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1960s Kapa Continental - Bought from a friend of mine for $30. I had no idea how to play, and bought
it days before moving from Indiana to Wisconsin, so I was on my own. I didn't think much of it at the time, but it's grown
on me quite a bit. I'm in the process of fixing and restoring it back to it's original glory. It was refinished and pretty
beat when I got it, and I continued to abuse and paint it for a few years. I'll never part with this guitar, it was my first,
and if I'm buried I will take it with me.
It's got Hofner humbuckers in it, that sound really good.
I think the bridge may need to be rewound at some point, but I'm going to replace all the other electronics first and make
sure that's what it needs. The bridge is a really weird German TOM style that's really hard on the hands when palm muting.
The trem (jag style) is really smooth and never throws the guitar out of tune.
This guitar
has the thinnest neck I've ever seen. Just under 1" from the top of the fret to the back of the neck! Crazy thin, and
I've always loved it. The tuners are totally shot, and that's what's holding me up right now. They are 6 in line tuners, with
a really long headstock and weird post spacing, so I've not been able to find replacements yet. I don't really want to modify
this one if I can help it, so I really want to find drop in replacements.
Late 90s Squier Stratocaster - This was my first new guitar. I went to a music store with my parents
(I had to as it was 30 miles away, and I was too young to drive) to get some strings and such, and much to my surprise they
bought it for me. I had no idea they were going to do this, not sure if they did either. They weren't super supportive of
me being a musician, so this took the wind out of me.
I've modified this guitar more times than I can remember. The first being a new pickguard, as I had gotten the original
signed by some of my favorite artists.
Today it's almost back to stock. It has stock electronics, a custom dice switch tip I made, and a green pearloid pickguard.
The guitar itself is "British Racing Green" according to the tag when I bought it. I've never seen another strat
this color, and that's why I love it.
I doubt I'll get rid of this one.
Not the best shot, but it's a place holder for a better one.
This doesn't give the color justice, and it's been modded more since this.
Late 90s Ibanez acoustic - This was another gift from my parents, this time for my birthday. I
think it was a plot to keep me quieter, but I was happy to have an acoustic regardless.
It's got a seperation where the neck meets the heel, but it still holds a tune and sounds great. Pretty good player for
one of those starter packs.
Still have it.
Stinger (by Martin) offset flying V - One of my favorite guitar stories. A friend of mine bought
this for $50 to smash on stage. I've never been a fan of this, and I wanted another guitar as my Kapa was out of commission
and I needed a backup for the Strat. I bought it from him for $50 with a hardshell case. A few years later I sold it, along
with my first real amp (a gift from my brother), for $100. About a year after that I bought both back for $50, the guitar
still had the strings I put on it.
This taught me I shouldn't sell gear unless I'm really sure about it. I don't often sell guitars since this, which also
means I have a lot of guitars.
Originally this thing was dark blue, with pink stripes on it. Really cheesy, so I sanded it down to the wood, and painted
it flourescent green! I figured I'd make it as cheesy as possible because the V style never really fit me, but I couldn't
get rid of it again.
It currently has the Gretschbuckers out of my 5120 in it, wired to a master volume and a pickup selector switch. I eventually
want to add green LEDs in the holes for the other controls to beef up the cheese.
Danelectro Hearsay - This was a Sam Goody special. I think I paid like $125 for it, strat electronics
and trem, with a built in distortion, and a Mosrite shaped body (although I wouldn't learn of Mosrite for a long time after
selling it). It had a really cool reddish burst with metal flake in it finish. It was a decent guitar, but nothing special.
It looked good, but that's about it.
I kept this thing in great shape until loaning it to a relative that trashed it pretty good. Never played the same after
that.
I sold it not too long after getting it back. Not a big loss, although it's the first new guitar I bought myself, and
I have some connection to every instrument I get. I think I sold it for the same price I bought it, but I threw in a tweed
Dano gig bag that also got thrashed from said relative.
1999 Gibson SG Special - This was a huge deal for me. My first really good guitar, and one that
I would use as my main axe for almost 10 years. It's black, with the open coil 490 humbuckers, lacquer finish.
I babied the hell out of this thing until she got a few dings, then I eased up, a little too much. The pickups (which
were later replaced) had tons of rust on them, and they were scratched up from my pick.
The finish is worn off in a few places (I'm proud of that) from playing, and the headstock has a crap load of nicks and
dings in it from hitting things on stage.
It now has GFS Mean 90s (humbucker sized P90s) and some new hardware. It looks great now, and I play it a lot more than
I had in the last few years. It's still a rock-n-roll machine, and every time I plug it in I'm reminded why I fell so hard
for it.
I think this is the first guitar I truly loved. It's become a piece of me, and me of it. This is one of the few I would
grab in a fire. She's used and abused, but she takes it all in stride. She's got tons of battle wounds, and my god if this
guitar could talk it would have some stories. Unofficially named "Morticia". I don't often name guitars, and rarely use the
names outside my head, but this one fits.
Another guitar I'll never get rid of.
It's also signed (then clear coated) on the back by the members of AFI, a band that's had a huge influence on me. Just
another reason I have to keep it.
Epiphone Les Paul Jr. Special - It was another Sam Goody special (hey we only had one music store, and
they were super expensive and never had anything cool). Black (with metal flake), single humbucker, no frills rock machine.
I used this on a tour and a lot of gigs. It played pretty damn well for $100. It was the backup to my SG, and since I broke
a lot of strings back then it got used a lot. I was never afraid to give this one hell because it was totally replaceable,
and super cheap. I rocked hardest on stage with this guitar because of that. I eventually traded it off for a Fender Tele
body and pickups, but I would consider buying another if it came up cheap. I'm actually really starting to love the LP Jr.
body. Especially the doublecut single P90 version. It was a good tool that served me well. Hopefully it's still doing just
that.
Though I removed it before taking this pic (the one I used to sell it) the fretboard had a sticker that read "Authority
Sucks" stuck between the frets for almost as long as I had it. My bandmates hated it because they could never tell what I
was playing, but I liked it, and so did most of the crowds we played for. Might have to do that again on another guitar.
Squier Affinity Strat - Given to me by a friend. There was a huge crack running from the neck pocket
toward the back side of the control cavity. It was a junk guitar new, and had been abused. I stripped the body, took all the
hardware off to paint, lost some of the hardware, and let it sit in pieces for a few years. I was bored and feeling "creative"
one night when I was unemployed and started cutting into the lower horn. I think my idea was to make it a teardrop shape,
but it didn't work. I still have the body, cut up and all, but most of it has been cannibalized for other projects. The neck
got traded off for a tele neck for the Frankentele listed below. This does stand as my best rattle can paint job. It got painted
(about 15 coats) metallic purple. It had a subtle flakey look to it, pretty cool actually, kind of wish I would have finished
it right.
2007 Gretsch Electromatic G5120 - The day I realized I could have a Gretsch for less than $2k is the
day I brought one home. I didn't even have the money for it, which is the first time I'd even gone into debt for a guitar.
But thanks to GCs 12 months no interest no payments plan, I bought my first Gretsch. Not hyping GC or anything, I actually
don't like dealing with them, but credit is a wonderful thing for a musician that has a bad GAS (gear acquisition syndrome)
problem.
Instead of going into all the details about my Gretsches here, I'm going to have a whole page devoted to them, and they
have become a huge part of my style, playing, tone, and life.
Squier Affinity Butterscotch Telecaster - The first guitar purchase fueled by the Gretsch pages forum.
I never really liked teles, I still think there is something ugly about them, but they are growing on me. I bought this one
from a kid who decided playing guitar wasn't for him. Got it for $70 with a gig bag, and almost felt bad. Almost. It's an
amazing player for such a cheap guitar. It's up there in the top 5 if you don't plug it in. The electronics leave something
to be desired, but that's easily fixable once I have the time and cash.
*Update* - I've replaced
all the electronics in this one, and dropped a P90 in the neck. I've played with a few really cool bridge pickups, but haven't
found the right one yet. Switch and pots were all replaced too. Now it sounds as good as it plays! There's something special
about a P90 in a tele neck. It's mean!
2005 Gretsch Electromatic 5129 - The second GDP fueled guitar purchase. This one was actually through
the board. These were already discontinued when I learned of them, and wanted one almost immediately upon knowing of their
existance. Hellbilly, who I bought it from, kept it in amazing condition, even had the plastic on the truss rod cover and
the pickguard. It's my #1, and I love playing this guitar. It turns heads like crazy, and plays like a dream.
Gretsch Americana "The Showdown" - The Americana series are 3/4 scale acoustics that feature 4 different
animations. They were more or less a novelty, coming in a cardboard display style box that had cartoons, and old magizine
style "learn to play, be a star" kind of comical text. The box even says "made from real wood" and "makes real guitar sounds".
The Showdown was a christmas gift from my wife. Overstock dot com had them on a crazy clearance for $30. They sold for
$200 new, so that's a pretty amazing deal. Surprisingly, this guitar played great right out of the box, and for being a small
knockabout guitar, it sounds really good. If I ever need an acoustic for recording, this is at the top of my list for what
I currently have.
Gretsch Americana "Sundown Serenade" - This one was a christmas gift (yes the same year) from my mom.
This one didn't play as well out of the box. It needed some pretty severe truss rod adjustments, and the fret ends are a little
sharp. It's still a pretty good sounding guitar, but without a refret I don't think it will stand up to The Showdown. The
cool thing is when my son is old enough to start playing (if he wants to that is) I'm going to give him one of these 3/4 scale
acoustics to start on. That way he has his own, and it's a little easier to work with the short scale.
Frankentele - Fender tele body, Squier tele neck, a few new parts. I traded the Epi LP Jr. for this
body, traded a Strat neck I had laying around for the tele neck. It was a decent player, sounded pretty good, but I traded
it off. My Squier tele did the job well enough for the time being.
Jay Turser Les Paul clone - I took this on a trade, it's a bolt neck arch top LP copy. Nothing too special,
but a decent guitar. Some kid spilled super glue all over the top strap knob, and the pots were all junk. I never even listened
to the stock pickups, as I had a set of GFS Dream 180s I wanted to try in it. I put the pickups in within about an hour of
getting the guitar. It sounds great with the GFS, but I'm trying to sell it as it never gets played. I do love the look of
a white LP with chrome hardware, especially since the GFS are white pearl topped with a chrome case. Really nice looking guitar.
If I can't get anything decent for it, I'll keep it for hanging on the wall and testing pickups and such.
*Update* I traded this one off to my drummer for the Indiana tele below and a No Name 2x12" cab. Currently my lead
guitarist uses it for all gigs and 90% of practice.
J&D Junglemaster - A Canadian Jazzmaster clone, I picked up from a GDP member from Milwaukee. It's
gold metalflake, white pickguard, jag style trem, maple fretboard. It's a really great guitar. It's pretty high on the list
for good players. The bridge drives me nuts because the height adjusters keep rolling up when I play. I need to spend some
time working on that, the control placement, and possibly some new pickups. I think I want to do an Eddie Cochran kind of
thing with this one with a TV P90 in the neck and a T-Armond in the bridge. It's a fun little guitar, that I'll probably never
get rid of because it's not worth enough to make it worth selling.
*Update* Funny to read that now. I sold this one a few weeks ago because I just never used it. If I had a surf rock
band it would be perfect, but I don't, so it's gone. I figured it's not to hard to get something sililar down the road if
I need it again. I'm curious to try one of the new Xaviers with the JM pickups instead of P90s.
Fender T-Bucket Acoustic Electric - Awesome guitar. I sold it about a year after buying it, but only because I
knew I could get another one (they're still in production). This was the first acoustic guitar that ever caught my eye and
called "come play me". I'd never been so seduced by a flattop before. I bought mine on CL about 2 days after playing one in
a shop. I'd buy another again in a heartbeat. Played great, sounded really good, and come on, look at it.
Gretsch Electromatic G5124 - It's essentially the same guitar as the 5129, but I've modded that one
enough I wanted another to keep stock. This one was abused by a shop somewhere down the line. They scratched off the last
3 digits of the serial number, then painted over them. They also did the same to the S/N on the label. It's been stamped USED
on the headstock. By the way, I think all of this should be punishable by finger removal, you just don't screw with serial
numbers, there's no reason for it.
It's got a finish crack under the sound post on the back (not in the wood though thankfully), and there's a pretty good
gouge where your leg would rest on the bottom side of the body. Other than that (and a few finish flaws that I believe to
be the reason for the treason with the S/N), it's a great playing, great sounding guitar.
This one was also bought from a GDP member. It was a 3 hour (one way) drive to get it, but it was cool to see some new
parts of Wisconsin, and it's always great to meet someone from the forum.
Indiana Tele clone - Traded the Turser LP for this one, the guy that owned it wanted to drop humbuckers in it,
and I'm all for saving single coils whenever possible. It's a really decent playing guitar (after a week in my shop anyway)
and it sounds really good for as cheap as it is.
I think this one is hitting the auction block soon though, I just can't justify having 2 teles, and I really like how
my Squier plays. I also plan on building one at some point, and I really can't justify 3 teles laying around. I wouldn't hesitate
to buy another Indiana guitar though, for a "budget" instrument, it's really impressive.
*Update* Sold this one a few months ago. The guy dropped a humbucker in the neck, and tried to sell it for
twice what he paid me, which was also more than it sold for new. Some people...
1999 Gretsch 2910 Electromatic Double Jet - Still in honeymoon phase with this one. So far I really like it. I
play for an AC/DC tribute band, so I needed something close to what Malcolm Young plays. I didn't want to drop the coin for
the MY signature model, and this one was already modded with HS Filtertrons, and came up at a great price. It's totally got
the Malcolm sound, and look (save a few details). She's a little neck heavy, but a good player overall.
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