Guitar lust

...and I can have it for the cost of shipping? Is that what I hear you saying?

16vCorey wrote: I got a really early Farfisa Pianoragan (serial #1000) from my ex. We had been together for years, and were having a yard sale. She pulls it out of a box and puts a $5 sticker on it, and I pretty much flipped out! I had never seen it, and it was upstairs in a box the whole time. I got custody of it after the break up. It's pretty much just like this one.

That is why I have to stop at every garage sale I see

lust ? I can only dream... D28

poopshovel wrote: Oh, and assuming it hasn't sold already, I'm picking up one of these on Monday: Gives me a tele shape with a neck I'm more comfortable with, good duncans outta the box, and while I'll probably never use the floyd, the locking nut will be a nice-to-have.

I've been looking at the new Charvels a lot lately. For some reason, after years of playing a Les Paul with a Kahler, I've been hankering for a guitar with a Floyd.

poopshovel wrote: Oh, and assuming it hasn't sold already, I'm picking up one of these on Monday: Gives me a tele shape with a neck I'm more comfortable with, good duncans outta the box, and while I'll probably never use the floyd, the locking nut will be a nice-to-have.

Captain buzzkill ahead...

IMO the reason to get a tele is for the sound. Never have loved the look, but the sound is so sweet. While it may look like a tele, that doesn't look like it would sound like a tele. Duncans and Floyd don't say melting butter to me the way a tele should.

Or I could be wrong.

If you like a modern neck and are after the Tele sound/look, you'd do well to check out the late-'90s American Peavey Reactor. They're little-known gems: solid woods, good components, American quality, all for a couple/few hundred clams. Something about a guitar made from swamp ash and screwed together by some good ol' boys in Mi'ssippi...

I have a Reactor AX that looks just like this one as my backup for gigs, and I'm fond of it. Although the modern neck is the only sore point for me - I'm used to a chunky vintage profile. It's fine for 9/10ths of my playing, but when I dig into a lick, I need something to grab onto.

But it's really interesting to spend a little time with each guitar and figure out how they want to be played. Even if it's not my cup of tea at first, I can generally come to some understanding of what it's trying to tell me.

DILYSI Dave wrote: Captain buzzkill ahead... IMO the reason to get a tele is for the sound. Never have loved the look, but the sound is so sweet. While it may look like a tele, that doesn't look like it would sound like a tele. Duncans and Floyd don't say melting butter to me the way a tele should. Or I could be wrong.

No... not wrong... just "IMO"... I don't really care much for the sound of a Tele... but like the look.

Of course, this is coming from a guy with a Les Paul factory-fitted with a Kahler bridge and EMG 89 coil-tap active pick-ups... and seriously lusts after one of these:

alex wrote: If you like a modern neck and are after the Tele sound/look, you'd do well to check out the late-'90s American Peavey Reactor. They're little-known gems: solid woods, good components, American quality, all for a couple/few hundred clams. Something about a guitar made from swamp ash and screwed together by some good ol' boys in Mi'ssippi... I have a Reactor AX that looks just like this one as my backup for gigs, and I'm fond of it. Although the modern neck is the only sore point for me - I'm used to a chunky vintage profile. It's fine for 9/10ths of my playing, but when I dig into a lick, I need something to grab onto. But it's really interesting to spend a little time with each guitar and figure out how they want to be played. Even if it's not my cup of tea at first, I can generally come to some understanding of what it's trying to tell me.

Had one (picked it up cheap as a back-up,) and absolutely hated it.

I always had trouble adjusting to the bridge on a Tele. Probably from years of playing a Les Paul where the bridge is farther from the top. The bevel on a Strat makes that guitar tolerable. One reason I snagged my ESP is because it's one of the arch-top, neck-thru guitars with a non-recessed Floyd, so the arm position feels like a LP.

I don't have much to add 'cept to tell Alex I think I saw a 60s Harmony turn up on my board recently. Can't say for sure -- didn't think anything of it at the time -- but I think I did.

And last week I built a database of every Gretsch guitar model ever made, or as near as I can track down so far. 500+ entries of Gretsch goodness. Oh yes.

Ian F wrote:

DILYSI Dave wrote: Captain buzzkill ahead... IMO the reason to get a tele is for the sound. Never have loved the look, but the sound is so sweet. While it may look like a tele, that doesn't look like it would sound like a tele. Duncans and Floyd don't say melting butter to me the way a tele should. Or I could be wrong.

No... not wrong... just "IMO"... I don't really care much for the sound of a Tele... but like the look. Of course, this is coming from a guy with a Les Paul factory-fitted with a Kahler bridge and EMG 89 coil-tap active pick-ups... and seriously lusts after one of these:

NO! Pauls don't have Wammy bars. Ever. Not allowed.

Not MINE, but mine is exactly the same - color, and aftermarket EMGs. Mid 90's Studio Lite - factory black hardware and ebony fretboard. I thought it was mine when I first saw it. In fact, I can't prove that it's NOT mine.

Others include:

• Gibson Explorer, that I picked up for $600. It's all stock and in great shape. Seemed like a really good price.

• USA Made Jackson AT-1. Like a PRS, but made by Jackson.

• Ibanez Prestige RGA-121

• ESP M-II Deluxe - I freakin' love that thing!

• My old blue Charvel Fusion Deluxe! Pretty much lives in its old Charvel 'chainsaw' case.

poopshovel wrote:

alex wrote: check out the late-'90s American Peavey Reactor

Had one (picked it up cheap as a back-up,) and absolutely hated it.

Interesting. Why for?

I sold my American Tele when I got my PRS. Sold it for $650 and was glad to get rid it. I grew to hate the 'fat' neck on it. It looked just like the second pic the OP posted.

DILYSI Dave wrote: NO! Pauls don't have Wammy bars. Ever. Not allowed.

I guess the difference is I grew up listening to Def Leppard and Steve Clark played a Les Paul with a Kahler, so it's always been an option in my mind.

Others I'm lusting after:

Gibson: SG, V and Firebird Jackson: KE1T, RR1T ESP: M1 Standard.

alex wrote:

poopshovel wrote:

alex wrote: check out the late-'90s American Peavey Reactor

Had one (picked it up cheap as a back-up,) and absolutely hated it.

Interesting. Why for?

Just a totally lacklustre guitar IMO. The neck wasn't bad, but the fretboard felt really cheap, buzzy all over the place. Factory pickups were weak. I just really didn't like anything about it. Different strokes and all that though. Just not my bag.

DILYSI Dave wrote:

poopshovel wrote: Oh, and assuming it hasn't sold already, I'm picking up one of these on Monday: Gives me a tele shape with a neck I'm more comfortable with, good duncans outta the box, and while I'll probably never use the floyd, the locking nut will be a nice-to-have.

Captain buzzkill ahead... IMO the reason to get a tele is for the sound. Never have loved the look, but the sound is so sweet. While it may look like a tele, that doesn't look like it would sound like a tele. Duncans and Floyd don't say melting butter to me the way a tele should. Or I could be wrong.

Yeah. Thing is, I'm realizing that aside from the thousand dollar American Deluxe, I don't really like teles. Played everything from the squier modern vibe all the way up to an American Standard, and didn't like the necks on any of 'em. Combine that with the fact that they're kind of a one-trick-pony (no humbucker,) and I quickly talked myself out of wanting one.

I do, however, really like the neck on the Charvel. It's a compound radius, and while it's not Ibanez thin, it's not tele fat either.

I want this in a bad way, and I can't have it. Not sold in America.

Soooo....won't pass emissions, or what? Why can't you get one here?

Nice 'vette.

poopshovel wrote: Yeah. Thing is, I'm realizing that aside from the thousand dollar American Deluxe, I don't really like teles. Played everything from the squier modern vibe all the way up to an American Standard, and didn't like the necks on any of 'em.

It is amazing how two guitars that look the same... and may have even been made in the same year... can feel and sound totally different.

I was a commited Les Paul guy until I happened to be in the store (working next to a music store used to be dangerous) and played a used American Std Strat they just got in. The neck just felt perfect. I replaced the bridge p/u with a Duncan (and want YJM DiMarzios), but it's since become my main guitar.

Mike, it's european market only. It's a Nono signature model, and from what I'm told this Nono guy is a big whoop in France, but Gretsch knows they can't sell 'em here in the states -- not at the price they need to cover the licensing deal. I do think I may have convinced 'em that black non-sig Vette (or CVT as they're now known) could sell like hotcakes here in the states. It's red hot.

The CVTs in general are the stone-cold bargain in the Gretsch lineup. Amazingly sweet guitars for the money. I want one anyway, and if I could get a black one... oh yeah, I'd be all over that.

By the way, the name change WASN'T because of GM -- they were apparently cool with it, but it turns out a butthead competitor had a Corvette bass, and the fact that Gretsch has made Corvettes in one form or another off and on since the 50s didn't matter.

Interesting! I'm actually going to France in a couple months. I was wondering what I would see as far as guitars go. Now I have something to look for.

The Corvette...I think that was a Warwick?

I think you are correct. BH warwick.