Going on tour, and need some advice on treating some GAS

twangler

Hi guys

I'm about to go on tour and I want to buy a guitar or two as my old trusty mij tele 72 deluxe RI has bit the dust, and I want to try something different (than the strat, tele, lp, sg crowd) and I want to spend £1200-£1500... I've singled out the Ric 330 as a guitar I love to play (and have tried) but also the fret king esprit (£650) and italia imola 6... As you can see I like off beat look guitars! I've played the fret king and italia guitars and would be happy owning either! I love the many tones you can get out of the Imola and the fantastic build of the Espirit V. 

This is raised an important question with myself and a friend... What's better, one £1400 guitar or two £650 guitars? Obviously the Ric has the cost of being from a major brand and built completely in the US, but build quality wise, there wasn't £550 difference between that and the fret king, and there wasn't £550 pounds worth of difference in either guitar, as the Imola beats it out of the park on versatility (not surprisingly) and the necks on both the cheaper guitars are both great!

The only positive I can see in buying the Ric is that it'll never REALLY lose much value, and represents a better investment than most other brands (Gibson and Fender included to a point)

Anyway what do you think? I would have no issues owning any of the guitars (they are fantastic) but the opportunity to own two great guitars instead of one overpriced Rickenbacker!

cheers! 

jeztone2

A question?

If your used to the feel of one particular type of guitar, will it be wise to tour with a radically different  guitar that your not used too?

Teetonetal

When you say tour... how long and how many dates? How much time before you go? Are you renting back line or using yout own? I'd be buying something I know inside out.. if it's a long tour starting immediately with rented line?

Will these new choices play nicely with pedals you use etc...

twangler

So we aren't going on tour for 3-4 months, and I'll be using my current amp (fender twin) and a couple of pedals (comp, boost, delay, chorus and reverb... Nothing special) but I want to get the guitar(s) ASAP to sort my tones and familiarise with my new gear in the the next few months. There are 20 dates, with a few in France, Germany and Holland

artiebear

if you are talking about touring it's two guitars at least. Break a string, no time to change it, guitar electrics fail, same. Horrible to say it, but touring means stuff can go missing, nice to make sure all your gear is not in the same place. 

Teetonetal

Then I think you at least have time to get what ever you buy dialled in. 

I'd go for the two cheaper ones. I think on our tour two guitars could be essential.

twangler

I will have a another tele (that I currently use for open D tuning) which will end up my spare when I get my new guitar(s) or continue being the open D if I get the Ric, so there's no issues about that!

fandango

Teetonetal said:

Then I think you at least have time to get what ever you buy dialled in. 

I'd go for the two cheaper ones. I think on our tour two guitars could be essential.

I'd echo other comments that two guitars, so one acts as a spare. However not necessarily the same guitar, but not too different either. Give some thought to the pickups on each, and how they interact with your pedals, backline, etc. Too different and you've got issues with settings every time you swap over guitars.

And think about getting used, to get some value. Making sure that you get a tech to give a thorough service before going on the road. Even new, you'd need to let a tech give it a proper check before heading off. Depends from where you buy it.

Good luck. Let us know what you get.

Koa

You won't regret getting the Rickenbacker, something really special.

ICBM

Rickenbackers are special, but firstly you'd be unwise to tour with only one guitar, and secondly you'd be unwise to tour with something you love. Things get broken and stolen on tour - a lot.

Personally I would buy two cheap-ish Telecasters and be done with it. Buy second hand and you won't lose much if both of them survive and you sell them when you get back. *Then* buy the Rickenbacker...

Don't think you won't lose money on a Rick if you buy new - you will, much the same as any other production brand.

mike257

I'd be inclined to buy two decent guitars for touring. I'd also buy used, much better value and you're less likely to lose out on resale. As for having the spare in open D - with the band I'm currently teching for we have a few songs in alternate tunings so if we're on tour I'll have a minimum of three guitars so there's a main and spare in standard, plus one for the alternate tuning. We'll occasionally just take the two if we're out doing a one-off gig, but I'll have it back in standard ready to use as a spare as soon as the alt tuned songs are out the way - not practical to do yourself unless you've got a tech with you. You need a spare that you can just grab and play, not be arsing about retuning mid-gig.

mike257

Just spotted that you're in Liverpool too mate - who are you playing with?