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Jerry Garcia Stratocaster


greggery peccary

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I find it so disappointing that many of these custom reissues are so expensive. $20,000? That shuts out the average guitarist. Thus this limited issue of 100 guitars will go to collectors, investors, and the upper echelon of players and society with money to burn.

I get that it seems as though a great deal of time, detail, and energy has gone into this but really. 1000 guitars at $2000 each would yield the same two million dollars of revenue as the 100 guitars at 20K.

Alas it is a pipe dream that I will ever own one of these, let alone even see one or play it.

Garcia Strat News Release

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Yes it's a shame. I have two Garcia Tribute guitars built by a luthier named Troy Post that are based on the Wolf guitar by Irwin. Neither is an exact replica but "inspired." One has Garcia's choice pickups, the other three pickups that I chose to have more of a "jazz" sound. I paid about 1000 each. Very happy with them. 

Alligator was a great guitar. I'd share the same pipe dream to have one of these but it will never happen at this price point.

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I'm sure a Suhr is an excellent guitar. I've never played one.

I like Stratocasters a lot and haven't struggled with any. My favorite Stratocaster is actually a "Frankenstein"--it is a Warmoth body and compound neck, body and neck mahogany, semi-hollow body, ebony fretboard, splitable DiMarzio 36th Anniversary PAFs which are fantastic humbuckers. And I love the compound neck, it's just right.

 

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Edited by jazzbo
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NYJAQBL.jpeg 

My main guitar for 35 years has been a Telecaster. Roy Buchanan was my inspiration back in the day and I've never looked back. That said, I've never taken a shine to Strats namely due to the fact that the volume knob gets in the way of my hand and I inevitably end up turning myself down (not a problem to the ears of some :D). Upon seeing this beauty I decided that after forty five years it was time to buy a Strat of my very own. However, try as I may, I still couldn't get past the intrusive volume knob so I found a replacement pickguard from Warmouth that solved my problem. Going to a single tone which is an active push/pull had the end result of creating a configuration where the five way switch now has seven settings depending on the tone knob's status. 

As an aside, the fellow who did the work for me cries because I run 11s on my guitars. He pleads for me to stick with the 9s they come with...or offers to compromise by bumping up to tens but I stick to my guns with my trusty 11s. As a lefty I have a heavy hand and I enjoy digging into those thick joyous wires. I'm really pleased with this guitar now.

Edited by greggery peccary
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It has taken me a long time to warm to Telecasters, I have one now that I like, it's an Indonesian made FMT Custom that has been outfited with Phat Cat P90s in a humbucker shape, and also a Graph Tech Ghost pieczo pickup, blending the Ghost with a Phat Cat is a great sound. It also has a 12" fretboard. . . took some getting used to by I really like it now, so nice and flat. 

I use .11s on one of my Wolf Tribute guitars, and also on a '59 Thinskin Jazzmaster reissue guitar. I use .10s elsewhere. I like .11s and .10s.

Edited by jazzbo
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On 8/24/2022 at 6:57 AM, greggery peccary said:

I find it so disappointing that many of these custom reissues are so expensive. $20,000? That shuts out the average guitarist. Thus this limited issue of 100 guitars will go to collectors, investors, and the upper echelon of players and society with money to burn.

I get that it seems as though a great deal of time, detail, and energy has gone into this but really. 1000 guitars at $2000 each would yield the same two million dollars of revenue as the 100 guitars at 20K.

Alas it is a pipe dream that I will ever own one of these, let alone even see one or play it.

Garcia Strat News Release

But these look like they are more than "tributes", they're custom exact replicas with decals, cig burns, scratches, etc. Most "tributes" seem to be in the low thousands. My friend just got a George Harrison "Rocky" Strat, which was $2k.

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7 hours ago, BFrank said:

But these look like they are more than "tributes", they're custom exact replicas with decals, cig burns, scratches, etc. Most "tributes" seem to be in the low thousands. My friend just got a George Harrison "Rocky" Strat, which was $2k.

Yes, I agree that Fender has gone to great lengths to replicate the guitar down to the smallest detail. But how about this- 100 high priced "deluxe" $20,000 editions and another 1000 of the "inspired by" $2,000 models which would obviously be toned down.

I just see it as a pisser that there is such a celebration over something that would have such widespread appeal but ultimately represents just another sweet toy for the haves while the ranks of the have nots come up empty...again. I'm sure that this edition will sell out immediately, but at this price point how big is their target market? I understand that every guitar/model cannot be within the grasp of every player- and this is true for all guitar brands. It took me years to be able to drop more than 3K on my Martin, but still I'd like to see greater accessibility and an acknowledgement of the larger market that drives and supports Fender. I suppose that I'm so put off by this because this is an instrument that really interests me. A $50,000 Martin doesn't stoke my ire such as this one has.

This begs a whole different discussion of the disparity of wealth and income and a justifiable sense that the deck is stacked against 99% of us. However with the forums forbidding political discussions, something with which I agree, this is a topic for a different venue. 

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15 hours ago, greggery peccary said:

Yes, I agree that Fender has gone to great lengths to replicate the guitar down to the smallest detail. But how about this- 100 high priced "deluxe" $20,000 editions and another 1000 of the "inspired by" $2,000 models which would obviously be toned down.

I just see it as a pisser that there is such a celebration over something that would have such widespread appeal but ultimately represents just another sweet toy for the haves while the ranks of the have nots come up empty...again. I'm sure that this edition will sell out immediately, but at this price point how big is their target market? I understand that every guitar/model cannot be within the grasp of every player- and this is true for all guitar brands. It took me years to be able to drop more than 3K on my Martin, but still I'd like to see greater accessibility and an acknowledgement of the larger market that drives and supports Fender. I suppose that I'm so put off by this because this is an instrument that really interests me. A $50,000 Martin doesn't stoke my ire such as this one has.

This begs a whole different discussion of the disparity of wealth and income and a justifiable sense that the deck is stacked against 99% of us. However with the forums forbidding political discussions, something with which I agree, this is a topic for a different venue. 

I guess it doesn't really bother me because I don't have much interest in these. I would much rather spend money on a "good" instrument that works for me than one that "belonged" to someone else. Having said that, I did buy a J Mascis Squier several years ago but mostly because it got great reviews and was VERY affordable at <$450.

 

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14 hours ago, BFrank said:

I guess it doesn't really bother me because I don't have much interest in these.

I'm also very much against reliced or aged guitars. I hate when they are made old looking from their original state. They will come to look like that over time. But I'm not buying like this new. Something that has been damaged purposely. But this process costs much more than a pristine new guitar. Look at Gibson's Murphy Lab for an example. They all cost from 10.000$ upwards.

On 8/26/2022 at 1:45 AM, jazzbo said:

it's an Indonesian made FMT Custom

I've been eyeing one of those too. But maybe mine was the FMT HH. Plus points for me: it's made of mahogany with a nice carved maple top and a set neck, which is also mahogany. And its Duncans, one 59 and one Pearly Gates. I didn't know they carry P90s.

Wekanesses: its Indian Laurel fingerboard (no Rosewood), no case (it's Indonesian made and relatively cheap), Urethane finish, no Nitro (like in all Fenders for that matter).

Edited by Bluesnik
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1 hour ago, Bluesnik said:

I've been eyeing one of those too. But maybe mine was the FMT HH. Plus points for me: it's made of mahogany with a nice carved maple top and a set neck, which is also mahogany. And its Duncans, one 59 and one Pearly Gates. I didn't know they carry P90s.

Wekanesses: its Indian Laurel fingerboard (no Rosewood), no case (it's Indonesian made and relatively cheap), Urethane finish, no Nitro (like in all Fenders for that matter).

That's the model I have--it's been modified to have the Phat Cats and the Ghost piezo system. 

Yes, it's Indonesian. Fit and finish are excellent. The Laurel fretboard is really nice to be honest. A feel sort of in between maple and rosewood. Sure no Nitro finish but the finish is expertly applied. This is the prettiest guitar in person I have owned. No case; I bought the Fender padded gig bag for mine--these gig bags are excellent. 

Edited by jazzbo
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1 minute ago, jazzbo said:

That's the model I have--it's been modified to have the Phat Cats and the Ghost piezo system. 

Yes, it's Indonesian. Fit and finish are excellent. The Laurel fretboard is really nice to be honest.

Ah, I see. Because the model is HH, AFAIK. But with the piezo it should be really nice. I've also heard that Laurel is very near to Rosewood. But I like to have Rosewood. By the way, I made an error about the Murphy Lab guitars. They start at over 6000 or 7000 and go as far up as beyond 10.000.

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Right. The Duncan Phat Cats are P90s in a humbucker size, so they fit right in.
https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/guitarists-what-guitars-do-you-play-photos-welcome-part-four.369368/page-126#post-27423446

 

Just for grins, this is a pic of one of my "Wolf" Jerry Garcia Tribute guitars from luthier Troy Post.

 

$_57.jpg

Edited by jazzbo
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On 8/28/2022 at 4:16 PM, jazzbo said:

Right. The Duncan Phat Cats are P90s in a humbucker size, so they fit right in.
https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/guitarists-what-guitars-do-you-play-photos-welcome-part-four.369368/page-126#post-27423446

 

Just for grins, this is a pic of one of my "Wolf" Jerry Garcia Tribute guitars from luthier Troy Post.

 

$_57.jpg

Lon- that is one fine looking guitar. I just perused the net looking for one...none to be found.

This is where I started with this thread- why couldn't Fender also make a JG inspired instrument that regular folks could afford? I agree with Bluesnik that I just don't get all of these guitars being made to look so road weary and old although there must be a market for them.

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Yes, I like this guitar a lot and the black walnut top and back is beautiful; the "sandwiched" wood is poplar. 

Troy Post seems to have stopped making guitars sometime last decade. He made some very nice guitars and enjoyed the challenge of installing pickups etc that a customer would enjoy having. Phiga made some really nice Garcia tribute guitars too, I bought a Rosebud copy from him that have Strat output level pickups on it and a neck that plays really easily. My other Troy post is very similar in looks but has a neck through body, the neck is a seven layer of alternating maple and walnut, and I have more traditional humbucker pickups than Garcia used.

There was a company who was making cheap imitation Irwin guitars for about 800 dollars or so but I no longer see them for sale on eBay.

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