AfricaBrass

My electric is sanded down and in pieces. I plan to put it back together for my son someday. I still have my first electric: '74 Gibson L6S. And I still play it too! That's cool! I really like those L6S guitars. I played in a band with a guy who had a natural finished one. Isn't that the one with the cool Bill Lawrence designed pickups? Here's a picture of my first good guitar (which I still have and play). I wasn't the idiot who replaced the pickups... but it made it more affordable, so... I played this guitar all over the place back in the 80's.

I'll never live this down...

Ibanez Artcores have been mentioned. Scott, have you seen the new ones? They're pretty sweet looking. Here's a link a page of photos of Artcores from the 2005 NAMM show: 2005 Ibanez Artcores The list price on this guitar is $929 - You're looking at a street price of under $700. SWEET!

My electric is sanded down and in pieces. I plan to put it back together for my son someday.

That actually isn't far off. That thing has been played a lot. I bet it's much nicer than my first guitar. Actually, my first electric guitar (purchased when I was 14) was a early 80's Washburn. It wasn't that bad (I was ). I got a job working the lunch line at school so I could save my lunch money to buy my guitar. It took a whole semester, but I did it, and quickly quit the lunch line (which hadn't helped my popularity at all ).

I remember they blew those out a while back for $199 or less. I wish I would have jumped on that. I still want to try those special guitars that you play 7/4. I love Indian music so much. I would love to get into semi-tones. You can always get there with a slide. Good point! I'm a big fan of George Harrison's slide playing and I have been practicing his style for a while. If you can, play over a drone. It really helps to nail the pitch. Harrison had a real unique slide tone. I play over drones all the time. One of my favorite things to do is to play with the D string open and play melodies on the higher strings in a sitar style. In one of my bands, we used to do the Beatles' Within You Without You. I'd sing and play the sitar and drone parts, with a bunch of looping delays going, while the other guy would play hammered dulcimer. I loved it. Yeah, Harrison's sitar training really made him an interesting slide guitarist. He's probably my favorite rock musician (for many reasons).

You're welcome! I'm not trying to sell anyone. They are just a decent Korean made guitar at a great price. I wish my first guitar would have been this nice.

Thanks Joe! I think they're a good deal for the money. It'll probably need a setup when you get it. If you want a real cheap guitar to practice with. I've heard their $99 SX Strat and Tele copies are decent. People have compared them to Squier's and Fender's made in Mexico standard model...

I remember they blew those out a while back for $199 or less. I wish I would have jumped on that. I still want to try those special guitars that you play 7/4. I love Indian music so much. I would love to get into semi-tones. You can always get there with a slide. Good point! I'm a big fan of George Harrison's slide playing and I have been practicing his style for a while.

I think that Cool Cat model is the best option they offer for a jazz sound. Even the Les Paul copies might be nice. I like their 2900 model because it is hollowed out and much lighter than the regular LP copies. I'd still say the Cool Cat would be the best option. $250 isn't that much for a guitar. They're making pretty nice guitars in Korea now. They had a single (neck) pickup version of the Cool Cat a while back that they ended up blowing out at $199. I think these are great beginner and intermediate guitars. Another brand that has great values is Ibanez. Their Artcore series are priced reasonably, but their still more than the Agiles.

Thanks Scott, I really appreciate it. This really was an amazing experience. People say that these things would easily sell for twice the price.

This is a vinyl rip also, so maybe that helps make it okay...

I remember they blew those out a while back for $199 or less. I wish I would have jumped on that. I still want to try those special guitars that you play 7/4. I love Indian music so much. I would love to get into semi-tones.

OF COURSE that's exactly how he signs it! You think these are FORGED or something???

THANKS! Ron, you're killin' me!!! I really like the paw print. That's exactly how he signs it... I've seen it.

I got my set on Tuesday and it is # 1464 I really LOVE this set. I'm so grateful that it was released.

I heard it comes with a "suitable for framing" photo of George Bush and Tony Blair kissing each other.

Here's pictures of the two models that I got (that I designed):

Cool! I heard that had a three mini-pickup version in their store. I know they're budget guitars, but this was such a cool thing to happen to me. I've been drawing that guitar shape since I was a kid.

Thanks! Wouldn't you rather have an autographed Cat Shatner photo instead. Actually, I got one of each of those two models at a highly discounted price. I'm really happy with them. I did a setup on them and they sound good. One thing I was excited about was the ebony fretboard. I requested that when I was making my designs and I'm glad they did that. I think the Harm 1 model has been a modest success, so they might even make more. The first two guitars on my page (I linked) are revisions of the original designs (for a possible second run).

YES!!!! YES!!!! YES!!!! YES!!!! YES!!!! YES!!!! YES!!!! YES!!!! If you ever see the old Music Machine Best Of LP on Rhino, I'd pick that up. I grew up listening to that album ALL THE TIME. You can make your own version of it with the two Sundazed CDs plus the Turn On cd that's been released by another label. Sean Bonniwell has a website: http://www.bonniwellmusicmachine.com/

I have a lot of guitars, but I can play them. I've been playing for 20 years and a guitar in my hand feels like it's part of my body. I may waste some time reading catalogs, but I've spent a lot more time playing. I don't see anything wrong in having as many guitars as you want (or can comfortably afford). I've loved guitars since I was a child. They are works of art to me. Scott, if you're ever looking for inexpensive, but well made Korean guitars, you should check out a music store from New Jersey called Rondo music. They've been having their own guitars made by a Korean guitar maker for a few years now and they're really a great deal for the money. Their brand name is Agile. They have a two humbucker Jazz box model for $250. Here's a link to it: Agile Jazz Guitar The Harmony-Central guitar forums have been abuzz of them for a long time. I have a couple of their guitars myself. Actually, I designed one for them. Last year, on the Harmony-Central forums, they had a design a new Agile thread. I did and a few weeks ago, the guitar I had designed (with a little modification by them) appeared. First guitar I designed Second guitar I designed Here's the link to my guitar designs that they used: My guitar designs (warning to dial-up users - may load slowly) Here's one of those designs:

That Cort is nice also. I wouldn't mind finding one of their Matt "Guitar" Murphy models.

I hope you don't mind, but I love talking guitars... Here's my suggestions to your question. How about considering one of the Epiphone Elite (Elitist) series? They're made in Japan and priced about halfway between the USA Gibsons and the Chinese or Korean Epiphones. I would look at one of the hollowbodies (Gibson 335 style). I think the Elite Sheraton is a beautiful guitar and it has the mini humbucker pickups. Another Elite model I like is the Casino. This is similar to a Gibson 330 (which was played by Grant Green). I have an USA made Casino and it is a great guitar. It is hollow (no center block) but looks like a 335. That's my main jazz guitar now. The Elite series also has a Broadway model and a Byrdland model; both would make great jazz boxes. They're not really Les Paul replacements, but they're nice. You also might want to look at a used Heritage. Their resale isn't that great and you can get great deals on those. Also, the Guild Bluesbird style guitars might be a cool option. I'll shut up.

I tinker around with my guitars quite a bit, rewiring, changing out pickups, adjusting truss rods, filing frets. This is the only time I've ever brought a guitar to the shop. I had worked on the frets quite a bit and the problem persisted so I was getting a little nervous to continue the filing. I eliminated probably 90% of the problem but I was afraid to keep going. He talked about replacing the frets and starting with a clean slate. He felt like the neck kicked up a bit at the junction with the body and so there's a trouble spot for buzzes. I like a low action and the buzzes were driving me crazy! With new frets you could leave the frets a bit higher and compensate for the dip. Thanks for the explanation. Does your guy give you a really good rate? I would think that replacing the frets would be really expensive on a guitar with a bound neck. I had a Gretsch from the early seventies that I ended up selling because my binding was rotten. It would have been really expensive to replace the binding on that guitar, or at least more than I wanted to spend. Anyway, good luck with your guitar! I like some of those Epiphones.