Somebody get me a bagel...

Funny how the attention you pay to certain kinds of gear comes and goes in waves.  One day it's all about pedals, next day amps, and then guitars.

Guess where my head is at today?

Bagels mostly...

Aria Pro II Fullerton - $200

Way back in the day, I recall a guitar shop in Kitchener, ON whose claim to fame in my mind was that is was right next to a really good place to buy bagels. If that doesn't tell you something about the shop, well...

At any rate, I can remember going in there ONCE on an occasion that I accompanied my father on his Saturday morning run for fresh bagels. I remember there being not much beyond Aria Pro guitars, along with an owner who was very eager to tell me that these were the best, and anything priced above was just "gilding the lily". Uh-huh.

What the owner was really talking about, but was too sales-y to get it right, was the concept of diminishing returns.  The more you spend, the "less better" the guitar gets relative to the amount of money spent.  For example, a $4K Stratocaster is likely not 2x better than a $2K Stratocaster (though understand that little of this is objective).

OK OK, back to the Aria. For $200, I think you could to MUCH worse, and this gives off a cool Charvel meets Suhr meets Tom Anderson kind of thing. Even the white-plastic covered pickups, obviously aping EMGs, look pretty great in this context.

My only concern is the trem block, which on close inspection looks like the very tiny pot metal one I found in my Yamaha.  Considering the low cost of replacement though, I think this could be a fabulous guitar.

I actually really want it, but it is over 100KM away...

Yamaha FG - $300

I'm not sure where the line is between a cheap-looking and not-cheap-looking acoustic, but this Yamaha is on the "not" side.

$300 with a case isn't exactly the deal of the century, but a smaller body shape, solid spruce top, and bound fingerboard all come off as pretty damn classy.

In fact, at $200 I'd be pretty keen to take a run at this ,as I'd like to have an acoustic that didn't look like it had been left underwater for an afternoon.

Fender American Series Sandblaster Telecaster - $1300

Check. This. Out. I can't get over this finish.  I looks so cool, and as you can see from the pics, it probably feels cool too.

The result of this sandblasted finish is a super swamp-ashy looking body, and while crimson red is never my favourite color, it looks so cool here.

With American Standard (Professional?) series Telecasters going for anywhere between $900 and $1400 on the used market, this limited run version represents some real value, and will probably hold it's price better in the future.







Fender Pink Paisley Telecaster - $750

Maybe I need another Telecaster.  I mean, I have 4 Stratocasters, and 2 Les Pauls.... well, actually one of the Strats is basically a PRS with the brass block and the wiring... But whatever... Only one Tele was the point.

I'd really wish Fender would do an aged version of these guitars.  No super-stupid-road worn, but tasteful.  Make that pink on the edges a little less Pepto-Bismol.

$750 is actually a really good price, given that I think these are listing for around $1300 new.









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