GuitArcher

Guitars, like all instruments I imagine, are sentimental.  Spend any extended period of time with a particular guitar and you'll find yourself rationalizing it as one might another person.  "Flaws" transform into lovable idiosyncrasies that define what makes the guitar unique to your experience.  Basically, you learn to love it. Sometimes.   Other times the damn thing just wont stay in tune, and that fact haunts you for 20 years. Behold, the 1998 Epiphone Les Paul Deluxe. This particular guitar was given to me by a friend who had spent the better part of a decade ignoring it. When I received it, the frets were green, the pickups were touching the strings, and the body was covered in what might be generously described as DNA. Also, there was a Tool Sticker. I wish I had taken pictures of the cleanup process, which took place over the course of a week.  Bridge hardware was removed, the entire guitar was cleaned, the fret board oiled...

After a weekend of deciding whether or not I could live with or without the rosewood version of the Eric Johnson Stratocaster, I went ahead and pulled the trigger.  What. A. Trigger. Buick Lucerne Aqua Firemist? Apologies for the pics. I'll get around to proper pictures this weekend, along with a review. This is probably the first time ever that the purchase of one guitar has made me appreciate another guitar more. Unsurprisingly, the subtle differences between this and my maple board version seem to compliment each other perfectly. One is not really an better than the other, but variations of the same excellent theme. I'll get into that more in a future review post, but suffice to say if you love one, have both. Decisions, Decisions Hindsight is 20/20.  I wasn't immediately sold on the purchase. With the posting of this guitar having caught my attention like few others have, I struggled with the idea of another major guitar purchase.  Buying barga...

I'm a sucker for Fender.  It's annoying. Super Annoying I had been been looking for a new guitar to write about - something surprisingly inexpensive, but with reasonable quality.  As fun as it would be the review another $1000+ guitar, I'm not independently wealthy. I had a problem though: Prices across Kijiji were (and still are) somewhere between ridiculous and insane, and I wasn't having much luck finding a $250 Made in Mexico Stratocaster and Telecasters, or even a reasonably priced Classic Vibe, to say nothing of $250 Epi Les Pauls. My target list was pretty sparse - a couple of Ibanez (an RG350 and a SA160) around the $250 mark was pretty much about as good as it was getting - and frankly neither of those at that price is "good enough". I decided to wait and continue to keep an eye out, throwing out a few low ball offers on some pieces just in case there was some desperation out there. I eventually came across the above pictured Sq...

Yesterday, I finally sold the Contemporary Stratocaster.  Another case of cool guitar, but meh. Enter the latest addition to the family.  A Gibson Les Paul Studio in Wine Red. I had one of these a few years ago , and my recent LP-itis had me looking for something from the family of Lester.  I threw a few offers out and got a bite on an example I had noted in my post on Les-Paul-itis . Just so happened that the bite was as close to a dead ringer for the last one as you could get.  And no, I didn't pay the asking price. Old Les Paul, this is new Les Paul. Of immediate note was how light this example is.  I don't have a scale, but this is so close to the 7.5lbs of my Eric Johnson Stratocaster as to not be able to tell the difference.  It is much lighter than my American Telecaster for sure.  Must be chambered. As soon as I got it home it was off with the strings for a cleaning and a setup.  The neck didn't have enough relief, t...

This might be the best deal I've ever had on Kijiji. For $250 and a bit of gas, I took home an Epiphone Les Paul Standard. Considering these go for $300-$450 typically, it's a good deal. But throw in a case and the fact that it is a really excellent example of this particular model, and it's an excellent one. Feel Shame I dislike Epiphone. This will be a recurring theme. Haters gonna hate. One of the many, many problems I've had with Epiphone was with the name itself. An Epiphone Les Paul? Pfft. Fender uses its name on products in the same price range as this, so why not Gibson? Likely something to do with "Made in the USA," but don't quote me on that. That headstock taunts you - you know that shape alone will give away your lifetime of bad choices to all who view it. "Oh, an Epiphone? Yeah, they're nice too," they say in their judge-y-est tone whilst dismissing all future opinions of yours. Feel shame, you unclean wretch....

I don't like Epiphone. Experience is to blame for this near sacred opinion. The first experience was a friend's Epi Les Paul Deluxe ( in black because teenager)  that wouldn't hold tune.  File the nut, replace the tuners, a young priest and an old priest for an exorcism...  The demons wouldn't come out, no matter how hard we tried. Stubbornly refused A 440 as well. Also peed on the floor. The second experience came from my very own brother.  Fredo!

I know. Hardly the most exciting NGD on the internet, but after 12 hours with this in the house, I've come to the two conclusions: The value of buying used cannot be overstated. Opinions based solely on the country of origin can be turned sideways and stuck straight up your candy ass. Not the right Dwayne Johnson picture you say? I would say something to the effect of "kids don't know how good they have it these days," but in a future post I'll explain why "kids" don't take advantage of stuff like this - partly because kids shouldn't be dealing on the secondary market by themselves (under 18 anyway), but mostly because their parents are getting hosed by big stores. For less than a tank of gas... That might be an exaggeration, but not much of one.  I had been following this guitar for a couple of weeks, and two nights ago emailed an offer.  I was expecting the seller to reject it, but to my surprise he came back quickly with a ...

New Guitar Day! ( UPDATE: Read the review here )  In my never ending carousel of trading guitars and amps for OTHER guitars and amps, I've come into possession of this at the expense of a very common amplifier and zero cash - A 1985 Fender Contemporary Stratocaster Deluxe. Made in Japan, this guitar was produced during the period Fender USA had ceased production (85-87). FMIC (composed of Fender employees) had purchased Fender from CBS , but had yet to set up production facilities. This meant the only Fenders being prod uced came from Japan, and this model was the top of the range. Close up of the System III Bridge  Couple of things beyond the age and condition make the guitar interesting - A cam-style locking nut and " System III " bridge were Fender's in house answer to the Floyd Rose systems so popular during the hair metal era. A three screw humbucker that is bolted (not screwed) directly into the guitar body rather than the pickguard makes ...