Sérgio
Ambassador of CaliZilian Affairs
Agree 100%...
64' strat, 64' strat or 64' strat?
- Thread starter Mr Grumpy
- Start date
Agree 100%...
Sérgio
Ambassador of CaliZilian Affairs
Yeap. And the bridge in some models.
gball
Ambassador of Boogie
Couldn't have said it better. This is pretty much where I am at in my own thinking, and concur 100%.
I agree. I would have to say that there does seem to be a trend towards the "do it like the 1950's" mindset at Gibson, which I think is - to some extent - driven by the fan base of those guitars. The other thing that kinda seems odd to me are the 50's Tributes (of which I bought two Les Pauls) and both had the 498R/496T.
I also agree on your other (highlighted) observations. What we see, even with some metal bands, are guys in their 50's wearing shorts and flip flops - looking much like the guy next door.
Then there are some really strange old guys in their 50's who wear elaborate stage clothes, like British colonial coats, wear hoods and masks and play 1980's vintage Squirecasters with Gibson pickups...
Sergio,
My 1987 squire has (stock too) Fender branded tuners and bridge hardware and it's really good stuff...
Sérgio
Ambassador of CaliZilian Affairs
You see, I am old school in many things, just not regarding guitar specs. I mean, I DO things the old way, with the stuff my epoque grants me.
So, I am pround of having bought ALL my guitars just like my idols (Page, Harrison, Lennon, Krieger, so many) did: I bought what was for sale at the Shop or what some other guy was selling and I knew was good.
I bought a brand new Strat and it happened to be the love of my musician's life. Later I bought a Gibson SG, also brand new, and never bonded with it, so I left it behind along the way, traded it for a 10 year-old Rickenbacker which was also a standard instrument and had history (this guitar crossed the United Stated, I can tell the story later)...
Just to mention 3 of the ones I've had.
Gigged with them all by now. All my gear has seen the road and a good deal of live action. That's what the stuff is made for, ain't it?
No fancy prices, no bling, no artificial relic jobs... I care for my guitars. They're my guitars, man... I paid for them and play them for other people. It's a love thing, really... I manage to make them stay in tune and sound good. They are good instruments, playable and good sounding.
What else does a Skynyrd-style Simple Man need?
Peace and love, brothers!
So, I am pround of having bought ALL my guitars just like my idols (Page, Harrison, Lennon, Krieger, so many) did: I bought what was for sale at the Shop or what some other guy was selling and I knew was good.
I bought a brand new Strat and it happened to be the love of my musician's life. Later I bought a Gibson SG, also brand new, and never bonded with it, so I left it behind along the way, traded it for a 10 year-old Rickenbacker which was also a standard instrument and had history (this guitar crossed the United Stated, I can tell the story later)...
Just to mention 3 of the ones I've had.
Gigged with them all by now. All my gear has seen the road and a good deal of live action. That's what the stuff is made for, ain't it?
No fancy prices, no bling, no artificial relic jobs... I care for my guitars. They're my guitars, man... I paid for them and play them for other people. It's a love thing, really... I manage to make them stay in tune and sound good. They are good instruments, playable and good sounding.
What else does a Skynyrd-style Simple Man need?
Peace and love, brothers!
Last edited:
CabanaBoy
Ambassador of Electric Mayhem
Pretty much when I'm look'n at guitars for myself I simply make sure I like it before plugging it in. Does it feel good to me, do I enjoy playing it, am I getting into playing it, does my right hand like the neck profile, does it inspire me to play it, do I start groove'n on it. If so, I plug it in and go from there. Generally if you really like an electric guitar you can tweak the electronics some to fit you if need be, generally anyways...
OP
Mr Grumpy
Ambassador of Comings and Goings
I agree, but what can they do? They wanna make money, and especially the Gibson crowd (but also the Fender crowd to an extent) whinge anytime a guitar differes from its 1955 or 57 or 61 specs. Also, when they bought out the HP stuff they got endless grief. I follow Gibson stuff more than Fender, and although Gibson have done really good stuff since at least 2011 (with a weird 2015 year, it has to be said), and their 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 lines have many excellent guitars, they are still criticized for anything/everything they do. I know this responds to the standard line more, and CSs seem to be just for high-end profit stuff based on what the high-payers want - a 55 or 57 LP usually.
It's gotta be the strength of that maple neck hasn't it? All my Gibson SGs have struggled with changes in weather much more than Fenders/Corts with stronger and straighter maple necks (oddly, the thinly necked SG junior is always in tune, but I suspect that due to the single bridge/tail design they took more care when gluing in the neck and that makes all the difference - maybe with the two piece bridge/tail SG/LPs they allow more tolerance because it's quicker and cheaper in the factory and can be 'ironed out' at setup.
I do prefer Gibsons to Genders, but have to admit that the vintage Fender tuners are my very favourite and the the simplicity of Tele/Strat bridges make a lot of sense (and that maple neck, while brighter, is tougher and must be better to tour with) - Leo got a lot of things right.
The US standards have always been the benchmark, and I suspect for good reason. I had a $1000 Japanese tele custom which I expected to be as good as a US standard, but I found the MIJ rather underwhelming...
Pricewise, I'm different from you - back in my business days I used to spend $2000 some months on champagne's for my home, so buying a CS guitar would be no biggie for me if I had the expendable cash. I don't think I'd go into the collector money, the silly money, but CS guitar money (if I had it) wouldn't be an issue for me. It's no more than choosing an aircon option or bigger wheels option on a new car... I was on the Gibson forum a while back and folks were saying that $1500 was too much for an SG Special, so I did the calculations, and the price was almost identical (slightly cheaper when you include the case) than they were in the 50s and 60s. I think our feeling about guitar prices has more to do with stagnation of wages over the last 30 years than guitars being expensive (although LP standards do appear to be f'kin expensive at $3,500
).I've seen some of the deluxe guitars looking pretty well kitted out. &, this one recently sold at my favourite Seoul guitar storeat about $1200; lacquer, case, vintage tuners, american-vintage pickups, nice bridge and neck - some Mexicans are well specc'd, but the prices are over $1000 for them; US parts.
Aren't the older ones like that said to be from a 'Golden Period' when they had higher quality parts and assembly (maybe made in Korea or Japan when the quality was very high)?
The MIJ variants (prior to 1987) are considered valuable. But these MIK versions are considered junk. They have bodies made from layers of plywood and weight is in par with a Les Paul. You can see the layers when routing.
Mine has small cracks all over the body, but nothing in the structurally vital areas. There's about a 5" crack running lengthwise, just above the bridge. It first appeared in 1990 and its never got bigger.
Here's a 2001 photo before all the H-H routing was done:
Frets have been leveled 3 or 4 times over the uears - last year by me:
Honestly, this guitar was always super stable from day one, and it has only gotten better.
A few more photos:
I wish I had a scientific answer, but I don't. It's just a cheap guitar I've had for 30 years. But the recent addition of the Gibson 500T/496R has totally transformed it.
It's tone rivals all my Gibson's and its on constant duty in my home studio.
Last edited:
Gahr
Ambassador of Blues & Brews
The "how much would you pay" question is very interesting. Everyone has a different answer, and everyone has a reason and explanation for their view. And I guess that is the reason why there are guitars to be found in all price categories, from dead cheap to ridiculously expensive to vintage-insanity prices; people are willing to pay different amounts for what they want.
Me, like Grumpy, I would be willing to spend more if I had more, provided the right guitar came along. And that's the clue for me. If the guitar is right, the price is not extremely important. As long as I have the money, that is. At the moment I have five guitars I consider definite keepers. The cheapest one was bought for less than one fourth of the price of the dearest one. But what they have in common (apart form all being Gibsons...) is that they were all guitars I wanted and really liked when I bought them. The thing is not whether they are CS, vintage, American made or anything like that, the point is that they are guitars I consider good. They feel good to me, they look good to me (well, not really the SG-II, but that one has so much mojo and memories attached to it that I can never part with it), and they sound great to my ears. And I could afford them. I would NEVER buy a guitar I couldn't pay cash, that's basically my only rule.
So, when is a guitar not worth it? It simply depends on the buyer.
Me, like Grumpy, I would be willing to spend more if I had more, provided the right guitar came along. And that's the clue for me. If the guitar is right, the price is not extremely important. As long as I have the money, that is. At the moment I have five guitars I consider definite keepers. The cheapest one was bought for less than one fourth of the price of the dearest one. But what they have in common (apart form all being Gibsons...) is that they were all guitars I wanted and really liked when I bought them. The thing is not whether they are CS, vintage, American made or anything like that, the point is that they are guitars I consider good. They feel good to me, they look good to me (well, not really the SG-II, but that one has so much mojo and memories attached to it that I can never part with it), and they sound great to my ears. And I could afford them. I would NEVER buy a guitar I couldn't pay cash, that's basically my only rule.
So, when is a guitar not worth it? It simply depends on the buyer.
67plexi
Ambassador of Amps
Last night my extra guitar was my real 1956 Strat, I paid $550.00 for it 10 years ago. 2000-7 I sold my vintage guitar amp collection great timing.
Strange night full house first set second set people vanished some out of town 7 piece show band playing down the street. Our band had to step it up a notch
we got our audience back third and fourth set. But had to give it our all, management was happy, but at the end of the night felt like a one legged man in a butt
kicking contest.
Strange night full house first set second set people vanished some out of town 7 piece show band playing down the street. Our band had to step it up a notch
we got our audience back third and fourth set. But had to give it our all, management was happy, but at the end of the night felt like a one legged man in a butt
kicking contest.