Guitars... what you've got / what you want

lots of discussion in the Stratocaster vs. Telecaster thread but figured we need something a little more general and all encompassing.

hoping to see lots of gear pics, wish lists, items you're eying, etc.

Have: Jaguar, Jazzmaster, Telecaster Deluxe
Want: big headstock Stratocaster in Olympic white, a Michael Karoli tribute guitar

Really want: Science Earthling (OR120-ish amp) but I don’t see having enough room for a big amp and 2x12.

current wishlist:

– 70s guild s-100 (would take one of the 90s re-issues too)
– ~70s Tele Deluxe natural
– SG standard, any year really, any color but cherry
– Jazzmaster - would love a j mascis or troy van luween sig model

"a Michael Karoli tribute guitar"

whats this?

I have a 2000s Japanese Fender Tele, a Fender Duo-Sonic, a recent custom Squier Classic Vibe 70s Tele, a Jackson Randy Rhoads, an Epi Korina Explorer with upgraded pickups and an Ibanez RG.

I don’t have room for anything else at the moment but would like a Jaguar at some point.

xp - that’s the Stratocaster I associate with him, not an official model or anything.

cool, you gonna try and build one out of parts or something? or did he play a certain year model?

shari thats a good collection which rhoads version do you have? do you play it a lot?

Have:
Gretch country club 1961
Ibanez,dunno but it's black
Hondo, it's a Gibson copy I think, but a good one.

Want:
Nothing really. Maybe a bass.

oh gonna need to see a pic of that gretsch.

i just bought three vintage gretsch's at an estate sale two weeks ago, gonna flip two of them and keep one i think. also got a hondo super strat copy at goodwill a few months back. i'll snap some pics over the weekend.

My Jazzmaster from a stupid angle

https://i.imgur.com/ZGF3Sh6.png

nice, matching headstock? what year is it?

2018, I think - '65 American Vintage Thin Skin from Wildwood. It was B-stock because the Firemist Silver is off but I like it because it's a little more blue.

my collection is disgusting

I forgot one from above because it's currently not playable - Peavey T-60, waiting on a new aluminum neck.

thanks for making this! i have:

- '72 tele thinline reissue c. 2000, natural finish, made in mexico. a few months ago i put the new wide range humbucker reissues in this.

- 2002 taylor 310 dreadnought, no electronics

- c. 2006 classic player strat, also MIM, sonic blue. i got this for a sweet deal because i contacted the craiglist seller from my work email and it turned out we worked for the same company.

- 2005 MIJ '66 jag reissue in lake placid blue. tricked out with duncan antiquties, mastery bridge, and mastery trem before i bought it.

- 2020 FGN (fujigen) neo classic - their take on the goldtop p-90 les paul

wants list changes all the time but currently at the top would be a white blonde 50s spec tele and a late 50s style jazzmaster in sunburst with the anodized gold pickguard.

- my main guitar is a late ‘60s galanti grand prix - a funky weird old Italian guitar i love: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPcDy49hhBl/
- epiphone dot that was my primary guitar for a long time
- alvarez acoustic my dad bought me when i was a teen
- my old beloved but sadly broken vantage semihollowbody lives in the basement. I’d like to get it fixed (something wrong with the wiring or pickups) but haven’t been able to justify spending money on it
- my wife’s ‘90s SG (coral pink) and danelectro bass

i don’t plan on buying any new gear anytime soon bc I’m not playing much. but the dream would be a vintage es-355. most of the other guitars that appeal to me are weird trashy 60s guitars or newer guitars that replicate that aesthetic

I've been given more guitars than I've purchased, and sold or given away more than I have. Currently:

-early 90's Tele Plus+ in natural finish, with the lace sensor pickups. That's my childhood guitar though I had a cheap 'starter' guitar before this one. Weighs a ton and really beat up. I never touch it anymore but I've had it almost 30 years, so can't give it up now. It's identical to the one Dead Meadow guy plays. Well, might have a couple more stickers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmxPWo6kBxA

-Danelectro '59 DC. It's a reissue, but an older reissue. I've had it since like 2006.

-a Korean made Saint Blues 61 South with a bigsby

-A 70's Musicmaster bass (no finish, not even clear)

-A Savona AWN-20 violao made in Brazil

-a cheap Yamaha acoutsic/electric 12 string that I also never touch.

I mostly play the Dano (because it's got a super comfortable neck and sounds good unplugged) and the Brazilian acoustic.

Always wanted a butterscotch 52 RI Tele. In 2008-ish I played a 6129T-1962 silver jet in a guitar store in Queens that I've lusted after since, mostly cause it looks amazing. It's basically a duo jet with the silver sparkle. Very much doubt I will ever purchase another guitar, though.

I'm not a gearhead or very fussy about guitars and guitar tones but I was into pedals at one time.

I was never one of those guys with 50 different overdrive pedals in search of the perfect tube screamer (at the risk of stating the obvious), more of a Gonkulators and Space Stations kind of pedal freak.

Currently have:
1. Goya classical from the 60s, it was my mother's

2. MIM Stratocaster

3. Squier Thinline Telecaster

4. Yamaha TRBX174 bass

5. Recording King Martin 000 copy

6. Fender mandolin

7. Hora bouzouki

8. Kit ukulele

There are probably a few more in storage but that's what I can put my hands on at present.

Want:

Mandola or octave mandolin

Hollowbody with p90s

Something with just a neck pickup

late 90s gibson les paul deluxe double cutaway, cherry sunburst

late 90s american standard tele, rosewood fretboard, 3 tone sunburst

early 80s ovation acoustic that belonged to my dad and is very special to me so please be nice

always really wanted a jackson randy rhodes or kelly or something.

i would like an es-335 too i guess

this thread is already great--i'm curious about what drove everyone's haves/wants. what motivates someone to get a given guitar is always interesting to me.

I’m dying for a Guild S-300 (not the one with the Dimarzio pickups, the one with the shitty Guild pickups)... in white, if possible.

I have no reason to get another guitar; I already have way more than I can use. But those things look so FUCKING cool, & with the phase-inverter switch I could get the tinny funk tones I want on occasion without any other fuss.

I bought a Guild B-301 a couple of years ago, same body type, roadworn as fuck, a beautiful beast, & I haven’t had any occasion to play it.

I haven’t actually picked up a guitar except strumming a cover or 2 once a month or so since Covid started (except for a couple weeks last fall when indoor gatherings weren’t yet banned, & my keys player & I jammed with a drum machine)

xp I collect Japanese solid bodies mostly, I love how well they’re made and I particularly like getting something a bit cheap or weird and fixing / adjusting until it’s great to play. I also can’t resist something I know to be underpriced compared to its quality. The problem is there’s no endpoint for that kind of process so I have a lot now. Better than collecting cars maybe.

Currently have:

1. 1965(?) Gretsch Corvette, the model with 2 hilotrons. Neck like a baseball bat, fake bigsby only goes down & not up so not super useful for the kind of vibrato you want a bigsby for, lo-output pickups play nicely with my hot little amp (a Tex Bernie CC)

2. Gretsch CVT, the Chinese-made modern version of the Corvette. Neck is wicked, bigsby is great, plays like a dream. Too hot for my amp; I should have just bought a volume pedal instead of the vintage Corvette

3. ESP Hybrid II. Swapped the shitty stock bridge pickup out for a TV Jones & scrapped the neck pickup altogether. Stupid purchase, and it’s a reasonably expensive guitar that nobody wants so I’ll never be able to sell it. It’s nice to play but it’s way more of a lead guitar than a rhythm guitar & I have no chops

4. Gretsch baritone guitar of some description. Was a placeholder for a Reverend Descent when I was in a 2-person band, just drums & bari... band never got off the ground so I don’t have a lot of use for it. Still jonesing for a Reverend Descent tho, for NO GOOD REASON

5. MIM Tele Cabronita. Decent player, lotta raunch. I think I swapped out the stock pickups for TV Joneses? Can’t remember. Didn’t get much stage time since the Corvette(s) came along

6, 7. A couple of shitty cheap Japanese acoustic guitars

Basses:

1. The aforementioned Guild B-301

2. The dumbest purchase I ever made, a 1968/1970 Fender Telecaster bass (one year is the neck, one year is the body but I can’t remember which). Used to belong to Billy Joel’s bassist apparently. Traded a late-70s P-bass plus a whack of cash for this glamourpuss, which looks like a million bucks but just doesn’t have any mojo whatsoever, like dating the most boring model you ever met

Pretty much after I got out of college in the mid 90s, I pretty much have been a gearwhore up til a few years ago, I realized this was nuts. It has taken quite a while to sell off the lot. I actually sold 2 basses, a guitar head, a vintage drum machine and an analog synth today.

I also finalized an order getting this parts guitar put together today, which when it is done I will have 10 instruments (4 basses, 4 electric guitars and 2 acoustics).

guitars...

I got two of other peoples 'failed' parts guitars of fleabay way cheaper than the parts itself would have cost. One is a black 'Gilmour' inspired strat that was wired up all wrong and had a thin neck. I sold the neck off, got a big fat neck made for it. I've had this one a decade now.

The other 'failed' parts guitar was a Warmoth firebird copy body (that they no longer made) that had a single TV Jones Powertron and was painted this ugly white color. I traded a Gibson Flying V (that I had found cheap)and the strat neck to get it repainted and a new neck. The F-bird was a mess as it needed a 'conversion neck'. I got it painted the same color red and the firebird logo from a '74 Transam. It's pretty wicked looking. That said, the neck is not as thick as I was really wanting...so I don't really jive with it like I would like.

The other guitar I have is a 2 Humbucker Tele build that I friend of mine who is a pro luthier put together when he was building out of his house for a few years. It has a pair of Dimarzio zebra humbuckers that I had at one point in a black mexico strat. I've had it also for over a decade now.

basses...

I sold my 78 Pbass and my first year Geddy Lee jazz bass in the past few months. I bought the Pbass for $250 bucks in '91 and a buddy of mine said I paid too much at the time. Could not believe I got $1500 bucks out of GC for the thing...it weighed a metric ton. The Ged I played in the cover band I was in when I first moved to KY.

I got one of those SG reissue basses when they first came out and kinda got hooked on it. I got it and found dirt cheap that Norlin bass I was talking about. Liked the SG one, I ran into one of the guitar of the week sunburst versions - so I got and later on a Thunderbird (Watt/Kim Gordon) that I always wanted. The Firebird is the best 'sounding' bass I got. That said the aircraft carrier case is kinda awkward, so I always dug having the two SG basses. I kinda think humbucker pickups are a bit underrated on basses now. I think they work really well in a trio setup.

acoustics...

I got a mid-70s Alvarez acoustic that I have had probably 15 years or so. It's not a particularly 'loud' acoustic but it has a very sweet sound. I got a used Martin Dx... series acoustic and that one I play ALOT. I love the laminate neck, it is so stable. It has excellent action up the neck.

amps...

I got a couple of Mesa Boogies including a 50 Caliber+ head (knicked named the DOOM BOOGIE) and a Single Rectifier head. I also have a 50 watt'68 silverface Bassmen head. Previous owner had it completely gone over. It's killer for recording Bass and with my Ampeg Scrambler reissue pedal - it sounds DEAD on for Jim McCarty's tone on the early Cactus records.

I have:

1997 Japanese John Jorgenson signature "Hellecaster" (heavy as fuck champagne sparkle/gold strat/G&L Comanche style guitar with Z pickups)

White 90s Japanese Jazzmaster

Teal post-2000-seeming Mexican tele

Want:
A tele that's brighter sounding/a bit less of a slog to play (unless they're all like that, I can't even remember)

A Rickenbacker bass (lol)

I'll probably succumb to the siren call of a Jag at some point in my life but my Jazzmaster is very nice to play so no rush

I've got every piece of music gear (minus the $100 drum set with $150 in new heads that lives in the basement) along one wall in the tiny room that has become my wife's home office over the last year; she gets lots of comments during zoom meetings and has to tell the guys (always guys) that she has no idea about or interest in what is going on behind her.

https://i.postimg.cc/HkrLhkqX/IMG-1139.jpg

1. 1981 Tokai Silver Star, modified with a blend pot instead of the second tone knob and a direct out switch because I hate hitting the volume knob all the time by accident. I posted about this earlier in the thread, never wanted a strat but found this one for pretty cheap and wanted white one with a rosewood fretboard and big 70s headstock (Karoli style?).

2. 1974 Gibson SG. I got this last year right before lockdown. It's in decent shape, I love the skinny neck, and I wanted something from my birth year and this was relatively cheap compared to most other options. I replaced all the pots and capacitors and jack which feels sacrilegious but they were all scratchy and loose but I kept the switch. Ian Mackaye and Carrie Brownstein, some Iommi, not really Angus Young.

3. A 2017 Telecaster Deluxe neck on the routed out body of a 1998 MIM telecaster, with P90s. I had built this with Lace Matt Pike humbuckers and the full 'Jimmy Page' wiring with four push-pull pots but learned I don't like humbuckers that much. I didn't really know these guitars existed til 10 years ago or so and I love the weird hybrid bastardized neck/body combo and 'fuck it just route everything and make a giant pickguard' Fenderness of it.

4. 2014 Epiphone 335 Pro with updated pickups and the Jimmy Page wiring (in a semi-hollow for pure masochism). This was the second electric I got and would probably be the first to go if I was to sell any - I like bright as shit guitars and this one isn't, plus the neck is very square feeling. I honestly don't remember why I wanted to get a semi-hollow - probably some sort of No Age / Bob Weir combination.

5. 1971 Yamaha FG 180 - one of the red label / 'Nippon Gakki' ones that seem to be prized. I got this for $100 a pawn shop. It's not as nice to play as some friend's Martins but it's decent enough.

6. 1998 MIM Telecaster neck and pickups on a wudtone finished GFS swamp ash body. This tele, originally with the black body above, was my first guitar, bought new at a guitar center in Phoenix because of Joe Strummer and Buck Owens and Luther Perkins and Pete Anderson. I owned it for years and didn't play much at all until I got back into it in 2013 or so.

I did the body swap and Tele deluxe spin-off a few years ago on a whim one day after staring at the cover of Born to Run for a while. The body was like $60 and is hilariously cheap with four chunks glued together somewhere in Asia with no concern for matching grains or anything - like the back side looks way better and more cohesive than the front. This has a five-way 'super switch' for phase and series/parallel stuff. If I had to only keep one guitar, this would be it.

7. 2015 Squier Jazzmaster with Fender pickups and a new pickguard. - I got this new in Portland a few years ago at a place that had it priced really cheap and gave me a deal on a case with it and I've wanted one for years due to Elvis Costello, Sonic Youth, Television, Dinosaur JR, etc. I always think I don't really like this one, then I play something like 'Divine Intervention' by Matthew Sweet on it and love it again.

8. 2013 MIM 50s Lacquer Precision with a black pickguard. I have a Jazz bass but was always trying to dull it down in the band I play in to fit around the keyboards and the neck felt too skinny so I found this on craigslist for like $200 less than the cheapest ones on Reverb. It's got a huge neck with a 7.25" radius and tiny frets and a red fuzz lined tweed case and I love it.

9. Not shown - a 2003 Squier Jazz Bass that I got for $75 at the guitar center in Seattle; it's being stripped because I hate sunburst and is going to get something like a big dumb gibson mudbucker added to the neck spot along with the existing J pickups.

Other than that it's a 1978 Fender Princeton Reverb (with the 'pull boost' and death cap removed the ground switch converted to a 0/half/normal negative feedback resistor option), a totally stock 90s GK RB400, a recent used 2x10 GK bass cab, and a bunch of cheap or built-from-kits pedals. There's also a Sunn Alpha 6 PA that a friend left at my house years ago because it didn't work but it just needed a new fuse holder. It sounds good as a bass amp but honestly just kind of looks rad.

Honestly I like to build and fix and modify guitars/amps/pedals about as much as I like to play them, if not slightly more. I have zero need and not much room for anything else but things I would be ecstatic to find at a yard sale for cheap:

- fiesta red Jaguar
- rickenbacker bass (lol)
- goldtop les paul
- one of those short scale PJ mustang basses that showed up a few years ago

Have -

Mid Eighties G&L Lynx Bass
Mid Eighties G&L El Toro Bass
1991 Warwick Thumb Bolt On Bass
Aria Electric Upright Bass

EastCoast cheapy Gibson 350 copy
Cheapy Acoustic, from the antique shop around the corner

Want -

Another Warwick (needs researching)
60s Tele Bass
G&L Interceptor bass (w/whammy bar)
Fernandes Tele bass (for project)
Shergold Marathon 6 String Bass (had two at one point, sold them both, instant regret)

Ampwise I have had various Fenders and Voxes but am happy now with just a Blues Junior.

A lot of the time I end up going direct, because of how many instruments I may end up playing on a given evening. Way easier to use a Para Driver or Blonde Sansamp when I may be switching between guitar, bass, mandolin, bouzouki, and electronic drums.

have: lefties

want: more lefties

(want gibson acoustics more than anything)

i'd like to play a bass vi someday

I have:
(an old picture when everything was out)

https://qc-ckb.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/ilx/et_guitars.jpg

1. 1965 Jazzmaster. I've been posting about this one in the Jazzmaster thread.

2. 1975 Telecaster. I've had this since 1984. Unforgiving but sounds fantastic with the AC30.

3. 2005 CIJ Stratocaster XII. Purchased it mostly new from a gray marketer in Costa Mesa and took it everywhere when I was regularly playing gigs at this time. Really nice guitar & stays in tune. Overdue for a pickup and wiring swap.

4. 1999 Am Standard Strat. In 2004 I was shopping for amplifiers and ended up coming home with no amp but the guitar I was trying them out with. I gutted all the electronics, put in a set of 1968 Strat pickups I found on eBay, replaced the pots with push/pull ones for in/out phase switching, and replaced the bridge & tremolo block with a heavy Callaham one. Extremely forgiving and somehow I just naturally play better with it - which is why it's sitting in a closet on the other side of the country rn.

5. 1967 Vox Cheetah. Rescued from a heavy metal supply store in Huntington Beach in 1993. Idiosyncratic and dark sounding. Only sounds its best when it's right on the edge of feedbacking so powerfully that you can feel the glued joints loosen up. At some point I expect it to turn to wood powder in my hands.

6. [not shown] Unknown early 60s electric bouzouki.

7. [not shown] early-00s CIJ JM-66 Jazzmaster. Currently disassembled but will eventually become a "72 Jazzmaster Deluxe" with the CuNiFe WRHB pickup reissues.

I want:

Nothing. Ms. Telecom has two terrific basses (a Musicmaster bass from the 70s and a '62 J-bass reissue from the 90s) so there isn't really anything I want except more time to write and maybe a Bass VI or baritone. Sure, if I had stupid amounts of money I'd love to have an all-original Fender something in Lake Placid Blue or a hollowbody Gretsch.

BTW, we’ll want another of these threads for synths/keys

I have:

1997 Japanese John Jorgenson signature "Hellecaster" (heavy as fuck champagne sparkle/gold strat/G&L Comanche style guitar with Z pickups)

― hiroyoshi tins in (Sgt. Biscuits), Saturday, May 29, 2021 8:09 AM (thirteen hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

holy shit, i remember seeing this guitar in catalogs. can you tell me how you ended up with it? i was looking and apparently there are only like 500 of them. also, this incredible fact from jorgenson's website:

Due to a factory error, the total run of guitars ended up with an extra resistor on the bottom tone control which made the guitar sound as is if the treble was completely rolled off. After getting many enquiries about the tone of the pickups (my personal guitars were prototypes and didn’t have the problem) I finally had the chance to compare a factory model side by side to my own, and was dismayed to hear the difference in tone! Luckily the remedy is very easy, just unscrew the pickguard and clip out the resistor closest to the bottom of the guitar and voila, it sounds as intended! Most players and owners by now have already done this, but I do believe that this error initially hurt the sales and image of the model.

Elvis, there is a synth zone thread

- '72 tele thinline reissue c. 2000, natural finish, made in mexico. a few months ago i put the new wide range humbucker reissues in this.

- 2005 MIJ '66 jag reissue in lake placid blue. tricked out with duncan antiquties, mastery bridge, and mastery trem before i bought it.

― call all destroyer, Friday, May 28, 2021 6:13 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

would love to see pics of these.

My main guitar is one of those thinline reissues. I plan on installing those creamery humbucker reissues once the guy starts taking new orders again. A couple years ago I got a Trem-King installed on it, which is a lot of fun.

About halfway through a rebuild of a shitty Davison warlock knockoff I got new for 100 bucks a decade ago. Installed a floyd rose bridge and new neck on it. Still have to finish routing a pool, designing a pickguard (gonna install lace sensors), and revamping the electrics.

I've got one of those short-scale Airline Map basses that Eastwood makes. Love her dearly.

I also have an old beater bass that's a hollowbody with no brand name and scratchy electronics but it was supposedly Jenny from Erase Errata's first instrument so I rock out on it occasionally for the good juju. I want plenty more but just don't have the space in our shoebox in SF.

As for wants, I've never played a baritone guitar but have been lusting after that Ronquillo edition of the Rivolta Mondata and regret not pulling the trigger on it before it sold out even though it would've been a foolish financial decision at the time.

here's my gretsch's l-r:
- 2015 Panther Prototype MIJ (center block, hardtail)
- 1995 Brian Setzer 6120-SSU
- 1979 Chet Atkins Country Gentlemen 7670
- 1963 Streamliner 6103
https://i.imgur.com/M2Ccs3d.jpg
got the three on the right at an estate sale a couple weeks back, all are in ridiculously good shape. the binding is usually breaking/coming apart on a lot of 60s gretsch's but this one has no issues. planning on keeping the chet and selling the other two i think. the panther was my parting gift when i left fmic.

Here's that 80s hondo i was talking about. i cant find much info on it but its supposed to be like a kramer baretta. pulled the pickup in hopes it was one of the dimarzio humuckers that were in some early hondos... it was not. it sounds pretty cool tho. $10 at goodwill.
https://i.imgur.com/gIwMqvW.jpg

Here's my list of shame. I could make excuses for any one of them individually, but collectively? no chance.
1950? Unknown parlour guitar
1965 Sadao Yairi classical
1965 Teisco TG-64 guitar
1966 Fender USA Mustang
1966 Mory Jazzmaster
1966 Teisco TB-4 bass
1966 Yamaha SG-3
1967 Morales ZES-300
1968 Höfner Galaxie 175
1969? Canora MIJ classical
1971 Yamaha S-50A classical
1972 Greco TL-350 (shortscale Tele)
1973 Greco TE-500 (Tele Thinline)
1975 Greco TD500 (Tele Deluxe)
1976 Eston (Suzuki) acoustic 12 string
1977 Greco Super Sounds (Strat)
1978 Fender USA Musicmaster
1978 Ibanez Concord acoustic
1981 K Yairi DY-51 acoustic
1982 Squier JV Tele Custom
1983 Squier JV Strat
1983 Squier SQ Tele Custom
1985 Fender Japan Jazzmaster
1985 Fender Japan TL33 Tele
1985 Ibanez Roadstar II bass
1987 Fender Japan TL52 Tele
1988 Fender Japan ST-456
2000? Epiphone Casino MIK
2012 Fender Japan Bass VI

call all destroyer, there was exactly one of those Jorgenson Hellecasters in a music shop in Birmingham (UK) leading up to Christmas 1999, and I basically went all in on getting it via every family Christmas present I was getting and a 12 month payment plan on top. It was actually reduced to £580 just before I bought it but I guess is worth a bit more now. I remember the other music shop across town also had the blue sparkle Jerry Donahue model which I was also kind of tempted by. It's a little more uh elegant looking than mine

People aren't kidding about the muddy tone, didn't get that fixed until a few years later. Once I had it fixed up it plays beautifully though, so easy to get around.

I believe there may have been 500 in the west and 500 more in Japan; mine is 234

that’s so cool. the thing i read said that there were 500 total with 250 staying in japan but either way, very very limited.

Yah I’d never heard of that looks super cool

here is everything except the FGN which is in the other free corner of the room (also observant viewers may see part of my cat as he jumped up while i was taking this

https://i.imgur.com/lPeyCty.jpg

That’s like the exact jag I’d want

i believe ilx user albert broccoli also has this jag!

Definitely feelin the Jag envy

i think the jag is the one fender model where things like the block inlays, neck binding, and matching headstock actually look better than standard fender austerity.

i was just thinking the other day about looking for like a black/white/black 3-ply guard for the tele thinline....it's a rock machine with the new wide-ranges and i'm not sure if the white pearloid is the right spirit. anyone like or hate that idea?

fgti, do you happen to have a sample of it sounding amazing? genuinely curious.

mkkkk and that guild are super nice looking guitars. also excited to see ums bass when its done!

just got a text from the builder - my guitar is done! he's going to keep it another week, he says he likes to see how it reacts to string tension and he keeps tweaking the setup while it settles in, but should be able to get it next weekend :)

here it is

https://i.postimg.cc/xCnKVyqY/bass.jpg

@ Steve Shasta, I'll make a video this weekend!

wow, I'm honored! 👀👀

Gorgeous bass ums

ums that looks so nice man

damn ums that is stunning

Just as a heads up: Fender currently has a Black Friday sale on Sherwood Green Paranormal Jazzmaster XIIs for $328.99. Total steal if you ask me

Fiesta Red is $314.99 and looks nicer imho.

Just wish they had a floating trem.

Man, they are hard to keep in tune with a hardtail already. There's a reason 12s don't have trems!

yeah no

https://i.imgur.com/YVo9ANk.png

LOL. I got to play one of BJM's Vox Ultrasonic XIIs in the 1990s and the trem was completely ridiculous but when I realized that DUH if you just tuned everything to one note you could really have fun with one. If you do pull the black friday trigger on a Paranormal JM XII check out the threads on /r/offset from folks who have modded them. You can make something really cool out of them.

Yeah I mean I know a few crazy folk do it, it’s more that it needs too much finesse and attention for mass production. The tuners on the Squier are pretty flimsy but the real issue is binding in the nut - I am pretty good at setup but I can’t keep mine stable whereas my hardtail six strings stay in tune for years (literally in some cases).

Pardon my ignorance but does ‘paranormal’ refer to some technical aspect of those guitars?

It's a Fender marketing gimmick about releasing some Frankenstein guitars (offsets with Tele electronics, Teles set up like Les Pauls, and so on). They've been doing it for several years and I haven't seen one yet I'd actually buy.

I have an Offset Telecaster and a Jazzmaster XII from the Paranormal series and both are stellar builds, with cheap-ish hardware and pickups. But the necks and the finishes are absolutely top line.

I really don't need it, but the Offset Telecaster with a jazzmaster pickup in the neck, grey with matching headstock is only $315 right now...

an offset telecaster with jazzmaster pickup in the neck u say

https://i.imgur.com/8fXAVZK.jpeg

Rather tasty

Sicccck

My favorite Frankenfender is still the Parallel Universe Jazz Tele — T body with JM pickups and vibrato, sounds and looks great in a deeply Fendery way, could 100% picture a very serious player having one as their main instrument. But I can see why they focused that kind of concept into the Squier line, where the Paranormals can sit at a nice intersection of relatively affordable, relatively well-made, and fun/novel. (My Cyclone could probably use a pickup upgrade, but even that might ruin what's already a lovably scrappy feel.)

had the chance to play this new offset tele for a couple of hours now and i'm really impressed - fit and finish is great, especially considering it was £300, and it's feather-light compared to my strat and lp

the neck is noticeably slimline, which is taking a bit of adjusting to, but it feels really nice under the fingers

it's got push-pull pots for series/parallel and phase switching, but the middle position sound is where it really excels - the tele and jm pickups together have a very sweet and balanced tone that's not quite like anything else i've played before, it's gorgeous

still waiting for a Fender 6 string bass in 12 string version !

The neck would need to be made of Kevlar, surely

I think Fender’s parallel universe line is an answer to the popularity of parts guitars and small builders making such instruments.

I only have parts caster guitars at this point myself. Mine are more fender bodies with Gibson style pickups.

i'm contemplating fixing up my first guitar, a squire strat, for my kids to learn on. i don't want to go overboard but it needs to be painted, needs a new pick guard and bridge, and i wouldn't mind replacing the pickups. does this sound like a terrible idea considering they go for like $150 new?

Do your kids really need those upgrades for learning purposes?

If working on it sounds like fun to you, rather than a chore, why not? Do it for the satisfaction. Peeling/chipping off the poly shell may be messy and annoying, and I wouldn't expect to be able to do a slick factory-style finish, but whatever you end up with will feel special. I did this with a Mexican Tele, a can of chalk paint, and some wipe-on finish, and I feel happy every time I look at the thing.

i guess in my mind i'm like, it would be super cool to fix this up and make it sound better than it ever did! but i'm also cool with just painting it and never playing it again

so i need to reconcile the fact that this is not worth fixing up super nicely

I mean, is it easy / comfortable to play? If not, then sure, no point upgrading something that'll still feel bad in your hands. But if feels nice to play and just has cheap hardware, that's kind of the perfect candidate for replacing things. "Sound better" is simple and "look better" is doable, but "feel better" can get out of DIY territory real fast.

The neck is the decider. If it’s great, do what needs doing (except don’t strip the body, you will never get as good a surface for your new topcoat if you do that). If it’s average, move it on to someone who likes it and put the money toward something genuinely better.

That’s good advice. In fact now that I think about it, this might have been the one my dad smashed during a fight and then later fixed

I upgraded my Squier strat. They have some advantages, they are comfortable and lightweight guitars.
I actually put a real vintage Fender pickup in the neck position (1956 Duo Sonic). It sounds great.
Once you have a decent quality nut and pickups and the bridge is in good shape it will probably sound good.

I have a fender bullet strat I like a lot though the high e string is a bit high action for some reason - and it was only 180$

ok i'm having the hardest time figuring out what kind of squier i have on my hands. when i bought it used for $50 in 1991 or so, it was yellow, black headstock, black locking nut, two humbucker pickups, pickup switch, one volume knob and one tone knob. also, it plugs in on the side of the guitar, not by the knobs. it was made in japan and the serial number starts with A which should put it around '85/'86 but i cannot find anything that looks like it on the web. any good guitar sleuths out there?

ok figured it. it's the ST-335 1985 Contemporary Series: https://reverb.com/item/41431931-squier-boxer-stratocaster-hh-st-335-1985-contemporary-series-vintage-white-fender-japan-mij-rosewood

Boxer serieswas actually reissued in the last few years.

Japanese Squires are fairly popular used guitars.

Chuck Prophet has played one of those Teles for decades.

You got it. I had a Fender ST555 from that series which had a wonderful neck but I wasn’t a fan of the pickups. The A and E serials generally had wonderful necks, a few have passed through my hands (and several have stayed).

And yeah the JV, SQ and early 80s Squires follow a trajectory from “exceptional” coasting down to “lovely”. The later Silver series feel a little less bespoke. And recently the Classic Vibe and Paranormal Squiers from Indonesia and China have lifted back up to that level, pretty much.

any painting advice? found some online store called stewmac that is leading me to guitar lacquer, but also telling me i need a special sealer (i assume i can use any primer here) and like 4 cans of clear coat. i'm not necessarily against this, i want it to look nice, but open to other options

I don't think you need 4 cans of clear coat. The more you have on, the more you can buff the guitar without sanding through to the colour coat. But I don't think you need 4 cans. I don't remember how many I used but I don't think it was 4 anyway.

What condition is the original finish in? If there are any gouges in it, you need to fill them up before you spray over it, as they will surely show through.

With grain filler, that is

I took original finish was taken off a long time ago and threw a coat of primer. I’ve refinished plenty of wood furniture so I guess I’ll continue as I would with regular paint. Never worked with lacquer before

You can just use a krylon type spray can, or nitro if you prefer, but try to mist it on evenly to get a wet coat without dripping. Helps if you float the can in warm to hot water for 5 minutes before using, and shake for a long time, like a minute. I usually hang bodies using a wire coat hanger from a string between trees or poles in a sheltered area.

After painting to a good surface leave it to dry for like a month or so, to really go hard. Then you can wet sand up to 2000 grit to get it smooth. After that you can clear coat, or even polish the colour coat if that looks good - I usually use an auto buffer which works pretty well.

Preciate it!

my child is attempting to renovate an 80's Harmony strat copy. UNfortunately the nut we got is way too fat!

https://reverb.com/en-br/item/77335660-vintage-1990-harmony-since-1892-model-h-80t-strat-style-electric-guitar-pro-setup-original-korea