What are your main guitars?

[...has left the building.]

What guitars do you find yourself always reaching for? I don't care if it is your most expensive or rare, which ones do you play the most? My well worn battery is thus:

Ibanez RG 2550 - A MONSTER equipped with Seymour Duncan's...you can do an artificial harmonic by breathing on it.
'94 Fender Mexican Squier - My first real guitar and for some reason I can't play any other Strats nearly as well. No other Strat neck I've held fits as well. Soon to be equipped with 2 HS-3s (neck and bridge) and a Texas Special in the middle.
Taylor 514CE - equipped with L.R. Baggs Dual Source. IMO, the ultimate production steel string acoustic. Fingerstyle sings and strumming thumps.
Taylor NS-42CE - Recently replaced my well used Yamaha GD-10. I played Ramirez, Cordoba, vintage Martin, all modern production...and I settled on the Taylor. It plays like a dream and sounds excellent for the small size.

Each guitar clearly does something different. I'm on the hunt for that "perfect" Strat though...

[Iain]

I've got a 1938 Epiphone Olympic archtop. Basic student model when made, still plays and looks good. It's the only one I play, so the others went.

There is the body of a Framus archtop lying around stripped and waiting for a neck and a refinish. Maybe I'll get around to doing something about that.

[280plus]

1990 David S Daily #113

http://www.dailyguitars.com/

Go to "Sounds" and check out the two samples: The first (interestingly enough) includes a bit of acoustic "fret w*nking" at the end.

The second is more representative of what mine sounds like. It has a very sweet tone. Listen to the highs. Anyone notice a blatant technical problem with the second sample?

Then there's my Ovation Tornado. Here is a pic I found of a similar one. I recently took it back to the factory in New Hartford and had "new old stock" pickups and a few other components put on mine. They only charged me $100 for the whole thing. Plus I got a tour.

http://www.baronaudio.com/collection/view.asp?graphic=0105

[Gewehr98]

I've got an ancient six-string acoustic, probably made in Korea, that's been my favorite for the last 25 or so years.  For electrics, it's a toss-up, but I usually go with the replica Mosrite w/Bigsby seen here:



Otherwise, my plain-vanilla Fender Strat works just fine for strumming out the tunes:

[cosine]

Otherwise, my plain-vanilla Fender Strat works just fine for strumming out the tunes:

Yes, plain it is. Edit: Hey, I just noticed it's a Squire! That's not a real Strat! Poser!




What about my main guitars? What do you mean, main guitar? I've only got two, a Martin D-15 and a Seagull S6GT. They both get played, but the Seagull gets played more because I leave it sitting out on a guitar stand in my crowded bedroom. However, I much prefer to play the D-15.

[Gewehr98]

Yup, a Squier, as sold by Fender, sans whammy bar, too.  Great for thrashing, although my wife says to keep it in nice condition because of the promotional value of the Miller Beer brands they did a year or so ago.  Plain vanilla because I paid nothing for it - Miller Beer didn't get the things out to the public as well as they wanted, the ad campaign and raffles fizzled, and most became employee productivity incentive prizes.  I should get the whole set, depending on how long and how well she works for Miller Beer.  There's one in black with MGD graphics, and one in silver with Miller Lite graphics.  The wife's warehouse has several of each...

Forgot to mention, the Strat Squier (by Fender, heehee!) is usually plugged into my other amp, a dual Pentium-III Dell Precision 420 with Nikko NR-750 receiver,  and a pair of older Infinity SM-120 speakers.  The interface is a Line 6 Guitar Port, neat toy!



The Mosrite I pictured earlier is plugged into that DanElectro Nifty Fifty, but there's a Zoom 505-II pedal in there for some creativity when I'm looking for something other than the classic Dick Dale/Ventures surf guitar sound.

[cosine]

Yup, a Squier, as sold by Fender, sans whammy bar, too.  Great for thrashing, although my wife says to keep it in nice condition because of the promotional value of the Miller Beer brands they did a year or so ago.  Plain vanilla because I paid nothing for it - Miller Beer didn't get the things out to the public as well as they wanted, the ad campaign and raffles fizzled, and most became employee productivity incentive prizes.  I should get the whole set, depending on how long and how well she works for Miller Beer.  There's one in black with MGD graphics, and one in silver with Miller Lite graphics.  The wife's warehouse has several of each...

Forgot to mention, the Strat Squier (by Fender, heehee!) is usually plugged into my other amp, a dual Pentium-III Dell Precision 420 with Nikko NR-750 receiver,  and a pair of older Infinity SM-120 speakers.  The interface is a Line 6 Guitar Port, neat toy!

http://media.zzounds.com/media/brand,zzounds/GPortFace300-dee34a88514516b22602426c0d8c7a96.jpg

The Mosrite I pictured earlier is plugged into that DanElectro Nifty Fifty, but there's a Zoom 505-II pedal in there for some creativity when I'm looking for something other than the classic Dick Dale/Ventures surf guitar sound.

You gotta stop posting this stuff. You're making me jealous.

[crt360]

Probably an old (early 80s) Squier Strat (one of the ESP made ones) that barely resembles its original self.  It was all black with the standard 3 single coils and old strat style tremolo.  I pretty much turned it into my own creation.  I stripped the neck and oiled it, took out the useless Fender neck angle adjuster and made it a four bolt, reshaped the headstock, re-radiused the fretboard, refretted it a couple of times, stripped the body, opened up the lower cut-away a bit, stained it green, painted it some metallic burgandy color (I think it was Camry paint), replaced the pickups with SD Invader, vintage staggered single coil and hot rails, wired coil taps for the humbuckers, replaced the original pots and knobs, added a Kahler tremolo, recessed the input jack and back plate, installed a graphite nut and Sperzel locking tuners, and probably did some other stuff to it I can't remember - not necessarily in that order.  I've been playing it for twenty-something years and it's the one that gets left out and played the most, along with a Takamine acoustic that I've had a long time.

I've got other guitars that I really like, but nothing fancy - a few Kramers, an SG, even a nice mahogany bodied, birdseye top and neck thing I designed and built from scratch (except for the metal parts & pickups) which still needs to have a finish applied.  I'm ashamed to say how long it's been since I've even opened some of their cases.  I've also got a few Kramer bodies waiting to be resurrected into shredding machines.  I've had a renewed interest in playing and making guitars lately - now I just need to find the time to do it.  This work thing is seriously interfering with my hobbies.

I'd also like to have Daniel Flory's Taylors.  

[JAlexander]

I don't play a thing, owing to a serious lack of musical talent.  However, I'm hoping that one of y'all will know what kind of guitar is being played by this gent: http://www.russashburn.com/

In order to avoid thread drift, I'll say that my dear wife's current favorite is a tenor guitar made by Goldtone.

James

[S. Williamson]

Down to only one guitar--an Ibanez RG 7421.  Basically this, but replace the Floyd Rose with a string-thru-body bridge and add a lot of custom artwork:



That gets run through a Dunlop Crybaby Classic, a Tech 21 SansAmp GT-2, an old Zoom 505, a Boss CH-1 Super Chorus (where it splits into the nomal and affected signal), both into a Yamaha stereo volume pedal, and the non-chorused line ends up in a Peavey Bandit 112 on one side of the room and the chorused line ends up in a Fender Princeton.  Strings are Slinky .010-.60.

My dream setup is almost the above, but with a down-tuned (to B) wine-red Les Paul Studio, and a Gallien-Krueger Backline 210/ Marshall JCM 2000 combo.

Ironically, I don't play much Nu-Metal grindcore or the like.  Rather, when I get bored I play Dream Theater-esque stuff.  I just like lower-sounding instruments.

[280plus]

last but not least...

1963 Gibson acoustic for the general bluegrass / folk stuff. It's got a soild top, not no plywood. The little picture on the fretboard is of Bob Dylan playing the same kind of guitar.



Here's the closeup. Found it in a magazine.

[280plus]

I'm hoping that one of y'all will know what kind of guitar is being played by this gent

Looks like a custom job to me. His email is listed, ask him. The other guy on the right looks like he's got a National Steel Dobro but don't quote me.

(I'd LOVE to pick up a National!)

[richyoung]

I have three unusual Heavy Metal Strats - (HM Strat) - they only have one dimarzio humbucker on the bridge - no other pickups or routings.  They all have Kahler Spyder bridges fitted wiht the Kahler autolatch system.  I play them, a Les Paul Studio, a Fender Contemporary Stratocaster, and occasionally an Aria Pro II bass, through a Shure Diversity UHF wireless into a  Peavey TubeFEX or a Peavey Rockmaster preamp into the power amp section of a Fender M80 Stereo Chorus head, into a Peavey M412S cabinet running in stereo, into one or two SM57s into the board.

[Iain]

Looks like a custom job to me. His email is listed, ask him. The other guy on the right looks like he's got a National Steel Dobro but don't quote me.

(I'd LOVE to pick up a National!)

I think the dobro is a Fender. I've seen guitars without a bass bout before, but can't recall where.

[JAlexander]

I'm hoping that one of y'all will know what kind of guitar is being played by this gent

Looks like a custom job to me. His email is listed, ask him. The other guy on the right looks like he's got a National Steel Dobro but don't quote me.

(I'd LOVE to pick up a National!)

Yeah, I tried that, but while I'm waiting for him to email me back I figured I'd ask y'all.

Here's a fun little resonator guitar for those of you who like such things.  http://www.dreamguitars.com/instock_pogreba.htm

James

[280plus]

Yea, I love these people that say ,"Email me!" and you do and they never email back. Sorry I can't be more help. If you find out let us know?

Iain, I tried zooming in on it, can't read the headstock. I notice it's cutaway and looks electric (I see knobs) I can't say National ever made anything like that. I like the blue Pog one though, reminds me of a classical I see now and then. I'll see if I can find a pic.

Here's a link, check out where the soundhole is. It's the latest "thing".

http://www.goldspielprovostduo.com/home.html

[S. Williamson]

Russ Ashburn's guitar reminds me of the old Fernandes Nomad guitars, except they were electrics with a built-in amp and speaker. :/

[Iain]

Bass bout soundholes, ah, makes me think of that beautiful archtop Tacoma made and never exported to the UK (not that I could afford one right now) I'll have one in natural if anyone is feeling generous.

280 - the reason I say that it is a Fender is the shape of the soundholes. They look like the ones I've seen on Fender resonators of recent years.

[Guest]

I have never been able to be satisfied with a few guitars but when I just want to practice chops rather than create sounds I usually reach for a tele-style guitar like the natural Schecter in these pics.

 


 It has a stacked pickup at the bridge so I can quiet noise from fluorescent lights and such.

 For those seeing these pics for the first time I'll explain that I am 63 and have been playing and accumulating stuff since 1949.

[280plus]

Ohhh, I thought they were just milling around the kitchen waiting for lunch to be ready...



You "old guys" and your guitars.  

[...has left the building.]

Everyone has some pretty cool stuff! I forgot to include my other gear:

Marshall VS-100R Half Stack
Dunlop Original Crybaby
Currently looking for the right overdrive and distortion pedals.
I hate when people have mad effects and amps everywhere like this: http://guitargeek.com/rigview/588/
I'm more into setups like Zakk's: http://guitargeek.com/rigview/284/

280plus- Stunning.

[280plus]

Thanks, I owe it to being in the right place at the right time and with MONEY!

FYI, mine has a blemish on the soundboard from the previous owner running it into a music stand. I got it way cheaper than the current pricing on his guitars. I paid $2,500, it was $4000 new. The playability and sound were not affected by the damage at all. Quite honestly, a super sensitive guitar like that will make YOU a better player because you don't have to fight with it to get good sound out of it. It's so easy to play all you have to do is touch it and it rings. You HAVE to learn better control because any minor errors ring out. That's what I was talking about with the "blatant technical problem" in that recording. The fret noise (that zippy sound you make when sliding on the wound strings) is quite noticeable throughout the piece and it's because the guitar is so sensitive. The guy who's playing needs to learn to pick his fingers up off the strings when sliding. Too much fret noise and it can actually start to "howl" almost like electronic feedback.

I really wish I had bit the bullet a lot sooner than I did. I spent many years trying to make an old piece of crap sound good because I was too cheap to spring for something better. Live and learn...

[cosine]

I really wish I had bit the bullet a lot sooner than I did. I spent many years trying to make an old piece of crap sound good because I was too cheap to spring for something better. Live and learn...

Ha! When I wanted a steel-strung acoustic guitar I sprung right away for a solid wood Martin (my D-15). Only a couple of years later did I buy a cheaper "beginner" guitar (my Seagull S6).

Well, the reason I did so was because my dad had already had experiences with trying to get by with cheaper, junk instruments and told me that if I wanted a get a guitar I was going to get something decent right away. He went through just what you did, got feed up, and finally decided that he wasn't ever going to buy a cheap, junk instrument ever again.

[280plus]

I was always afraid to buy anything good cause I just KNEW I would mess it up. Better to trash a piece of junk. If I had taken my $4000 guitar and bashed it into a music stand knocking $1500 off the value I'd STILL be sick about it and probably always would be. I'm still sick about the crack in the Gibson from a speaker falling on it ohhh, 20 years ago.

With the one I have now it's already been dinged so I don't have to worry about being the one that did it.

Still it's always either in my hands or in the case with a couple latches latched, never anywhere else. That's how you prevent mishaps.

[Mabs2]

I've got an Ibanez acoustic.
It sounds pretty good.
And that's about all there is to that.