the tailpiece read "Kent," a brand I recognized from my grandfather's mandolin).

The bridge required some problem solving. My grandfather had previously made a jackplate replacement for my first guitar, a department-store Yamaha Strat copy that I later traded in toward my MIM Fender Tele (which will appear later in the story). So, back to the workshop we went, and Grandpa took a piece of scrap pine, trimmed it down, drilled holes for the bridge screws, and slapped some stain on it to match the burst. In the meantime, we had found an old machine spring to get the trem working properly.

Once that was all in place, time to plug in. Here's where I noticed some nifty features on the guitar--each pickup had an on-off switch right next to it, and each pair of pickups had a "rhythm/solo" switch. At the time, my rig was the Yamaha practice amp that came with the aforementioned Strat copy, and a Tubescreamer reissue. The pickups on the guitar had that beautiful "aged distortion" sound. I jacked up the gain on the Screamer and you could still hear every note in an arpeggio without that nasty "fuzz blob" sound where distortion makes everything sound like an amorphous mass. I should note here that I've always been a neck pickup guy, and prefer the mellow, round tone of the neck pickup even on my Tele to the bright, cutting tone associated with the bridge pickup. [Editor's note: Me too!] Well, the old single-coils on this guitar were smooth and mellow, exactly as I like 'em.

When I got home to New Jersey with the guitar, I took it into my local music shop (Bach to Rock), where I had executed the Yamaha/Tele swap, to get it appraised. The repair/gear guru there, Doc, told me he couldn't do anything with the body, but the neck was a 1962 Jaguar neck, and I could probably get $500 for it on consignment. I realized that, while that was a nice chunk of change, I would prefer to keep this sweet sounding guitar intact.

So I kept it around for a while and played it, along with my Tele and a Dano reissue, pretty happily. When I moved to the city in 2005 I couldn't fit all of my gear, so I kept it at my father's, and my Tele and the mutt ended up in storage (I brought along my nylon-string acoustic since I couldn't do totally without my guitar). The Dano ended up at my in-laws.

So flash forward to last year, when my little sister decided she wanted to play guitar. I had my Dad get the Tele and Mutt out of storage and realized I wanted to bring an axe back to the city. So I asked my sister to choose, and she chose the Mutt. I would have been happy either way, but felt that, while the Mutt had more mojo and is probably more fun to play, the Tele might have been easier for her to keep in tune. C'est la vie. If she ever wants to trade back, I'll be pretty happy.

Note: I wasn't able to get pics of the actual guitar, but found a 1965 Kent catalog cover that has the body at Bob Gatewood's Kent Collection page: CLICK HERE. My guitar's body is the top left sunburst beauty with four pickups. Pictures, perhaps, to come.

Phantom MandoGuitar - NAMM Show Model

2008-08-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

I am a huge fan of Vintage Guitar Magazine. It's probably like when you're a kid and you got the Sears catalog in the mail in about November and you just sat and looked at all the toys for Christmas and circled the ones you wanted. Dr. Steven Stone is a columnist for VG and many years ago he wrote a review of a Phantom MandoGuitar. The Phantom is a faithful recreation of the famous Mando-Guitar or Mini-12 made by Vox in the '60s. If you haven't seen one, they are half the scale of a regular guitar and strung like a 12-string, giving you the sound of a mandolin but played using the fingering of a guitar. George Harrison made them famous...well, maybe not famous, but at least known, and in recent years lots of country players have kept them in their arsenal to add a really nice, pseudo-mandolin sound.

They are solid body and shaped like Ren's (or is it Stimpy's?) head. They sound fantastic and really give you a different texture when recording. Plus, who's got time to learn to play mandolin? This will give you a good fake in a pinch. So, as I mentioned, Steven Stone wrote a review about a mandoguitar made by Phantom, who makes lots of cool Vox-style replicas and the guy who owns the company used the be the guitarist in Quarterflash...remember them? Later that year, I saw an ad (I think in VG) for a MandoGuitar for sale and I contacted the person. It turns out it was none other than Steve Stone and the mandoguitar for sale was the one from the review. He had liked it so much he bought it from Phantom and it had been the very first, NAMM show model that Phantom had made. It was a beautiful sunburst and had a yellow-orange/gold pearloid pickguard that really set it off. They never offered that gold pickguard on a regular model, so this was really a one-of-a-kind. It had two single-coil Bill Lawrence pickups and was very well made.

I really loved the MandoGuitar and kept it for many years. It always got some weird looks when I used it on stage each night and guitarists always came up after a show and asked about it. As I said, it really adds a nice sound in recordings. Not only can you capture a fake mandolin sound, you can even get a very chimey, almost keyboard-ish sound too. In fact, me not being the most amazing guitarist of all time, whenever our band recorded our CDs, our main guitarist extrordinaire Dave Quillen usually recorded all the guitar parts.

However, the one thing they let me do was record the MandoGuitar parts. I wasn't a complete loser.

I don't have any photos of the MandoGuitar I owned (sadly), so I have included a shot from the Phantom website. Their website leaves a lot to be desired (it used to be a lot better...not sure what happened), but the instruments are top quality. If you ever run across one I would highly recommend giving it a try. They are not easy to get used to...you folks out there with sausage fingers might as well forget it. But if you can manage to get your fingers in place and get used to the added string tension of the short scale, you can have a blast and come up with some very useful sounds.

UPDATE: It's many months later and I just found a photo of myself (yes, a rather gay looking photo...not that there's anything wrong with that...when I was in a band in the '90s) holding the mandoguitar I'm talking about. Gold pearl pickguard and all. Here you go...

'73 Fender Telecaster Thinline

2008-08-03T15:54:00.001-07:00

Have you ever owned a guitar for quite awhile and you don't remember much about it? Must have made quite an impression, huh? I had owned a Telecaster Custom at one point and really like the way the humbucker in the neck sounded. I also really loved Thinline Teles. In fact, I really want one right now but I can't afford any purchases at the moment. I have a sweet Tele with a humbucker in the neck and it sounds great and I need to get over the fact that I'd love to have lots and lots of electric guitars, but I only NEED one.

Anyway, I came across this guitar somewhere...no clue where...hence the "don't remember much about it" comment at the beginning. I'm sure this was pre-eBay days, so that's not it. It wasn't at Guitar Center, though that's where I ended up selling it. It wasn't at the little guitar store down the road, so I'm really confused by where I bought this guitar. If I remember someday I'll come back and update this story.

The main point of this guitar was that I had come to the conclusion that two humbuckers are better than one, Thinline Telecaster is better than standard Telecaster, this is going to be one hell of a sounding guitar! Wrong.

It didn't sound remotely as good as the Custom I had before. It was brighter and fairly brittle sounding. And oddly heavier than I thought it would be. It was in beautiful condition, but I quickly came to the conclusion that this was not the guitar for me. But, not wanting to admit defeat, I ended up hanging on to it for awhile, hoping it would grow on me. It didn't.

I remember trading it in or selling it outright to Guitar Center for some reason. Like I said, this was pre-eBay and there weren't a lot of options back then if you wanted to get a great price. I remember the guy at Guitar Center trying to tell me that it wasn't that desirable of a guitar and wasn't worth all that much. Asshole. He would say he needed to get another guy to come look at it, then some other dude would come parading in and check it out and leave and then another. I think they were just all coming in to look at the "sucker" that was dumping the '73 Tele. I remember taking a lot less for it than I knew damn well it was worth, but I didn't have a lot of choices if I wanted to unload it. Today it would be worth over three grand but at the time I practically gave it away. Yes, I'm not too bright sometimes.

Note: Once again, no photos of the actual guitar, so I found these of the same exact model. Hope you can use your imagination to pretend this was the one in the story (but it's not!).
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Yamaha G-5 Practice Amp

2008-07-30T22:57:00.000-07:00

This little practice amp was not only pretty cool looking, it was a decent sounding little amp to goof around with. Mostly though, the thought of this amp reminds me of an entire era of my life. Seriously? Yep (warning: this story is going to go way off track, but comes back around at the end).

When I was still in the first few years of learning to play guitar I ended up as best friends with three guys who became lifelong friends and great influences on my musical and even personal taste. I had already screwed up college once and was somewhat in the middle of screwing it up a second time at a different school in a very small Oklahoma town. I grew up in Tulsa, OK, which is not the redneck shithole you might imagine it to be. It's actually a pretty cool city with a long musical heritage and an amazing live music scene. Heck, even this year's American Idol winner was straight out of the Tulsa bar scene, though they always mention his hometown as somewhere in Missouri. Now, American Idol aside (please), the music scene in Oklahoma has it's roots in blues, R&B, honky tonk, swing, and blue-eyed soul. Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys went out over the radio to the world from Cain's Ballroom in good ol' Tulsa. You've got Leon Russell and J.J. Cale and David Gates (Bread) and The Gap Band (who I saw open up for Sly and the Family Stone when I was a kid) and Lowell Fulson and Jamie Oldaker (drummer for Clapton) and one of the best drummers ever, Jim Keltner. There are The Tractors and Elvin Bishop and, uh, Hanson, and that guy from American Idol. Yeah, I mentioned him already. Oh yeah, Ronnie Dunn from Brooks and Dunn was a local Tulsa guy I saw more than once before he was famous.

Some of the best musicians from Tulsa are guys you've never heard of but are freakin' legends around that part of the world. Guys like Steve Pryor (at one point the heir apparent to Stevie Ray Vaughn before drugs sidetracked him) and Jim Sweney and Bill Davis and most of Bob Seger's band and Dwight Twilley and Gus Hardin and the list goes on. There is a guitarist named Tommy Crook who has never left Tulsa, but some people (including guys like Chet Atkins and Merle Haggard) say that he might possibly be the best guitarist on the planet.

So where were we? Oh yeah, I moved to Enid, OK.

Enid sucked. No hot chicks, two decent bars, and a bunch of rednecks who would be more than happy to beat the crap out of the guy with the earring if he bumps into them wrong. My three buddies and I hung out together so much, enjoying music and watching Saturday Night Live and having our own cookouts, that much of the town thought we were gay...not that there's anything wrong with that...we just weren't. One of the guys, who was only 19 at the time, was/is a world class drummer who now tours the world with famous jazz acts like David Benoit and The Rippingtons and Keiko Matsui and has played with just about every big named jazz guy you can mention. Another of the crew was an amazing guitarist who could play anything by Larry Carlton or Robben Ford or (name a famous guy) with ease. I always thought he'd make the move to the west coast where he could easily be a session guy, but ended up staying in Oklahoma. The third guy, the ringleader, owned the house we all hung out at and worked with his dad, traveling to Japan on a regular basis. He was the worldly one of the group, keeping our eyes open to the possibilities beyond Enid, OK. He drove a fuckin' Delorean for christ's sake. He was our "Dude." His house was very hip and cool and well designed in a very clean, asian aesthetic and he even did some modeling in Japan. Geez, I wonder why anyone thought we were gay?

Now, although I coveted the Delorean, what I really loved was the Dude's guitar/amp collection. Much like the man itself, it was lean and high quality and to the point. He had a beautiful Gibson 335, a late '70s Telecaster, a la Springsteen, that he had refinished himself perfectly, a Mesa Boogie Mark I with the natural wood cabinet and rattan looking grill (think early Santana), and a Washburn western cutaway electric-acoustic that was one of the first factory acoustics I ever saw that actually worked well for on-stage. Then, sitting over in the corner, next to the Japanese-import Sade records, was a little Yamaha G-5 practice amp that looked much like a miniature version of the Mesa Boogie...see, I told you I'd get back to the amp in question. There was always something about this little amp that seemed cool to me and I always wanted one.

One day, many years later when both of us were living in the San Diego area, the Dude got a job with MTV in Japan. He was moving overseas and didn't have room for all of his stuff and he wanted me to have the little Yamaha amp and a Strat-style guitar that he had received as a gift from the Eddie Van Halen of Japan (I don't know his name now, but evidently he was big in Japan). He also gave me the Washburn guitar and basically said to just hang on to them, but do what I wanted. They were mine. I eventually sold the Washburn to a guy I know and hung onto the Strat-ish guitar and gave back to him years later. As for the Yamaha amp...I kept it for a long time. I almost never plugged it in, but it sat around my house for years, a reminder of Monty Python's The Meaning of Life and Sade and '80s SNL and throwing knives in the backyard and my old RX-7 and a million other things.

And then one day I just gave it away to another young guitar player...the son of a friend who was really into music and guitar and really needed to be able to plug in. I'm sure there is no way he could know the history of that amp, but maybe, as his very first amp, it will mean something to him in other ways that will stay with him the way they did for me.

Rickenbacker Jetglo 330

2008-07-24T20:46:00.000-07:00

Back in the early '90s I worked with a guy named Walt who was into a lot of the same things I was...we were both graphic designers, we really liked baseball, and we played guitar. He had a Jetglo (black) Rickenbacker 330 six-string and I thought it was a really cool guitar. At the time, I had a great Gibson Dove acoustic (read the story of the Dove here) and he fell in love with it. At the time I was in a band and rarely played my acoustic. He was moving more towards country music and, long story short, we decided to trade guitars. It was a great trade...everyone was happy. Then Walt decided to move to North Carolina and, of course, take the Dove with him. I figured that was the end of that.

I didn't even think about the Dove much after that. Then, one day, Walt gave me a call. He was moving back to California and he wanted to know if I would trade back. Hmmmm. Interesting proposition. I really liked the Ricky quite a bit...it played very nicely and it sounded great. I have always loved the fretboards on Ricks...not sure what makes them feel so different but they are very obviously different than a Gibson or a Fender or, hey let's go out on a limb here...a Peavey Wolfgang (maybe I should have gone with Carvin?). Although they have a big ol' body on them, they stay balanced pretty nicely and they just sound great. I've always felt like a Rick is also a great visual guitar...when a guy is playing a sunburst Strat you kind of just say, "Well, there's a guy with a Strat." But when a guy walks out with a Rickenbacker, that's kind of making a statement.

You wear a Rick on your sleeve if you know what I'm sayin'.

So, after much thought, and much reminiscing about the Dove, I decided to trade back. I handed over the silver Rick case with the guitar all polished up and lookin' good, and I took back the Dove in it's original Gibson brown fake leather case. Later on I was very happy that I took the Dove back and it certainly got much more use over the years as I got more into acoustic gigs. But I will always have this little certain itch to get another Rickenbacker. I'm sure that at some point I will.

Note: I know, I know, the photo above is of a 12-string. It's all I could find. I have some photos of my own Rick from the story, but I have to find a scanner...they're old school photos...printed on real paper. No megapixels here!

UPDATE: My friend Walt happened upon this story and was nice enough to hook me up with a photo of the real deal. Here it is! Thanks buddy.

Hey Now...Who's Got a Story?

2008-07-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

I know I've threatened before, but I'm seriously about to run out of stories to share. Hey, the last one was about a Metal Charger pedal. I've got a few more guitars to write about and not much else. I'm going to have to turn the focus of the site to other people's stories. I plan to do interviews with other guitarists, but as always, I'd love to have you submit YOUR story about the one that got away. It doesn't have to be all witty and intricate...it just has to be about that instrument you really wish you'd never let go. Just tell us what the instrument was, any interesting details you can think of, such as where you got it, how much you paid, anything odd or interesting about the guitar, how long you had it or something interesting that might have happened while you owned it, and how it got away. Maybe it was stolen, maybe you sold it when times were tough, maybe you gave it away. Photos are great but not necessary. You can email your story to me here: CLICK.

Ibanez Metal Charger Pedal

2008-07-20T19:54:00.000-07:00

Some people really only like the 09 series effects pedals from Ibanez. You know, the ones that look like a Tubescreamer...there is a pukey lavender chorus pedal and a flanger pedal the yellow color of those Xterras on Baywatch. I like those pedals too, but there are some other Ibanez pedals that I think get passed over just a little bit...no, not those cheap-ass Sound Tanks. The 10 series. I don't know a lot about them to be honest, but it seems to me like Ibanez wanted to make a bunch of newer, more versatile pedals and thought it would be a great idea to completely change the way their pedals look while they were at it.

I can hear the marketing dudes sitting around at Chili's now..."Boss is the number one pedal in the world. We have to start branching out and we need to make our pedals look more like the Boss pedals. Yeah, that's the ticket!" So, they graduated up to the 10 series. The good thing is that a lot of these pedals really do sound great. I found this Metal Charger pedal at the Swap Meet and picked it up for $20 or so. Sounded like metal to me. That's about all I know. I'm not a big metal, heavy distortion guy. I'll settle for the Tube Screamer and nothing else when it comes to distortion. But I figured I could resell this one for a profit.

But the real reason why I posted this one is because it reminded me of another 10 series Ibanez pedal I used to have that was really great. It was both a chorus and a flanger in one. It might be the Prime Dual Chorus...or the Chorus/Flanger...I don't even know the model number. Maybe someone out there knows and could throw me a bone. I'd love to find one again...the chorus on it sounded very lush and really nice. I don't care much about flanging really. I'm not Steve Miller.

So, today's lesson: I hate metal distortion pedals so much that I only write about them to bring up other pedals I do like.
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Teisco Del Rey Model 110

2008-07-16T22:00:00.000-07:00

This is going to have to be a short one because there just isn't much to tell. This is a model 110 Teisco Del Rey guitar with a single pickup and an adjustable bridge. You see a lot of these if you frequent the swap meets, but you don't see them in blue. Usually they are sunburst...so this one kind of caught my eye. They don't sell for a lot on eBay, so, unless I find a Teisco like this for $50 or less and in pretty darn good shape, I just keep walking. Have I become too picky? Well, not really....just tighter with my money. It's just not the kind of guitar I'm interested in keeping, so it's got to be something I can resell for enough to make it worthwhile to photograph, list on eBay, package and ship.

In other words, why bother paying $100 if you can only sell it for $125?

Having said all that, it's a pretty cool looking guitar...especially up against my vintage orange Steelcase chair and hand made JFK pillow. The blue color really pops and the black flowery pickguard is interesting enough. Notice how all my comments are about how it looks? Overall the guitar was in excellent condition. It just didn't seem like anything I'd use even for home recording. I'm no Ry Cooder folks and I don't even want to be David Lindley...have you seen him? He always looks like the craziest grandpa ever who could use a shower (and some new pants). I'd love to have him play on some recordings though. Or Ry Cooder. Either one really. I'm an idiot. And I'm running out of stuff to write about. If someone doesn't contribute a story soon we're pretty much dunzo here.

Update: In the comments Keith asks how it sounded and how the action was. What? Real guitar questions? What is this? Oh, all right. The sound was actually about how the guitar looks...pretty weak and thin. The action was actually okay. I'm sure it could have been tweaked even more and made to play extra fine. I readily admit that this guitar might be right up someone's alley for a cool, alternate sounding instrument. I didn't really take the time to do much more than clean it up, make sure it worked, and start listing it on eBay.

Fender Libra Amp

2008-07-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

So, what's your sign? I'm a Libra. Groovy. Back in 1970, when Fender went way off track, they introduced a line of solid state guitar amps based on the signs in the zodiac. There was the Capricorn, the Scorpio, the Taurus and the Libra. The Libra came with 4 12" JBL speakers, 105 watts (I wonder why not just a nice even 100?), two channels, with reverb and tremolo. The zodiac series was (mercifully) only offered for two years or less and are very rare now. But who really wants them? I guess maybe if you were trying to collect every single amp Fender made it would worth having, but, from all accounts, these things sounded brutal.

What makes the one I had interesting is that it was a head only. Now I'm relatively sure that these were not offered as a head, so that means someone took the time to nicely repackage this amp as a head. It was hard to tell that it used to be a combo amp and I probably would not have known if I hadn't researched it a little and discovered the specs. I found this one at the good ol' Oceanside Swap Meet that I frequently mention...in fact I think I need to get back out there soon. This was one of those things that you spot from about a row over and hope you get to it before some other guy walks up and manages to snake you. It was sitting on some Peavey cabinet (I think)...something crappy anyway. The guy REALLY wanted me to buy the cab too, but the Libra was all I was interested in. He only wanted $50 for it but it wouldn't be a swap meet unless you tried to bargain a little and I ended up getting it for $40. He had no idea if it worked and I figured for $40 any old '70s Fender item is worth it.

I got it home and plugged it in and it came on no problem. I can't remember what speaker cab I plugged it into because I really haven't owned many separate cabs...but I do remember testing it out. It worked great! Which is a nicer way of saying "it sucks." It's reputation was well deserved. I put it up for sale on eBay and had a fair amount of interest. In fact, I think that's actually how I first found out it had been cut down to a cab. A nice guy that eventually ended up winning the auction knew quite a bit about these and was out to collect 'em all. He was positive this shouldn't just be a head, but was interested in owning it just the same. I believe it sold for somewhere around $200

I really am a Libra and it might have been cool in a perfect financial world to have kept it just for fun. But I'm sure it helped fund some other purchase that I've probably written about by now.

Of course, in a perfect financial world I wouldn't be bailing out Fannie May and Bernie Mac (or whatever that other one is) with my tax dollars.

Since I didn't take one of those super tricky, underhanded loans that people didn't really qualify for when I probably could have, couldn't my tax dollars go towards music and art education in schools instead? Something besides old guard politics ruining yet another longstanding institution in the last eight years? Okay, that's the first and hopefully only time I've gone political and I'll try to restrain myself in the future. Rock on.

Cimar Hummingbird Copy

2008-07-11T22:51:00.000-07:00

This guitar was the perfect beach guitar and I actually kind of wish I had it back. I went to the swap meet in Oceanside, CA one Sunday and, as I have detailed before, walked directly to a certain aisle that a couple of sellers always camp out on. These two or three sellers always manage to find some interesting, cheap guitars and I'm usually pretty curious about something or other that they have unearthed. On this particular Sunday one of the guys had this Cimar acoustic, which was a knock-off or "lawsuit" version of a Gibson Hummingbird. From what I understand (and please correct me if I'm wrong...I like to know the correct story), Cimar was a lesser brand produced by Ibanez, which itself was making less expensive knock-offs at the time, but at a pretty high quality.

This guitar was black with a tortoise-like Hummingbird pickguard that was still in great shape. It had cheap inlays on the neck and headstock and fake inlay all around the body and soundhole, D-41 style. When I picked it up, it actually played great. The action was just right. As I looked more closely at the body I was shocked. The bridge saddle was a good inch high at least. It stuck WAY out from the bridge and the top of the guitar had seriously bellied in. Yet someone had taken the time to exactly size up a really tall piece to make the action just right.

This was actually a pretty cool guitar. At the time, my daughter was away at school and wanted a cheap guitar to play that, if something happened to it, it wouldn't be the end of the world. So I shelled out a whopping $40 for the guitar and took it home. It cleaned up just fine and, since I was scared to take the strings off, I just left them on. I went to Guitar Center to see if they had any good deals on cases and, oddly enough, they had a GIANT stack of Taylor hard plastic acoustic cases they were clearing out for $25. So, for a cool $65 I had a decent playing, inexpensive guitar and hard case for my daughter.

I took her the guitar and, from what I understand, she never once played it.

She brought it back with her when she came home and I took it over to our neighbor's house. Their 15-year old son was learning to play electric guitar and so I donated this acoustic to the cause. That was the last time I saw it. Not sure if he played it either, but hopefully someone sees the odd beauty of this guitar, bellied top and all.

Locobox Choker Pedal

2008-07-08T01:18:00.000-07:00

If you've looked at the links to other sites I do, you'll notice a link to www.locobox.com. It's what you might call (for lack of a better term) a "fan site" for Locobox guitar pedals. Although I wouldn't call myself a "fan," I did get pretty obsessed with Locobox pedals at one point. I was reading an article in Tape Op magazine about Jason Falkner, member of the Grays, Jellyfish, etc., and he made a comment about gear he used to make his home recordings sound amazing. He said that he used a guitar effect pedal made by a company in the '70s called Locobox. The pedal was a compressor called The Choker and it just made everything sound great.

Well, who doesn't want that? A magic box that makes all recordings sound great? Sign me up.

Like quite a few other folks out there, I got obsessed with finding a Choker pedal. Problem is, they are really rare and impossible to find. Here's the difference though...I'm a freakin' genius and I will find a way to get one. I checked to see if the domain name locobox.com was taken and found that it was available. I bought it, found some photos of a few Locobox pedals, and started The Unofficial Locobox website. I figured if anyone was going to sell a pedal, they might Google Choker Pedal and find my site. Believe it or not, it worked. Really well. I ended up buying many Locobox pedals and sort of became the accidental Locobox guy.

What I really found is that Locobox made some really cool pedals. In MY opinion, The Choker is not one of them. I say that with full disclosure that I just don't understand how to fully utilize compression. I mess with it. I buy compressors. Pretty good ones. I use them. I don't really know whether what I'm doing is working or why. What I do know is that The Choker was not the "magic box" that I was hoping it would be. I am pleased to have found Locobox Mysto Dysto distortion pedals and Tube Maniax pedals and many others that do sound great.