GuitArcher

Despite the fact that apparently I can't be bothered to write anything here, I haven't let the GLOBAL PANDEMIC OF DOOM AND ENDTIMES  put a damper on my desire to own as much gear as I possibly can. In fact, 2020 may represent the most significant run of gear acquisition, at least in terms of transactions. Here's a brief rundown of the gear I've acquired in 2020 so far, with my quick take on why I bought it and what I think of it. American Professional Jazzmaster - $1,200 Everyone has a price. Everyone. For anything. Really. Apparently mine is $1,200 and a few (too many?) drinks on a Friday night. For a Jazzmaster anyway. Truth be told, I'd been thinking about a Jazzmaster for awhile - it's the hole in my modest Fender collection, though I suppose a Squier Jaguar doesn't really count (or does it?).  I was browsing Kijiji on a Friday night while visiting with friends. I'm either a terrible guest or there was a lull in the preceedings. We both know it wa

A visit from my brother last weekend afforded us the chance to A/B some pedals from each our our collections.  Or particular interest to me was the EHX East River Drive, a Tube Screamer clone that apparently had help from Analog Man. We ran both through the Fender 68 DRRI and used an Eric Johnson Rosewood Stratocaster. Comparing it to the Fulltone Fulldrive 2 and the Noah Sark Green, the EHX was really good .  Clearer in the midrange than the Sark, with a bit more of an edge on top than the Fulldrive. If you ever wanted to hear how Screamers could sound different, compare the EXH to another clone. Pictured Somewhere - All the pedals mentioned. The second comparison we took a stab at was the JHS Angry Charlie and the Boss Power Driver. Still running into the Fender, but this time using humbucker equipped guitars, it was really shocking how close the latter could get to the former.  With the Boss, anything above 12 o'clock on the gain compressed too much, but below th

Yeah, yeah... It isn't a very clever title. I was looking through my "favourited" list and noticed three amps listed consecutively that had quite a bit in common: Multiple channels, 1x12, higher gain, all effectively at the same price point. There's a big of a theme here I think - Wouldn't it be great to have a great vintage style low watt amp AND a more modern, higher gain amp? Seems like a good enough reason... Mesa Recto-Verb 50 - $1000 I've mention this amp more than a few times, and that is usually a pretty good indication that I'm destined to pick one up eventually.  I'll have to sell a few things to be sure, but this is a quality amp with a sound I'm familiar with.  I don't quite recall the settings, but the high gain sound on this that isn't the "recto" flavour is pretty amazing. Engl Thunder 50 - $950 I remember first reading about these amps in an interview with Richie Blackmore in the early nineties.

I've been having a really hard time with the thought of selling the Fender Super Champ XD I picked up a few months ago.  Truth is, I rarely use it, and the few times I do, I find myself immediately wondering if the Dr. Z Maz 8 will sound better and, whodathunkit, it does. But the Super Champ does have its qualities - mostly the plug and play nature of the thing - no pedalboards required for delay and verb and drive. With all the buzz around the Katana (which after two years doesn't seem to be going away), I can't help but wonder if THAT would be the amp that better fit the "plug and play" bill. There's something else though - there are very few pieces of gear that I don't regret selling, and somewhere along the line I feel like I'll have to revisit each and every piece that haunts me. Fender Classic Series 60 - $850 Fender Japan is amazing, and this isn't Fender Japan, but it's as close to the Fender Japan ST62-TX as you're li

The first thing I noticed about the Fender Super Champ XD I recently picked up was the country of origin - China - and I'm not really sure if I'm bothered by this or not.  After all, my Epiphone Les Paul is Made in China, and maintain that it is superior to every Korean LP I've played from Epiphone. ...This reminds me that I've yet to plug that guitar into that amp... Strictly speaking, I'm not a believer in a product's country of origin having anything to do with quality - if proper time is taken to train (knowledge/experience transfer), and proper equipment and materials are provided, the quality will be there.  Sure, experience counts, which is why the longer you produce something somewhere the better it should  get, but seeing as we're talking cookie-cutter production, I don't see that as the fundamental part of the equation. What does all of this have to do with anything?  Well, I've come across some used amps I think are pretty intere

Couple of things I've noticed lately: The Canadian dollar going down is driving used prices up.  $1200 average for Fender American Standard?  Insane. Bar level wattage isn't cool.  I'm still seeing Fender Hot Rod Deluxe 1x12s for less than Blues Juniors.  Maybe folks are waking up to the realization that 40 tube watts is a bit of overkill for the basement. The neck IS the guitar.  Don't take an American Standard (for example), put a Squier neck on, and expect to sell it for 80% of the Standard.  It's now a Squier.  Deal with it. Here's what caught my eye recently. PRS CE22 - $1400 Originally, the posted listed this as a Standard, and was asking $1800.  Whoops. The giveaway here is the bolt-in maple neck as opposed to the set-neck of the Standard. someone must have sent him a friendly (or otherwise) note about correctly identifying the product you're trying to sell. Now, at $1200 this would be a steal based on color and condition.  As I n

It's Monday.  Ugh.

I've wanted a "bigger" amp for awhile now, though I can't say that it was for any particular reason beyond a severe case of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome).  Don't get me wrong, I still really dig that little Marshall,  but I've been in the mood for something different, especially since picking up that JHS Angry Charlie a few weeks ago. Most of my playing lately has been up in the family room with the kids, the youngest of which dances around occasionally, providing the necessary justification for the presence of an amp in the living room. The "living room" amp has not been the Marshall though. It doesn't do clean, doesn't have reverb, yada-yada...  No, the living room amp is a mighty little "Red Stripe" Peavey Envoy 110.  It also belongs to my brother, though I think it's been living with me for at least 3 years now. Peavey gets a bad rap, but I think it is almost wholly undeserved.  Still, it says something that d

Sometimes, the best triggers are the ones you don't pull. In my last post, I talked about setting my sights on a new amp - something a bit bigger and more suited for my new space.  Also GAS, because always GAS. Not long after I posted, another amp came up that caught my attention - A Mesa/Boogie Subway Blues Combo.  A 20 watt, single channel, 1x10 combo, it seemed the perfect fit for my desires. Plus it matches the living room decor! The catch? Price.  Always the damn price of things. The seller had listed for $790, which in my mind was a bit high.  Sure, the amp is in good condition, and yes, it is out of production, but when compared to what else was available*, this seemed a bit much. *Not far from this posting, both on the page and on the earth, was a first generation Fender Hot Rod Deluxe in decent, if overly sticker-ed, condition with a brand new MIM Telecaster for $650. Tolex can be replaced, right? Despite all of this, in a moment of weakness, I decided t

Having moved into a new house that is fully detached, with a (mostly) unused and unfinished basement, I've found myself wanting to return to the land of bigger amps.  I have no desire to sell the wee Marshall, but I have wanted something a bit different that would lead me back down the road of pedals. So does a current piece get moved to fund this little adventure?  Maybe. The most likely candidate to go?  The Les Paul Studio.  I can hear my brother roll his eyes now.  In a case of "they know you better than you know yourself", he's always been skeptical of my relationship with any Gibson. In fact, when I mentioned to him that I was probably  going to keep this one, he responded: " For now anyway." So for the past week or so, I've been scouring Kijiji for amps that might fit the bill.  Some would all but require I sell the Les Paul to fund, others perhaps not so much.  Funny thing about almost all of them is that I've owned each in one vers

I've been thinking a lot about a major shake up to my collection, and this time it isn't about guitars... it's about amps.  My recent obsession with That Pedal Show, along with the appearance of more than a few PRRI 68 reissues online have got me thinking about having that clean platform to play with. Besides, pedals ARE cheaper than guitars. For the majority of my guitar playing life, I've been a pretty pedal heavy player, relying on all the usual suspects from Boss and Fulltone to create sounds through some type of clean amp (Blues Junior, DRRI, Pro Junior, Supersonic, Ampeg Jet II, Dr. Z Maz 38). Then I acquired my wee Marshall DSL-1C, and the pedals went away.  Most were sold, and the ones that weren't went into storage.  Guitar - Cable - Amp... that was putting a smile on my face.  I recently pulled out my trusty Fulldrive 2 (the 10th Anniversary Edition) and started to play around with it a bit.  Didn't love it with the Marshall at any setting, but t

It's been quite awhile since I've done anything guitar related.  It's not that I've stopped playing, it's just that for the first time in forever I'm satisfied with what I have. Well, no, that's not quite right. I'm never satisfied, only appeased for short periods of time (Czechoslovakia only tides you over so long, right?) .  Those periods are usually extended when Kijiji is filled with nothing but $1200 US Stratocasters.  A guitar that a year ago was worth maybe $800 is now worth a cool grand? Seriously? Stranger still, there are some prices that seem to have gone the other way.  SG Standards are regularly appearing for less than a grand, which is great value if you ask me.  Wanna bet this is because of the great pricing confusion Gibson caused with the SGJ? Anyway, I wanted to get back into the mix, so I posted both Les Paul's currently in the collection, just to see what was out there. The most interesting offer has come on the Gibson

No, not stuff under the tree. As I've mentioned, Christmas is a particularly active time - kids with money, kids with not quite enough money (so they sell at a bargain), etc. Here's a few more to think about, and Merry Christmas to all. 1979(?) Fender Stratocaster - Sold ($2K?) I remember in the mid 90s when people scoffed at late 70s Strats - three bolt necks, bullet truss rods, big headstocks. They weren't early 60s, so you couldn't be SRV in the mirror I guess? This one came with original parts, thought the neck and middle pups had been swapped. Some people have an issue with that, and if you're dealing with a 1958 example, I sort of get it - you're buying an investment, not an instrument.  In this case though... Who. Cares. The patina on this is just about perfect if you ask me - the wear of the board against the darkening of the headstock is excellent. Love this example. It's already sold. Mesa Boogie Stiletto - $900 This one wa