Thread: Guitar players out there?

Originally Posted by sidneykidney

Oh my goodness! I just found out that Les Paul has died at the age of 94:

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Obituary: Les Paul

No way! RIP such a loss to the guitar world..! He used to play the Iridium Jazz Club on Broadway on a Monday night, I'm going out to NY in September and I was going to go and see him play.... What a legend.

I remember a good story about him, he broke his arm in a motorbike crash on the Isle of Mann and when he got to the hospital he told the doctors to set his arm so he could still hold a guitar! Champion! When you see pictures of him after the crash his arm is always bent.

He also invented multi track recording! He will be sorely missed. What a genius!

Originally Posted by bbshriver

Sounds like prices are inflated where you are.. My Taylor was $1300 and is among their best (the 810 was their "flagship" for years), and among the cheapest solid rosewood and spruce guitars I've found (martin has one for $1k, but has cheaper finish, and less little details).

FWIW I use to totally agree with you. my first guitar was a Washburn D10 cost about $350 and I noticed the only guitars I liked better cost at least $2500. After having the Taylor for a few months now though when I play the Washburn it feels like a cheap piece of junk. the tone is very good, but the sustain is much worse, the fingerboard is not as good, action is not as good and overall fit and finish is much less. And the big kicker.. Taylor uses a bolt on neck (basically everyone else is dovetail including Martin and Washburn). When I got the action set-up on both the Washburn and the Taylor the Luthier was telling me how eventually all guitars will need a neck re-set and since both mine are a few years old (8 or so on the Washburn and about 10 on the Taylor) it's something they will need in a few years to stay in top form. Neck re-set on the $350 Washburn? $1,000+ (no thanks) Neck re-set on the taylor? $200ish and that's because I have the older style neck. Apparently their new neck is literally a matter of removing some bolts and changing a shim.

Yeah, pretty much all guitars will need a neck reset, but that can take DECADES, and I bet the soundboard will be coming unglued by then too. I really wouldn't worry about that. At all.

I know what you mean about fit and finish on high end guitars though. You can really tell the difference between a cheapie and a high dollar acoustic.

I'm also a guitar player -- In my younger years I couldn't get enough of Metallic....grew out of that and turned to Dream Theater for some additional challenges... as guitar became more of a hobby than a primary focus in my life around age 20, I started to only enjoy the acoustic side of things. Had a nice custom ibanez rg570 and marshall stack that got sold so I could switch to acoustic only.

Although I might not listen to them that often say, in the car, when I pick up my guitar, I almost exclusively play stuff like john mayer and similar genre...but I love attempting to play anything fingerstyle, and I've told myself some day in the distant future I would teach myself to play fingerstyle masterfully.

I've got a Larrivee LV-09E cutaway. One of the only major manufacturers left that still hand made guitars, it was a factor in my decision. they list for over 3600 now..but when I bought it in 2002 I paid 2150.

Rosewood back & sides, all maple bindings and sitka spruce top and mahogany neck.. everything on it feels very refined and classy, some abalone inlays and whatnot.. One of the nicest features, however, is the 1 3/4 nut. I like it so much more than the 1 5/8 standard.

I did get unlucky, however -- I kept my case humidified with a digital system but even with all the attentive care, I have a very, very fine finish crack that occured around 9 months after i purchased the guitar. I guess thats one of the downsides of buying hand made guitars, the woods are always unpredictable in terms of how they will cure. Luckily, finish cracks do absolutely nothing to the beautiful sound the guitar produces ...but it will affect resale value...luckily I never intend to sell this guitar in my lifetime! I could get it repaired..but.. I dont trust my local shops with my guitar...plus..its like a pit on a razor.. it adds a bit of something

Originally Posted by Undream

I'm also a guitar player -- In my younger years I couldn't get enough of Metallic....grew out of that and turned to Dream Theater for some additional challenges... as guitar became more of a hobby than a primary focus in my life around age 20, I started to only enjoy the acoustic side of things. Had a nice custom ibanez rg570 and marshall stack that got sold so I could switch to acoustic only.

Although I might not listen to them that often say, in the car, when I pick up my guitar, I almost exclusively play stuff like john mayer and similar genre...but I love attempting to play anything fingerstyle, and I've told myself some day in the distant future I would teach myself to play fingerstyle masterfully.

I've got a Larrivee LV-09E cutaway. One of the only major manufacturers left that still hand made guitars, it was a factor in my decision. they list for over 3600 now..but when I bought it in 2002 I paid 2150.

Rosewood back & sides, all maple bindings and sitka spruce top and mahogany neck.. everything on it feels very refined and classy, some abalone inlays and whatnot.. One of the nicest features, however, is the 1 3/4 nut. I like it so much more than the 1 5/8 standard.

I did get unlucky, however -- I kept my case humidified with a digital system but even with all the attentive care, I have a very, very fine finish crack that occured around 9 months after i purchased the guitar. I guess thats one of the downsides of buying hand made guitars, the woods are always unpredictable in terms of how they will cure. Luckily, finish cracks do absolutely nothing to the beautiful sound the guitar produces ...but it will affect resale value...luckily I never intend to sell this guitar in my lifetime! I could get it repaired..but.. I dont trust my local shops with my guitar...plus..its like a pit on a razor.. it adds a bit of something

Larrivee are sweet instruments , love them -- ever listen to Eric Roche (rip) young talented guy who sadly passed away due to cancer before his prime .

lets not forget .. Rod y Gab , any guitarist needs to check them out , I've seen them live a few times and going again in Nov ...

cheers Garry

I will check him out Garry.

I did find a little clip I made a couple years ago of me playing a Howard Emerson song:

http://www.adrian.edu/~bmaggard/brad.mp3

I like to think I've improved since that recording.. lol

I'm not worried about it, I was just saying that, to me, is an advantage of owning a Taylor... something that someday WILL need to be done cost 1/5 the price that it does on a Washburn. $200 to keep a $2k Taylor going seems much better than $1k to keep a $350 Washburn going.

Originally Posted by joke1176

Yeah, pretty much all guitars will need a neck reset, but that can take DECADES, and I bet the soundboard will be coming unglued by then too. I really wouldn't worry about that. At all.

I know what you mean about fit and finish on high end guitars though. You can really tell the difference between a cheapie and a high dollar acoustic.

Originally Posted by sidneykidney

I have a Fender Starcaster acoustic guitar. I was given it by my wife for my 30th birthday. It is the single best present in the world.



Or it will be, until January 10th 2010...

My dad got me one of those for my birthday back in April. I've been playing the heck out of it every day. I've been pretty impressed with it--very nice sound.

I should probably ease off on playing it a little though. My wife has been giving it jealous glances recently.

I've been playing guitar since I learned to drive. Don't ask how long. Suffice to say it's been awhile...Before I found razors guitars were my hobby. I researched how to replicate historic amps but always talked myself out of it because who needs a 100 watt Marshall to play along with recordings of Ozzy anyway?
I once had 7 guitars but sold all the ones I had no emotional attachment to. Also used to play in a band with a Fender 60 watt Hot Rod Deville 212. That thing was ridiculously loud! 1 was off 3 was too loud for most sound clubs. The thing went to 11 !!! I hardly ever had to mike it.

My main guitars are a black Les Paul, (RIP brother you'll be missed) and a family heirloom I restored, an Arch Kraft archtop.

My musical tastes lean towards the quieter jazz standards.
My main guitar is a Gibson L7, followed by a Telecaster, and a Martin 0017. Different sounds for different moods.
My amps: Acoustic Image, and Fender Blues Jr.
I've been through a lot of nice instruments in my 60 years, but I have settled on these as they are able to meet all of my musical needs.

Cheers,
Rick

I have a pair of Strats and an Ibanez RG550. I use a Boss MicroBR with headphones all the time. I also have the EVH MXR effects and a Fender Champion 600 reissue amp. I do scales ALLDAY long and then I like to just tinker with a backing track and get different grooves. I am a rhythm player and do not do solos, PERIOD. I just like to groove.