I didn't get into playing Guitar until I was probably in my early teens. I was a huge Hank Marvin/Shadows Fan (yeah only a decade or so too late ;) ) and loved Mark Knopfler etc. I was also getting into Hendrix etc. One of my relatives 'used' to play guitar and had sorta given up, leaving his guitars as wall ornaments. After a few *hints* to both him and my parents they worked out that I got his Nylon String Acoustic to see if I was really interested.
No Name Nylon String Acoustic Guitar [Gone]
Squier Stratocaster (Made In Korea) [Gone]
After a while I was ready to move on to the electric guitar. I had been looking around and I really wanted a Black Stratocaster with a white pickguard with maple neck because I liked the way they looked. Obviously a new one wasn't going to happen at the time so off to the newspaper classifieds it was.. After a lot of looking I found one for sale relatively close by for a decent price, and it also came with a small 35W Solid State amp with Reverb.
After going to take a look at it , it turned out the guy selling it had swapped the pickguard for a single ply Black and black pickups.. For 5 seconds I was disappointed, but then I realized I liked the look of this even more. The purchase was made and this was my main guitar for quite a few years. I still think it looks very sharp and may one day actually rebuild one just like it - I found this image online which is exactly how mine looked:
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| Black on Black - Ah the Memories.. |
"Chinese" SG Clone [Gone ]
I can only call my next guitar a horrible clone because I have no idea about the brand or anything. It was basically a Gibson SG Clone which was given to me by the same relative who gave me the acoustic. After searching online it appears to be a Marlin copy from the 70s which looked exactly like this picture (it even had missing knobs too!)
This thing was atrocious to be honest.. the neck seemed to bend, wouldn't stay tuned, The rosewood fretboard had such an open grain you could get a finger nail stuck in there, the pickguard was broken, the pickups while looking like humbuckers where these really WEIRD single coils and the sound was more anemic than a $50 pawnshop special. Barely played, hung on to it for a while and then donated it to a local kid (Hey Bart!) who really wanted a guitar. (He has come a long way since then and ended up with an Ibanez Jem 555 IIRC - Lost touch though which is a shame - nice guy).
Samick "P" Base Clone [Gone]
For about a year or so I had a Samick 'P" Bass Clone.. I THINK it may have been called a 'LB' bass or something. I wasn't able to find any good pictures of it online since it was an older model and obviously not at all that popular. I'd basically compare it to a Squier P-Bass, except with a slightly different Head-Stock. Here's a picture I found online, however mine was Black, White Pickguard and Maple Fretboard.
Fender Standard Stratocaster (Made in Mexico) [Gone]
For about 6 months I had your basic MIM Fender Stratocaster - the basic model Black, White Pickguard, Maple Neck.
Ibanez Jem 10th Anniversary (#741)
At this time I was really into Joe Satriani / Steve Vai and I was itching for a new guitar. A local mega music store had a few JS models & Jems on Display.. the Burnt Stained Blue , the usual White and a GORGEOUS 10th Anniversary model. They had in a case where no one was allowed to touch it, but just seeing it I knew I had to have one. Obviously that particular guitar was sold, and I had a hard time finding any others with it being a limited run of only around 850 IIRC. After literally a few years I was still occasionally searching and I found one in Germany (Musik-Produktiv). Time to whip out the creditcard ;-) They originally sent the wrong certificate with it (wrong number on it), but once that was straightened out I was one happy camper!
Fender Standard Telecaster (Made in Mexico)
When I got this one I had been without a 'fun' electric guitar for a while - I had my Jem but I was trying to take good care of it and not beat it to hell playing on it all the time. Time to shop for something new. I hate most local places like Guitar Center, but sometimes you gotta bite the big one.. So I went there looking for possible a new black Strat or just maaaaaaaaaaaybe a black telecaster, but I was 99% certain I'd get a Black Strat. What do you know - I end up walking out with a Wine-Red / white pickguard Telecaster... I never would've imagined I'd pick this one but out of all the guitars there , this one just clicked ..
Since then I've made a few modifications such as new Pickups and a different neck. The Wine Red is a really sharp color that looks really good and I'm starting to really like the look as much as a good black guitar.
Fender American Deluxe (HSS) Stratocaster (FSR) "None More Black"
So I had a bunch of throw around guitars , but I didn't have a Strat anymore... and I really wanted one!
I had been looking to purchasing a nice black strat with maple neck again, but then one holiday season (I believe it was around 2005?) I noticed an ad for two 'special run' Stratocasters.. a 'Bad Boy Blue' and 'None More Black'. The BBB as the name implies was Blue with 3 Single Coils, while the None More Black was All black with a Humbucker in the bridge. I wanted the all black one, hence I got the None-More-Black Model.
Ibanez JV50 Acoustic
This guitar was one of those impulse purchases where I was thinking to myself "You know.. I want an accoustic guitar" since I had been without one. I simply looked through the catalogs, found a cheap one ($99) that looked 'ok' (it's an accoustic - not THAT much variety in the low price ranges) and ordered it.
It's actually been a very nice basic guitar to just have laying around the house and just 'tinker' on. Though I must say I'm starting to think about getting a 'nicer' accoustic guitar and really apply myself to it more seriously.
Dean Edge 09 Bass
Similar to the acoustic this purchase was one along the lines of "Hey you know what I'm missing? A Bass guitar! Let's buy one just for the heck of it". Cheap, Simple, Made in China, but actually fun to play on! It is actually fairly light weight, which makes it a joy to play (doesn't feel like a boat-anchor around your neck) and the 'bare' neck feel is awesome. Very Pleasantly surprised by this one. Tone wise.. well.. it's does the job.. More details in the linked write up here.
After I had swapped out the neck on my MIM Wine-Red Telecaster, I obviously had an extra Telecaster neck laying around. Sounded like the perfect excuse to find a new Telecaster body to go with it! After some looking around I really like the look of the BlackTop Telecaster with it's dual humbuckers. I scored it off E-bay and really enjoy the unique sound it has.
Highway One Stratocaster with Japanese V-Neck
As mentioned near the top of the page, my first real electric was a Black Squier with Black pickguard. I LOVED that guitar and I had wanted to build another Black/Black Stratocaster like it for a while. I found that I really liked the 'Matte Black' Highway One Strats. So after getting a body, swapping the pickguard with a single ply Warmoth and slapping on a nice vintage tinted Japanese 57 Re-issue V-Neck I finally had my Black Strat again!
Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster with V-Neck
This one I got after being on a Stratocaster kick building my Black Strat. I found out that I really liked the American Deluxe in Tungsten with the black pickguard (yes a theme.. no white pickguards for me). Kicker was that that model only came with the 'Modern C' neck, while only a black or red model came with the 'vintage' V-Neck (also had a 'vintage' tint to it). Since I wanted a V-Neck and I am not afraid of a screwdriver I simply ordered the deluxe tungsten body, deluxe V-Shaped neck and now I have another awesome Stratocaster. (You can tell the neck looks 'yellower' than you usually see on the tungsten body).
Gibson Les Paul Standard
So after long deliberation I finally gave in and got an authentic Gibson Les Paul. While it's a beautiful guitar I actually don't play it as much as my others. Really when it comes down to it I think I'm a Fender guy. For now I'm keeping it, but I may actually sell it in the future so someone who really appreciates it can enjoy it.
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