Larsongs

I have a few Fenders & they’re great Guitars.. They do things all my Gibsons & Epiphone’s don’t. And Vice versa.. Best of both Worlds.. Among them are an American Vintage 65 Jazmaster & an American Vintage 65 Jaguar… They are fantastic Guitars & Works of Art.. Then there’s my Fender USA Strat & Tele’s… All are great Guitars! I like them as much as my Gibson’s & Epiphone’s! But, I hear you.. Fender makes Gibson looking Guitars too…. Go figure!

Looks like a Fender Offset… I’m sorry but that is one Fugly Headstock..

It’s not easy to play the Guitars in Stores that I want to buy.. I don’t live in a Big City.. That makes it even harder.. I have purchased from many Online Retailers & Reverb. But, usually will order new Guitars from Sweetwater. They have one of the biggest inventories, provide several photographs of the actual Guitars, Serial numbers, weight & Specs.. Which I find helpful.. They do a pretty involved inspection & a decent Setup at no charge.. (Although they can provide all kinds of upgrades thru their Mod Shop) Usually, the Guitars are keepers.. A couple times I had to do exchanges.. It seems to work pretty well for me.. Sorry to hear about your Guitar experience & hope you find the right one!

I’m sure a certain amount of what we like is subjective.. But, do you think it may have anything to do with certain strings working & sounding better on certain Guitars than others? And if you aren’t playing strictly Acoustic but also play Electric plugged into an Amp? I find the Martin Retro Monels on my J-160E to be a good balance to achieve good Sound unplugged or plugged in… And I’ve tried just about every String there is from Cheap to ridiculously expensive. USA & Foreign…. I don’t think they sound as good on my Martins oddly enough. Which I am liking Pyramids on…

I’ve tried lots of Strings for my Gibson Bozeman Masterbilt J-160E Solid Top.. Most sound good Acoustic but fail & turn to mud when plugged in when I play with a Band. The best I’ve found are Martin Retro Monel.. Sound great plugged in or unplugged… Whatever works!

Thank you..

Same here, he was a good Drummer.. Just not the right Drummer for us.. Our current Drummer, of the past 6-7 years, understands good dynamics & is an excellent Drummer.. He knows the BPM of every Song we play.. He does use earbuds with a Click Track.. We try to play many Cover Songs exactly like the Record.. Sometimes use the accurate Guitars that were used on The Beatles recordings..

Yeah, the other guys are probably out Gigging, making a few $$…..

We used to have a Drummer who wore ear plugs.. He was the loudest Drummer I’ve ever played with!

That’s because guys do your homework! The way it should be…

A good Drummer plays to the room & altogether a good Band has good dynamics.. They play to the room. They also need to play to the level your PA System will allow to have good clear Vocals! If you have none of those you have work to do.. To be a good Band.. There’s an old saying… You got no Gig… You got no Band.. Most Musicians want to play out. Make Money too.. Get Girls, Socialize, Party & have Fun! Maybe a little romance… Most Bands have one or two guys who are the Musical force in direction, Set Lists & writing Originals.. Sounds like that’s you & Tim. Cool. Maybe you should just keep it a Duo.. But, if you want a Band you have to play out or it won’t last long.. Too much work for nothing for most Guys.. My Drummer has a saying…. A Gig is just a paid rehearsal… How true…

I used to own a beautifully Hawaiian engraved all chrome Steel Electric Resonator Guitar. It was awesome to look at. I never bonded with it & sold it. I am still looking for the right one.

Those different versions are cool! I have several original Beatles, Stones & others Albums I bought in the 60’s.. Then 8 Tracks which mostly are gone because the Tape unspooled. Then the Cassette versions. And multi CD Versions.. Recently been getting Special Edition Collector Sets which include CD’s, Vinyl & all kinds of memorabilia stuff. I’m not liking some of the newer Re-Mixes as they’re trying to mix them like Records of today.. They don’t seem balanced.. Too much of this, usually Bass, or not enough that.. I prefer the original Mono Mixes of much of the Music.. I have The Beatles Mono Collection & like it a lot. I don’t care for most of the odd Stereo Mixes with voices one side, Instruments on the other side or other not realistic stereo mixes..

Dylan loved putting trips on everyone & was really good at that… He could & still can do whatever he wants & people will buy it… I haven’t been very impressed with for many years… Loved his early Material though.. Classics! I saw Hendrix in Baltimore, Md.. I think it was in 69 also… Amazing Concert! I don’t think there was one Song he covered like the Records.. Still great though! Not many Bands in those days Covered their own Records like the Record live… Much of the time time it was because Pro Studio Session Guys recorded the Instruments on the Records. The Bands we’re trying to Cover what the Session Guys did as best they could when they played live. A few years later I saw the Eagles for the first time in San Diego. Every song was Covered exactly like the Records. Only being live it sounded 10 times better than the Records.. Pretty impressive IMO… I’ve seen them a few times while Glenn was still with us.. Always spot on perfect! Since then I’ve been to lots of Concerts.. Not a lot of Bands do that. Either because they don’t want to or they can’t.. In the end the only thing that really matters is a great Concert…

Back in the 60’s Recording time in an average Studio was roughly $25.00 hr.. plus the Tape, Engr, Producer.. Abbey Road I imagine was more.. My guess is $300.00 a day just for recording.. Multiply X 5 days a week = $1500.00 a week.. Plus Mixing, Mastering, Pressing, Marketing & Promotion.. The Music Business was never cheap!

In their early days they worked their asses off.. There is much in Books about their Studio Schedules which were pretty grueling.. Although, I’ve never read about how much they spent for Studio time, Engrs, Producers, etc. Sometimes the Record label front you the time etc. But, it ain’t free.. Not to mention, Packaging, Record Pressing & all the Marketing & Promotion costs.. Anyone have any idea? As time went on they would spend unbelievable amounts of time writing their songs in the Studio like we saw in the Get Back Documentary…

In some cases, not all, a lot of these Guys couldn’t do them like the Records. Partly because, in those days, the technology didn’t exist. Also, in those days it was hip to be “Revolutionary” in everything you did.. Plus, at the time, they were writing & recording a new Song everyday! Also, in some cases doing it like the Record didn’t move the Crowds as much as some of the extended “Live” versions…

Most Bands eve The Beatles & The Stones didn’t perform their Songs the same when they played live.. There are many live Albums with various renditions.. It isn’t easy playing a Song exactly like the Record.. Including use of the correct Guitars, Amps & FX…. I’ve done it in “The Fab-Tones” a British Invasion Band I played in.. Instrumentally we were 99% spot on, even The correct Guitars. But, nobody has the exact same voices so that was a little off… We did try to recreate the actual Records though & were pretty good. The Pandemic pretty much retired that Band…. Unfortunately..

I don’t know how premium the one is in the OP’s opening Thread Pic but I’ve used these for years & they are a pretty great all around handy Guitar Tool to have in your Case. It doesn’t replace conventional Luthier Tools but it is great for what it is.. A Swiss Army Guitar Tool. https://www.zzounds.com/item--GIBATMT01

Turns out it’s the mother who inherited Control of the Business’ & the Trust.. She’s suing the CEO who turns out to be her Son… Crazy World!

Thank you for your kind words..

Seems Dean Guitars is in the News again.. https://guitar.com/news/industry-news/dean-guitars-ceo-evan-rubinson-sued-mother-allegedly-embezzling-420000/

The News was saying something about someone from Dean was fired for embezzling $400,000.00. I didn’t catch the whole story. Anyone know more?

My Sisters Son was walking at night across a Street in the Victorville, Ca area a couple nights ago & was hit by a Car. He died on the way to the Hospital. The people stopped, called 911 & Police. It is being called an Accident. We don’t know everything yet. Our family is in Shock & in grief. My Heart is broken for my dear Sister. She is the kindest person.

I caught the tail end on the news that a head guy at Dean Guitars just got fired for embezzling $400,000.00. Anybody hear this? Might there be some illegal activity going on at Fender Corona too?