Jump to content


Please note: You can easily log in to MPN using your Facebook account!

The 'guitar that makes me not need another guitar' chat


Recommended Posts

Hi

Well I wrote a long description about my guitar story, only to have it disappear when I went to find a photo.

Anyway, the idea is that, when things were better in my life, I went to find a set of guitars that would not make me look at

other guitars and think, crap-that's what I SHOULD have bought'. Of course if I was a corporate CEO, born into old money, that

answer could change but, for what I have to work with...

anyway here is my first entry. I first heard these guitars at Tokyo's version of NAMM. A guy was was killing it lap style with one of their acoustics.

But the electrics caught my eye. After searching around Tokyo and finding a place that carried them, I thought-are you kidding me? I could fly to Sydney

and...next thing you know, I was calling all over Australia. I found one used at a shop about an hour by bus outside of Sydney. A family friend happened to be there from her law firm,

with an apartment right on the harbor across from the Opera House. When she found out about the guitar, she thought I was nuts-anyway I went to the shop and the guitar was totally pristine.

It's all the more precious now, both from the tragic brushfires and the fact that the woods are so rare that the company can't use them anymore. In fact they stopped making electrics altogether, at least for now.

I took this photo on the harbor. Of course I still check out other guitars, but if I don't get another electric I'm okay.

view?usp=sharing

 

Of course you don't have to actually own it now-all dreams are welcome.

Same old surprises, brand new cliches-

 

Skipsounds on Soundclick:

www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandid=602491

Link to comment
Share on other sites



  • Replies 18
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

I have several that I like more than any that I have ever owned. One is my homemade parts caster, another is the Ibanez RG 321, and an Agile Strat Clone with Fender vintage Noiseless pickups, all of them cheapies. I sold my Les Pau Custom, & my Faded SG and my Custom built Philip Petillo a few years back and I don't miss any of those at all. I am good for the remainder of my playing days which are nearing the end of that road for me.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have been in search of "the guitar that makes me not need another" for many years. I have found one several times LOL! I'm hoping I can kick the fever and not buy another. I have been culling my stock by selling and giving guitars to my friends and family. I've got a couple of tube amps to get rid of now that I have found my main SS Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb amp. I have my main Conti jazz guitar to go with it, so I won't miss much if I start culling the herd. Both the new amp and guitar are the perfect light weight easy in and out to pack around. I have a light weight Rolland amp/pa that can fill the void and run both a mic and guitar and leave the Fender at home. Having the perfect electric guitar (like the dream baby in your post Skip which is super cool), deserves a good amp to go with it IMHO...

 

The guitar is a blonde beauty that I have been waiting a long time for. It's a custom model Conti Heirloom, made for Robert Conti to put together and distribute from Peerless guitars. It's a thin body archtop, Poly high gloss finish, solid spruce top, back and sides are solid maple, shallow Florentine cutaway, 16" lower bout 1.73" depth, 11.6" upper bout, 2 f-holes, Ivory black triple binding, floating bridge (which I had pinned) with a Tone Pros TOM on top, Ebony pickguard, Gold finger tail piece, maple neck, Ebony fingerboard, mother of pearl and abalone inlays, 15.75" radius neck, bone nut 1.69" width, 2.25" at end fret, neck joins body at 16th fret, 24 frets, scale length 24.6", ivory/black binding on neck, same binding on headstock which has a mother of pearl inlay, Grover 14:1 tuners, all hard ware in gold, two volumes two tones and a 3way, Kent Armstrong 57 humbuckers, Switchcraft Output jack (I put in a Switchcraft 3way), 10-50 GHs Rollerwound strings with 18 wound 3rd, weight 6lbs.

 

That's about it! :cool:

 

+1 DBM, this one should last me through my end date... :cool:

Take care, Larryz
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is a nice looking guitar, enjoy!!!

I have friends who've played the same guitar all their life, it happens.

 

Not to me though!!!

 

I've been through so many guitars I could not possibly list them all. Since I spent many years as a professional guitar tech, I got to play all sorts of guitars.

I built a few from lumber, modified/customized many, slapped together some parts-o-casters, swapped out every part of a guitar at one point or another.

And the quest continues.

 

I want to build another scratch built guitar and bring all the things I've learned along to the way to a single instrument. Looking for an avenue to make that happen. Considering taking woodshop classes at the local community college, they have a great shop.

 

Once it's completed, I can play it and figure out ways to improve it. Ad infinitum.

So it goes, Kuru

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I keep hoping that I'll find the right "all bases covered" guitar that will put the others to rest. In my mind it's a Godin (either the Flat Five X or LGXT); something with great humbuckers (maybe splittable/tappable) AND acoustic pickup. The synth aspect is a bonus for when I get into that in my "spare time" (ha). But sometimes, they just don't quite live up to your ideal. But these are close...

 

A decade or so ago I picked a Hamer Duotone for that same purpose. Both sounds are good, but the guitar itself isn't the best (it's their import version). Neck is too small for me and the action never got quite comfortable enough. And the neck/truss do need frequent adjustments.

"Am I enough of a freak to be worth paying to see?"- Separated Out (Marillion)

NEW band Old band

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For me, there's just no such animal.

 

If I could have anything I might want, in terms of Guitar design, I'd have easily another half a dozen Guitars, probably more: At least one each of both 7- and 8-string ERG's, a 9-string with 3 double courses for Jazz, a 12-string for Jangle Pop, a Nylon-string A/E for Jobim tunes, a double-neck monstrosity of some kind, and a fretless something-or-other. Oh, yeah, I've been looking at a Mandolin-sized 12-string A/E Octave Guitar, too . . .

 

Having no desire to sling anything like Rick Nielsen's 5-necked Hydra, I'm willing to have more than one Guitar - it's a sacrifice we all have to make, I guess.

"Monsters are real, and Ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." Stephen King

 

http://www.novparolo.com

 

https://thewinstonpsmithproject.bandcamp.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Having no desire to sling anything like Rick Nielsen's 5-necked Hydra, I'm willing to have more than one Guitar - it's a sacrifice we all have to make, I guess.

 

I've seen Cheap Trick 4 times, 3 of those times he played the 5 neck Hamer. It's a Cheap Trick, imagine that!!! LOL, Kuru

 

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Having no desire to sling anything like Rick Nielsen's 5-necked Hydra, I'm willing to have more than one Guitar - it's a sacrifice we all have to make, I guess.

 

I've seen Cheap Trick 4 times, 3 of those times he played the 5 neck Hamer. It's a Cheap Trick, imagine that!!! LOL, Kuru

 

My wife and I went to see a double bill of Cheap Trick & ZZ Top, a few years back. Couldn't pass it up! Rick played his 5-headed beast, while Rev. Billy & Dusty had their faux-fur covered instruments for a couple of tunes.

 

"Monsters are real, and Ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." Stephen King

 

http://www.novparolo.com

 

https://thewinstonpsmithproject.bandcamp.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well a followup to that part of the story is, that way back in the day when I was buying GP magazine regularly,

there was often a 'guitar giveaway' page. The first time I paid any real attention to it, they were giving away a fanned fret

electric from Novax guitars. I entered-of course I didn't get it. But it featured a set of Bartolini humbuckers. That name stuck in my mind.

I flew back to Japan and did some checking-they are better known for bass pickups. I still have the originals, they are okay but once I installed the

Bartolini set, the difference was huge.

This is how it looks now-

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eS9jTKKvfKGtk4YpmTyhN_ETKVtTRD1h/view?usp=sharing

 

Also, as others have said, one guitar for everything is pretty unlikely.

So I set out on part 2 of my quest.

I got an extra payout from changing jobs. Between that and timing it to make a purchase just after new year, when many stores have

discounts, I was able to get a good deal. I made a list of features I wanted-clear varnish, I wanted to see the wood. One-piece body, no lamination.

maximum variety of pickup combinations. A whammy bar, which my Australian guitar does not have. And an X-factor. Something I would know when I saw it.

I played a lOT of guitars. Finally I happened across

a Japanese company called Killer Guitars. They were made famous by a band called Loudness. Their guitarist, Akira Takasaki, is well worth a listen if you are unfamiliar.

The standard model has a rosewood fretboard. I thought, are you kidding-this is crying out for maple. It's the fretboard wood I'm least familiar with but there was no doubt.

Four installment payments later, it was mine. Truly a magnificent instrument.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eBVmQUAv1aK6NCgebIChZv5cfVCTaDip/view?usp=sharing

 

 

Same old surprises, brand new cliches-

 

Skipsounds on Soundclick:

www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandid=602491

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Shipping to Hawaii is $75.

A lightly used Mira that is already in Hawaii may be a better bargain.

 

I saw that one for $629., tempting but I will wait.

Shipping cost is something we live with. We don't have a big selection of used guitars. The new selection is better now that we have a GC. The music store we shop at only carries Fender, Squier, ESP, and Ibanez, for example.

Jenny S.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Shipping to Hawaii is $75.

A lightly used Mira that is already in Hawaii may be a better bargain.

 

I saw that one for $629., tempting but I will wait.

Shipping cost is something we live with. We don't have a big selection of used guitars. The new selection is better now that we have a GC. The music store we shop at only carries Fender, Squier, ESP, and Ibanez, for example.

 

As another option, keep an eye on GC used items online.

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/

 

They often have bargains, corporate does not allow them to keep an item too long.

30 day return for full refund and you can inspect in the store before taking it home. If there is something wrong with it then you are off the hook, even for shipping.

 

You can even call the store that is selling and get an "in hand" description.

I've found their shipping costs to be below standard rates, they pass some of their corporate discount along to the customer.

 

I've bought a couple things that way and rejected a Les Paul because I'd called the store that had it and inquired about any repaired headstock breaks (I didn't want one!!).

I told the staff at the store I was picking up about that before we opened the box. Box open, guitar had repaired headstock crack, I got full refund on the spot.

 

So it's less complicated than returning something from Reverb or Ebay and there is no risk.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don"t need another guitar. But I"m stupid and I buy them anyway.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For me, there's just no such animal.

 

If I could have anything I might want, in terms of Guitar design, I'd have easily another half a dozen Guitars, probably more: At least one each of both 7- and 8-string ERG's, a 9-string with 3 double courses for Jazz, a 12-string for Jangle Pop, a Nylon-string A/E for Jobim tunes, a double-neck monstrosity of some kind, and a fretless something-or-other. Oh, yeah, I've been looking at a Mandolin-sized 12-string A/E Octave Guitar, too . . .

 

Having no desire to sling anything like Rick Nielsen's 5-necked Hydra, I'm willing to have more than one Guitar - it's a sacrifice we all have to make, I guess.

 

[font:Verdana]^ What he said.[/font]

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don"t need another guitar. But I"m stupid and I buy them anyway.

 

Me too!!! Worst case, some of them are resurrected and find happy new homes.

 

I don't "collect" but I do like adding something that offers a new sound or a new way of playing.

I was happy with my nylon string A/E, I've always enjoyed playing nylon. A different sound. Then I spotted a requinto (small nylon string tuned higher) at Goodwill for $15. It has a crack in the top, proof of solid wood and an easy fix. The intonation was good. Lovely little thing, it has the most cheerful sound of any guitar I own.

 

It's not my fault, I blame the Universe!!!!

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I mean .... I want an SG Jr. bad. I don"t need one. I have single cut LP Juniors. But so far I"m staying strong and gigging with my whiteguard Esquire. I only play them on jobs and rehearsals. Around the house I usually play my Martin or Córdoba nylon string.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I mean .... I want an SG Jr. bad. I don"t need one.

 

There are Guitars I'd love to have, like a Firebird, but honestly, I can't convince myself that I really need another 6-string solidbody Guitar, not even a Firebird. I'd be more likely to look at something I don't already have, which still covers a lot of territory.

 

"Monsters are real, and Ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." Stephen King

 

http://www.novparolo.com

 

https://thewinstonpsmithproject.bandcamp.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...