sparquelito

I was in a local shop last year (a Guitar Center), picking up some cables and a strap. The salesman pointed me to a nice new Fender American Professional II Stratocaster that was on display. It was pretty. I plugged it in, admired the feel of the neck, and played it. Very nice. Classic Strat sounds and tones. Sixteen hundred bones. I then visited the used guitar wall, and found a really pretty mid-2000's Fender Showmaster. Three single coils. Made in Japan or Korea, I cannot recall. I plugged it in, also admired the feel of the neck and played it. Unbelievable. Tones and chimes and sounds like I had never heard. Head and shoulders above the brand new American guitar. $270. I went back to the salesman, and said, "Take my money." He replied, "The body has a hairline crack, I need to make sure you sawr that." The Showmaster did indeed have a crack in the body, running from the base of the body near the bottom strap button, along the wood grain, up toward the bridge. It was a fine, almost invisible hairline crack. I said, "I don't care. This thing sounds fantastic." The guy took the guitar behind the counter, and advised, "It's on a hold for another two days, to clear our used guitar wait policy. Can you pay a deposit now to hold it, and come back and get it Thursday?" The store has a policy that, whenever somebody comes in a sells them a used guitar, they have to wait a few days to turn it around, in case the guitar was stolen or inappropriately acquired. I don't remember the situation. I had already paid for the cables and stuff, and was short on time. I knew that ringing up the Showmaster was going to add 10 or 15 minutes to my timeline. I said, "Eh, I really have to run. I'll show up on Thursday the minute you open, and I will buy it then." The guy shrugged, and put the guitar back on the wall. Sure enough, that Thursday I got held up at work, and couldn't make it back to the GC until 4:00 pm that afternoon. Sure enough, the guitar had been sold earlier that day. The moral of the story is not that my impatience often comes back to bite me. Or that I am a dumb-*** (which I am), and that life is hard, but harder when you are stupid. (Thanks, John Wayne.) It's that the value of musical gear does not always correlate to the number on the price tag. Or even the reputation of the brand and model. How does it look, feel, and sound to you and me? That's the measure of the goodness right there. 😐

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the 19 year old offender was both mentally ill and on drugs. Only one solution at this point; Spay & neuter. 🤨

It sure is pretty. Like a Lamborghini. Only scarier, and more purple. 😗

I like my leather straps to be as soft as a woman's skin. 😐

I'm going to see the long haired hippie chicks at the Health Food store today, and getting myself some of that Krill Oil! Thanks for the tip, MissouriPicker.

I was reorganizing things in my music room yesterday, and dropped the needle on an old Three Dog Night album. Fun time, good memories from the early 1970's. 🙂

dmc.cmd, I have been lucky, re; the purchases I have made via Reverb. Of course, luck like that has more to do with doing business with only the consistently (highly) rated sellers, more so than the host platform. Was this seller highly-rated on Reverb, or a fairly new Reverb member? Here's hoping that Reverb can intervene, and help to facilitate a return. If not, your only recourse is to have the back of the guitar sanded down and re-sprayed with fresh clear-coat. One other thing you can do, if a return never happens, is to SAVAGE that seller in the Feedback/Review part of the Reverb website. Give him zero stars in your review, and describe for everybody exactly what he did in the course of this transaction. Clearly he is guilty of false advertising, and should have shown the fingerprints in his original advert. 🤨

A very exciting purchase!! I have had good experience with ESP and ESP LTD in the past. Not a fan of all the gold plated bits, but that's just aesthetics. Can't wait to hear how it plays and sounds, marco mancini! 🙂

It's raining quite a bit here in northern Alabama. Flash flood Watch in effect. I stocked up on groceries and beer yesterday, and I plan to hunker down here with the wife and dogs, and watch the creek rise. If it goes over the banks and spills across the road, that'll be high entertainment. (Some of the locals just HAVE to go places when there is widespread flooding going on. And watching them making a run for it, despite all warnings to turn around, that's something to see.) 🤨

That is one interesting Gibson Les Paul. I love it. LEGAL DISCLAIMER: When I say I love it, I don't mean to be an enabler, in any way, shape, or form. Sparquelito will not be responsible for the fallout if you buy this guitar and anybody in your house is unhappy about it. 😗

Sometimes we bond with guitars. Sometimes we don't. It's like women. 😗

Parchment White. Or Black. 😗

She seems happy in the Gibson corner. To seal the deal, I finally framed and mounted an old poster that somebody brought me from New York many years ago. I put it in the bedroom nearest my music room. They said they bought it from the Iridium Ballroom. Old Les seems pleased. 😗

Okay, so after selling my last Les Paul 4 months ago (and foolishly vowing not to even consider another one for at least a year), here I am with another LP NGD. To my credit, I did a lot of soul searching over the past months, and pondered why it was I never bonded with the 7 previous Les Pauls I had owned, on and off, since 1978. I came to the realization that I had been longing for a particular LP model, since 2007 anyway, and for whatever reason, never came across one that I could put my hands on. I'm talking about, of course, the weird, wild, and woolly 2007 thru 2011 Gibson Les Paul BFG. I had purchased a BFG back in 2019, but that was the re-issue. It didn't possess the original weirdness of the earlier incarnations. (Naked zebra Burstbucker, P90, clear Lucite cavity covers, no truss rod cover, wooden knobs, and a kill switch.) So it came in and out the door in fairly short order. I finally located my oddball dream guitar a week and a half ago, rolled the dice, and had it shipped from the previous owner up in Canada. Via Reverb, of course. Here she is. A 2011 model. All original, with two slight modifications. The Grover tuners were replaced by the previous owner with locking-type tuners, and the naked zebra Burstbucker was replaced with a Gibson 500T humbucker. I must say that I don't mind the replacement tuners at all, and they work really well. And the 500T is a monster pickup. Loud, toneful, and possessing some serious balls. Best of all, and I have technically had the guitar for two days now, I am really bonding with this guitar. It's light, at 7 lbs, 2 ounces. I love light. And it has the best, most comfortable-feeling neck of any Gibson I have ever owned or played. I really like the feel of this neck. The P-90 is super expressive, and the volume knobs and single tone knobs work like no others I have encountered. Two thumbs up. Hoping that number 8 is the charm. 🙂

What was the thing about ten years ago? Sharknado? (sharks inside a tornado) And older than that, Snakes On A Plane? God help us all. 😔

Restringing seven guitars in one day! Man oh man. One in one day wears me out. But I'm kind of a sissy. 😔

Oh man. A shame. 😔

I still have one of those. It's an old Fender pick, Medium gauge. 🙂

Good catch, Bjarni. On second glace, I believe that the conventional humbucker in that top photo is aftermarket, and the green one is original Gibson. It looks like the 1975 to 1977 Marauder white humbuckers indeed all had those squared-off corners. Good eyes.

My Yamaha Revstar features P90's, and it is a BEAST. If I have to eventually sell off all other guitars, this one may remain as the last guitar standing. It's that good. 😗

Yes. Absolutely. 😉

I agree also with Rabs' advice. That said, I must confess that the Seymour Duncan Dimebucker is probably the bridge pickup you would enjoy the most, given your playing preferences. I have owned a few (in Les Pauls) and they kick a$$. 🙂 https://www.sweetwater.com/seymour-duncan-dimebucker/series

I have no complaints about my experiences regarding products, service, and support from Sweetwater. Good company. 😉