Hello
Over the course of the last two years (round about the time I found this place) I have been through more guitars than I ever imagined I would. I started out owning some lovely guitars that I'd bought about 15-20 years ago and thought were my "keepers" : a 63 strat, a 58 Les Paul Junior and a CS 54 strat. That was at a time when you could buy originals for teh same price or less than a new model! But then I started "looking around.." I've bought and sold several CS strats including a masterbuilt, some teles, some Japanese strats and three Les Pauls.
Most of them just didnt "feel right" to me so they've been moved on.
What I've ended up with is a 76 custom LP, a 56 CS strat, a 55 LPjunior and an E series JV strat. Everything else has gone including the 63 strat and the 58 junior which I thought I'd have forever, but have funded my quest.
The remaining guitars are just great to my mind and I'm very lucky to have them. My observations are: that different models of the "same" guitar seem to vary hugely. I only like to have guitars that I feel comfortable leaving out of their cases even though kids could bash them,etc so anything "posh" just hasnt fitted into my plan but beaten up/well played are great.I'm not tied to a specific neck size or type of wood at all although I dont get on with 12inch radii and really flat boards. I have to say that I am staggered by the quality of the Japanese Fenders. I've re-finished a 300 quid buy from e bay and its one of the lovliest guitars I've ever had (some of Ash's pickups will go in there eventually), so price does not necessarily equate to enjoyment for me
I never thought that I would "crack" Les Pauls until I discovered the 70s Norlin ones - they are great. My lifelong obssession with double cut juniors has been replaced with a passion for the single cuts.
So, I'd really like to hear if you've you been on a similar quest, what have you discovered and does it really ever end?
cheers
WIll
Comments
I've had Youtube on in the background most of today, playing Tom Petty tracks and mostly live versions and Mick Campbell almost has a different guitar for every gig or song - maybe the Tele makes more appearances - maybe I'm only jealous that I don't have enough time to play them all as often as I'd like to and leave them on record on such fine songs in the way that Tom and Mike have
And yes the finer nuances of two guitars, that are effectively the same spec, will always ensure you'll prefer one to the other - I've said many times that if I pick 2 C/Shop Strats of the wall and ask 10 players to evaluate them, then pick 'the one' I bet you won't find a 10 v 0 victory - more likely to be 6 v 4 or 7 v 3
I do still like mucking about with other stuff and, following several recommendations here and elsewhere, a Probett or an Asher may be in my distant future, but I'm slow to buy now – and I like the CS 63 in so many ways (rational and completely irrational) that nothing is going to relegate it to #2 in the long term.
I've taken a bath on a couple of guitars along the way, in particular a Jag that I'd rather forget, and done okay moving others along once the novelty has worn off. At the point that I got it, I worked out that the 'cost' of my Strat, all told, was somewhere in the region of what I'd have paid had I bought it brand new as a custom order, which isn't too bad. I daren't do the maths again just in case…
There was a thread on here recently about the book A Perfectly Good Guitar, which is a collection of short interviews with guitarists talking about their 'one'. Even allowing for the fact that the writer interviewed a whole bunch of Texas/Nashville guys, I was struck by the number of Teles featured; Sonny Landreth is the only one who talks about a Strat. All the sharp bits have prevented me from completely figuring out the appeal, but I guess there's something about a Tele.