Jump to content
Gibson Brands Forums

I bought this one only based on looks


Lars68

Recommended Posts

A few years ago I stumbled upon pictures of the guitar below. I instantly feel in love with the way it looked, which is kind of surprising given I'm normally very much into traditional guitars. It didn't take long before I bought it on impulse. I think this was around summer of 2014. Since then my love for this weird guitar in white and gold, now also wearing an all white leather strap, has slowly but surely increased.

 

It is only the second twelve string I have ever played, but to me it sounds great. In all honesty, as far as twelve strings go, this is a "budget" guitar, but I'm being constantly surprised by how much I like it. It's supposed to sound very good plugged in too, but now more than two years on I have actually yet to try it plugged in. See no need to.

 

https://www.acousticcentre.com.au/products/copy-of-gretsch-g5022cwfe-rancher-white-falcon-6-string

 

So, have you ever bought a guitar simply based on the way it looks, not knowing anything in advance about what it might sound like?

Also, are there any "budget" guitars you have been really surprised by?

 

This particular guitar is, to say the least, a very odd one among my other tradotional Martins and Gibsons, but it is just as loved [biggrin]

 

Lars

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bought my J50 from Fuller's in Houston ... seeing only its pictures. I knew it would sound like a J45, I guess, but you could say I bought it on looks.

The less ornate a guitar, the more I tend to like it. Take for example the Gibson J50 or Martin D18.

I also love teles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bought my J50 from Fuller's in Houston ... seeing only its pictures. I knew it would sound like a J45, I guess, but you could say I bought it on looks.

The less ornate a guitar, the more I tend to like it. Take for example the Gibson J50 or Martin D18.

I also love teles.

 

Jepp, that's normally my preference too, so this Gretsch is the exception that confirms the rule.

 

Lars

 

By the way, here is a sound sample of the Gretsch from a few months back.

https://soundcloud.com/lars1968/friday-im-in-love (sorry for the singing...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lars, the Gretsch is glorious!! What a stunning thing. I owned a standard red 6-string Rancher for a while which was excellent but I couldn't get on with the narrow nut width. The 12 looks much wider and more comfortable though.

 

In terms of much-loved budget guitars bought sight unseen, my Epi IB '64 is the best bargain I've snagged over the years. I never get tired of playing that thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lars, the Gretsch is glorious!! What a stunning thing. I owned a standard red 6-string Rancher for a while which was excellent but I couldn't get on with the narrow nut width. The 12 looks much wider and more comfortable though.

 

In terms of much-loved budget guitars bought sight unseen, my Epi IB '64 is the best bargain I've snagged over the years. I never get tired of playing that thing.

 

Jinder, another unrelated question. I love your TVZ songs. Do you know where I can buy your CD. I would like to own a physical copy. Just tried sending you a message, but I think your inbox is full.

 

Lars

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Lars and BBG! I really appreciate the kind words.

 

Unfortunately I've never had the TVZ album pressed up on CD, I'd love to have hard copies made one day but at the moment it's a touch beyond my budget. I'll keep you posted on it though, hopefully one day. I've always wanted to reissue my back catalogue on vinyl too...that's the dream!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I get a smidgen of revenue from it, BB-not a lot though. £15 in the last quarter for appx 16,000 streams on Spotify. Roughly equivalent to the net from two full-price CD sales through my website etc.

 

It's a tough pill to swallow in terms of the changing industry, but ultimately people want to consume music through streaming services and artists who refuse to use them are shouting themselves in the foot a bit because the exposure opportunities are massive. Last year I had around 80,000 listens via all the streaming services, and including the PRS revenue from them and the actual streaming revenue, I grossed £600. If those listens had been paid downloads, the gross would have been £63,200, and out of that I would have earned around £40,000, so VERY different outlooks...but ultimately a horse is a horse and a motorbike is a motorbike. They both get you from A to B, but there's no point comparing the two.

 

The ultimate upshot of it is that studios are folding and recording is going underground as it were-records don't generate enough income for artists to use big budget studios, so more are recording at home/using DAWs on location.

 

The last big budget album I made was 'Crumbs Of Comfort', in 2012, which came out on a subsidiary of Universal, for whom I was a staff writer at the time. That album took nine months and £85,000 of Universal's money to record, tanked totally, they lost a TON of money and they handed me back the rights to the record and 2000 copies (which arrived on my doorstep on pallets with a note saying "we're terminating the project, here are the overstocks"!). Since then I've made one album on a cassette eight track in an old cottage in Dorset and my new album was recorded with Cubase in my parents' spare bedroom (great room acoustically), which is pretty much a good illustration of how the digital revolution has changed the landscape of the industry in the last 5yrs.

 

I can't imagine ever making a big budget record again...it'd be more constructive to pour money off a cliff into the sea!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...