Pepto-Bismol cures GAS, right?

I've been GASing for a Gretsch Electromatic pretty hard lately, but my inability to move some equipment to justify the purchase has left me resigned to being patient.  No need to jump the gun here, FMIC isn't going to cancel the line anytime soon, and I'm actually a bit hopeful that we'll see a few more FSR runs with some new colours that might light the fuse of a purchase.

But something else is tickling the back of my brain... Super Strats.

Neck through, locking tremolo, flat fingerboard.  The opposite of Gretsch.  Could I end up going in a completely different direction?

YES:


Half the price, twice the pink? What's not to love?

Some thoughts on recent items:

Ibanez RGA Lagoon Burst - $350

I don't remember when the original RGAs came out, with their Gibraltar bridges and such, but I remember wanting one something fierce, and being devastated by the price - after all, these were Prestige guitars.

Fast forward a decade (or two?) and Ibanez is making a version of the RGA out of their more budget conscious factories. They certainly don't have the same high-end appeal in my eyes, but the colour is fantastic.

While I expect cheap pickups, the string through bridge has me thinking that other than pickups and a new nut, this could be a pretty solid rock machine.

An aside - Did you see the Ibanez that Mick Taylor of That Pedal Show just picked up?!?!?


Gretsch Electromatic (The Mick Taylor) - $1,000

Speaking of Mick Taylor...

Here's the Gretsch Electromatic model that, after demonstrating on the Anderton's Youtube channel, he bought weeks later, unable to get over the quality.

Not much of a price reduction here considering, but these are few and far between on the used market, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that this is priced so dear.

Interesting thing of note is that unlike the other double-cutaway Electromatics, this particular model is full hollow, as opposed to having a centre block.

This is a decent price for this guitar, but I could understand it being so close to the new price as to scare potential buyers away.

Yamaha RGX 620Z - $250


It should come as little surprise that this may be the best value of the last few months.  Yamaha may not be known for making the most desirable instruments, but it'd be hard to argue they don't make the most solid at any price point.

I recently saw someone ask in a forum why Yamaha puts their "Made in XXX under the supervision of the Yamaha Corporation yada yada..." stickers under the finish, sometimes on the body.  I have a theory on this, so get ready - Yamaha is actually proud of the quality manufacturing practices they've brought to a variety of Asian countries over the years (Taiwan, Indonesia, etc.).

Imagine that.  A company that takes pride in HOW they do things.  Stop buying Squiers people.




Epiphone Sheraton - $650

There's something to be said for the staying power of the Epiphone Sheraton.  For the longest time, it was the ONLY name in affordable semi-hollow guitars.

But that isn't the case anymore.

Does anyone else with that they'd update the colours and ditch the gold hardware? I'm not sure about that headstock either... It's better than the Epiphone Dot headstock, right? Or is it.

$650 is still a pretty good price though.





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