SteveFord

Very nice, you and Sgt. Pepper with these midget acoustics are setting the pace here. I'd better get an upright bass to balance things out.

Dropped the pick ups a little bit this morning and it sounds good to me, the bridge pick up was kind of brittle sounding with it up higher. Either the guy I bought it from had a boat load of guitars or he really didn't know how to play and gave it up. There wasn't even a mark on the pick guard. I can think of 2 models that I would still like to get but I think I'll be a bachelor for a bit so they may get put on the back burner for the next pandemic. Give me something to look forward, ha, ha.

I'm pretty sure that Mario Cuomo winked at me on TV the other night. Maybe I can buy a new J-40, whoo hoo!!!

We can help you fix that!

https://www.gibson.com/Guitar/ACC9G4342/Tom-Petty-SJ-200-Wildflower/Antique-Natural Ten grand, out of stock? Maybe The Penguin stole them? WTH?

No but she does have a big SUV, a lead foot and is rather unpredictable when provoked. Remember that old Alice Cooper song, Under My Wheels? Let's just hope she stays a couple of thousand miles away and everyone will live happily ever after, the end. Tman, It's amazing the things they can do with plywood and a big jar of glue these days. If I had tried it I would have wound up with an ash tray.

My parents always told me to play in traffic so I guess it's an ingrained habit. The neck on this feels like a Martin HD-28 or the 2007 GOTW zebra wood models (Firebird V and Les Paul Classic). Smooth satin and really fast. You know how nitro can occasionally get sticky on some of them? Not with these. It was between this and a figured 2020 on Reverb and I went with this one due to the pick ups. Are the Burstbuckers better or worse than the T Tops? I honestly don't know but I like the way they sound in the Les Paul Standards so go with what you know. They're very clear sounding but you can really get them to snarl if you put a little snap into your attack. After a truss rod adjustment I got the action really low so the pick ups will need to be dropped some. It was really apparant how the sound quality degraded when I lowered the strings. Hmmm... The tuners have a low ratio so a string winder would come in handy during string changes as otherwise you'll be there for a while. Tuning stability is really good. I was a little leery as this is a 2017 which was right before they purchased more light bulbs at the factory and supposedly there were lurching around in the dark. Is this going to be a blunder? Nope. I either really lucked out or maybe this is the way they all are. It's several rungs up the ladder from my 07 Satin 335 which is a really nice guitar but you can really feel the difference in them. I don't know exactly what Gibson does as the price point goes up but there's certainly something different. I'll chalk it up to a combination of dumb luck and the miracle Plastic TONE COVER. When I saw a similar one at that guitar show many years ago I just knew it was the best guitar in the whole place. I just stopped and thought, there it is, that's it. This is a later one but I think I was right.

Yes but no hash pipe however it does have that spiffy Tone Cover over the truss rod. I would have laughed if it said Hoboken instead of Memphis or something.

Sorry for the multiple posts, this software is driving me crazy. I haven't had a chance to do anything other than a little polish, lemon oil, new strings and make sure that everything works okay. The guitar lived in the case and the previous owner only played open chords judging by the frets. It's just about brand new. The neck surprised me as it has a satin feel to it and is much stouter than I was expecting. Picture 50s profile Les Paul and that's just about it. Other surprises were the thumb wheels for the bridge just go onto little studs sunk into the wood (they spin right off the studs) and the stop tailpiece has slotted, locking caps to keep it from sliding around when you remove the strings. That was a clever touch. I'll post more after work and some running around and see what it sounds and plays like. It'll take a little bit to adjust the neck as I use 11s so it'll bow up a bit, I"m sure. Beautiful instrument, though, they really took some pride in making these.

Well, we'll see about that one but for now...

You want to use the finest grade available. Gibson used to have an article on their web site called Smooth Fretting and as I recall it was the finest grade of steel wool for the fret board followed by a fine grade of sand paper on a sanding block for wear marks on the frets followed by a super fine grade of sand paper on the sanding block followed by metal polishing compound on a cloth on the sanding block followed by buffing the fret board with lemon oil. Your frets will be in new shape so I'd just spend a little time with the finest steel wool you can get on the fret board and then buff it clean with lemon oil. Just be careful doing it and if it doesn't work out out to your satisfaction return it. They made more than one.

I hope you did the right thing and called in sick. Two Martins in one week would keep me home for a pandemic.

Get blue painter's tape and mask over the pick ups, buff the fret board with 0000 steel wool, wipe that clean and then buff with lemon oil and a clean rag.

Show offs!

FINALLY got the 2019 Firebird's neck adjusted right, what a production. It had a weird bow up by the nut which I could NOT get rid of and I was winding up with the G and B strings up high and the high E string wouldn't intonate right and ach. It took a good two weeks of futzing around but I finally got it to settle down and now it plays like a normal guitar.

I'll have to look into getting that book, then. I didn't respond as they've made some many little variations to the model you really DO need a book for it all. My 07 Satin has 57 Classics, the one that is showing up tomorrow has Burstbucker 1 and 2s, for instance. One has an unbound fret board, one doesn't, different tuners, the ones I had in the 70s had trapeze tail pieces and one had coil tapping, the ears were spread out differently, on and on it goes.

Now we're talkin'! Always a plus when there's actually something in the box...

That does look nice, let us know what you think of it, please.

I've been eating a lot of pasta and ice cream. I'm thinking a giant scale ES-330 for me. As for the Red Hot Ice Pick Peppers, it was actually outdoors at Hershey Entertainment but they did have it cranked up and shrill. I thought it might be the way the band liked it. Years later I bumped into a guy who had a Buell and I wound up working on it and he was the sound engineer at the Warner Theater in DC. He gave me a pair of tickets to see the Brian Setzer Orchestra there and it sounded great! Really a nice place, too. https://www.historictheatrephotos.com/Theatre/Warner-Washington-DC.aspx You may have detected a pattern: they give me free tickets and I show up. I have to buy my own and I don't go.

They can put through the wringer, that's for sure.

The opening act (Blonde Redhead, my buddy's band) was so loud when they hit the first chord the crowd just ran away from the stage. After their set I told them and they had no idea. I've given some thought about the Battle Of The Bulge and I think you can probably hide the love handles behind this number. You'd probably want the slim taper neck, I would think.

Some ne'er-do-well swiped your TONE cover and gave you one that said Memphis. At least it doesn't say Bayonne but I'd still see if it's covered under warranty.

Decided to take a day off and see if my motorcycles still run. Yes, they do. It felt good to be out again doing just joy rides. Car drivers are haven't changed any.