#1338213 - 05/16/01 03:06 PM
The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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strat0124
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I never liked all the Jacksons/Charvels/Ibanez guitars, and railed against them associating them with the artists who usually play them. However I got shocked recently when I saw one sitting on a stand in my buddies studio. It was a little Charvel with one humbucker and one volume control. I wanted to hate it....but the thing is...it played good, sounded pretty good, and was quiet. He kept it for recording and never used it out. I admit I'll never ever own one, but I was surprised. I guess for guys like me it's kinda like a moped....fun to ride, but you don't want to seen on one. Too bad these manufacturers are stuck in spandex hair band design mode. They might sell better if they were a little more traditional.
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Down like a dollar comin up against a yen, doin pretty good for the shape I'm in
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#1338214 - 05/16/01 03:19 PM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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Lee Flier
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LOL... yeah know what you mean. I haven't ever actually played one of those guitars that I liked, so I don't have your dilemma.  I was under the impression though, that they still do sell well. At least they do around here from what I can see. I have a friend who works at Guitar Center and he gets all pissed off cuz he's such a purist, he wants to sell everybody a Rickenbacker and a Vox (not that I have a problem with this!) and all these shredder kids come in and want Ibanez and PRS. They may not have the hair and spandex but they're still buying the guitars and that style seems to be making a comeback. And ya know, that's all right with me. It ain't my thing but it would be kinda strange, when I think about it, if that just went away.
Oh yeah my friend at Guitar Center also likes to tease all these guys, by going in the back room and playing a few bars of "Stairway". As soon as a crowd gathers to watch in awe, he stops playing! LOL...
--Lee
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#1338216 - 05/16/01 03:52 PM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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strat0124
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Lee, I was in Guitar Center here in Va Beach about a week ago and this youngster salesperson came over and offered assistance. In fact too much assitance. I was checking out the new LP jr on the wall, and he was trying to get me into the pointies department, with the locking trems and all that. We pulled down the Jr. and I plugged into a Reissue JTM45, and made it honk a bit.....I told him if he could find a pointy that sounded like that, I might change my tune. He pulled several down......they all sounded as if they were better suited to Soldano's and 5150's. I ain't knocking them, and maybe there is a pointy that fits that bill, I just ain't seen it. What's funny is my buddy who works in the Tech room, was watching and smiling. I guess he was waiting for me to flame this kid, but I didn't. Some folks drive Chevy's, some drive Toyota's. To each his own. I'll join a Brittney Spears band before I sling a pointy thang over my shoulder. Just personal preference. And I'm sure guys who love those type guitars would never be seen with a Telecaster with a little combo. I understand....I was a "stack" guy once.
Somehow you don't picture anyone dressed to the nines playing a pointy headstock guitar, do you? It's blasphemous......hahahahaha!!!!!!
_________________________
Down like a dollar comin up against a yen, doin pretty good for the shape I'm in
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#1338217 - 05/16/01 05:38 PM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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Emile
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I remember when I started out I was into the Ibanez thing. And recall seing a telecaster on TV. Couldn't believe how ugly and dorky the thing looked. Now if I could get my hands on an old vintage one I'd be happy as hell.
My main axe is a strat. I've always thought them as ugly, heavy and hard to play. But fuck I ain't no kid struggling for a bar chord anymore, I want sound baby. Period.
Still when I go to my friend's place and pickup his Ibanez Saber (so thin you could slice cheese with it) with .008 (pe-lease) it's like wearing slippers. Comfey but no sound.
But back on the subject, didn't Gibson make the Flying V in the fifties? I'm sure one of those must have a decent tone and pre-dates Rickenbakers.
Emile
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#1338218 - 05/16/01 05:44 PM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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Lee Flier
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Every Flying V I've ever played sounded like crap. "Vintage" don't necessarily mean good!  Some people have said they've found good V's, but I guess I'll just have to take their word for it.
I was in a little guitar shop in Florida a couple of years ago and there was a guitar in there that was shaped like a shark and had a shark face painted on it. And it had a little tiny amp built into the guitar. It was like $150. I came soooo close to buying it! LOL... decided if I was really gonna spend $150 for another guitar it was gonna be a Danelectro.
--Lee
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#1338219 - 05/16/01 06:00 PM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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Scott from MA
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One of the guitars I built has the neck from an 80's Washburn on it. The Washburn was one of those star-shaped pointy hunks-o'-shit, but the neck actually feels really nice, a little too flat for a lot of open chords but really nice for soloing. I made a Strat-style body for it, and now the guitar is great.
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Scott
(just another cantankerous bastard)
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#1338220 - 05/16/01 06:02 PM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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strat0124
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I never liked em either....I do like the Explorer, again consistency between guitars is a huge factor. I saw Johnny Winter rip on a Thunderbird or Firebird or whatever the @#$% that guitar is called. It did have a slightly hollow tone.....like you'd find with early ES335's. But I always keep coming back to the slabs, like Strats, SG's, Tele's, LP's......just my fave.
If you remember way back when, UFO's guitarist played a V. So did alot of "metal" guitarists. Which bluesman was it that played a V???? Can't remember......
Anyhow.....call me a guitar snob, but I just don't care for the pointies....and Ibanez. I do like Reverend, Blade, G&L, some of the Schecter stuff with P90's, some of the ESP stuff, and the Music man with the P90's.
But realistically I'd play anything if I had to....just to be able to play.....if you catch my drift.
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Down like a dollar comin up against a yen, doin pretty good for the shape I'm in
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#1338221 - 05/16/01 06:46 PM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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KHAN
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I have a Jackson Dinkey Reverse I keep around for recording because of the Floyd Rose. I put a Duncan '59 in the bridge which helps, but it's soooo thin compared to the plank'o'mahogany my brother built me.
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#1338223 - 05/16/01 07:18 PM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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strat0124
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KJ....not trying to dog you, but if they are indeed blues cats, they'll kill with an old Harmony Rocket, something you and I may not be able to tune much less play. They don't give a damn what you got....just what you do. In my youth I've been put in my place before...not that I was playing bad....I was playing too much!!!!! The old guy, long since passed away, gave me a learning experience I won't soon forget. It might fly at a jam.....but if there's a sho nuff bluesman there, it won't impress him.
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Down like a dollar comin up against a yen, doin pretty good for the shape I'm in
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#1338224 - 05/16/01 07:33 PM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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coyote
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Sometimes I think the "old blues cats" get waaay too much reverence. Yngwie ain't gonna get BBK's feel, but BBK also ain't gonna touch Malmsteen's fretboard acrobatics. They each oughta be considered as source material (along w/ any other player we hear) for developing what hopefully becomes our own style.
Likewise w/ the pointy headstocks - if you want a more traditional thing the traditional guitars are out there! I play a Strat - but hail to the guy who can play a Charvel despite the affront to tradition
Originally posted by strat0124:
KJ....not trying to dog you, but if they are indeed blues cats, they'll kill with an old Harmony Rocket, something you and I may not be able to tune much less play. They don't give a damn what you got....just what you do. In my youth I've been put in my place before...not that I was playing bad....I was playing too much!!!!! The old guy, long since passed away, gave me a learning experience I won't soon forget. It might fly at a jam.....but if there's a sho nuff bluesman there, it won't impress him.
_________________________
I used to think I was Libertarian. Until I saw their platform; now I know I'm no more Libertarian than I am RepubliCrat or neoCON or Liberal or Socialist.
This ain't no track meet; this is football.
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#1338225 - 05/16/01 07:43 PM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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KJ
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Strat,
'round here we have what we call (non-PC warning) "Blues Nazis". These are the people who think there is only one way to play the blues and no other. Those are the types that hang at these jams and play the same songs over and over the same way... I've hung with with some sho'nuff bluesmen and I know they don't care what you play but HOW you play it.
_________________________
KJ
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"50 million Elvis Presley fans can't be all wrong" - John Prine
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#1338226 - 05/16/01 08:10 PM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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michael saulnier
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This thread is scary...
Does the right guitar, clothes, attitude, hairstyle, amp, or whatever make you a bluesman, rocker, punk, shredder, rapper or whatever?
WHO CARES what anyone else thinks?
Do YOU like your guitar, clothes, hair, etc.?
When you play, can you make music YOU LIKE?
If so, bless you! Keep the faith!
If there were rules made by the "playa hata's", you wouldn't have:
- the Stones, (white boys can't play the blues),
- Hendrix, ("turn that damn guitar down"),
- Johnny Winter, (It don't get much more "white" than an albino),
- Rock n' Roll, (that's just the black "devil" music),
- Pink Floyd, (It's all drug music),
- Jazz, (It's all "wrong" notes),
- or hundreds of other artists and genres that dared to shake things up and be themselves...
Blues Bigots, Jazz Bigots, Funk Bigots, Rock Bigots, Vintage Bigots, Techno Bigots, etc, all have one thing in common. BIGOTRY.
Hate and Prejudice... What a waste of energy...
So.. if you see me playing my trusty Charvel Model 4 WITH THE POINTY HEADSTOCK, one day... messin' the blues...with a smile on my face... remember that I won't care if you like it or not!
BTW I also have 3 strats, 2 teles, 2 PRS's, 2 Carvin's, and various other guitars... all of which have their own vibe and are fun to play... whatever style I feel like at the time.
Who's to tell me I CAN'T!
guitplayer 
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#1338227 - 05/16/01 08:25 PM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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Lee Flier
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GEEZ guitplayer...
NOBODY's telling anybody what they can or can't do... nobody's making any "rules". Why is it that simply saying you don't like something seems to give a lot of people the impression that you're "telling them what to do"? We're just pokin' a little fun is all.
Like you said, if you're happy with your sound, who cares?
--Lee
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#1338230 - 05/17/01 04:04 AM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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virtual.ray@prodigy.net
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Even though I don't really like the looks of almost all pointy headstock/body guitars (with one exception,the Jackson Roswell WOW!),I've found that a lot of them have flat fretboards and railroad track frets,which I do like,especially the Jacksons.So,I found and bought a Jackson PS-7,which has a Strat like body and the closest they've ever come to a traditional headstock,and I dropped the EMG DG-20 3 single coil pickguard into it,and I like it a lot.It's a discontinued model but they can be found if you look around.
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#1338231 - 05/17/01 06:10 AM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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Chip McDonald
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How about these Cheerios:
I play an old black Ibanez Saber. I take it as a challenge to get up and do blues with it in front of a snooty crowd: I don't need a beat up Strat.
Hopefully after playing a few notes it won't matter what the guitar looks like; and for the msot part, 90% of the audience *doesn't know what a "vintage" guitar looks like anyhow, much less a Strat or Tele.
Yeah, it's easier if your skin is certain color, you're dressed down and look scraggly, and play a "vintage guitar", maybe talk in gutteral grunts. I like knowing I've got to win over the stereotyped guitar, and the Unassuming Generic Gen-X Caucasian look. That way I know it's not for meeting the demands of a stereotype but for what I'm *playing*.
I've heard good sounding vintage guitars, and bad ones. A whole lot more bad ones. There's more Ibanezes and Charvels floating around; there's still good sounding ones to be had. I don't care; if I *had* to I would play a plywood Hondo and I'm quite sure I could get a good reaction from an audience. *I* would notice, and it would affect how and what I played; but non-musicians would never know, as long as it stayed in tune. Doesn't mean I *want* to do that, but....
Hopefully the guitar becomes invisible after you start playing.
------------------
New and Improved Music Soon: [url=http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald]http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald[/url]
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www.chipmcdonald.com (tagline inlieu of having a representational page of downloadable music for the moment...) / "big ass windbag" - Bruce Swedien
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#1338232 - 05/17/01 05:29 PM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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murph
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I believe it was Paul Westerberg of the Replacements who said:
"Don't play those pointy guitars, kids. They give you VD!"
He said it in the early 90's... no wonder they never got huge! "How ot alienate an entire guitar-playing genre in one easy step."
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#1338233 - 05/17/01 06:37 PM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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strat0124
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Hey Murph.....huge is relative, that we know who he is is something. I think folks need to re-read my initial post. I was actually saying something positive about the pointies.
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Down like a dollar comin up against a yen, doin pretty good for the shape I'm in
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#1338234 - 05/17/01 06:39 PM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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D_dup3
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Lee Flier Some people have said they've found good V's, but I guess I'll just have to take their word for it.
Albert King, anyone ?
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#1338236 - 05/17/01 06:50 PM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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KJ
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LONG LIVE THE KING!!!!!!!
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KJ
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"50 million Elvis Presley fans can't be all wrong" - John Prine
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#1338237 - 05/17/01 06:56 PM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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D_dup3
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Chip McDonald:
Hopefully the guitar becomes invisible after you start playing.
NEAT! I've been looking for one of those--- can you hook me up ? Or maybe just tip me where t'get the paint...?
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#1338238 - 05/18/01 12:53 AM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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michael saulnier
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Chip McDonald...
Hondo Blues Master!!!!!
Make it TALK Chip...
ROTFLOL!!!!!
oh, that's an image I'll carry around for a while
... but you're absolutely right!
guitplayer
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#1338239 - 05/18/01 01:54 AM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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rosespappy
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Just saw the neatest little axe with a pointy headstock in a park on Lake Mi. One coffee can cut in two, nailed to a pointy maple neck, with 4 strings in a diatonic tuning..... Thing had such a unique tone, if I'd a had 40 bucks in my pocket, I'da bought one of the 50 or so he had in his microbus!
Rick
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#1338240 - 05/18/01 03:40 AM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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Chip McDonald
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Originally posted by guitplayer:
Chip McDonald...
Hondo Blues Master!!!!!
Make it TALK Chip...
If I had to....
------------------
New and Improved Music Soon: [url=http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald]http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald[/url]
_________________________
www.chipmcdonald.com (tagline inlieu of having a representational page of downloadable music for the moment...) / "big ass windbag" - Bruce Swedien
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#1338241 - 05/18/01 05:44 PM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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murph
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Originally posted by strat0124:
Hey Murph.....huge is relative, that we know who he is is something. I think folks need to re-read my initial post. I was actually saying something positive about the pointies.
Good point. Paul is definately more famous than me. Also. I've owned a few pointy guitars in my day. Loved a couple of them too. I was pointing out that in a time when pointy guitar were king, saying bad things about pointy guitars won't win any friends!
Unless you like VD...
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#1338242 - 05/18/01 05:51 PM
Re: The anti-Pointy Headstock alliance
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strat0124
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VD? Vibrator Dependancy????? That is such a cool song by Mojo Nixon. : )
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