Yes... She's Got All!

We've all seen 'em... those guitars for sale that do everything... except toast bread, make the bed, and jump start your car when the battery goes dead. The for sale ad generally reads something like this: "For Sale... Fender '65 Stratocaster. Don't miss this and kick yourself later! Here's the details; Original well worn finish. Monster tone! This guitar is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Fingerboard is superfast. Perfect medium C-Shaped neck. Pickups allow amazing Jimi Hendrix chords. Lay it down in your lap, and you will not believe the Jeff Healey bluesy notes that ring on this guitar. I played it the other day, and my friend told me what came out of it was pure Jimmie Vaughan! If you want a little Yngwie, you need look no further than here either... truly amazing guitar for finger tapping. Also just to show what this guitar can do..check out my youTube™ page for a shot of me playing EVH's Eruption. I am not going to let it go cheap though...".  All joking aside... a lot of what people say in ads needs to be taken with a whole salt-shaker full of salt... so as before... cool those hormones a minute, and look before you leap.

Unplugged.....

Some really resonant electric guitars spend a lot of their time being played 'unplugged'.... to those who love doing this sort of thing, the sound is every bit as enjoyable as playing an acoustic guitar.... you have all the comfort and familiarity of playing your electric guitar, and none of the hassles of carting around an amp and all those pedal boards and stuff....and cables.  How many people out there live with non-guitarists... who ask that the living room not become a permanent gig-room? We are quite happy to have pedals everywhere, amps on standby all day... their little red lights on, variacs dialed-in and on the floor, cables tangled everywhere, and loose picks and other paraphernalia as far as the eye can see.  Because we have to set up everything before we play... and then put it all away again afterwards (...people are coming over... and might want to use the room...as...er... a diningroom/ livingroom... or kitchen). Meanwhile it can take us ages to set up and then put it all away again. I start to feel like someone's roadie!  But my acoustic.... as great as it sounds, just doesn't have a neck I like to play for long periods of time, and even with the steel strings on it...it is NOT my electric... and it digs into my ribs. Let's hear it for being unplugged.... leave the acoustic in the corner, and forget being your own roadie.

Worth Saying Again...

It really is worth saying again.  Human nature has implanted in all of us the weakness to fall for 'The Deal That Is Just Too Good To Be True'.... (and actually isn't...true).  As you may have read in previous posts... I bought a 50's Esquire from a very well known, highly advertised guitar dealer.  He never put it in writing (maybe a warning to the wise)... but did tell me on the phone... that the guitar was totally original.  Yes... it was totally original... but assembled from 2 guitars of roughly the same year.  That alone was not enough... it also at one time, had another pickup installed in the neck position, and the screw holes remained.  The price was the hook that pulled me in... it was 66% of the price an honest and original one would have cost, at my 'high-priced-but-totally-honest' local dealer.  I fell for it by purchasing the lemon, and of course, have now found out that I will be lucky to get out of it without a loss. As of this post, I am still waiting for it to sell with my local dealer (after 3 months).  Can you avoid this... absolutely! Will you avoid it though... that's my question?