SolitaryPine Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 I also swapped out my bridge. Not with a roller, but with one with graphite saddles, which along with nut sauce seems to help a lot on the tuning. But for me the tuning issue wasn't the reason for the bridge change. I was getting some undesirable rattles out of the harmonica. It still doesn't stay in tune that great, but as long as I stay away from the trem I'm fine. I love the tone of the guitar. But I play it sparingly just because it's so beautiful that I don't want to scratch it up. But I agree the Maestro design is just weird. I can't wait for my Lifeson Axcess. Almost 3 months I've had a deposit down now, ugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canon_mutant Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 I also swapped out my bridge. Not with a roller, but with one with graphite saddles, which along with nut sauce seems to help a lot on the tuning. But for me the tuning issue wasn't the reason for the bridge change. I was getting some undesirable rattles out of the harmonica. It still doesn't stay in tune that great, but as long as I stay away from the trem I'm fine. I love the tone of the guitar. But I play it sparingly just because it's so beautiful that I don't want to scratch it up. But I agree the Maestro design is just weird. I can't wait for my Lifeson Axcess. Almost 3 months I've had a deposit down now, ugh. Now I am considering selling my 355 perhaps to get an Axcess. Like I said though, after all the changes, AL230 plays pretty nice now and I can even use the tremolo for just a subtle vibrato and it is the tone monster of my collection being a hollow body. Can't do both, at the moment. I suspect since I really bought the Lifeson 355 just because I wanted a 355 and it was actually cheaper than the standard 355 I should probably hold on to AL230. Especially since I've largely corrected all that was wrong with it now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolitaryPine Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 Now I am considering selling my 355 perhaps to get an Axcess. Like I said though, after all the changes, AL230 plays pretty nice now and I can even use the tremolo for just a subtle vibrato and it is the tone monster of my collection being a hollow body. Can't do both, at the moment. I suspect since I really bought the Lifeson 355 just because I wanted a 355 and it was actually cheaper than the standard 355 I should probably hold on to AL230. Especially since I've largely corrected all that was wrong with it now. I dunno, the guitars are so different. I can't envision giving up the 355 for the Axcess. If I was thinking about another hollow body, then maybe, but it's hard for me to imagine another hollow body that I'll like more than my AL 355. Bidding is picking up on the eBay Lifeson 355.. now 6 bids, a little over a day to go, $4,150. It's nice to see the value of our guitars going up. But it will take a silly high price to get mine out of my hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canon_mutant Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 I can actually buy a Lifeson Axcess for $3K. If I could get $4500 or more for AL230 I could also get an ES-339 which I like quite well. I can get a new ES-339 for $1480 + tax. That's the kind of things that I've been considering. Wasn't considering it until I saw prices well over $4K. All in all, I'll probably just keep it. It does have some sentimental value now and like I said I now have everything that was wrong with it fixed. Seems kinda silly to part with it now. Just the idea of a 2 for 1 thing is quite tempting and I will admit I am still a bit miffed at everything I've had to do to AL230 to make it play right. Got mine at a friend's employee discount of $3400 but that's still a BUNCH of cash for a guitar that had a 1/2 dozen problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolitaryPine Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 I can actually buy a Lifeson Axcess for $3K. If I could get $4500 or more for AL230 I could also get an ES-339 which I like quite well. I can get a new ES-339 for $1480 + tax. Oh yeah, I get it. That makes sense. 2 for 1 is appealing, unless it ends up that you've got to put all that work in 2 more times! But, at the end of the day, I have to admit I fall in love with the AL 355 every time I turn around and see it hanging on my wall. It's big. It's as white as that light that will lead me into heaven. And it sounds like whipped cream on a molten chocolate lava cake. I ain't sellin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolitaryPine Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Wow, the eBay auction for #064 ended at $4,950! I predict that price will drive more AL 355s to eBay soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canon_mutant Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Wow, the eBay auction for #064 ended at $4,950! I predict that price will drive more AL 355s to eBay soon! Geez, now that is tempting . . . Just played it tonight though. It was still in tune thanks to all my tweaks even though I haven't touched it for at least a week. Sadly, those "tweaks" might actually hurt it's resale. Even just the fact it's been touched at all. Never mind it's a hands down better "playing" guitar now. Could offer it . . . Do you wanna play it? or Do you wanna look at it? And then ship it accordingly with the other bridge and tuners in the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolitaryPine Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Geez, now that is tempting . . . Just played it tonight though. It was still in tune thanks to all my tweaks even though I haven't touched it for at least a week. Sadly, those "tweaks" might actually hurt it's resale. Even just the fact it's been touched at all. Never mind it's a hands down better "playing" guitar now. Could offer it . . . Do you wanna play it? or Do you wanna look at it? And then ship it accordingly with the other bridge and tuners in the case. Yeah, it's weird how people seem to prefer buying used things that are completely stock. The same also seems to be true with cars.. do any mods to it, like an improved suspension, and people get nervous. I guess most people don't like to do research and trust the manufacturer to make all the right decisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUSHian Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 I'm a workin dad, so I'm buying a Epiphone Dot Royal for about $500.00. Alex played a 335, so that's close enough for me, plus it's Alpine White. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canon_mutant Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Yeah, it's weird how people seem to prefer buying used things that are completely stock. The same also seems to be true with cars.. do any mods to it, like an improved suspension, and people get nervous. I guess most people don't like to do research and trust the manufacturer to make all the right decisions. Yeah, I have the same problem with my ole' 442. Turned a 15 sec 1/4 mile car into 13.4 and only 13.4 because I now have a serious traction problem and I actually "hurt" the car's resale value. I can't go more than 1/2 way to the floor out of the hole now or I'll just sit there broiling the tires and when it grabs 2nd gear it leaves 8-10 feet of black mark with both rear tires of course meaning that I am slipping instead of hooking up. Yet, can still hit 13.4. Which car would you rather drive? Likewise, with the ever so slight loss of sustain with the roller bridge that frankly only the most anal are even going to notice, this thing plays SO MUCH better now it's just no competition. Yet, I have no doubt hurt its resale value with the roller bridge and the lockers. Fortunately, like I said previously, by putting the 4-6 Sperzel lockers in the 1-3 positions and the 1-3 Sperzels in the 4-6 positions [just means they twist the opposite direction they normally would] and the bridge is just a drop in replacement I can put this thing completely back to stock but again it depends on do you want to play it or do you want to look at it? I'm seriously oscillating on whether to sell it or not? Maybe I should just put it out there with a like $4500 starting bid and just see what happens? If it doesn't sell, fine. If it does, I paid $3400 for mine so $1100+ profit after playing it for over 2 years . . . not so bad. Had that one guy not gotten $4900 for his I wouldn't even consider it. Though this thing is a tone monster, there are 2 other guitars I would rather have/play than this Lifeson and $4500 will easily cover their cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolitaryPine Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Haha, I'd much rather drive the 13 second car! Well if you do sell it on eBay, I'll give you one little tip. I learned this from a guy I know who owns 5 pawn shops in Vegas and sells literally thousands of items on eBay every year. He tells me that no matter what the product is, that if you put it up there with no reserve price and a $1 starting bid, you'll be 30% more likely to sell it (I guess this is obvious) and, what is surprising, that you'll get, on average, a 20% higher price than if you put a significant reserve price or starting bid amount on there. That totally blew me away. He claims more people get involved in the bidding and get excited, and if just two of those people start to behave irrationally then the bidding will shoot above what it's really worth. But of course if you are just selling one thing, and not thousands, you may not want to play the percentages and just make sure that if you do sell it that it gets at least what you want. And if you don't, you still have a cool guitar, which of course is not how a pawn shop thinks. Anyway, good luck with whatever you do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canon_mutant Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Haha, I'd much rather drive the 13 second car! Well if you do sell it on eBay, I'll give you one little tip. I learned this from a guy I know who owns 5 pawn shops in Vegas and sells literally thousands of items on eBay every year. He tells me that no matter what the product is, that if you put it up there with no reserve price and a $1 starting bid, you'll be 30% more likely to sell it (I guess this is obvious) and, what is surprising, that you'll get, on average, a 20% higher price than if you put a significant reserve price or starting bid amount on there. That totally blew me away. He claims more people get involved in the bidding and get excited, and if just two of those people start to behave irrationally then the bidding will shoot above what it's really worth. But of course if you are just selling one thing, and not thousands, you may not want to play the percentages and just make sure that if you do sell it that it gets at least what you want. And if you don't, you still have a cool guitar, which of course is not how a pawn shop thinks. Anyway, good luck with whatever you do. You know this could well be true but I'd never risk it with a guitar like this. You see, though I am a fortunate man in many ways none of it has been due to luck. My luck story is about playing a game of poker we used to call High Chicago, though I don't know if that's the real name or not, it's what we called it. Anyway, you draw one card each and pass or play based on high card, and then pass or play all the way to everyone having 5 cards and then it's just straight poker after that. First card, I draw the Ace of hearts. Nice pot already there from several rounds of no one winning and only one card in the deck can beat me and only 4 cards have been dealt. You play under such conditions. The guy across from me had the Ace of spades. I lost, got to double the pot. So, if I tried to sell a guitar like this with no starting price and no reserve, someone would get a Lifeson 1 of 300 ES-355 for $49.95. Not $4995. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superdick2112 Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 There is a used Lifeson ES-355 for sale at Wildwood Guitars right now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolitaryPine Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 There is a used Lifeson ES-355 for sale at Wildwood Guitars right now... Nice spot. AL 073, asking price $4945. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolitaryPine Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 AL 163 now on eBay. One bid so far, current price $3,895. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolitaryPine Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 AL 163 just sold on eBay for $5,300. The prices just keep going up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolitaryPine Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Nice spot. AL 073, asking price $4945. I just noticed this guitar is no longer on the Wildwood web site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolitaryPine Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 AL 038 now on eBay.. minimum bid $5,300, buy it now $5,850. No bids yet. There is a user on these forums with the handle "AL 038". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilpanda Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 I would like to ave one, but Im broke! I suppose I could settle with the nice looking LP, Im in love with the Royal Crimson one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolitaryPine Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 AL 038 now on eBay.. minimum bid $5,300, buy it now $5,850. No bids yet. There is a user on these forums with the handle "AL 038". This auction has been ended with 0 bids. Also, it looks like I missed one that sold on eBay on Aug 16 2011 for $5,300. Serial number was blurred, but it looks like it was two digits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibson CS Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 Wow - this one went under the radar with a $2600 BIN! http://www.ebay.com/itm/GIBSON-ALEX-LIFESON-ES-355-NEAR-MINT-W-OHSC-C-O-A-/260857278212?pt=Guitar&hash=item3cbc4e2f04 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolitaryPine Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 Wow - this one went under the radar with a $2600 BIN! http://www.ebay.com/itm/GIBSON-ALEX-LIFESON-ES-355-NEAR-MINT-W-OHSC-C-O-A-/260857278212?pt=Guitar&hash=item3cbc4e2f04 Somebody set their "buy it now" a little too low I think! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 Beautiful guitar..........Stunning....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superdick2112 Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 I just noticed this guitar is no longer on the Wildwood web site. AL073 was mine, & I ended up selling it privately for more than I would have recieved after Wildwood's comission. I never could get it to stay in tune, the volute issue (and it's associated cover-up) began to bother me, and the crisp Alpine white finish was starting to yellow (not evenly & not attractively). I used some of funds from the sale to purchase a Gibson 50th Anniversary Robby Krieger SG, and I have to say that the build quality, playability and tone of the SG far surpasses anything I've played or owned from the Custom Shop. The SG is by far the best guitar I've ever owned or played. I have a Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Axcess Standard (in Ice Tea) that is a very nice guitar, but again, it's not as nice as my non-Custom Shop SG. There is another Lifeson 355 at Wildwood now - AL227 - with a price of $4500, and it's been sitting there awhile now. Seems like only the ones sold on eBay move quickly & fetch the really big bucks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolitaryPine Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 AL073 was mine, & I ended up selling it privately for more than I would have recieved after Wildwood's comission. I never could get it to stay in tune, the volute issue (and it's associated cover-up) began to bother me, and the crisp Alpine white finish was starting to yellow (not evenly & not attractively). I used some of funds from the sale to purchase a Gibson 50th Anniversary Robby Krieger SG, and I have to say that the build quality, playability and tone of the SG far surpasses anything I've played or owned from the Custom Shop. The SG is by far the best guitar I've ever owned or played. I have a Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Axcess Standard (in Ice Tea) that is a very nice guitar, but again, it's not as nice as my non-Custom Shop SG. There is another Lifeson 355 at Wildwood now - AL227 - with a price of $4500, and it's been sitting there awhile now. Seems like only the ones sold on eBay move quickly & fetch the really big bucks... Sorry to see you sell it, but hopefully it was at least a good investment for you. My first real guitar was an SG, so I always have a soft spot for them in my heart. Sadly it died in a tragic airline baggage handler accident. :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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