TBP

Clutch - Psychic Warfare. First day of release album I've bought in a very long time. For those familiar with Clutch, it's pretty straight forward rock, along the lines of Earth Rocker, with a bit of funkiness and the like in places. I tend to prefer the Blast Tyrant and Elephant Riders stuff more, but the album still rocks while Tim Sult's tone and playing are sublime.

I like my maple-topped Hamer but that's the only one I have, and I also tend to dislike the look of heavily flamed or quilted maple (or maybe it's because the guitars that have it are typically heavily ornamented). I did recently buy a PRS, however: a used, solid mahogany, fairly bling-free Mira. Oddly, I was thinking of getting a 335-style guitar, realized I love the sound of a solid slab of mahogany and came across the Mira. So, I don't think anything's wrong with you. For some more blasphemy: I've gone acoustic shopping twice, once with a fairly modest budget and once to find "the one." While listening to and reading reviews and tonal descriptions I was nearly convinced I'd want a rosewood/spruce guitar, especially while searching for "the one" as my modest budget choice was all sepale. The one I wound up choosing is mahogany/spruce and has very little ornamentation. (But for possibly the true blasphemy: I haven't had acoustic GAS since getting it).

I was considering Buffalo or Columbus (both a little under 3 hours away) but it looks like it'd be an fairly pricy evening, so I'm not planning on going. And here the only arena rock show I've been to was for Rush. But I'm glad they can still demand high prices at huge venues instead of getting by with Rocksino gigs.

Well, I thought I would buy something in 2014 but didn't. (Although I did buy a camera and tires). But I can sign up for this challenge, as I just ordered a used PRS Mira (the pre S2 version). I've not owned a PRS before, so this should be interesting. And the price was pretty good with an option to return it. Sounds like I'm justifying, doesn't it?

Sorry that it's come to that. I also posted over there on occasion and found some good information there. Until the last few weeks there seemed to be a strong community as well, but I've been kind of an irregular/outsider so I wasn't privy to all the personality dynamics (with which I was okay).

I may ask for a Line 6 Sonic Port. If it helps anyone, last year I asked for and received a Couch strap: https://www.couchguitarstraps.com/ . I got the Mustang trunk liner. And I'm seeing if I can find an excuse to buy a Little Bits synth kit for someone: http://littlebits.cc/kits/synth-kit . Other than that, I don't know, but I just bought myself a set of tires.

Opening this thread may have severely damaged my preference for buying used. I already took an amp I bought off eBay, cleaned it while outside, in winter, then put it in a plastic bag and kept it outside for a few days. I never saw signs of a bug problem, but the overall condition of that amp made me suspicious. (And I haven't bought an eBay amp since). But no, I've not had this happen.

Glad I opened this thread for that story. Feel the same way about my first turntable. Although with me it was also the first time I heard Charlie Parker, Led Zeppelin, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, BB King, Miles Davis, ZZ Top and Rush. Mine died some time ago, though (it wasn't as good). I keep thinking I should get another, as I still have a lot of vinyl just waiting to be listened to.

Cool article, but the Geddy Lee quote, "“In the past, I wrote bass patterns that were connected to the vocals in a way that allowed me to do it live without killing myself or tying my brain into a pretzel," makes me think he must be especially brilliant if he believes those bass lines are easy on the thought process. Well, unless "in the past" only applied to their time period I never really listen to and may be different. Edit - But I'd probably replace Simmons with Suzi Quattro just for the fact that I think she's better at wearing leather pants.

Yeah, I guess I didn't help with my response. But I once spent a summer in a pit orchestra with a clarinet, bass clarinet, alto sax, tenor sax and flute, so the appeal of having a multitude of instruments at a single gig may have gotten lost on me, even just switching between them all during the performance. It felt like there were more at the time, but that may be because I went through a lot of reeds. But that was also an extremely fun summer. I had a steady three month gig and stage actors throw great parties.

These days I'm thinking I could keep my Hamer Artist Studio, my Strat, one acoustic and the 5F1 champ-based amp and sell everything else. Then I look at other stuff and think, hmmm, one more... But for a perfect gig set up I'd probably go with the Hamer Artist and Strat (or maybe one of those PRSs with a coil tap, like the DGT, McCarty or Mira, but I've never owned a PRS) and either a Princeton Reverb or Vox AC30.

I paid a bit under $2,500 for my most expensive guitar, which is an acoustic Collings OM1. I bought it used, but it still took a lot of internal justification to part with that much for a guitar, but I wanted to reward myself for getting through some things with that one, special "lifetime" acoustic. My other guitars have been between $400 (Strat) and $1,200 (G&L). The Hamer's in the middle.

Very sorry to hear this. Hope everyone is able to find jobs they love very soon.

Thread resurrection! I remember those kinds of ads when I was pretty active playing or recording/mastering (used to work in a mastering studio). After a while I noticed a pattern in that the ads with the most "don't bother unless..." and gear requirement attitudes were put up by people significantly lacking in skill. But I have to admit I developed my own stereotype based mostly from jazz saxophone gigging: musicians who tended to carry all of their gear on one trip almost always turned out to be amazing, and most of them had fairly modest gear. On the other hand, those who had to keep going out to bring in more stuff were often--but not always--less than inspiring when they played. For a while my expectations for someone I hadn't yet heard play went down a little with each addition to his/her setup.

Wow. It kind of makes me want to get in on the 2014 challenge. But then I go and click on the for sale board...

About a year and a half ago I came across a used Collings OM1. Well, now I own a Collings OM1. It was a great deal but still more than twice what I paid for any other guitar (and about six times what I paid for my first). So I feel a little guilty about having it, as I think it deserves a much better player. Playing it makes does make about any day better, and I'm glad I have it after today. It also has almost no ornamentation and is one of the most well-crafted anythings I've ever held.

I've seen this similar argument with other instruments and various things. I generally agree, with some caveats. While about all guitars are made with a price point in mind, I think skilled people taking time to properly build an instrument with good materials and machinery will stand an excellent chance of being great, whereas an instrument churned out as quickly as possible with lowest-bidder materials and inexpensive labor have the odds stacked against them. There are middle grounds, of course, but mostly inexpensive instruments aren't quite finished. So, yes, you can take one of these, redress the frets, resolder and/or replace some electronics, adjust everything, maybe even replace cheaper metal parts with better ones. It may turn out to be good at that point, even excellent, but at some point I wonder why I just didn't get the one a skilled person took his/her time building right. Personally, I'd rather buy things that were made with care and skill, as I would like to help keep those people around. Despite that, I don't think I'm a cork sniffer. I may be deluding myself, but I personally don't care for fancy inlays, ultra flame or quilted tops and I have a serious aversion to gold hardware. I admire the skill taken in creating those guitars, but I tend to like more understated instruments, like my Hamer Artist Studio. But I still want well crafted instruments and seriously believe I can feel the difference when playing one. So my caveat here is that I prefer when most of the work has been put in the functional part rather than ornamentation. Once you get to the "bling," you're not really getting a better instrument, just a fancier one, which is where the diminishing returns really kick in. So I really appreciate companies that manage to build great guitars at reasonable price points. As a final aside, my dad bought a lot of guitars in his younger days. He always looked for bargains, as he was in the "these are just as good" camp (and he spent most of his money taking care of his family and never really spent much on himself). While they've been taken care of, most of them haven't held up well, and the way they were made has become more evident as they aged. --- Edit: I wrote way too much again. I'm tempted to delete this all and replace with a few words. Um, how about, "I like the hearty aroma of a good mahogany note with dressed frets, but the bouquet of abalone and gold plating distresses my palette."

After buying a G&L last spring, I spent the rest of 2013 gas-free. Lately though I've had an urge to get another electric. Maybe it's this winter. The things I've found myself lusting after are: - Another Hamer. I have an Artist, but I'm tempted by the Studio. Then there's that all mahogany Artist now at Dave's. - A Heritage H150 or (maybe) a 535. I've never had an LP or 335 style guitar, so those are tempting. - A PRS McCarty. Much of PRS's "bling" doesn't appeal to me, but whenever I've seen an older, simpler McCarty without birds I've thought, Hmmmmm...

It's been a while, but I was once an audio engineer. I mainly worked in mastering, but I did a bit of in studio work, as well. Much of the time, lower-powered guitar amps were preferred. There are a few reasons, including isolation, the concern of fatigue--especially on the occasion a guitarist does 73 takes of a solo--and, mostly being easier to get a sound which, coupled with mic placement, records well. From what I hear from a few of the people I know who still regularly record, however, digital processors are now used at least as often as amps.

Bet that tweed gives a nice spectrum, with a great bottom end. I am obsessive compulsive and prefer overdrive to metal pedals, might need to snag a OCD pedal. Always good to have at all volumes. It does. It's one of the things I'd wish I'd sprung for earlier. I had to wait a couple months after ordering, but it was worth it. At some point I'd like to get the time and try building one, but until then there are some great builders around. I also highly recommend the OCD. I don't have a vast amount of pedal experience, but it's more responsive to touch and dynamics than other pedals I've tried.

I either use a version of a 5F1 tweed Champ made by an independent builder or a Vox Pathfinder 15R. I typically use an OCD pedal in front of the 5F1 as the pairing can go from a little grit to full blown stack-like sound at conversation volume. I typically plug straight into Pathfinder, particularly late at night, but I'll occasionally also use a Korg Pandora to play with a rhythm track.

Recently got the ZZ Top '70-'90 set, mainly for the non-eightiesified versions of the first five albums. Those five have been in rotation with Clutch's Earth Rocker and Julian Lage's Gladwell for the past week or so.

I saw that on TGP. I don't know anything about those pickups, but my first reaction was, "Why?" But they may be great. Anyway, as a related PSA, there's also a '93 Special for $650, interesting also in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=1373369&highlight=hamer

Congratulations and that's a great promise to make. And to the seller. Sorry you had to let them go. If it's any consolation, I like many people have had patches where I've had to make similar hard decisions, but I got through them and eventually came out of it, usually better, even if just for the appreciation of doing so.

I've been away form the board for a bit, but early in 2013 I came across a G&L ASAT Korina with P90s offered at a price that matched a just-received bonus. So I spent it all in one place. That was the only guitar in 2013, but I bought a 5F1 style amp from an independent builder.