Sheraton II or Dot?

[milod]

Actually my 175 is a mid 1970s Ibanez "copyright infringement" version. It's clearly marked "Ibanez," but... otherwise is as close a duplicate as possible. It's a wonderful instrument I dearly love and obviously have played for years. When I got it there were no Gibson dealers for hours away, this was a decent deal and was just about what I wanted. As you may recall, Gibson didn't exactly have a hot rep n the mid 1970s and I saw no Epis or whatever at that time either.

 

I reeeeeeally like the 175.

 

But...

 

Last summer I got a Dot - I would have gone for the 335 had I the cash - largely because the full hollow doesn't work all that well in rotten winter weather on the Northern Plains of North America.

 

So... Why not an Ibanez? I tried several before deep down I decided on the Dot. The neck and playability was a major consideration and a bit more "Gibsonlike" sound was also a consideration. I'll not fault the Ibanez semis or hollows in terms of general quality, at least not that I've seen. They just aren't quite "it," if that makes any sense at all.

 

OTOH, I'm not a whammy bar guy. Back when I had guitars with them, usually a Bigsby, I'd disable them. I guess they're not all that bad with a roller bridge, but... I think they also somewhat add something to the sound I don't particularly care for. That last might just be my head working to justify my dislike of the darned things. They also add weight.

 

BTW, I've a roller bridge on my earlier 1970s Guild S100c "clone" of an SG, and that's with a stopbar tailpiece. Frankly I like the thing on that guitar too. The feel of an SG is something I rather like and the old Guild works well for almost any style of music, including a nice warm sound for "jazz." It's not a hollow or even semi, but it has me convinced that a nice warm SG is incredibly versatile 'cuz I also used it for country twanging and some rock ranging from Chuck Berry to whatever...

 

m

[rdsmith3]

When I bought my Dot, I compared it to an Ibanez AS73. Both are semihollow. They are very comparable guitars. I think the fit and finish on the Ibanez may be a little better, but the pickups on the Epi seemed better. Both retail for around $400, but I got a much better deal on the Dot, so I went with that.

 

IMHO Ibanez makes some very nice guitars.

[milod]

The Ibanez(s) I looked at over the past year in a semi version were awfully purty. Didn't play all that poorly, either.

 

But as you noted, the sound from the Dot's sufficiently better that one hears the difference without much difficulty through several different amps. I've gotta admit too that I'd consider the Ibanez a second place to the Dot - Dot playability was a tad better from my perspective. Both of those admittedly are subjective, but still...

 

m

[tartanbeastie]

The Ibanez(s) I looked at over the past year in a semi version were awfully purty. Didn't play all that poorly, either.

 

But as you noted, the sound from the Dot's sufficiently better that one hears the difference without much difficulty through several different amps. I've gotta admit too that I'd consider the Ibanez a second place to the Dot - Dot playability was a tad better from my perspective. Both of those admittedly are subjective, but still...

 

m

 

 

thats cool, i'm just glad that there are so many guitars out there, it would be an awful dull if we didnt have the choice. the dot is a great guitar, I will never argue against that but its just not time for me to have a dot yet.

[milod]

Tartan...

 

I don't mean this in terms beyond the very direct literal sense, but I think my age has a lot to do with my choices and perspective.

 

In retrospect, I've made lots of mistakes on guitars and gear. To do it over again I'd not get the big amps, I'd get a big PA with carryable speakers. I'd do it so I could use the guitar amps to feed into the pa rather than push the amp - and thereby get a better mix on stage. I'm not even sure I'd need a guitar amp for most of what I'm likely to do on solo gigs, and I've equipment enough to handle a small saloon or coffee house with power to spare. I've got enough power to turn music into sheer noise nobody would want if it were a "band" decibel power struggle.

 

I'm a lot less concerned with brand and "type" of guitar and rely on guitars I love the feel of and the playability for what it is - e.g., a 12 string, a full hollow, AE steel, AE electric, semi, SG type... I even considered at one point a Variax except... the neck.

 

That's frankly why I don't understand the hatred of some folks for the new electronic Gibson offerings. From what I can see they're top quality stuff for what they are and offer a decent replication of a number of types of guitar, can change tunings in the wink of an eye and best of all, it's a Gibson neck on one guitar I could carry easily for a rainbow of styles at a solo gig. Yeah, I'd want either that old Guild or the new Dot as a backup in case of disaster.

 

If HenryJ said, "M, gimme your old Guild, your old Ovation AEs, the 12 and everything else except your old girlfriend the 175, and I'll give you a new Firebird," Yeah, I think I'd bite. It'd hurt to part with wonderful stuff I've played for roughly 35 years, but... for playing out? Gee, I'd say, could I just promise not to play any one of 'em more than once a year for old time's sake? I dunno. I'd express concerns about some stuff but it likely would depend on how I liked a specific neck.

 

But I guess I digressed.

 

Yeah, there are a lot of "new" style guitars out there, but the basics ain't changed much. That's why I increasingly look at playability first in a guitar, then at amplification I can carry pretty much myself either for a solo or group gig - and finally at anything else. As a "kid" well into my 30s I looked at brand, style, tone, the most powerful guitar amp I could find that an average human could sorta move... Mikes and PA and a balanced sound were "oh, yeah, I should do that too." That was not very bright. Yeah, I'd have argued against that too - 30 years ago.

 

So... I really don't care to look that much at "new" stuff unless it's reeeeally new. I've seen so many guitars the past 50 years it doesn't make much difference. I know more or less what I "need," and if that inclination "clicks" on a very personal, very tactile level... I want it. All else is secondary.

 

m