Verde Good Stuff

Couple of things have caught my eye...

2012 PRS Custom 24 Eriza Verde - $2500

While going into a guitar store and finding a great guitar is always exciting, the price you have to pay in a retail environment is, well, bullshit. This posting reminds me of that.

Recently, I near-fell in love with a PRS CE24 in Champagne Gold, and only the sticker shock stopped me from walking out the door.

For the same price, pre-tax, I could be having this, a full-fat Custom 24 in a striking green that has a special name for unknown reasons.  Hard case included, special bird inlays, etc.

This would be by far the most I've ever dropped on a guitar, and thankfully this is located more than 5 hours away by car...

But something like this is sure to come up closer to home.

EVH 5150 III - Swap/Trade

So wouldn't it be cool to have a new guitar (see above) AND a new amp? I've got my Fenders and the Dr. Z for the vintage setup, so why not a PRS and a 5150 as a modern setup?

While there isn't anything I'm keen on swapping that wouldn't be required to fund the PRS, I've taken notice on account of the owner saying they'd do a MIM Strat plus cash.  Now, I'm not willing to part with my MIM, but that ballparks this to sub $1K me thinks.

The 5150 amps pretty consistently make it into top 5 lists, and I'm kind of keen on the idea of an amp that is "lead channel first".

Crate V18 - $200

I've never been too impressed with these amps, although my experience is admittedly limited to a cousin's bedroom for about 10 minutes, and a couple of random encounters at music stores. A poor man's Maz 18 this ain't.

Two hundred bucks isn't a lot of money though, so expectations could be tempered.  I've heard some Youtube reviews not sound completely awful, and I'm pretty sure the dirt-cheap speakers are the culprit. I wonder if these speakers, broken in, would be better.

Godin Progression - $600

Boutique Strats are a thing, and they're a thing that usually runs close to $3K.  Names like Suhr, Tom Anderson, and Grosh immediately come to mind, with everyone seeming to have their favourite "not-strat-but-strat" of the bunch.

I don't think Godin really qualifies to be in this company, but maybe we could count it as the poor-man's boutique strat?

Aside from a weirdo active/passive switch (who let the bass player in the room?), this looks like a nicely spec'd guitar with decent custom vibe.

I think the price is a bit steep, the stark white pickup covers look off, and the resale value will be brutal.  If you can live with that, then maybe this is the guitar for you.






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