"Thinning the Herd"

How many times have I read this line on EBay in relation to selling guitars? Apparently, our herds keep growing, and therefore we must continue to keep 'thinning them'. If you believe EBay sellers, it is always the best steers that are being offered up... but sometimes they turn out to be cows. What can you believe? Well... for a start.. most herds of guitars get too 'fat' because we all hear about some new pickup combination/maker/finish/fretboard...God-only-know-what... that we need RIGHT NOW...meanwhile, yesterdays' darling has become todays tramp, and she is off to be sold. There is always the old saying about 'one man's pleasure is another man's poison', and I have certainly found this to be true. I have bought some guitars on EBay that play so fantastically that I feel the seller must have either been crazy to let it go, or had the bank at his door (or her door). There have also been times though when the 'Greatest playing tele I have ever laid hands on' has certainly been over-used, and ends up being totally untrue. I have even seen stores sell guitars, noting that the current guitar is the 'Best sounding tele this store has ever sold'... come to think of it... that is a perfect set-up, since I guess each month (technically) the CURRENT guitar COULD be the best one they have ever sold. Anyway... happy hunting, and bring your lucky rabbits foot...

Bunny's...

Went to the 'Mansion' last night...courtesy of my good friend Justin, and Hef... Hef's Halloween Party.... the only thing wrong? No guitars....otherwise...perfect. So I have yet to plug in my GVCG (Greenwich Village Custom Guitar)... I have a good excuse. Tonally the GVCG sounds like a true early 60's Tele... sort of like old wood... more on that later. Want to talk briefly about John Suhr, of Suhr guitars... don't own any yet, but my friend Mick told me someone else he knows highly reccommends them... since I like what I like (see all previous posts) would be up my alley. Maybe will get one soon. John Suhr (on his site) says he (as of the 2007 Anaheim NAMM show) is offering an 'Antique Classic' T Guitar... they sport a thin laquer finish by J. Black (just like the Linhof I have). The finish is very, very, very thin indeed... much thinner than it looks... in fact, it is so thin on the neck of mine that it has already worn off down to the wood on the back of the neck... amazing! But the guitar sounds and plays great... Seems, as they say, that 'Old is New'. It's not just the look, but the feel is different... anyway... more later, meanwhile, go to suhrguitars.com to catch more on John Suhr. Bunny's rule...

Paranoia...

When you go to the mall... do you know what your guitars are up to at home? Is your cat scenting them with musk? Is your dog peeing on them...ok, sorry... these are worries I have. I had a friend once, who looked just like Jimmy Hendrix... his angry wife used to wax the floor in his bedroom (they were living in different rooms) while he was out, and 'accidentally' splash floor wax all over his guitars. Maybe your brother's two-year-old-budding-Kurt-Cobain is re-stringing it as you sit in some restaurant having dinner. Most people however, worry about thieves. Truth is... thieves prefer other stuff... like 1.Cash, 2. Electronics, 3. Jewelry or 4. Guns. People who come to your house looking for your 51 Nocaster to begin with (they overheard you talking about it in the restaurant) might pickup the cash and other stuff when they come to get your Nocaster... same way everyone picks up extra stuff in a checkout line. But guitars (I was happy to discover) are not the #1 thing they want to steal. Many people don't even know the difference between a 51 Nocaster and a Nash Guitar. So while you are out for dinner, keep your voice down... and try and convince your 2 year old nephew that being a guitarist is lame... other than that, feel free to have dessert.

"Lenny""... Just for Kicks

Well... the next tribute guitar from the Custom Shop is coming down the pike... the SRV "Lenny" Tribute Stratocaster...and it is commissioned by Guitar Center. It will cost roughly 17K, and be in limited numbers, along the lines of "Blackie", the EVH "Frankenstrat", and the Jeff Beck Esquire. A lot of people on-line are commenting on the prices these are going for. The list for the Jeff Beck Esquire was 15K, and came on the heels of the SRV #1, that sold for even less, but ended up being worth much more. As nice as the Jeff Beck Esquires are, (and most play amazingly well, especially with the Ybarra pickup in the bridge)... the current going "street price" for them is around $8K. Clapton's Blackies were rasied to around 20K, but the excuse for this was that a large chunk of this change was going to his Crossroads™ Center in Antiqua. I think the reason why Eddie's Frankenstrats™ were also around 22K can only be guessed at. Now, the "Lenny" guitars are a little lower in price, but still way above most people's budgets. These are for my mind certainly the guitars that will be playing well in 2055... not so much because of the price, but because the best of everything we have available is going into them... best wood, best luthiers... best pickups...and most electric guitars do improve with age... after about 50 years (beyond this, we are definitely on new ground, since the first electric guitars were around 1949... I know, we can argue that... but let's say first "production electric guitar 6-strings"). So why am I telling everyone about this? Well... if you love guitars, and were going to buy a houseboat with 17K...maybe consider this instead... just for kicks. If you have less money... get the Jeff Beck second-hand-new. If you have even less at-hand, get a Linhof, or a Nash... or find a Greenwich Village Custom Guitar (if you can)... now go play....

Where Will My Guitars Be in 50 years?

We've all seen the movie 'Soylent Green' (at least if you haven't, maybe go see it). Temperatures have soared, food is scarce, and a permanent haze hangs over Charlton Heston's city. Most people seem to live in the stairwells of buildings, and some have taken refuge in a Church. The time in the movie is around 2022... by then Mick Jagger will be getting ready for his 80th birthday. The latest issue of Rolling Stone says by the middle of this century, Las Vegas will be uninhabitable, and so will most of Arizona. Sea levels will have been going up for a while, with Malibu inhabited by fishes. Ok... not to depress anyone, so Rolling Stone also said most of us will still be alive, playing our Axe's... but just maybe without power for parts of the day. People freak about all this coming down the pike, but also they forget that California in 1740 had no power, indians (hostile and not), freak insect attacks, disease, wild bears, cold, heat, rain, and also eathquakes. Humanity has endured hostile conditions for most of it's existance. What's really changed? So... where will my guitars be in 50 years, after Mick Jagger has departed, and I am maybe getting ready to leave? They'll probably still be here, being played by some guy singing the Blues in a stairwell... then again, this is also going on while we speak, somewhere in Manhattan.

... Don't Forget the Lipstick...

I have spent years living in Humbuckerland. My first PRS guitars all had Humbuckers... even though some were singlecoils he made look like humbuckers. Maybe that is where we all start... a guitar with a humbucker. It's the one we feel kicks a*s. Next thing, maybe we have a friend who needs money, so he sells us a Tele. So we are introduced to a single coil. Wow... these things are pretty good too...! But how many of us are familiar with Danelectro's? Basically, when we were all kings of cool in high-school, you never got a skateboard with everything included for $59.95; you also never told your friends your dream guitar was a Harmony or a Danelectro. And how about those great Lap Steel guitars? Nope.... we focused on either a Les Paul, or most likely a Strat. But look at Danelectros, and notice they have something called a Lipstick-tube pickup. Originally, they were actually made using surplus lipstick tubes! Danelectro guitars were found in the Sears stores, under the name 'Silvertone'. They are made by wrapping a coil around an alnico bar magnet, then wrapping that in tape, then the whole thing is inserted into a tube casing. Currently, Seymour Duncan makes them so they can also fit into Strats. And how do they sound... well, 'warm' is a word used to describe them, and I have one in my new '51 Nocaster... by John Cruz. The guitar has a 3-way selector, and two pickups... the lipstick and a new version of a nocaster pickup (in the bridge). The sound... pure Stevie Ray, EXACTLY... when put through a Louis Electric KR12 amp. So don't forget the lipstick... er... the one in the guitar....

Celebrity-Owned Guitar!

I just saw a listing on Ebay...sort of ran like this..."Celebrity-Owned Guitar. Hank 'Carter' McCormick, played this guitar on many sessions. If you have heard ELO's "Roll Over Beethoven", then you have heard this guitar!" Now this is all made-up, but I have seen these guitars listed on EBay over and over. I have also purchased a guitar that was supposedly all-original, and instead the guitar had been put together inside by a refridgerator repairman. Truth be told, I lucked out with many other guitars, that actually were from artists, and more famous than Hank. What helps with the celebrity provinance are things like paperwork. Also PRS signs the name of the artist in the pickup cavity usually. Real artist guitars are rarely signed by the maker on the outside...to the arist. Early Santana guitars had little notes from Paul Smith on the reverse of the headstock, but unless it is Jerry Garcia's guitar, made by his friend, it is usually not done. Some models have special features that were only made for the artists... like Richie Sambora's 'star' dot-markers on the fretboard. I recently saw a Buck Owens Tele for sale on EBay... with the three-color scheme Buck used to have on his guitar, when he was with his Buckaroos... but honestly, that could have been done in a garage in Fresno in 1974.... Caveat Emptor... (I remember the term from an episode of the Brady Bunch... Mr Brady says it... it means 'Buyer Beware1').

Unattractive Heads....

I have been reading on-line about 'T' Series and 'S' Series guitars... the Strat and Tele body style guitars built by people other than Fender. Some leave the headstock the same as Fender. In the world of building guitars, that is not really allowed...as we all know, headstocks are like emblems on old cars... they are used to let people know who the luthier/ manufacturer/ builder of the instrument is. Some leave the headstock the same, but leave the Fender decal off... allowing the purchaser to decide what they would or wouldn't like to put on it. Others put their own logo, or some opt to completely change the shape of the headstock. One little problem..the headstock designed by Leo and his crew not only looks great, but is familiar (after all these years). Only one manufacturer that I have seen reshape a Fender headstock has actually done it as well as Leo (for my mind). Linhof re-designed the headstock on his guitars, and it looks great. One person on-line commenting in a blog sums it up... even if the guitar sounds great... if it has one h*ll of an ugly headstock he said he isn't buying one. I feel the same way... sorry... I mean, imagine a Tele that is 10/10 for tone... let's say it plays like a '51 Esquire, shreds and screams... bringing audiences to their feet... but it also has a big Eagle Head Bird-of-Prey on it. Tough... right? This reminds me of a card game someone got me for Christmas; on one card it asks what you would do if you got to blind-date a really hot girl, but had to wear a really dumb shirt on the date?

Fever....

Keith Richards has over 1000 Guitars...Mick Jagger is seen in his most recent Video, available with his album (of collected works) walking down a corridor lined with some of his guitars in a big rack... another on-line purchaser who bought from me on EBay admitted he had 88. Yet another person I know told me that once he hit a certain threshold, he decided to 'go into the business', hence allowing for an escape-clause as far as his wife finding yet another recognizable guitar-shaped box by the front door. It's actually so widespread like crack cocaine, that men's addiction to guitars is mentioned everywhere now... an advertiser I just saw in Vintage Guitar Magazine offered the idea that his store is better than his competitors, because he will help you get the next guitar past your wife... he will not discuss anything using the word 'Guitar', if she picks up your phone, and he will coordinate shipping to get it to you on the day she is out of town. We are embarassed (just a little) at the number of guitar cases leaning on our walls... or, hidden in the closet, or under the bed...we promise ourselves no more... then go back to our dealers again. I don't really see this happening with motorcycles, cars (unless you are Jay Leno), skateboards, or other things... except watches. I don't go there... don't understand it... maybe Keith has 1000 watches... but I doubt it....but I guess it's all the same!

Presto Change-Oh

How does a great guitar get made these days? I have done some on-line research, and read what some ex-Masterbuilders say. Lets start at the top... the 10K Strat that Eric (Clapton) orders from the custom shop. His Masterbuilder goes into a room full of wood, that probably has already been set up with one 'special' area, for high-end guitars, sort of like PRS's "Private Stash"... the Builder then sorts through the wood, and 'taps' on the pieces, until he finds one that in his expert opinion will resonate the way Eric would like it to. He then might select another piece of wood the same way, for the neck... except Eric might want some 'Flame' here. The Masterbuilder then selects Eric's pickups and electronics etc and commences building the guitar himself (using some modern machinery). Now for the next level down... the 5K Masterbuilt Guitar... actually most likely built the same way, either to your own Specs, or theirs. How about the 'Team Built Guitars'...well, they most likely have a perfectly good selection of wood to go through (enough for anyone to make a wonderful guitar), but some areas are off-limits (obviously, or there would be none for Eric and Andy...Summers). The 'Team' member though has less experience in making magic, and is basically an aprentice to a Master. Now, how about all those $2000 'Relic' Guitars? Well... I am guessing there is someone (maybe named Burt), who sits all day, and plays each one, as it goes to final polishing and to be packaged for shipping... he is looking for that odd-unusual piece of 'happenstance magic'...that spontaneously occured... because it can. When he finds one, it is removed and put aside... it may go for dealer promotions... or to an artist like Fred Durst, etc. What chance does someone like us have of going to the floor of Guitar Center and playing 34 guitars and finding a "great one"... about zero... the guy working there at 8am, who puts them out on the showroom floor wants one too..or has promised to call his friend with a band when he finds a 'good one'..and he got there 2 hours before you....to tell the truth though, it's like going through your change for that 1965 dime with the silver edge, worth 20K.... if everyone else was out-to-lunch that day, you might luck out...keep your finger's crossed...and check your change...

Partscaster

I have to give credit to someone on another blog for the term 'Partscaster'. Definition seems to be: private individual who purchases either original Fender™ parts, or aftermarket parts (like Warmoth), then assembles and paints either a Telecaster or Stratocaster-like guitar for sale. Makers that fit this description include Nash Guitars, GVCG Guitars (no longer in business making actual guitars, as of this writing)... and I am sure at least 10 others or more. Linhof guitars are assembled by J.W. Black, ex-Masterbuilder at the custom shop, and do not bear any Fender Logo on the headstock... they also have original headstocks, and back and front cut-aways (like Jeff Beck's Tele), also another cut-out where the neck bolts on... so they are I feel a different situation. Vince Cunetto (http://www.vinetto.com/) on 'The Gear Page' mentions; "There are a lot of great chefs out there. Not many of them grow all the ingredients they use. Sometimes it's just about how you put together what you have and how well you dress the plate" when speaking about people (like Mr Nash). It really doesn't matter too much where the parts come from, as long as they are well made. There is no magic to a carrot, but there is magic to Carrot Soup by a fine chef. I mention this because I have discussed this before, in previous entries... some of these new 'Makers' are truly gifted, and loved by the music community, while others only fool those who are easily impressed by a good sales pitch. More later...

Best Guitar in the Whole World!

ok... I lied. Did everyone hear about the science experiment, where college students were given 'alcohol' and studied to see how long it took for them to become fall-down-drunk... and then they were told that what they were drinking had NO ALCOHOL in it whatsoever...after they were all acting loopy? Well, I was reading an interesting piece in Vintage Guitar Magazine... about a man who played an original Les Paul 'Burst'... he said it was pure magic...fit perfectly into his hands etc... but when compared to his new Les Paul, he had to also admit that his NEW guitar sounded amazing too. A lot of the 'good feel' about old guitars surprisingly must come from the expectations attached to something worth so much money, and coveted by so many musicians (sort of like a Stadivarius). Another musician just called and asked me which sounded better... my Linhof Guitar, or my 'Twisted Tele' (built by Yuriy Shishkov at the Custom Shop). It was a tough comparison.. both are a musician's dream.. the Twisted Tele is punchy, and kicks *ss. It also has a Bisby (that, by the way, for my mind works BETTER than the trem on a Strat... but that is only my personal opinion). The Linhof is also an *ss-kicker... but in a DIFFERENT way...sort of like comparing Eddie Van Halen to Joe Satriani... so what are you going to do? (the Linhof is also about half the price...)

Whats Up?

Currently 'tracking down' on the trail of the elusive 'GVCG' Guitar (Greenwich Village Custom Guitars). Jonathan Wilson was making his guitars about 3 years ago, at least, he was still HOPING to be making them. I had a deposit down on one, and then cancelled it, when it didn't look like he was going to be able to do it soon... and instead I bought some of his custom wound pickups, done for him by Lollar. Jonathan was fantastic, and sent my money right back (speedy)... trouble is, he is indeed toted as being one of the best Fender Replica makers that ever lived...but he NO LONGER makes guitars. My friend's guitar player told me three years ago that I had to get one of these guitars... Jonathan (GVCG) is some legend... some well known musicians even have them in their collections, but refuse to part with them. They cost more that they ever did new, and when I get the one I am hopefully going to get, I will keep everyone posted on how she sounds. In addition, a new 'Mystery' maker is making me a wonderful guitar, with black and white 'racing' checkers on it... similar to what I remember with the band Cheap Trick. He is actually putting the GVCG pickups I bought from Jonathan into this guitar, AND making a DVD of the guitar's construction (WOW!). He is the first one I know of to do this (build someone a guitar and send the new owner a DVD of the guitar being built). He also has made guitars for the likes of Brian Austin (go and google for more on Brian). So, not to keep everyone on the edge of their seats in suspense... wait for more! ...because there is a lot coming up you might want to hear.....

Old Friends...Part 2

When Leo (Fender) made the Telecaster (Broadcaster & Esquire... and, er... Nocaster) back in the 50's, he made it with the idea that when a neck wore out, the guitarist could easily replace just the neck. All the electronics came out of your average radio and it's wiring for the day and age (1950's). How many 1950's televisions still work? The tube might light up, but I'll bet the vertical hold and horizontal hold are a problem... as well as a scratchy volume pot, that crackles, and goes from 2 to 11 in a short twist of the dial. I am also sure the channel selector needs to be balanced a little off some of those channels in order to get them properly... assuming you live in a country where it would all still get any reception. Point is... 'collectors' want these guitars to be totally original, fully functioning pieces from a 1950's timewarp... a-la "Back to the Future"... as if the 'Doc' went to 88 mph in the DeLorean in the shopping center parking lot and came back a second later with a brand new Leo creation in the passenger seat. THIS IS UNREALISTIC. What is realistic? New equipment... including Custom Shop stuff currently made (Masterbuilt... remember), and also builders like Linhof and Nash (and more makers I am trying out as we speak)....and stuff that works....more later....Ciao...

Fresh New Guitars....

I know a friend who is in Country Music... his advice....ONLY BUY NEW GUITARS.... Why? Gibson Guitars from the 50's have strange, 'rotting' tuners. That's the obvious yikes.... but how about feedback, interference, and all those old electronics? How about cracked wood, damaged necks, non-functioning trussrods? How about pickups that work fine when you bought them (like some 1963 Strat Pickups I bought a few years back), but then suddenly one is dead? How about rubber grommets under the pickguard that are turning to dust? ....pickguards that are about to turn into noxious gas, and destroy the paint and the chrome on your fine old guitars? To top it all off... how about the thief that can't wait to get his (or her) hands on it, and sell one for the downpayment on a mortgage? Enough said... buying an old instrument is like buying a boat...or collecting old ViewMaster's (google it).... if you want to make sense, get a nice new guitar that rocks, and it will probably still be playing for someone else when you are long gone.

3 Percent Rule

Ok, you have a shopping list 6 years ago.... you bought a 'Burst' with what your Uncle left you when he died, and you paid $46,000. You also bought a Jackson Randy Rhoads in purple, for 'X' amount. Today, the 'Burst' is worth minimum $165,000, and the Randy Rhoads is worth...er....'X-$$$'. So you get rough on yourself, and decide you can never get rid of the Randy Rhoads. It will sit either in the case in the closet, next to the old humidifier that is broken, or on your guitar stand, as a trophy to Humanity and Our Idiocy. What part of our conditioning growing up makes us rejoice in the profit from the 'Burst' when we sell it, but then stubbornly hold on to the Rhoads until it goes back up to what we paid for it originally? If you look at life, everything has it's ups-and-downs, and hopefully it all averages out. As an example, I used to buy and sell movie memoribilia... I bought, sold, bought, shipped, auctioned, framed, sold, bought.... lots of time... lots of sadness when one thing went for much less than I paid for it, and joy when another thing went for MANY TIMES what I paid for it a few years ago. I actually added up everything, including my auction listing fees, and postage...I MADE 3 PERCENT PER YEAR on my money. Going interest rate at the bank ten years ago was also about the same. SO IT ALL AVERAGED OUT. SELL THE RHOADS if you no longer play it or want it... as long as we all put in a minimum effort in our buys-and-sells, we are all looking at 3 percent or better. The only way this rule will not work out is if you make BAD IMPULSE BUYS....or BUY deals that look too good to be true... but on to that next time....

Loafers and Guitars....

Do you remember as a kid having a pair of loafers... it took ages to get them 'broken in' just right... then they had mojo...they also needed servicing. So you or your parents took them in to the shoe man... who promptly got rid of all the mojo for you. It appears that guy now works as your local luthier. My friend took his neck in for new frets, and asked the guy to leave the mojo on it. The guy couldn't resist sanding it down 'like new'. Now his guitar sits in a corner somewhere (like the pair of loafers I had). I also just took my 'relic' guitar in for new strings. I asked that the fretboard be left alone... since the relicing might be affected. Guess what... got it back the other day... ok, it doesn't look brand new... but half the mojo is gone. So watch out everyone... maybe it's best to hold on to the loafers as they are!

Pickups... Pickups and ...More Pickups....

We seem to have more pickup options than Brad Pitt in a Ukranian Singles Club...Jason Lollar, Rio Grande, Bad Billy, Bare Knuckle, Rocket, Dirty Dog, Lindy Fralin, TV Jones, Voodoo... and I'm not even into the big names yet....apart from Fralin... and Brad Pitt.....Lollar are big though. But as I said... I have bought (and then returned) a guitar (by a maker who I will allow to avoid mention)... that did indeed have Lollar Pickups in it.. but may as well have had pickups made of Spam...like fine wine, I found out that there are many things that go into a pickup... the magnet size, number of winds, the gage of wire used, and the amount of lacquer used between the windings (and when it is used)... also whether they are 'potted' or not (see previous post). But when you go to the pickup guys' sites, and click on those mp3 samples they provide... admit it... don't some of those samples sound pretty similar? In fact... if the guy changes whether he picks the strings with his fingers or a pick, and how hard he picks them, and also how much 'mojo' he puts into it... can't this actually make MORE difference. I think most of these brands are good pickups... especially since there are now very few trade secrets out there anymore. What really counts is: 1.) What's your favourite brand name? 2.) Are you given them for free? 3.) Which one struck your fancy... and 4.) Cost. But they all really cost about the same too... around $100 to $200 apeice... tops. What really seems to count is who puts them into your guitar... and also, what guitar are they going into. Then there is also what amp you have... follow (or Savvy?, as Jack Sparrow might say). We all may find out too that pickups need ageing... just like the wine...to finally be the stuff of legend.

Earthquake-Proof Your Guitar.

Not everyone lives in LA, but last night I saw a 'movie earthquake' in the movie "Knocked Up". As the set was rocking and all the stuff was falling out of the closets it made me think... are my favourite guitars safe? If you live somewhere that has never seen an earthquake, this is not a factor for you, so you can stop reading and go to youtube. If not... read on.... a couple hundred bucks for an Anvil™ flight case (not one of those cheapie ones) will protect your valuable friend from most things... earthquakes, hungry rats and mice, termites etc. It will protect your guitar from moisture better than a regular G&G case, and also protect it really well from changes in temperature and humidity. This is good... unless you have a metal guitar or one of those new ones not made of wood. So prepare ahead....