Who here plays guitar?

[wake up Jobs!!!]

Also, what songs can you play. I can play lots of blink182 (easy punks songs) Jimi hendrix, some Red Hot Chili Peppers, and tons of songs I made up:D

GaBe-O

[dnte42]

I can play...a G chord! Anyhow, I got my guitar about 3 months ago but really haven't had enough time to learn it yet. I can play a crappy tab of Hotel California and bit and piece of some Zeppelin songs. Thats about it for now.

[gmstudio]

Guitar and bass, amongst many others. My main guitars are a 97 Fender CA Fat Telecaster and a Yamaha APX8A acoustic/electric.

I do most of my gigging on bass: a 97 MIA Fender Jazz and a 97 MIA Fender Precision, along with a MIM Jazz fretless and a recently acquired MIJ Sting Signature '54 P bass. Yum.

Paul

[iGav]

I can play guitar.... although I can't solo for *****...

I used to own a Rickenbacker 330 in Fireglo and a Gibson Les Paul...... but don't currently own any guitars... although I have got my eyes on a Fender Jagstang....... even though I hate Fenders in general..... especially the Strat.....

I can play pretty much anything by R.E.M., Peter Buck was the main influence in me actually buying and leaning to play the guitar years ago........ other influential guitarists range from Tom Gorman (Belly) Tom Morgan (Smudge), Tanya Donelly (Belly + solo stuff), Juliana Hatfield, Adrian Utley (Portishead), The Dandy Warhols and the highly underrated Midge Ure.....

I don't really rate all the fret wa*king of that Steve Vai and his ilk..... personally I think those kind of players and their music is alittle cheesy........ :eek: :p

[wake up Jobs!!!]

I play a fender Telecaster sunburst paintjob, with a line6 spider AMP. that amp has everything but the kitchen sink in it!

GaBe-O

[big]

Chili Peppers & Hendrix....I rely to heavely on the wammi bar and sound distortion, so just got a steel string to actually learn how to pick a guitar

[firewire2001]

tehehehehehe...

i juss bought a guitar like 2 days ago and am teaching myself to play...

i took a class like 3 weeks ago and really liked it.. so im trying it put... :)

[alex_ant]

- Gibson SG Standard (cherry red)
- Rickenbacker 370 (midnight blue)
- Gibson Les Paul Standard (cherry sunburst of course)
- Epiphone Casino (vintage)
- Fender Tele & Stratocaster w/ maple fretboards (black Strat, red Tele)

- Vox AC30
- Hiwatt DR103 w/ 4x12 cab and a pair of earplugs
- Fender Twin

Of course I don't own any of these, but I will some day after becoming rich.

[Taft]

I've played for around 11 years. I used to play a ton of electric and was in quite a few bands. Then I played a Les Paul, a Washburn strat look/sound alike, and a crappy Washburn acoustic. I played mostly cover stuff from older heavier bands.

Slowly my tastes began to shift as I got better on guitar. They went towards solo fingerstyle acoustic guitar.

Now I have a nice Taylor dreadnought, an older classical guitar, and a Collings OM1 (a OOO body--very small--reminiscent of a '30s martin) with a balanced sound perfect for fingerstyle music, soloing and jazz. Now I mostly spend time writing and playing my own work. Though I try to learn other peoples songs to keep up on technique and learn from their compositions.

I play artists like Leo Kottke, Michael Hedges, Steve Howe, Django Reinhart, etc. Keeps me nimble.

Taft

[firewire2001]

hey yo... while we're on this subject...

does anyone know of any good guitar books or whatever to learn from.. (or websites.. etc..)..

-f

[Gaz]

- Epiphone Sheraton
- Les Paul 57 Goldtop
- Martin Acoustic

- Orange Amp

Music wise I'll play anything from Oasis - Zepplin but really getting in to the blues at the mo and the acoustic.

You just can't beat the sound of a good acoustic guitar playing played well.

Gaz

[Eliot]

Go hang out at the Guitar Player section at www.musicplayer.com.
Lots of folk there to help out.

By the way, Gaz, when you say '57 Goldtop, is it a re-issue or.....gasp....the real thing?

[bigsteve3]

That's really bizarre! I was playing my guitar for the first time in 3 months while I waited for my iBook to dial up. I've played for 5 years, and I play pretty much anything that has guitar in it (Clapton, Beatles, Oasis...). Have an Epiphone and a crappy amp...

[3rdpath]

1972 tele deluxe..stock with twin humbuckers and a strat neck..quite an unusual tone.

two custom made music man basses, 1 fretted, 1 fretless...both sound amazing.

washburn eb40(?) elec/acoustic bass. nice warm sound but won't cut thru a thick mix.

1984 jazz bass special, fretless with D-tuner...retired after many gigs and road abuse. its the bass my 22 month old daughter gets to play when she visits my studio( anything to keep her away from the patchbay...)

and the funny thing is...i'm a keyboard player.:D

[Dignan]

Ive got quite a few guitars...I think i posted them on an older thread. Wasnt there one with pictures?

I liked that...start posting pictures of your guitars

[krossfyter]

rock on

[jefhatfield]

i started playing as a guitar student in 1976 on a takeharu nylon and ended my playing in 1999 (at least gigging) using a 1996 american standard strat

i only have one guitar now, an ltd by esp, viper 301, but i once had a collection, bought, traded, and sold of 56 guitars and best guitar was a 1947 martin 00-17

if i get into playing again , which i highly doubt, i would want a dream guitar of a pre-cbs, pre-mid-1954 fender telcaster, with the flat pole pieces, in butterscotch blond like the country players like even though i don't like country music...but ten grand is too steep but i will get to go to norman's rare guitars tomorrow in los angeles and he will have several of them

besides that, to be more realistic, i would want a 1962 Gibson Les Paul/ SG reissue replica or an ESP custom shop Viper 301, and both could be bought on sale for under two grand each

and if i am really on a budget but want sturdy gig guitar, and make my ltd viper a second backup, i would spend about one thousand on sale for a fender 1952 reissue telecaster replica

the Les Paul/SG and Telecaster reissue replicas are very close to the vintage guitars i used to collect, but not exactly the same so one won't try to counterfeit it and make it sale as the real vintage deal

also, reissues sound nothing like the old fenders and gibsons and the best way to get the sound of an old guitar is buy an old guitar, if you can afford it, which few can...i am glad that i collected when it was not too expensive...today, it's nearly impossible to find '50s fenders and gibsons in an affordable way

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by Dignan


I liked that...start posting pictures of your guitars

56 guitars plus another 50 or so of my collecting buddies...that will fill four pages here and the moderator would have my head...but if you want, i will list them, or as many as i can remember;)

[madforrit]

I play a Fender strat (sunburst) and have a Line6 Flextone II XL. Got my sights set on a Gibson Les Paul but that won't be for a while...especially with a new G4 coming soon.

Play mostly rock stuff, and I'm a HUGE oasis fan. =)

[vniow]

I sorta play, but not seriously. I basically screw around with an old out of tune yamaha acoustic that's been in the family for awhile. I can play the intro to the Tea Party's Psycopomp pretty good though. :p

[Backtothemac]

Well, I do. I have been playing for over 10 years now. I can play anything except for solos, and Stevie Ray Vaughn and the like :)

[krossfyter]

i started playing blah blah blah... yadda yadda....


rock on.

[Gaz]

Originally posted by Eliot
Go hang out at the Guitar Player section at www.musicplayer.com.
Lots of folk there to help out.

By the way, Gaz, when you say '57 Goldtop, is it a re-issue or.....gasp....the real thing?

D'oh forgot to paste my comments.

Yeah it's the real thing. Very nice too.

[kiwi_the_iwik]

I bought a Red Ibanez Roadstar II - with a black pickboard - back in the 80's. It plays really nicely (apart from when I play it, that is...;)). The piano and synthesizers were more my thing, but I went through a Dire Straits phase all those years ago, and just had to play like Mark Knopfler. So - I decided to learn in style, and bought the electric first (what a dumbass!).

The fact that I can play quite well now is probably attributed to the years of:

Step 1 - picking it up
Step 2 - putting it down
Step 3 - repeating steps 1 and 2 until I got a tune out of it.

Also, it was a lot easier for me to carry around than an A-Frame full of synths and rackmount gear (and I didn't really need a mains power supply...).

I do most of my playing by ear - I used to sight-read, but I'm way out of practice, and it takes me a good 2 hours to get a grotesquely bastardised rendition of the piece I was trying to play in the first place. So, I just get someone to play it once, and I'm away.

My old piano teacher used to catch me out that way - he'd hand me a piece of music for me to study and play by the end of the week, and then he'd play it for me before he left (to show me how it was done), adding an extra note, or notes, or something else deviously tricky, to catch me out. Inevitibly, I'd only have to listen to it once - and would then play it back to him on his next visit (all the while pretending to read the music). Of course, I'd also inevitibly get the ruler to the back of the hand for cheating. What a nasty piece of work he was (he's probably dead now anyway. I call it "Karma"...).

That's probably why I started to love computers so much - when I bought a Yamaha MSX MIDI music computer about a year later, I used to transcribe my homework into the notation software, and get the computer to play it for me once. Voila! I foiled the old goat, and the backs of my hands were saved forever.

Sorry - I digress...

Yes, I play the guitar...

;)

[firewire2001]

Originally posted by krossfyter
i started playing blah blah blah... yadda yadda....


rock on.

haha.. interesting tar... :eek: ;):p

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by Gaz


D'oh forgot to paste my comments.

Yeah it's the real thing. Very nice too.
a 1957 goldtop, unaltered, original frets, original tuners, original pickups, orginal case, and original receipt and tags (yes, those) would make your guitar worth more than my entire collection of 56 guitars

the only truly valueable guitar i had that would be hard to replace was that 1947 martin since i have never seen another like it and i have seen dozens of used martins in the years since

since it was refinished badly, it didn't have the dollar value, but it was such a hard one to find...i did come across a 1959 martin DE-18 with dearmond pickup and tone and volume knob...not unlike kurt cobain's acoustic he used in nirvana unplugged

actually, a 1959 D-18, without electronics, is worth a lot more bare

i will see some old goldtops and flametops from '55-'60 at norms rare guitars in la and out of curiosity, i will price them in us dollars

[Eliot]

To save you the trouble (I know, it's no trouble when you can go and gaze at Norm's stuff!) the '57 is worth, if original (and I MEAN ORIGINAL) between $18000 and $35000, depending on condition, if it has a Bigsby or not, black or cream plastic , dark or light back, etc etc.........

Anyway. huge wow!

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by Eliot
To save you the trouble (I know, it's no trouble when you can go and gaze at Norm's stuff!) the '57 is worth, if original (and I MEAN ORIGINAL) between $18000 and $35000, depending on condition, if it has a Bigsby or not, black or cream plastic , dark or light back, etc etc.........

Anyway. huge wow!

all original in unplayable condition with bigsby would be 18k by my guess and a non-bigsby in factory mint condition with tags would be 35k...amazing how these things have gone up in value

no guitar i had in my collection was worth even one thousand dollars, and most were worth under five hundred in their current state like re-finished '78 tele without original pickups, or re-fin and refretted '65 tele, or '96 american standard strat, or gibson the paul, or ibanez allen holdsworth model, or 1965 gibson lgo...etc

i only went after affordable gear since a standard goldtop, flametop, or pre-cbs maple neck strat would all be over 10k and up to 50k in original condition

a gretsch penguin or gibson '59 flying V are priceless and it depends on what someone will be willing to shell out at an auction...but big, big bucks over 100k and maybe even more but nobody knows...both models were absolute flops and therefore there are very few in existence today

if norman's doesn't have it, california guitars in la may have it, manny's in new york city, or geoge gruhm guitars in tennesee

carmel music in california was also one of the big boys in acoustics as was elderly instruments

[isogonic]

Does anyone know of a good (free) central source of guitar tabs? I have only been playing for a small amount of time on a borrowed electric.

[Taft]

Originally posted by isogonic
Does anyone know of a good (free) central source of guitar tabs? I have only been playing for a small amount of time on a borrowed electric.

www.olga.net

Taft

[Hemingray]

Well, I'm mostly a piano and organ guy, but recently I just purchased a pedal steel guitar, and I'm learning how to play it. So that counts!

It's a 1973 MSA Classic S-12 (Universal). 7 pedals, 5 knee.

[D0ct0rteeth]

i play bass and a little guitar...

mostly jazz and classic rock...

beatles, aerosmith, zeppelin...

"dream on" gets the chicks every time :)

[Eliot]

I'm kind of more bassist than guitarist, and my main instrument is a VERY beat (like Jaco used it as a sled kind-of-beat) stack knob '61 Jazz with a slab board. The Grail of basses, IMHO.

Love my '61 LP SG, tho', Jef ! It's a butcher job with a stop-tail instead of the original yuk trem.....not me who did it, I hasten to add!!!!

Oh, yeah, a friend of mine is a vintage dealer and recently sold a super-clean '60 LP with spectacular flame for $130,000. The sky is now, officially, the limit on Les Pauls from '58 and '59 and to a slightly lesser degree, 1960.

[3rdpath]

Originally posted by Eliot
I'm kind of more bassist than guitarist, and my main instrument is a VERY beat (like Jaco used it as a sled kind-of-beat) stack knob '61 Jazz with a slab board. The Grail of basses, IMHO.


i love the concentric knob jazzers...a buddy of mine has an original seafoam green stack-knob that i not-so-secretly covet.....another friend of mine has two pre-cbs basses-both with matching paint headstocks....arrrrgggg.

the holiest of grail basses(imho) was the gibson explorer-only one produced-gibson denies they made it-but the owner has the provenance to prove it. of course, it played poorly like most early gibson basses...he wanted 50k for it 15 years ago.....probably in japan now with all the other great axes...

[Eliot]

3rdPath- know what you mean, but it just goes to show the differences between players and collectors. You're right- for a collector the Explorer would be like Unobtanium. But for a player who's not a complete Rockist, the Jazz rules, I think. After all, it's like a Strat vs. an Explorer to play. You can do anything on a Strat.

[3rdpath]

yeah eliot, as jimmy vaughn said" fender made some crappy guitars back then too"...older doesn't make it better...and there was usually a reason certain guitars were only made for a short period of time.

then again, some of the rarities are so amazing that i just wouldn't care how they sounded...the first time i picked up a white penguin...OMG...i'm still waiting for a real moderne to surface...i really think there's one out there.

when the strat market went crazy, i moved into collecting danelectros...they were still affordable then...and too cool to look at. SRV's guitar tech, rene, used to pick them up when they were on tour and sell 'em when he got back to dallas. he always said the best place to find them was hawaii...go figure.

and some of the dano basses were actually quite nice...not "round"on the scale of a jazz but quirky enough to find a spot in a mix...and i've always had a fondness for the baritones though they would never stay in tune...

oh well, i could talk guitars all day...who are your favorite bassists?

mine...jaco, pino, rocco, guy pratt( pink floyd, toy matinee), alfie aguis( on the fixx's best tunes), sir paul of course, james jamerson, mark king...etc :)

[Eliot]

I think you've pretty much nailed my faves, but I'd add Charlie Hayden , Steve Rodby, Eberhard Weber, Chuck Rainey, Tony Levin and (dies of embarrassment) Geddy Lee. So many styles, all soooo excellent!

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by 3rdpath
yeah eliot, as jimmy vaughn said" fender made some crappy guitars back then too"...older doesn't make it better...and there was usually a reason certain guitars were only made for a short period of time.

then again, some of the rarities are so amazing that i just wouldn't care how they sounded...the first time i picked up a white penguin...OMG...i'm still waiting for a real moderne to surface...i really think there's one out there.

when the strat market went crazy, i moved into collecting danelectros...they were still affordable then...and too cool to look at. SRV's guitar tech, rene, used to pick them up when they were on tour and sell 'em when he got back to dallas. he always said the best place to find them was hawaii...go figure.



i am kind of rare, i play and collect...some people become collectors and never devote to playing and many don't play at all...kind of like baseball card collectors who never even picked up a bat or went to little league

i have to admit, when i finally stopped collecting guitars and actually starting playing one or two i could get used to, i got much better and was able to actually call myself a giggable guitar player

i just saw a 1953 les paul goldtop with the trapeze tailpiece...totally unplayable due to the fact that it is impossible to palm mute this model...but a super collectors item...54s and early 55s were impossible to intonate because there were no adjustable bridge pieces, but the les pauls started becoming useful by late 55 when the bridge and tailpiece became two separate units

there are some one piece bridge/tailpiece units that work now because they have adjustable bridge pieces

[groovebuster]

I worked as a pro musician for years but cut it back to just a hobby since I have a family. Music didn't make enough money to feed 3 people.

My remaining guitars are:

Gibson Les Paul Custom '85 wine-red gold hardware
Ibanez JEM 10th Anniversary (that baby looks cooooool! :D)
Charvel/Jackson Mod. 6 '87 dark-cherry metallic
Gibson ES-175 '97 antique sunburst

... and some (5) acoustic (steel and nylon) guitars (they are from workshops you probably never heard of before).

My favourite styles are Jazz, Funk, Soul and Rock... but I also played a lot of other stuff during the years. To name artists and composers wouldn't make sense, just too many to name...

I really miss being on stage! :( I hope one day I'll be able to get into the business again, but with a one year old daughter and a wife that is still in her education I have to be patient...

And fiddeling with computers just makes more money.

groovebuster

-----------------------
Here is picture of the JEM:

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by groovebuster
I worked as a pro musician for years but cut it back to just a hobby since I have a family. Music didn't make enough money to feed 3 people.

My remaining guitars are:

Gibson Les Paul Custom '85 wine-red gold hardware
Ibanez JEM 10th Anniversary (that baby looks cooooool! :D)
Charvel/Jackson Mod. 6 '87 dark-cherry metallic
Gibson ES-175 '97 antique sunburst

... and some (5) acoustic (steel and nylon) guitars (they are from workshops you probably never heard of before).

My favourite styles are Jazz, Funk, Soul and Rock... but I also played a lot of other stuff during the years. To name artists and composers wouldn't make sense, just too many to name...

I really miss being on stage! :( I hope one day I'll be able to get into the business again, but with a one year old daughter and a wife that is still in her education I have to be patient...

And fiddeling with computers just makes more money.

groovebuster

-----------------------
Here is picture of the JEM:

that is a real gem...wow

i never had a steve vai model in my collection of 56 but it was always on my wish list...so was satrini model and george benson model...but i did have an allen holdsworth signature ibanez and that thing had a great sound

the only guitars i collected more than ibanez were fenders and gibsons

but the steve vai guitar, when it first came out, was the most sought after instrument (new) that i had ever seen...plus heavy metal was at its full on peak and everybody wanted to either be eddie van halen or steve vai and nobody thought they could be topped...until steve vai's guitar teacher entered the realm...that would be joe satriani...now older and shiny bald:eek:

[FattyMembrane]

i used to play a lot of the punk style stuff, but after taking a few years of fingerstyle and classical lessons, i have not looked back. i would recomend a study of classical guitar to any serious player, if done properly, you'll develop not only great technique, but a far better appreciation for good music. your friends may laugh when you say that your favorite "bands" are villa-lobos, j.s. bach, and scott tenant, but i enjoy it far more than the mundane thrashing.

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by FattyMembrane
i used to play a lot of the punk style stuff, but after taking a few years of fingerstyle and classical lessons, i have not looked back. i would recomend a study of classical guitar to any serious player, if done properly, you'll develop not only great technique, but a far better appreciation for good music. your friends may laugh when you say that your favorite "bands" are villa-lobos, j.s. bach, and scott tenant, but i enjoy it far more than the mundane thrashing.

so true

i am a decent rock player but the thing that has limited my jazz playing is the fact that i don't sight read music very well

i have recently gotten into opera and i have a real appreciation of good singing...placido domingo rules! but does not have as many women fans as nsync...but he still is a chick magnet for his age:p

[groovebuster]

Originally posted by jefhatfield


that is a real gem...wow

i never had a steve vai model in my collection of 56 but it was always on my wish list...

Yeah! I always loved the JEMs for their really outstanding playability and decent sound. I just never liked the design completely really. It was progressive, but I like more conservative designs (they are more timeless anyway). When the anniversary model came out there was no reason to wait anymore! I tested the guitar at the dealer for about 4 hours and then I shelled the money out right away to bring my new baby home. This JEM is so pretty, it is almost a sin to play it. Meanwhile it looks a little bit used already, although I really take care of my instruments. But live action leaves it's marks and actually that's what gives character to a guitar. It's like the diary of all the good and bad times you have with your instrument during the years. A mirror of the relationship... :)


so was satrini model and george benson model...but i did have an allen holdsworth signature ibanez and that thing had a great sound

I always wanted to have the George Benson model, but finally I bought a new ES-175 again (after my old one got stolen after a gig at an open air festival :( ). I also based my decisions on usability for my daily work as a guitarist. The GB is a fine guitar, but the sound is somewhere between a real jazz baby (like the ES-175) and the Les Paul. The main advantage of the GB is on stage, less feedback and easier to play while standing, since it's body is so small. But I wanted something that really gave me ultimate Jazz sound and the GBs I tested always sounded a little bit thin. A sound that I almost could produce with my Les Paul already. Since money for a musician is always THE subject (normally), I didn't buy one... but maybe one day, when I am active again and I have the extra money.... :-)

The Satriani model is also nice, but somehow never really interested me. There are just instruments you are not getting along with and you don't know why...

the only guitars i collected more than ibanez were fenders and gibsons

These are the only guitars that are worth the investment, when you are a collector (besides some exceptions). It's just funny that I never owned a Fender in my whole life. As I said before... with some guitars you just don't get along and I never got "infected" by a Fender so far. I played some on stage or in studio sometimes (lend from friends when I needed one), but I never fell in love with them... they were just "OK".

but the steve vai guitar, when it first came out, was the most sought after instrument (new) that i had ever seen...plus heavy metal was at its full on peak and everybody wanted to either be eddie van halen or steve vai and nobody thought they could be topped...until steve vai's guitar teacher entered the realm...that would be joe satriani...now older and shiny bald:eek:

As mentioned before, the JEM was cool, but always designed too freaky for my taste. I had the feeling they just didn't look good on me, until I saw the anniversary model.

But to be honest... I am not a real big fan of all the guitar athletes, no matter if it is Steve Vai, Eddie van Halen, Joe Satriani or Frank Gambale (or even that high-speed copy of George Benson: Noman Brown). Their technique is impressing, but for me music means more than just showing of how fast I can play this or that Arpeggio or how fast I can play the most weird scales. Fortunately the guitarists are going back to more soul in their playing. It's not only the speed, it's also the intonation and the expression that matters. And from a certain speed on there is not a lot of room for expression anymore, it sounds more as if a sequencer was set by accident to a crazy BPM rate. It sounds sterile since you play kind of mechanically with a perfect timing (hopefully ;) ) all the way. Of course it is impressing, but that's just it! Speedy licks should be highlights, used wisely to adjust the tension of your expression, but not more. Some of the greatest soli I ever heard were played slowly and smooth, making the guitar realy talk to you, telling a story and giving you goose-bumps. That makes the difference for me between a music athlete and a music artist.

Stay tuned! :cool:

groovebuster

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by groovebuster

Speedy licks should be highlights, used wisely to adjust the tension of your expression, but not more. Some of the greatest soli I ever heard were played slowly and smooth, making the guitar realy talk to you, telling a story and giving you goose-bumps. That makes the difference for me between a music athlete and a music artist.

Stay tuned! :cool:

groovebuster

when i played in the '70s and '80s, i was so impressed by the speed thing and the ultimate instrument that expressed that was probably the ibanez jem 777 when it came out

but when nirvana came out in 90-91, i spent the next decade working on more soulful soloing and i started liking "slower" playing on "slower" guitars...where the jem has the ultra slim, slick satin neck with those jumbo frets, my gibsons or fenders had thicker necks with smaller frets so speed playing and crazy bending are not nearly as easy to achieve...most gibsons limit the speed due to their sticky feeling finished necks on most models and the sheer thickness of the neck...most fenders have a small radius not allowing the strings to be lowered too close to the neck which would cause string buzz

so the constraints of a traditional fender or gibson guitar make me focus more on the song and play more thoughtful, slower solos

but every time i pick up an ibanez jem or jackson heavy metal guitar, usually with a floyd rose tremolo, i have the huge temptation to go nuts on that thing and play very fast and abuse the whammy bar...he he...i can't help it and heavy metal is not my favorite form of music these days

i actually enjoy my esp/ltd viper, which is a copy of the gibson sg standard, but with black chrome parts and slightly higher gain pickups...but i keep the action from being too low and the neck is rather thick like vintage gibsons so it is not a fast guitar...so it is perfect for me being slow so i can avoid the temptation of the super fast solo stuff

i don't see myself ever wanting any other guitar right now besides this one i have...

since i was born in 1963, i have my eye kind of set on a gibson les paul junior, which is in the sg shape, of the same year as my birth and for $1500, it's not super high

a telecaster or stratocaster of the same year, which i would rather prefer, goes from $4000 for the telecaster and perhaps $10000 for the stratocaster...both too much for me to spend...with that type of money i would get a g4 with all the trimmings :p

ps...this may be rude to ask, but how much does the jem anniversary list for? and what was the street value on it?

my esp/ltd lists for $649 but i got it for $519 street value before tax...the pro version of the viper 301, the straight "esp viper", lists for $2399 up to about $3500...similar to tibook...but with emg's instead of a g4:p

[wilburpan]

I have a early 80's Washburn electric, which I never will give up for sentimental reasons, since it was my first guitar, a mid-80's Fender American Standard Strat, and a 1938-39 Epiphone Broadway archtop that is older than my mom. :)

Started off playing with friends in college, played in a few bands during med school, now I concentrate on jazz.

[groovebuster]

Originally posted by jefhatfield

ps...this may be rude to ask, but how much does the jem anniversary list for? and what was the street value on it?

Actually I am not a collector and I never really cared for the current value of my guitars, their value is not monetary for me.

It's six years ago that I bought the JEM, I have to admit that I hardly remember exactly how much I payed for it... Must have been something like 2,500.-$, but that's just a wild guess, I would have to check it out, if I can find the original receipt. For how much it is listed today? Actually I don't have a clue! :D
But it is nice to know that only 852 were produced and to have a letter of authenticity hand signed by Steve Vai. :D

I only know the value of my Les Paul. 5 years ago it needed a little repair and the workshop I brought it to didn't dare to do the job. He said. "I don't touch an intsrument like that! If I screw up, I owe you a ****-load of money!" So he send it to a friend that is running a Gibson Custom Shop in Germany. He wrote down the value of the guitar for me on a little paper, just for my information... back then you could get about 5,000$ for it. Not too bad, since I bought it new in 85 for about 1,500$ (I don't remember the exchange course, but I payed 3,250DM for it). I was told that my Les Paul is special because it was still manufactured in the old Gibson workshop before they went bancrupt in the 80's, completely hand-crafted (he checked the serial number for that). I remember that almost nobody wanted a Gibson back then (except me I guess). Everybody was after those High-Tech heavy-metal/rock guitars with active electronics (just like my Charvel). Gibson didn't produce a lot of guitars in the 80's, so that's why they are rare meanwhile. And then Gibson had that revival in the 90's and the prices went through the roof.

One more thing: ;) Playing fast on a Gibson is maybe harder on first sight, but when you got used to the thick neck and you have a good set-up there is no difference to a speed demon like the JEM. Various artist showed that... Al di Meola (almost) always played Les Paul and he made the frets glowing on his Gibsons. Of course, different technique to play, but you can set up almost every guitar in a way to go wild with speedy playing. The question is, does it fit to the character of the instrument.

I tried different set-ups on all my guitars and for my Les Paul I found one that is somehow "best of both worlds". I can't go completely wild on it, but I have a lot of freedom for expression. When I play a funk-lick on my Les Paul and then the same on my JEM, I know again why I love my little wine-red baby so much! :-) I also love the JEM, but with it's set-up and sound it's better for that going fast with screaming amps thing. It would never sound as fat and dirty as the Les Paul.

So I have different guitars for every need. And it is good like that! :-)

groovebuster

P.S.: Here is some more info & pictures if you are interested: http://www.jemsite.com/axes/htm_features/spec.htm#anniv

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by groovebuster


Actually I am not a collector and I never really cared for the current value of my guitars, their value is not monetary for me.

It's six years ago that I bought the JEM, I have to admit that I hardly remember exactly how much I payed for it... Must have been something like 2,500.-$, but that's just a wild guess, I would have to check it out, if I can find the original receipt. For how much it is listed today? Actually I don't have a clue! :D
But it is nice to know that only 852 were produced and to have a letter of authenticity hand signed by Steve Vai. :D

I only know the value of my Les Paul. 5 years ago it needed a little repair and the workshop I brought it to didn't dare to do the job. He said. "I don't touch an intsrument like that! If I screw up, I owe you a ****-load of money!" So he send it to a friend that is running a Gibson Custom Shop in Germany. He wrote down the value of the guitar for me on a little paper, just for my information... back then you could get about 5,000$ for it. Not too bad, since I bought it new in 85 for about 1,500$ (I don't remember the exchange course, but I payed 3,250DM for it). I was told that my Les Paul is special because it was still manufactured in the old Gibson workshop before they went bancrupt in the 80's, completely hand-crafted (he checked the serial number for that). I remember that almost nobody wanted a Gibson back then (except me I guess). Everybody was after those High-Tech heavy-metal/rock guitars with active electronics (just like my Charvel). Gibson didn't produce a lot of guitars in the 80's, so that's why they are rare meanwhile. And then Gibson had that revival in the 90's and the prices went through the roof.

One more thing: ;) Playing fast on a Gibson is maybe harder on first sight, but when you got used to the thick neck and you have a good set-up there is no difference to a speed demon like the JEM. Various artist showed that... Al di Meola (almost) always played Les Paul and he made the frets glowing on his Gibsons. Of course, different technique to play, but you can set up almost every guitar in a way to go wild with speedy playing. The question is, does it fit to the character of the instrument.

I tried different set-ups on all my guitars and for my Les Paul I found one that is somehow "best of both worlds". I can't go completely wild on it, but I have a lot of freedom for expression. When I play a funk-lick on my Les Paul and then the same on my JEM, I know again why I love my little wine-red baby so much! :-) I also love the JEM, but with it's set-up and sound it's better for that going fast with screaming amps thing. It would never sound as fat and dirty as the Les Paul.

So I have different guitars for every need. And it is good like that! :-)

groovebuster

P.S.: Here is some more info & pictures if you are interested: http://www.jemsite.com/axes/htm_features/spec.htm#anniv

since i am not a pro like you, i could never make a les paul or strat sound fast like a charvel/jackson or ibanez jem...i really play fast on a jem, satriani, randy rhoades, bc rich, kramer because of the extremely flat radius neck and super jumbo frets...most of these metal monsters also have that satin neck which i find very useful after the first two hours in a four hour gig in a hot bar

and the floyd, kahler, and the wonderbar from washburn all could dive bomb faster, lower, and come up in tune better than a strat or gibson 60s vibrola (or bigsby bridge as found on epiphones, rickenbackers, and gretsches)

but that whole active guitar, floyd, flat, fast neck thing is something that made an ordinary guiatarist like me sound better than i actually was...i can't play classical and i can't read music well so i am not really that versatile...the only working pro i know of in town reads really well and does rock country by ear, but does jazz gigs, weddings, and teaches using his ability to read and write music...with all those gigs and jobs, he is the only one here who makes a living....imagine...no day job...we are all so proud and jealous of him...and he has something like twenty guitars since that's his vice since i think he gave up drinking and lost 20 pounds ;)

i know there are guys who can fly on a high actioned acoustic faster than i can on any electric because they are pros or at least extremely great amateurs...al dimeola plays his ovation as fast as any electric he uses...amazing technique

if i was a pro like you and played only electric, i would have a good humbucker guitar like a les paul or 335 and a good strat guitar...they would most likely be gibsons and fenders which are in my price range...esp, ibanez, and yamaha pro stuff is comparable in price and affordable

if i really had big bucks, i would have a 1960 gibson dot 335 for my humbucker electric and a 1963 fender strat for my single coil electric but for a total price of 20+ grand, it would suit me better to get a new car...i had a friend who traded his 1960 dot 335 for a 1963 fender strat twenty years ago and even then those things were worth thousands...they went for the same on the vintage market then and they are both worth about ten grand each...the dot is more rare, but the fender has that pre-cbs mystique which i find a bunch of hype...i had a 1965 telecaster which was worth one thousand, but the identical guitar made six months earlier got two thousand...leo fender sold his company to cbs in the early part of 1965 and stayed on as an advisor into the 70s

as for 20k on two guitars, professional orchestra musicians easily spend that much for one insturment if it's an oboe or a violin and my aunt spent 50k for her violin and it's not even a strad
;)

[krossfyter]

hate to interrupt so im sorry...
but jefhatfield.... i emailed you did you get my message? i need your assistance asap man. get back with me if you can man.... krossfyter@mac.com

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by wilburpan
I have a early 80's Washburn electric, which I never will give up for sentimental reasons, since it was my first guitar, a mid-80's Fender American Standard Strat, and a 1938-39 Epiphone Broadway archtop that is older than my mom. :)

Started off playing with friends in college, played in a few bands during med school, now I concentrate on jazz.

OMG, a pre-1941 epiphone...those are extremely sought after since the main epiphone brother died in 1941 and was regarded as the music business genius of epiphone

...he was the educated one, too and went to comlumbia university and was one of the first to meld a good education into the then infant musical instrument business...he was a true pioneer on par with orville gibson and leo fender

...orville made one of the first major us guitar companies while leo made the solidbody guitar hatch from its shell...before the esquire in mid-1950, the broadcaster in late-1950, and the telecaster that followed it, previous electric solidbodies only sold in extremely small quantities like the 30s rickenbacker "frying pan" electric guitar

les paul the musician had the idea of a solidbody electric back in 1942 but his idea didn't get fully realized until ten years later

but that pre-41 epi is so rare since collectors and jazzers in the know snatch them up in any condition:D

in almost twenty five years of collecting and playing, i have only seen one...and only one stromeberg archtop...but i have been lucky enough to see d'angelico and d'quisto archtops more than once

but a used ibanez benson or gibson es-175 would suit me just fine...but that old epi...wow!!!

[krossfyter]

okay i just responded to your email jef.

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by krossfyter
okay i just responded to your email jef.

cool !

dig it...i like that term

i hope i can be of help

jhatfield:D

[wilburpan]

Originally posted by jefhatfield
...but that old epi...wow!!!

I must say, it's a fantastically great playing guitar, with a wonderful sound, but it probably does not have much collector appeal because it's not a very clean model. There are numerous scratches in the finish, there's a slight separation between the top and the side of the guitar at one point, the pickguard is in so-so shape, and someone added a DeArmond pickup to it at one point, so it's not completely original.

That said, I love this guitar, and it's probably a good thing that it's not in NM/M condition, otherwise I wouldn't play it as much as I do for fear of ruining its "collectability". This way, I can enjoy playing the guitar, which is what it's all about, anyway. :)

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by wilburpan


I must say, it's a fantastically great playing guitar, with a wonderful sound, but it probably does not have much collector appeal because it's not a very clean model. There are numerous scratches in the finish, there's a slight separation between the top and the side of the guitar at one point, the pickguard is in so-so shape, and someone added a DeArmond pickup to it at one point, so it's not completely original.

That said, I love this guitar, and it's probably a good thing that it's not in NM/M condition, otherwise I wouldn't play it as much as I do for fear of ruining its "collectability". This way, I can enjoy playing the guitar, which is what it's all about, anyway. :)

some guitars could be in that condition and be slightly modified and still be collectible since what you have is one of the rarest instruments on the vintage market

if i got a no truss rod fender esquire and that thing was unplayable because it was warped, it still would be worth something...many thousands...since there were perhaps just hundreds of them made

some guitars are so rare there are literally less than ten of that model like some rickenbackers and some fender custom shop guitars...one relatively rare harley davidson fender guitar from the custom shop with HDs approval goes for 25k...new...just imagine what that will be worth in 100 years

with vintage, orginality is more important than playability

as a player, i liked to make my instruments work and i admit, i refretted a totally unplayable 65 telecaster and halved the value right there

some people remove a broken original pickup with original pots and wiring and put a pickup in it that works and devalue their guitar by hundreds of dollars

some collectors will pay twice the market value if you have original case, strings, picks, and especially tags and receipts

and most of all, rock star owned guitars bring in the highest money and i think a jimi hendrix guitar was bidded off for a million dollars

bill haley of the comets' widow sold bill haley's 1,500 dollar aria hollowbody to hard rock cafe for 20,000 dollars because it was the last and most often played guitar of bill haley right before his death

john lennon's most often played guitar right before he died was either his red 70s stratocaster or his 70s ovation steel string and i would hate to think what yoko could get for those

paul mccartney's bass from the beatles still has the set list taped on it from the last show they did at candlestick in san francisco...man, that would be a prize

and the biggest collector who is a rock star, nancy wilson of heart, has 50-60 high end vintage pieces and they have the value of being vintage, nancy's, and used on heart albums and concerts...clapton also had that many guitars but sold most of them for charity

dweezil zappa, the rockstar, owns jimi hendrix' burnt monterey strat, and that will have triple value of being jimi's, dweezil's (on recordings by both artists), and also be a vintage fender stratocaster

etc...as the collecting bug goes in the guitar world

oh, and one lucky soul has the only guitar in the world signed by all four beatles...my buddy has a guitar signed by all four members of l7 but that is not as big a deal but he got the idea from me about having an entire band sign a guitar while the band was famous:p

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by jefhatfield


cool !

dig it...i like that term

i hope i can be of help

jhatfield:D

your mailbox is full so basically in nutshell for job interview

1) dress conservatively, only one ring if at all, no piercings, earrings, bracelets, etc

2) ask questions as well to make it a 2 way conversation

3) resume on one white page is best

4) you asked about building programs...i assume perhaps html command line as well as wysiwyg for designer position

ps - sorry if this is off topic of guitars, i just can only reach krossfyter this way;)

[krossfyter]

Originally posted by jefhatfield


your mailbox is full so basically in nutshell for job interview

1) dress conservatively, only one ring if at all, no piercings, earrings, bracelets, etc

2) ask questions as well to make it a 2 way conversation

3) resume on one white page is best

4) you asked about building programs...i assume perhaps html command line as well as wysiwyg for designer position

ps - sorry if this is off topic of guitars, i just can only reach krossfyter this way;)



my inbox only has like 3 messages in it... i dont know why it says its full... thats a trip. but thanks for the advice.
just email me at krossfyter@mac.com for more info. i cant seem to get a hold of your though the email for some reason. you have any idea? i still have more questions for ya.


thanks.

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by jefhatfield


your mailbox is full so basically in nutshell for job interview

1) dress conservatively, only one ring if at all, no piercings, earrings, bracelets, etc

2) ask questions as well to make it a 2 way conversation

3) resume on one white page is best

4) you asked about building programs...i assume perhaps html command line as well as wysiwyg for designer position

ps - sorry if this is off topic of guitars, i just can only reach krossfyter this way;)

oh, also no freindship bracelets or necklaces

if you wear ring, make it your wedding ring if you are married

never wear a class ring to interview...it puts people off and makes one look like a rapper or las vegas hustler...read dress for success on this topic

also, no lapel pins...even if it is the coveted medal of honor pin...also in dress for success

don't wear gym socks with suit

and don't outdress your interviewer

he or she may be gay so don't try to get into spouse talk, even if they start the conversation

those are many things to remember and these basic HR rules are not always followed to the "t":D

and on a personal note: the newspaper business is much more likely to be liberal nine times out of ten so don't criticise tom daschel, or gore...even if you can't stand them

the most conservative media is the talk radio circuit and many of those conservative talk show hosts are liberals in their personal life but put out a conservative message to piss of liberals who they know will listen and up the ratings

newspapers are not about news anymore and it is about entertainment so keep that in mind, too...the days of murrow are long gone

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by krossfyter




my inbox only has like 3 messages in it... i dont know why it says its full... thats a trip. but thanks for the advice.
just email me at krossfyter@mac.com for more info. i cant seem to get a hold of your though the email for some reason. you have any idea? i still have more questions for ya.


thanks.

i hope second post also helps more

i am at unicorn@mbay.net

[krossfyter]

yes that does help. ive recieved your emails but i guess you havent received my responses.


thanks man. im going to sending you email through another account.

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by krossfyter
yes that does help. ive recieved your emails but i guess you havent received my responses.


thanks man. im going to sending you email through another account.

being a network guy, i know with routers, switches, bridges, and seven layers to process thru, emails can sometimes never find its destination

the industry does not even have a true standard yet...at least not as firmly planted like microsoft and their os...i hate to say, but oh well, maybe it's cool being small and we are like bmw or something:D

actually, it would be like microsoft are gas powered cars and we are the better, more efficient hybrid cars which don't throw junk out into the air

[groovebuster]

Originally posted by jefhatfield
since i am not a pro like you, i could never make a les paul or strat sound fast like a charvel/jackson or ibanez jem...i really play fast on a jem, satriani, randy rhoades, bc rich, kramer because of the extremely flat radius neck and super jumbo frets...most of these metal monsters also have that satin neck which i find very useful after the first two hours in a four hour gig in a hot bar

I remember all the "little boys" playing one of those babies (saved money for years to finally buy a good guitar) and thought they are the the coolest guitar players then. But those guiitars are "dangerous". The fingers run fast over the frets, but that makes you easily overestimating your skills and you end up in headless fast playing with really bad timing and no concept of what you are playing (something that you also can hear from heavy bands these days very often, the guitarists are "fast", but what they play is nonsense).

and the floyd, kahler, and the wonderbar from washburn all could dive bomb faster, lower, and come up in tune better than a strat or gibson 60s vibrola (or bigsby bridge as found on epiphones, rickenbackers, and gretsches)

I don't use that kind of stuff not very often when I play, it is not really my style. But wehn I have to... of course. But there are guys with way better skills than me on that style. I would be a poser if I would claim that I am good in everything. Nobody is...

but that whole active guitar, floyd, flat, fast neck thing is something that made an ordinary guiatarist like me sound better than i actually was...i can't play classical and i can't read music well so i am not really that versatile...the only working pro i know of in town reads really well and does rock country by ear, but does jazz gigs, weddings, and teaches using his ability to read and write music...with all those gigs and jobs, he is the only one here who makes a living....imagine...no day job...we are all so proud and jealous of him...and he has something like twenty guitars since that's his vice since i think he gave up drinking and lost 20 pounds ;)

My Charvel is my "working horse" for usage on stage. With it's active electronics it is so flexible that I can fake almost any sound in a way that it is enough for life performance (considering playing pop or rock). That way I don't have to change guitar all the time. But of course, if there is no big need for flexibility and the guitar sound is much more in the foreground, my other guitars jump in.

I also did all kinds of stuff when I was still active. But over the years business became more an more tough (less jobs, decreasing salaries). If you live alone and you don't have too high expectations financially, it was OK. But to feed a family... that's pretty hard, for mostz musicians impossible! I thank good, that I always kept in touch with the creative and IT-business, otherwise I would be stuck with starving by making music.

Another thing are the working hours. When I was in my twenties it was pretty cool to have gigs at night all the time and stuff. Normally I got up at noon and went to bed aroung 3 or 4 a.m. (soemtimes even later, when it was "hard night"). But meanwhile I notice that it is not that cool anymore. I want to be home at the weekends, I want to meet with friends once in a while in the evenings. And now with a family it just wouldn't work out to have such a screwed up time-table every day. I would hardly see my wife or my daughter. One day she would call the police because she found a stranger in her bed. ;)

My dream is to maybe do music 50% of my time again, but at the moment I don't have a clue how to achieve that goal...

i know there are guys who can fly on a high actioned acoustic faster than i can on any electric because they are pros or at least extremely great amateurs...al dimeola plays his ovation as fast as any electric he uses...amazing technique

It's not that hard to become fast like that. It is just "working out" daily on your guitar to train your fingers on speed and timing. Most people are just too lazy to do that and they prefer playing "songs" all the time. But technique exercises are so important to give you the right skills and tools for your expression. It's highly underestimated by most players (but also sometimes overestimated, it still shouldn't the biggest part of your practice time).


if i was a pro like you and played only electric, i would have a good humbucker guitar like a les paul or 335 and a good strat guitar...they would most likely be gibsons and fenders which are in my price range...esp, ibanez, and yamaha pro stuff is comparable in price and affordable

I could never imagine to only play electric. Acoustic guitars give you so much more room for intonation and interpretation. I love both (electric and acoustic) and I could never imagine to have to choose between them.

as for 20k on two guitars, professional orchestra musicians easily spend that much for one insturment if it's an oboe or a violin and my aunt spent 50k for her violin and it's not even a strad
;)

All my music equipment is worth probably 75k (I also have a little studio at home, play also flute and saxophone and a little bit piano (just what's needed for dails work) and have several sound generators (like keyboards, etc...pp).

I had 3 more guitars a few years ago, but I just kept the ones that are really important to me. I hardly used the others anyway all the time and I never really got warm with them.

A friend of mine is 2nd concertmaster for an orchestra here in Germany. She payed something like 150k for her violin. It's made by a student of Stradivary in his workshop. Once she played her old violin ("only" 50k) in comparison to her new one... Man, what a difference, it was amazing! That violin is kinda magic it seems! Other people drive a Ferrari... she plays a Stradivary...

groovebuster

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by groovebuster



A friend of mine is 2nd concertmaster for an orchestra here in Germany. She payed something like 150k for her violin. It's made by a student of Stradivary in his workshop. Once she played her old violin ("only" 50k) in comparison to her new one... Man, what a difference, it was amazing! That violin is kinda magic it seems! Other people drive a Ferrari... she plays a Stradivary...

groovebuster

ah, back to music...i had to help out krossfyter a bit on the resume thing...i got a business degree in human relations instead of staying on as a part time musician...now if i read music, taught at the university, played jazz, orchestra, and classical...then i would have stayed a musician...but in the end, i was just an amateur for over twenty years ;)

i am often amazed at the classical violinists in my area who have such amazingly expensive instruments becuase they would have to work at union scale for many years, after taxes, to pay the thing off

as far as expensive guitars, i am in california in the states so i can get amazing deals on almost any american or japanese made guitar

most les paul standards from 1968 to the present date i can get from 1100-1500 dollars US, most american made strats from 1980 to the present i can get for 500-800, and i could get ibanez jems from 800-1200 ...all these would be used and vintage prices either in los angeles to san francisco

fifties gibsons and any fender before 1975 start getting very expensive...even here in california...twenty years ago, an early 1970s strat was sold for maybe four hundred as a used instument...now, a good specimen is up to two thousand dollars...a 1950s les paul junior or special twenty years ago was four hundred, and most go for two grand, also

i often see many japanese and european collectors buy lots of these instruments since, in many cases it is much cheaper to fly here, buy the guitars, and send it back to their country...i would never buy something as personal as a guitar from ebay

if you ever want to buy a vintage guitar in the states, and i know you can for about a quarter of what they would charge you in germany, i could give you some good sources for that...the best local vintage store just went out of business recently and they sold an original 1965 fender jaguar to a french man for only 1400 US and i bought my 1980 cherry sunburst gibson les paul custom for 650 US...and they had a steve vai seven string jem universe for 1100 but the man who worked there bought it for himself for way less than one thousand dollars...some nights, the owner would let him use it for heavy metal gigs, so he eventually gave the owner some cash and worked off the rest of the guitar at the vintage music store

i would just wish i had some of the really great stuff i saw there and just when i thought i could get the 1400 esp eclipse (like kk downing's eclipse) for 1000, somebody else bought it...oh well, the good stuff gets snatched up quickly

they also had a gibson sg, late 90s or so, used for 400 and that was the best deal, and when i went to buy that, it was gone so i settled for the esp/ltd viper which is a nice playing, yet copy, of the classic gibson sg...and i had to pay one hundred more for the viper since it was new...man, how i wish i could have got that gibson sg...i now like the standard gibson pickups for my current style more than dimarzios, duncans, or emg's even though the latter brands have more kick and sustain

i rather don't like sustain anymore as i like short, svelte jazz riffs, played laid back as opposed to up front too much like steve vai or joe satriani

i guess we all mellow with age...my younger guitar friends wonder why i don't crank marshall stacks, scream until i lose my voice, and jump around stage with my shiny latex pants anymore mooning people with my bare butt...those were my punk days which ended four years ago when i got married:D :D

[groovebuster]

Originally posted by jefhatfield
i guess we all mellow with age...my younger guitar friends wonder why i don't crank marshall stacks, scream until i lose my voice, and jump around stage with my shiny latex pants anymore mooning people with my bare butt...those were my punk days which ended four years ago when i got married:D :D

Yeah, it is funny how your syle to play changes over the years. I was always interested in Jazz (since I was 14), but I was much more interested in "high performance" playing than nowadays.

The focus really shifts with your life-experience.

Oh... and I was never that kind of wild guy on stage you seemed to be! :D ;) A good show is important, but since I never played punk or metal stuff on stage, I preferred to stay "modest"...

At the moment I am not planning to buy a new guitar soon, since I am "all equipped" for things that could happen. More likely a new amp will be necessary. I am thinking about a Line6 Vetto Combo, since it has Amp modelling and can fake almost any Amp-Sound out there. One Amp for all... that sounds tempting. You can even use that on stage to have different sound characteristics within one song. You also can use the the Amp as two Amps at once, since it has two channels that can be set up as two amps simultaniously and completely independet. Something you only could do in studio or with a huge set up on stage before... Very, very interesting. I really hope that I can get my hands on one for testing...

But if I ever plan to buy another guitar and I'll be in North America around that time, I will let you know... maybe you can give me some good hints then... :)

groovebuster