Last weekend's loot:

[BrazenPicker]

Urgh, no more guitars for me (for a while)...

I bought two last weekend: A 1984 Yamaha SG 3000 and an early nineties Fender Japan ST54-RV Custom Edition from Digimart.

(sorry can't get the pics to show).

The SG was something I'd been wanting for a while and when it came up on Yahoo Auctions, I grabbed it while it was available at the buy it now price of 178,000 (the bidding had already gone to 168,000 anyway). The price may have been slightly over the odds, but you don't come across these very often, especially in this nice condition. I don't usually pay this much for my guitars but my new strategy is to buy the really nice stuff rather than lots and lots of midrange guitars that are 90% there but never 100%. And like someone once said: a good product will still be enjoyed long after its price has been forgotten (try to remember these wise words next time you're fighting a GAS attack ).

http://photos.yahoo.co.jp/ph/bosebosebose2/lst?&.dir=/5b89&.src=ph&.view=t&start=1&.rand=106121328746

The Strat... oh well, I liked it and I couldn't leave it there at that price (so much for above-mentioned strategy). I'm planning to throw the David Gilmour electronics in there (EMG SA pickups with EXG and SPC active tone controls). Always liked Gilmour's and Steve Rothery's tone (Marillion).

http://www.digimart.net/inst_detail.do?instrument_id=DS01076556

I need to learn to stay away from these sites and spend more time playing now!

 

[youami]

I love Yamaha SGs! I fancy one of the white SG3000s, very nice!

The Fender RVs look good too.

 

[DaveWW]

I fancy a Yamaha SG like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSECQtF58BU

Don't they weigh a tonne though?

Dave

 

[youami]

Allegedly yes, but then so did most guitars in the 70s. One of the early models like Santana's would set you back a pretty penny too.

Love this collection:

http://www.historicguitar.com/id23.html

 

[JVsearch]

That SG-3000 looks superb!

They're from a fantastic (and short lived) time when Yamaha was out-LPing the LP!

 

[Anonymous]

The Strat... oh well, I liked it and I couldn't leave it there at that price (so much for above-mentioned strategy). I'm planning to throw the David Gilmour electronics in there (EMG SA pickups with EXG and SPC active tone controls). Always liked Gilmour's and Steve Rothery's tone (Marillion).

I thought Gilmour's tone came from a strange combination of Fender & SD pickups? The Fender Signature model doesn't have EMGs (thank God! :lol: )

Mike

 

[BrazenPicker]

I'm still waiting for the SG but I've had the Fender Japan strat for a couple of days now and it's fantastic. By far the best guitar I've ever had. Now I understand why people get into this wine-tasting language. I'm as crappy a player as they come but it's hard to make that thing sound bad. I has a tone that's fat and shimmery at the same time. The 2 and 4 positions sound really nice, a tiny bit of quack but not too much. No matter how I change the guitar or amp settings, everything sounds good. Love it. I'm definitely keeping this one.

The "disadvantage" is that now I can't bring myself to change anything, so those EMG pickups will have to wait. But that's a good problem to have. I'm also not fond of the tiny frets so I'll consider a refret if I still don't like them after a couple of months. And I'm thinking of getting it stripped and refinished in another color (I quite like the honey blonde of the Eric Johnson strats -- not sure why they call it blonde because it looks more like a very light grey with a hint of yellow to me).

Will post some pics when the SG arrives.

By the way, I love the white SGs too. Gorgeous. I saw one of those go on Ebay for just short of 1400 USD a couple of weeks ago.

 

[Anonymous]

The "disadvantage" is that now I can't bring myself to change anything.......

Except for the frets & the finish, apparently!

:lol:

 

[BrazenPicker]

I thought Gilmour's tone came from a strange combination of Fender & SD pickups? The Fender Signature model doesn't have EMGs (thank God! :lol: )

True. I have the "Black Strat" book written by his tech. He started using the EMGs in the early 80s only, so the work he's most famous for was with passive pickups. Unlike what's sometimes said, he also used the EMGs in the studio (not just live) in the 80s. At least that's what his tech says in the book.

Regardless of Gilmour, I love Steve Rothery's tone. I think a lot of people diss EMGs because they don't sound vintage, but to me it's just a third alternative to passive single coils and humbuckers.

 

[BrazenPicker]

The "disadvantage" is that now I can't bring myself to change anything.......

Except for the frets & the finish, apparently!

:lol:

Well yeah. I was wondering of doing a search on that on thegearpage. But do any of you know whether this might change the tone? Not the refinish if it's properly done, but changing to bigger frets? I really love the way it sounds now.

 

[Anonymous]

Well yeah. I was wondering of doing a search on that on thegearpage. But do any of you know whether this might change the tone? Not the refinish if it's properly done, but changing to bigger frets? I really love the way it sounds now.

Well I'm very anti big frets on a Strat or Tele as I reckon they ruin the feel. But even I can't claim that they change the tone significantly.

But I'm sure somebody will claim that they do. :wink:

 

[JohnA]

Well yeah. I was wondering of doing a search on that on thegearpage. But do any of you know whether this might change the tone? Not the refinish if it's properly done, but changing to bigger frets? I really love the way it sounds now.

Well I'm very anti big frets on a Strat or Tele as I reckon they ruin the feel. But even I can't claim that they change the tone significantly.

But I'm sure somebody will claim that they do. :wink:

Yep, big frets definitely change the tone of a guitar, my Fernandes Super Strat changed in tone a lot following an excessive fret dress!

 

[BrazenPicker]

I wouldn't change it to huge frets, but these feel both so low and narrow it makes it harder to bend strings. I can feel the friction between my fingertips and the fretboard while bending. If I change them I'll probably go for 6105s. To my surprise, the smaller fretboard radius feels comfortable and I like the chunky neck. Anyway, no rush, I'll wait a few months to see how I adjust.

 

[Anonymous]

I can feel the friction between my fingertips and the fretboard while bending.

Well there you go - that's the drawback with maple & the advantage of rosewood all summed up in one sentence.

 

[Udonitron]

Very nice scores man! I hear ya...no more for me either...I have too many guitars sitting in Japan waiting to be shipped to me but out of everything, I am most excited to get my early 70's Roland Fuzz Wah pedal!

 

[BrazenPicker]

Well, that "no more for me" thing isn't working out too well. :lol:

I was OK for a while but then setting foot in a guitar shop in July set off a major bout of GAS and since then I've been on a shopping spree. The good thing is, these second-hand Japanese guitars keep their value if you want to sell them later so I don't feel like I'm wasting money. Maybe what I am wasting is time.... time that would be better spent practicing. I signed up with TruefireTV about a month ago and I highly recommend it. You should check it out if you haven't been to that website.