SteveFord

It magically sucks the tone out. Most people hate them but I think they're pretty cool.

Oh well, it looks nice from a distance. That pick guard looked "off" and I do believe IanHenry is right about the jack location.

Yes and right below the Tone Suck Device it looks like there's a mini dip switch. I had an old 335 with a coil splitting switch but it was a full sized toggle, not a mini one.

Treat yourself to a real strap.

What's with the mini dip switch?

There's tons of them out there without the checking. I would guess someone either swapped the pickups out or stuck some covers on there to dress it up a bit.

Probably, I never thought about it. I don't know anything about Fedners other than a lot of really good players have them. That's the only one I have with the banjos, the others are those little Grovers which are too close together or the Steinbergers which look like they belong in Herman Munster's neck but work great. For the banjos each of the tuner knobs has a screw on the end and that adjusts the tension of the tuners so if the strings are going out of tune snug them up. The previous owner put on a roller bridge and oversized strap buttons so my strap is permanently affixed - the cave man's strap locks. I kept popping the B strings during bends and it just needed a sharp edge on the on the vibrato slot rounded off with some sandpaper which took 30 seconds. What else, I never really liked the sound of it until I finally realized you just need to back off the TONE knob a little bit - so I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed... Middle position seems to put the pick ups out of phase so you can channel your inner What The Hell sound. They hang differently than the Firebird V so that takes some adjustment, I'd have to measure but I think the body is thicker, too - it has some weight to it. It's a harder guitar to play than the V, it's not just a V with another pick up, ebony instead of rosewood and vibrato, it's a big, heavy monster of a guitar. The neck on both VIIs that I've had were sticky, it takes a year or two of constantly wiping them down after you're done playing and then they knock it off. They were both 2005 models, I believe, so maybe the same paint sprayer just got too carried away with the thickness I can see why they're not very popular AND I can understand why Phil Manzanera kept his all these years.

I parked all of mine and just play the VII. It's a bit of giant monster but you get used to it. Hopefully, you'll have one coming at ya

So, are you enjoying your time in the States? It looks like you are.

He's not talking about a limited run or an artist's personal guitar, he's talking about an autographed one. To me, no. It would keep me from buying it unless it can be wiped off with lighter fluid. Erik Buell was signing motorcycles at an event, I had him sign mine but it was more of a commemoration of an event than anything else.

You go to the front of the line for a booster shot.

Twang Gang, How do you like that Les Paul Lite? It always seemed like an interesting model. Here's a Les Paul Standard with the 60s neck profile (I think):

What kind of a Lucille has a Slim Taper neck? https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Electric-Guitar/CUSAHS633/Transparent-Ebony They changed the pick ups, too, along with the color and neck inlays. Seven grand? That's one way to make it a collector's item, price them so high nobody will buy them.

I was afraid they were going to be too much of the old same old, same old but they're really good. So far, I've gotten through Music Is Our Friend The Great Deceiver 1 and have a couple of others in the wings. They're so well recorded and there's a lot of improvisation so I guess I'll bite the bullet and collect the whole set, there looks to be about a dozen of them on Amazon.

Your annual flu shot beats you up.

https://reverb.com/item/58476188-rare-gibson-custom-shop-firebird-vii-reissue-2009-sunburst?bk=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJqdGkiOiJkZmQ2ODRkNy0xMTE5LTRjN2UtYmZhYi1mNzY0NWFjZTY0NGEiLCJpYXQiOjE2NjIzODQ0NzYsInVzZXJfaWQiOiIiLCJzZXNzaW9uX2lkIjoiZDVkZGYyYjAtMTU5Yi00NjM4LTljYjAtNzI4ZTBiOGVjNmMzIiwiY29va2llX2lkIjoiMWFiYzQ1NGItYWJiMC00MTVjLWFjM2MtNmVjNzJhYmVhZWFmIiwicHJvZHVjdF9pZCI6IjU4NDc2MTg4Iiwic291cmNlIjoiTk9ORSJ9.RTHjwukdjwiRQHWfz4HAOCpaI_uukm3q71oYUDPMSaI

Did you notice how skinny those guitar straps were? These things weigh a ton, that strap must have been so uncomfortable after a bit. Why, back in my day the strap used to saw right down to the collarbone and we RELISHED the discomfort! Here's a Les Paul next to what it turned into right as Les Paul the person was making his exit from the scene for a bit:

I was looking at a Gold Top with full size humbuckers as well but the prices started getting a bit much so I called it a day.

They seem to do a pretty good job of taxing us WITH representation. Not really much of a difference in actual practice.

They must have gotten wind of my secret crack cocaine habit and sexual peccadillos. I knew when that Eye Witness News van pulled up right as the Escort Service Van unloaded in my driveway it might come back to bite me. So what if they were dressed as nuns, it's nobody's business.

They see it's shipped but we have to wait until the buyer says he received it, the say. I told them it's not like I have a new account, oh yes, thank you for being a member for 18 years, we will release funds once the item is received... Screw those guys.

I've been a member of eBay for 18 years, have thousands of transactions and 100% positive feedback. Because I haven't sold anything in a while they are now holding my funds until the seller acknowledges receipt of an item I already shipped! It's only a $70 item. I contacted them and oh yes, that is our policy, we are following it. Moral of the story: don't sell on eBay.

I pity the foo' who sold his mid 70's Tele with the two wide pups and 4 knobs and a huge pickguard.