[Interesting item]

Pure conjecture, but using deductive reasoning, I'm going to say that that an item that was on display (or for sale) at the largest musical trade show in Germany at the time, der Musikmesse. 

Picture a NAMM festival, only with better beer and a lot more wine and bratwursts available.

"Musikmesse is the world's leading trade fair for musical instruments and live music as well as music production and music marketing and one of the most important meeting places of the music industry. At Musikmesse you can meet manufacturers, dealers, professional, semiprofessional and amateur musicians in Frankfurt in order to check the latest product news. In addition to the complete product offering numerous workshops, concerts, demonstrations and discussions are held."

I lived in Germany in 1984, and though I only lived 45 kilometers away from that year's Musikmesse in Frankfurt, I sadly did not attend. 

The fold-out, elongated arm/paddle on that tuning key was designed to
a. allow for rapid string winding when mounting new strings
and, 
b. make fine tuning adjustments possible during the gig
and, (to my knowledge) just never caught on with the musicians and consumers of the day. 

Collectible, yes. 
Valuable, probably not. 

😐

http://www.musicassociatesofamerica.com/madamina/1984/frankfurt.html

[Thanks]

I'm thankful for this gift of music, and the privilege and ability to deliver it to audiences. 

And for the day job, which keeps the bills paid. 

😕

[Looking for information]

Looks to be (by the features on display there) a 1956 or early 1957 model of the ES-5 Switchmaster. 

Later in 1957 the P90's were no longer offered on that model, and were replaced by humbucking pickups. 

I'm not sure if the Bigsby is stock, or added on. Probably added on. 

Worth, by Fjestad's Blue Book, around $8,000 , but I have seen them on Reverb with an asking price of $22,000. 

I hope you find that gem of a guitar, but to be fair, it's been gone for decades. 
:(

[Sunday plans]

I've been working on some songs for an upcoming Christmas gig. 

Had a few beers. 
Fixing to grill some steaks for supper. 

The usual. 
:)

[DHL, Bryan Adams and Gibson]

Cool commercial. 

Not a very believable scenario. 

But hey, anything is possible. 

:)

[Everything's Getting Smaller....]

When I was a teenager in the late 1970's, I worked as a 3rd manager at a fast food burger joint. 
Hardee's it was called. 

Their burgers were sizable, and their Deluxe Huskee would fill a modern day pie plate. 
Down the street, a Burger King Whopper was a crew-served meal. 
It could literally feed three hungry men, fresh off a day working in the fields. 

Flash-forward to 2019. 
All the burger joints feature their version of the $17 Half Pound Mega Burger, but I swear none of them would fill the ashtray on my 1972 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser wagon. 
They are tiny. 

It's disheartening. 

I'm gonna shut up now. 
😞

 

[I am off, for awhile at least]

Ha ha ha, thanks, Boris. 
🙂

Yeah, Big Bill, booze and the keyboard do not go together. 

At least I didn't wake up the next morning and find out that I had impulse-ordered a PRS Silver Sky!
😜😞

 

[I am off, for awhile at least]

I'm back. 
And yes, I'll take all due criticism for that dramatic departure.
 

I guess it was Facepage that I really needed a break from, and so (in an alcohol-influenced state),  I threw the babies out with the bathwater. 
 

I really don't get sensory overload here on the Gibson boards, and I truly do enjoying posting and contributing. 

So, please accept my apologies.
 

I'd like to carry on here, and I'll just choose to avoid the political chaos and nonsense that is Facebook instead.

🙂

[I am off, for awhile at least]

My good friends on Facebook,

tdpri.com buddies,

gibson forum associates,

axecentral.com pals,

and myguitarbuddy.com chums:

 

I’m taking a break for awhile, until at least the new year.

 

I’m suffering from sensory overload, I guess.

Time to concentrate on family, dogs, writing, song writing, and music-making.

 

I’ll see you all in January.

Please know that I love most of you.

 

And one of you just might be my son.

 

That is all.
😐
 

[Why is my reputation -2?]

11 hours ago, Cabarone said:

Right below, in your case, where it reads "All Access"...yours is +346 just now...

Ha ha ha!

Okay, in that case, I'm not just dense, but my vision should be checked. 

Thanks, friend Cabarone!
:)

[Why is my reputation -2?]

Maybe I'm dense, but what or where is our Reputation posted?
:(

 

[NGD]

Wow!

Such a beautiful guitar!
Congratulations.
:)

[parent to new Les Paul recipient]

8 hours ago, D Big Daddy M said:

No props for how pretty it is? 

 

I do apologize. 

That guitar in your original post is indeed gorgeous. 

I love the color and the woodgrain very much. 

I really love that it has chrome hardware and not gold. 
(I'm not a fan of the gold.)

I live down south of you by an hour and a half. 
Harvest, Alabama. 

You would laugh at my Les Paul. 
It's butt-ugly. 
(When compared to the one you brought your son, that is.)
See photo below. 
🙂

https://www.dropshots.com/sparkmaj/date/2019-04-15/18:28:25

 

[parent to new Les Paul recipient]

For a young player who wants to explore all options in tone, who probably wants to dabble in guitar effects, and who doesn't want to lug a really heavy amplifier from there to there, I would recommend the Peavey Vypyr VIP2. 

It's a 40 watt modeling amp with a single 12 inch speaker. 
It emulates a variety of classic tube amps, and has dozens of onboard effects and combinations.

The great thing is that it's designed to accommodate electric guitars, acoustic electric guitars, and bass guitars. 
And it sounds brilliant at all three endeavors. 

$249 at Sweetwater and/or Amazon.

A really great and versatile amp, and works well at both stage volumes and bedroom sound levels as well. 
I have gigged with mine. 
Two thumbs up, really!
🙂

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/VypyrVIP2--peavey-vypyr-vip-2-40-watt-1x12-inch-modeling-guitar-bass-acoustic-combo-amp

 

[The price of a decent guitar]

I live in northern Alabama, and will be listening to the game on the radio. 

(I don't watch television anymore.)

It should be a barn-burner, and Eli Gold calls a great game!

🙂

[Anyone Heard from Digger lately?]

Praying for all good things for you, Digger. 

Good luck with the surgery, and hopefully you'll be in fine voice when all is said and done. 

:)

[Surprising outcomes]

1 hour ago, jdgm said:

Which one would you be most likely to  play a blues (clean + mild overdrive) on?

That's a tough one. 

My instinct would be to reach for the Strat, but I would have to do another A/B run between that and the Gibson SG Naked. 

😕

[Surprising outcomes]

Thanks, guys. 

I must confess that, in addition to this being a very subjective 'experiment', I proceeded with no hypothesis from the outcome, (Which is exceedingly bad science.)

Had I hypothesized that the more expensive guitars would have outperformed the cheaper guitars in every measurable manner, the data and opinion would not have supported such a hypothesis.

If I had hypothesized that the heavier-gauge strings would sound better than the lighter, the data would not have yielded a compelling statistical significance to support such a thing. The heavier strings had a slight edge, but it was hardly compelling.

If it was my intention to conduct a test that supported the hypothesis that Cheap Guitars can sometimes run with the pricier ones, then, YES, that would have been supported.

Anyway.
I'm gonna shut up now.
😞

[Surprising outcomes]

I did a bit of an experiment yesterday evening.

I selected eight of my electric guitars, and tuned them all up nicely.
I set the Volume Knobs at 8, and the Tone Knobs to 6.

I plugged one guitar after another thru my Vox AC15 amp, and played the same series of riffs/songs, some thru the clean channel, and the others thru the distorted channel.
I left the amp settings exactly as they were throughout the experiment, with every single control set to 5.
Clean: Steve Miller Band's Fly Like An Eagle
Dirty: Free's All Right Now

The guitars:
Fender Sandblasted Stratocaster
Danny Matthews Zombie Tech custom-built Tele
Gibson Les Paul BFG
Gibson SG Naked
Gibson Firebird Zero
Ibanez AVS10A Artcore Vintage (jazz box)
Ibanez SA120
Devlin DVE 700-TS

All guitars have fairly fresh strings on them.
Most have Ernie Ball Super Slinky's (9's), the Devlin and the Ibanez SA120 have Ernie Ball Primo Slinky's on them (9.5's), and the jazz box has D'Addario flat-wound 10's on it.

I toggled thru all the pickup positions as I played each guitar.
It got a little loud, but I worked at it steadily, playing with the same consistent technique and attack.
And then I did some subjective, unscientific scoring for each guitar.

Bear in mind, all the guitars sounded great, and each sounded just a bit different from all the others.
I will gladly take each of them to a gig, and I will make all of them work just fine.

Here's how the guitars that rose to the top of each category did:

Sounds the most like the original record album:
(Steve Miller song)
Fender Stratocaster
Danny Matthews Tele
(Free song)
Ibanez jazz box
Ibanez SA120

Loudest (at the control settings described above):
Gibson Firebird Zero
Ibanez SA120

Most unique tones:
Ibanez jazz box
Devlin DVE 700

Most sustain:
Gibson Firebird Zero
Devlin DVE 700

Warmest, most pleasing clean tones:
Ibanez jazz box
Fender Stratocaster

Greatest, head-turning, sonic-ally gut-crunching distortion tones:
Gibson Firebird Zero
Ibanez SA120

Most comfortable to hold and play:
Ibanez jazz box
Tie: Ibanez SA120/Gibson SG

Is there anything to be learned from this experiment?
I don't know.

It's surprising how much a lesser-expensive guitar can grab you when compared to a pricier, name-brand guitar.

And the fact that the Firebird Zero, which has been panned by critics from Hong Kong to Holcomb, Kansas, did so well when stacked up to ostensibly better guitars?
And the Ibanez SA120, which cost me exactly $85 in a local pawn shop the other day?

That's a bit of a surprise to me.

Anyway, carry on.
Rock and roll.

🙂

[NGD, a real sows ear/silk purse story]

4 hours ago, jdgm said:

Very nice, simple layout...another 'keeper'?

Yes. 

I think, yes. 
The way she plays, feels, and sounds. 

She's a keeper. 
:)

[P90 or Humbuckers?]

I bought my latest Gibson Les Paul (BFG) and my Gibson SG Naked with the P-90's. 

I have a lot of guitars with humbuckers, and to be honest, I just love/prefer the harmonic textures that the P-90's give me when playing live and at stage volumes. 

All my previous Les Pauls featured humbuckers, and though I loved them all, their tones just never really grabbed me by the guts and squeezed me tight. 
The P-90's do. 

Call me a girl, I am okay with it. 

🙂

[NGD, a real sows ear/silk purse story]

And so, voila, here she is after an entire afternoon of cleaning, fret polishing, waxing, adjusting, DeOxit spritzing, restringing, and just general all around love.

She's a real beauty, and she plays and sounds like a dream.

Such a great double-cutaway!

And the case that came with it is really posh, and form-fitting!


🙂








:V

[NGD, a real sows ear/silk purse story]

So, last year I had my eye on a Devlin solid body guitar, and she was a real looker.
Problem was, the owner was real proud of it, and wanted far too much jingo for the guitar.

I had done some homework on Devlins, and apparently they were fairly high quality Korean-made guitars, and only made between 2006 and 2009 or so. They all retailed for somewhere around $500 or more. (And then the company dissolved, or merged into something else.)

Anyway, last week, I came across a Devlin in a pawn shop just a few towns away from here, and it really caught my eye. It is a double cutaway (much like certain Gibson guitars they used to make, or the Hamer DC that I have always fancied).

Problem is, they pawn shop wanted too much for it, and worst of all, the guitar was in really cruddy condition. Dirty, dusty, gunky, and in a state of neglect.

I went to visit the Devlin a few times, and managed to play it plugged in. The neck is true, the Grover tuners are great, and the guitar is mechanically sound. (It's just really, really filthy.)

So, long story short, I picked her up today, and got it, out the door, for a little over a hundred dollars American.

Here's how she looked this morning when I brought her home.
(Don't worry. I have had my tetanus shot.)
😞

[NGD]

Congrats, and Roll Tide!!

(Sparky, from Harvest, AL)

:)

[The King of Firebird]

I have always said, "If you are going to swing at the ball, swing for the fences".

Rock on, and all the best of luck to you in this endeavor. 

I own a lot of guitars, but only one Firebird. 
A Pelham Blue Firebird Zero, which gets no love all across the internet, but I find it to be a tasty, good-playing guitar. 

I played a gig with it last Friday on the river, and it sounded and felt just right. 

🙂