Thursday, December 27, 2007

This Too Shall Pass

Four days ago I didn't know it existed. Two days ago I was convinced I needed it. Now the fever is passing and reality has set it.

Like most males, my toys are relatively expensive and unnecessary. You see, I've got a lovely $80 strat-copy that I've painted neon green and it matches my electric guitar abilities.

But then I saw this lovely creature, on sale for a mere $250 and a bargain at that. Besides, we just got our property tax rebate!



The first time I suffered guitar lust was this dandy DanElectro Mod:



A bit goofy and retro, I still think this one fits me best but it was a mega-blowout discontinued $100 at a time when $100 was $100 more than I had. And so I let the opportunity pass and they are no longer available except on eBay.

The other guitar that has held my attention for some time is the Ibanez Artist line which I find asthetically pleasing.


But as I said, the fever has passed and I no longer am under the compulsion to OWN STUFF. That is until the next issue of Musician's Friend comes in the mail.

6 comments:

Big Doofus (Roger) said...

I've never lusted after an electric guitar--ever. Now, don't even get me started about the Taylor acoustic with pick-ups that a wealthy acquaintance of mine owns--and my two brother's-in-law also own Taylors. They sound SO incredible and practically melt in your hands--they are so easy to play. Did I mention the sound?

Uvulapie said...

Martin once developed a guitar that literally melted in your hands but it also left a nasty rash and painful swelling.

Big Doofus (Roger) said...

It also made me itch.

One time I purchased a mandolin via Musician's Friend and forgot to ask the wife about it. Ooops. Now it sits on our fireplace mantel. My fingers are too big to play it--that's my current excuse.

scott said...

I'm still thinking of selling my kids on eBay so I can get the Gibson Les Paul Studio I've always wanted.

Uvulapie said...

I've heard of people who hock their younger, cuter kids on eBay while their price is high and then buy them back in their teen years after their value has fallen.

JAM said...

I have spent many and hour poring over the pages of the latest Musician's Friend catalog.

It has now been so long since I ordered anything from them that they stopped sending the catalogs to me.

I love looking at what is new in the guitar world and often end up wanting something new. I rarely buy anything new because I now have several guitars and a bass. But the desire for my next acquisition stays with me. Luckily, I hate spending money and can always find something more beneficial to the family to buy, such as paying down debt, having the house A/C serviced to ensure a cool house for the next hot summer.

I have a mixture of stuff. I have cheap telecaster and stratocaster knockoffs that are each very nice. I love the way they play and sound. I have a Les Paul Studio that I bought from a friend at work. It has several dings and dents from his metal days and though the dings don't affect the playability, they lowered the price to my range. That Studio is my favorite.

This past Christmas, I ordered parts from Stewart MacDonald and rewired the Les Paul Studio to be like the Jimmy Page model Gibson sold in the 90s.

Each pickup can be coil tapped for great single coil sound, I can put the two humbuckers into parallel for a great new tone, and finally, I can sum the two humbuckers serially for a massively huge tone.

That project took me a whole day to map out and rewire, but I took my time and did it right, and that Les Paul is incredibly versatile now. A big range of tones, and all of them are really good.

I love how we can get quality guitars for a good price these days. Even a "cheap" knockoff of one of the classics can be a tone machine.