A happy guitar ending...
A happy guitar ending...
I may have told the story of this fella before - but basically, about 10 or so years ago, this mate of mine wanted to buy his teenage son a new motorbike and lacked the cash to do it, so thought he'd liquidate a guitar to fund it. He lives 12 hours drive north of me in the middle of nowhere.
He got in touch, asked if I'd be interested in buying it a 1991 Les Paul Standard - I said "Sure, how much?" - not because I particularly wanted the guitar, but because I wanted to help him out - I'm very fond of the family and the kids as well. He said $2000 - I told him it was worth more (don't get bogged down on this detail - in $AUD at the time, it was worth more...) but he didn't want any more so the deal was down and we then had to work out how to get it from a farm in Queensland to Sydney.
As it happened, he was going to the capital, Brisbane, and my girlfriend at the time was flying to Brisbane and so they did a handover somewhere and she took in on board - strict instruction - hand luggage only! - and it got to me. She was about the highest class of frequent flyer club member you could be, or it wouldn't have made it as hand luggage.
And so I've had it for the last decade and it's been a great guitar for "that" sound. A year ago I got it all set up and I headed north to see the mate and family again and took it with me and he had a great time playing his old axe. And then I took it home again.
Earlier this year, I bought a 2017 Les Paul - the first "new guitar day" thread in this forum has all the details - and ever since I've been wondering what I should do with the other one - keep, sell etc. It's worth about $2500 on the local market. I checked if my mate was ok if I sold "Geordie's Motorbike" as we came to call the guitar, and he was, but I couldn't do it - sentimental attachment etc. Seemed wrong
Anyway, the realisation in my 4 humbucker guitar test thing I did last week, that they all sound very alike, got me thinking "I need to get over the sentiment thing" - I just don't have room for a huge guitar collection - and try to sell it again. I want to get a Tele or a Jag or something, so I need the space, and the money.
Lo and behold, on Friday, out of the blue, I get an email from my mate - his brother, a lapsed guitarist, was getting into playing again. My mate had lent his brother a strat and an amp, and he was playing various other people's guitars that he knew, and he particularly liked someone's Les Paul and so did I want to sell Geordie's Motorbike, and if so, how much?
So now, I'm almost certainly going to sell it back into the family, to his brother - pending a tax return some time soon. And I'm going up there again in a month or two and can take both it and my new Lester with me and we can have a Lester Fest in the barn on the farm - and I'll leave it there and his brother can pick it up whenever.
So how's that for a circular guitar story? Pretty epic and satisfying conclusion I reckon. Just hope it comes off.
I'm selling it for the same price I bought it from a decade ago, although it's worth $500 more. Seemed wrong to profit from the arrangement after I've had the company of such an excellent axe for all this time.
Continue, chaps...
He got in touch, asked if I'd be interested in buying it a 1991 Les Paul Standard - I said "Sure, how much?" - not because I particularly wanted the guitar, but because I wanted to help him out - I'm very fond of the family and the kids as well. He said $2000 - I told him it was worth more (don't get bogged down on this detail - in $AUD at the time, it was worth more...) but he didn't want any more so the deal was down and we then had to work out how to get it from a farm in Queensland to Sydney.
As it happened, he was going to the capital, Brisbane, and my girlfriend at the time was flying to Brisbane and so they did a handover somewhere and she took in on board - strict instruction - hand luggage only! - and it got to me. She was about the highest class of frequent flyer club member you could be, or it wouldn't have made it as hand luggage.
And so I've had it for the last decade and it's been a great guitar for "that" sound. A year ago I got it all set up and I headed north to see the mate and family again and took it with me and he had a great time playing his old axe. And then I took it home again.
Earlier this year, I bought a 2017 Les Paul - the first "new guitar day" thread in this forum has all the details - and ever since I've been wondering what I should do with the other one - keep, sell etc. It's worth about $2500 on the local market. I checked if my mate was ok if I sold "Geordie's Motorbike" as we came to call the guitar, and he was, but I couldn't do it - sentimental attachment etc. Seemed wrong
Anyway, the realisation in my 4 humbucker guitar test thing I did last week, that they all sound very alike, got me thinking "I need to get over the sentiment thing" - I just don't have room for a huge guitar collection - and try to sell it again. I want to get a Tele or a Jag or something, so I need the space, and the money.
Lo and behold, on Friday, out of the blue, I get an email from my mate - his brother, a lapsed guitarist, was getting into playing again. My mate had lent his brother a strat and an amp, and he was playing various other people's guitars that he knew, and he particularly liked someone's Les Paul and so did I want to sell Geordie's Motorbike, and if so, how much?
So now, I'm almost certainly going to sell it back into the family, to his brother - pending a tax return some time soon. And I'm going up there again in a month or two and can take both it and my new Lester with me and we can have a Lester Fest in the barn on the farm - and I'll leave it there and his brother can pick it up whenever.
So how's that for a circular guitar story? Pretty epic and satisfying conclusion I reckon. Just hope it comes off.
I'm selling it for the same price I bought it from a decade ago, although it's worth $500 more. Seemed wrong to profit from the arrangement after I've had the company of such an excellent axe for all this time.
Continue, chaps...
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Re: A happy guitar ending...
That's a great story and I was hoping you'd sell it to him for the same price you bought it. I would have been disappointed in the whole story otherwise. Karma did its thing for everyone in this story. Your karma is in the garage for future use. Just don't run over your dogma with your karma.
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Re: A happy guitar ending...
Nice one David Smith! Now, a Tele or a Jaguar would be cool. Me, I'd go for the one with all the switches and things as I'm a sucker for such. teles - I hear they are pretty cool and utilitarian if the quack can be avoided.
Cheers
rayc
rayc
Re: A happy guitar ending...
It's a great story about the guitar... ....but did you ever try just swapping pickups to break up the "very alike" vibe...?
You know my Hagstrom stable...and they all came with pretty much the same pickups, give or take a couple...so while each had it's own, slightly different feel, they had very similar tones...but I've swapped out a bunch of pups between them, and now they're all have a different sound.
Re: A happy guitar ending...
I really like the look of that Les Paul.
Re: A happy guitar ending...
nice story ,,,, occasionally things work out
Re: A happy guitar ending...
Well done, Armi. It sounds like the guitar has been in good hands, and will continue its life in another good home.
Re: A happy guitar ending...
No, I didn't, and perhaps I could have, but I guess I don't want to own a zillion guitars either - as I now have a great new Les Paul, I can get my Les Paul sounds from it. While I get the importance of tone, I'm not a tone zealot, I'm more interested in the songwriting and arranging aspects of it all.miroslav wrote: ↑Sun Jul 30, 2017 3:09 pm
It's a great story about the guitar... ....but did you ever try just swapping pickups to break up the "very alike" vibe...?
You know my Hagstrom stable...and they all came with pretty much the same pickups, give or take a couple...so while each had it's own, slightly different feel, they had very similar tones...but I've swapped out a bunch of pups between them, and now they're all have a different sound.
Plus, this guitar had meaning because of the backstory, which is why I was struggling to sell it to a random other person - my Ibanez, however, had no meaning at all to me, so no issues selling it (the new owner think's it's fantastic, incidentally). My PRS has meaning above and beyond its sounds, so it's a keeper. This one - sending it back to the brother of the original owner seemed like the right thing to do - but remember I bought it, not because I wanted it, but to help him out - it's always been someone else's guitar in my head.
Re: A happy guitar ending...
There's a new Jag with lots of the switching done via a single in-line toggle I noticed... I don't like switches, personally. And I like Teles but not for the quacky country sound - definitely to be avoided!
Re: A happy guitar ending...
It's in really good nick for a 26 year old guitar. He, although he gigs all the time, found it a bit heavy as his back's not the best, so he had other guitars he preferred to gig with, apart from some buckle rash on the back it's in pretty good condition. When I had it serviced I got the guy to put new pickup ring screws in and stuff like that that was getting rusty, as well.
Re: A happy guitar ending...
Nice. I just think it's pretty understated and not too flashy for a Les Paul. Still probably wouldn't be able to play the bloody thing though
Re: A happy guitar ending...
Yeah...I'm the same way. For me, tone only comes into play within the context of the song and the arrangement. IOW...I don't have special tone, or a single tone in mind until I start recording the song, and then I find what works.
That said...I just love guitars.
I didn't just buy them for their individual tones...and like I said, many of them had the same pups/tones when I first got them, so I swapped out the pups simply to give them some variety. I could potentially work with maybe a half-dozen out of the pile I have, but I loves the guitars.
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Re: A happy guitar ending...
That's heartwarming.
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Re: A happy guitar ending...
So the guitar is now back with the family, and I'm $2000 richer. Woo hoo!
Re: A happy guitar ending...
Yup - dropped in at Turramurra Music (who almost always have the best prices on new guitars - but there's no negotiation room) and ordered an Elite series Tele - the world's most VERSATILE electric guitar - and turns out they'd ordered the exact model the day before, so I've just given them a hold deposit - it should rock up in about 2-3 weeks.
It's this fella - but with an ebony fretboard - the rosewood thing is biting Fender, apparently - I'm like "Ebony? Awesome!" That's a free upgrade....
Tele
More than $2K but I've been saving. I thought about the Autumn blaze thing (it's an aged cherry sunburst, despite what the page says) but I'd want to see it in the flesh - looks nice on the pic, but then I saw another pic of it and thought "Ewww...." and they weren't ordering one in.
I stopped in at the friend who I sold the pointy Ibanez to on the way back and he's got both a Squier Jazzmaster (Mascis version) and Squier Jaguar - I didn't play the latter but I played the former - it looks nice but the switching and thumb wheels I just found annoying - now I know they've dispensed with both on the new models, and I know I'm playing a Squier, but it just sounded a bit "stratty" to me - anyway -even with its "P90s" or whatever the fuck they actually were, and it didn't make me think "I must have one of these..." They had a nice greeny one in the shop which looks good but I didn't play it. Probably I'd like the real thing much better, but, one at a time...
Whereas I played my other mate's Tele all weekend and I just liked that you could do anything with it, even if the array of sounds isn't great.
The shop had an Elite thinline blonde - and I don't like thinlines and generally not blonde either - but the neck felt good and the pickups sounded good and the extra switching thing (S1) on the volume knob was both simple AND produced a useful variation, so I thought, "Yep - it'll do".
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Re: A happy guitar ending...
kewl of you not to screw the guy to the floor on the LP sale price .. good karma /points in heaven +1
nice! i love teles .. always have,all ringy and pingy (yip,these are legal technical terms! ... they are !!! ) .. bought an amp a bit ago.guy had a tele,it had old,dead tow ropes on it,tuned higher for some reason ????? ... with clumps of sticky skin underneath,the kind of clumps that make you glad you ate that sandwich and pee`d before you got there ... thank god for disinfectant .... .... anyhoo,that was a bastard to play but sounded great
chuffed for ya,a real mans geetar .. pics when you get it
nice! i love teles .. always have,all ringy and pingy (yip,these are legal technical terms! ... they are !!! ) .. bought an amp a bit ago.guy had a tele,it had old,dead tow ropes on it,tuned higher for some reason ????? ... with clumps of sticky skin underneath,the kind of clumps that make you glad you ate that sandwich and pee`d before you got there ... thank god for disinfectant .... .... anyhoo,that was a bastard to play but sounded great
chuffed for ya,a real mans geetar .. pics when you get it
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Re: A happy guitar ending...
btw the headstocks look like feet ...