GuitArcher

I haven't been able to obsess over guitars, amps, and pedals for the better part of the year so far, mostly on account of needing to obsess over fixing my car, which went from a minor annoyance to a full dose of OCD research, money, trial, money, error, money, time, money... You get the idea. Thankfully, and in no small part due to my father's willingness to trouble shoot problems over multiple weeks, I'm officially past these issues, and for the first time in a long time I've been finding myself coming back to Kijiji rather than researching some obscure automotive part or service procedure. I can't say there is a theme to all of these, but the Telecaster count is pretty high, and 4 Stratocasters and only  single Telecaster in one's collection seems woefully imbalanced. Also, and in case there was any confusion over this, I am unreservedly uncool, despite what might have been suggested. LTD EC-1000 Deluxe - $750 I don't really get on with L

I wish I had something clever to say, but I don't.

I had the pleasure of playing at a friend's wedding in October. His uncle, having passed away this year and no children of his own, left him a prized 1960 Gibson J45.  It was in rough shape pretty rough shape, and needed new frets and some structural work, but a visit to the 12th Fret in Toronto saw it go from an amazing piece filled with sentimental (and tangible) value to a guitar that played like a dream, sounded amazing, and retained all the personal value attached to a guitar passed from one generation to another. It sounded great that day, and I only made a bazillion mistakes, one of which my wife noticed. Oh well. If you've never experienced it, go find a good old acoustic and give it strum.  The difference is night and day compared to new guitars. Compared to the Yamaha acoustic I have, which sits ignored in the corner, it's chalk and day. Christmas Shopping I was out over the weekend Christmas shopping, which meant spending more time in malls and toy st

Fender recently announced the American Performer Series , a replacement for the American Special Series, and it may just be the most desirable series Fender has had in a long while.  Whether it's the excellent range of colors being made available, the subtle tweaks from their predecessor models, or the price point these will occupy, I'm convinced more than ever that the American Professional Series is going to get squeezed out in sales volume. Killer Colors OK, first things first: The colors are outstanding, and I have a feeling that the folks at Fender are just as engaged with guitar content on Youtube as the rest of us are. Lake Placid Blue with a red tortoise pickguard? The folks at Fender watch Andertons just like the rest of us do. Surf Green on the Telecaster? Weren't the Guitar Nerds just going on about how great the Squier Affinity Telecaster looked in Surf Green? The new finish is the most eye catching one though.  Dubbed "Penny", in some l

Lots of folks are worried that buying something on the used market means risking that you're getting a less than perfectly functioning pedal.  It's happened to me a few times over more than a decade, but not nearly as often as the nay-sayers would have you believe.   So of course, when I go ahead and order the JHS Lucky Cat from Cosmo Music here in Ontario, I end up with a pedal that is DOA ( dead on arrival) .

The most powerful kind of advertising is most definitely the kind that doesn't seem like advertising... Case in point: That Pedal Show. I'm a huge fan of Dan and Mick, and I have a hard time not watching their videos as soon as they are posted. They manage to walk that fine line of being laid back and affable while being structured and informative in their presentation. What I didn't realize was how much impact they were having on my GAS ( gear acquisition syndrome).  I mostly thought it was limited to focusing more on pedals generally, but my recent acquisition and love of the Blues Driver had me thinking about how my drive section was basically Dan's choice in the $300 pedal board challenge. It doesn't stop there though. I bought an Ibanez JEM Jr. awhile ago, having decided that I wanted to have a guitar that was a little more 80s, with a locking tremolo and a crazy color.  I was looking at Jacksons and Charvels initially, but when the Yellow Jem Jr. p

Just a collection of thoughts... Time to Reflect Listening to the Guitarcaster Podcast recently has been pretty interesting.  I find that they sit in a middle ground between 60 Cycle Hum and the Guitar Nerds; There's enough structure to not get lost in their nonsense, but not so much that it becomes rigid. Having recently finished their episode about reverb, I found myself thinking about how I approached reverb, which is to say I didn't really think about it, despite owning the Hall of Fame 2.  Turn the knobs to somewhere in the middle, select a preset, and boom, reverb. What really opened up my thinking was their discussion on hall reverb.  I already knew that this was meant to emulate a concert hall, not a hallway, but what I didn't think about was, having been in many concert halls, what the sound actually did.  Yes, the reverb was BIG, but it wasn't long.  After all, a concert hall isn't some deep dark cave where the reverberation goes on for ever; i

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but the coolest thing I've seen recently is a pedal display shelf on Instagram.  I liked it so much that I sent it to my wife.  Maybe she'll learn carpentry and make it for me? Point is, I think there's a big part of pedal acquisition that is about the aesthetic quality of pedals.  Basically, I want them to look cool so I can decorate with them.  Doesn't matter how they sound? 1982 Greco Super Real ec500 - $800 I've never had much luck with Les Pauls, but maybe I'm just looking for the wrong kind of Les Paul. This Greco apparently has a long neck tenon, which is a more difficult set-neck construction method apparently.  I say apparently because Gibson charges more when this is the case, so... At any rate, while this is Les Paul Studio money, don't be surprised if Greco and Burny Les Pauls (which were Made in Japan) start gaining popularity as reasonably priced quality vintage instruments. Although the Fender A

Pedals are heard. Get it? I had mentioned awhile back that I picked up a quartet of pedals without having tested them first, only to find that two of them didn't work.  It wasn't a huge deal, because I think that $40 a piece for the two pedals that did work was ok, but it still bothered me as the initial feeling of being suckered was slow to wear off. Pictured: Pedals. Also, Sweet Potato. Prior to this, I had purchased a mostly working Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal ($70), which I was keen to get rid of.  I posted it, along with the Boss OD-2, the MXR Phase 90, the Big Muff (listed as broken) and the two Danelectro food series pedals pictured above. For those keeping score at home, that's $150 on the aforementioned pedals. Since then, I've sold the HM-2 and the broken Big Muff for $90, and just returned from selling the MXR Phase 90 for $60. In case you are arithmetically challenged: That's $150, and I still have the Boss Turbo Overdrive and the Danelectro

If you've never owned a Boss Blues Driver, go buy one. Now. I'll wait. I came across one earlier in the week for $70, but in a place that was just a little bit too far out of the way for me to justify. What's more, while I haven't made any big purchase in awhile, I seem to be spending $80 here, there, and everywhere. The universe aligned though, and Saturday morning I asked if it was still available.  I assumed that at that price, the poster had just forgotten to take down the listing. Getting a "no" to the question "is this still available?" is a great cure for acute GAS. "Yes, it is available." Fack. Better than Amazon Delivery I asked for the seller's address, and immediately texted my father, who was heading to us that day, and would be (sort of) passing by the sellers house.  I felt a little guilty, but I had recently had success selling his motorcycle on Kijiji, so I felt like he was getting used to this type of