Kerry Brown
Ambassador of the Great Northern Bar Jams
Very cool. I had a chance to buy a Gibson L6S for a very good price a few years ago. I hummed and hawed and when I finally decided to buy it, it was gone.
He is 44 years old.
- Thread starter Jethro Rocker
- Start date
The Danelectro had a steel re-enforced, non-adjustable neck. The bridge was a piece of cork and intonation was never, ever anywhere near correct. The cork had a central retaining screw and could only be moved a small distance.
At the time, a 15 year old kid, earning $125.00/week (playing 6 nights a week in a professional band) was a lot of money and I was squandering my pay on date nights with local girls. I didn't really get a pro-level guitar until 1983 when I saved up & bought a Brand New Ibanez DT-555. It was $1,200.00 back then and I went through Chesbro Music in Idaho Falls to get a pre-release model.
Note the Idaho Falls mailing address of Chesbro Music at the bottom of this flyer. They were the ones who could get things from Ibanez that nobody else could, at the time anyways.
That guitar would be stolen from our van just a year later, so I ended up with the yellow Mako TB-1 just to get me by.
When Joan Chesbro called to see how the DT-555 was holding up, I told her it was stolen from a parking area on the Sunset Strip. She sent me a complimentary Ibanez AR-305 and it was a really nice guitar, but I never bonded with it. I ended up selling it to a session player I had met in L.A. and I would up using Mom's 1979 Les Paul Custom for a couple of years.
Then, in 1988, my bandmates chipped in and bought me a 1987 squire MIK Stratocaster from White's Music in Tulare, California.
Here's a photo of it when it was brand new:
I had that guitar longer than any other, playing it daily/nightly from 1988 until 2015. It endured probably hundreds of pickup and wiring swaps.
Right away, in 1988, I swapped a Dimarzio HS-3 in the bridge to kill the hum. In 1992, I discovered the incredible DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Solo - The baddest stacked-single coil produced at the time with over 20k impedance. Ultimately, DiMarzio would send me a YJM to try and I used the DP404/DP-117/DP-217 Combination of hum cancelling pickups.
The Squire remained in this configuration from 1995 until 2015, and the 1987 squire has been used on well over 1,000 commercial recordings.
The 1987 squire has been used on well over 1,000 commercial recordings.
When I traded it to @Sp8ctre in 2019, it had fender engine turned aluminum pickguard with a Gibson 500T in the bridge and a Gibson 496R in the neck. That was the final iteration.
It was a really good and dependable guitar, although certainly nothing glamorous. Over the years, it earned me a steady living, despite it being a cheap MIK model.
TBTH, I could have bought a better guitar. My family bought me a brand new Schecter Hellraiser in 2005 and it was a great guitar, but I wore the frets out in less than 4 months and just never really bonded with it.
I gave the Hellraiser to one of my guitar students in January 2018 after unsuccessful attempts to sell it for $600.00.
At the time, a 15 year old kid, earning $125.00/week (playing 6 nights a week in a professional band) was a lot of money and I was squandering my pay on date nights with local girls. I didn't really get a pro-level guitar until 1983 when I saved up & bought a Brand New Ibanez DT-555. It was $1,200.00 back then and I went through Chesbro Music in Idaho Falls to get a pre-release model.
Note the Idaho Falls mailing address of Chesbro Music at the bottom of this flyer. They were the ones who could get things from Ibanez that nobody else could, at the time anyways.
That guitar would be stolen from our van just a year later, so I ended up with the yellow Mako TB-1 just to get me by.
When Joan Chesbro called to see how the DT-555 was holding up, I told her it was stolen from a parking area on the Sunset Strip. She sent me a complimentary Ibanez AR-305 and it was a really nice guitar, but I never bonded with it. I ended up selling it to a session player I had met in L.A. and I would up using Mom's 1979 Les Paul Custom for a couple of years.
Then, in 1988, my bandmates chipped in and bought me a 1987 squire MIK Stratocaster from White's Music in Tulare, California.
Here's a photo of it when it was brand new:
I had that guitar longer than any other, playing it daily/nightly from 1988 until 2015. It endured probably hundreds of pickup and wiring swaps.
Right away, in 1988, I swapped a Dimarzio HS-3 in the bridge to kill the hum. In 1992, I discovered the incredible DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Solo - The baddest stacked-single coil produced at the time with over 20k impedance. Ultimately, DiMarzio would send me a YJM to try and I used the DP404/DP-117/DP-217 Combination of hum cancelling pickups.
The Squire remained in this configuration from 1995 until 2015, and the 1987 squire has been used on well over 1,000 commercial recordings.
The 1987 squire has been used on well over 1,000 commercial recordings.
When I traded it to @Sp8ctre in 2019, it had fender engine turned aluminum pickguard with a Gibson 500T in the bridge and a Gibson 496R in the neck. That was the final iteration.
It was a really good and dependable guitar, although certainly nothing glamorous. Over the years, it earned me a steady living, despite it being a cheap MIK model.
TBTH, I could have bought a better guitar. My family bought me a brand new Schecter Hellraiser in 2005 and it was a great guitar, but I wore the frets out in less than 4 months and just never really bonded with it.
I gave the Hellraiser to one of my guitar students in January 2018 after unsuccessful attempts to sell it for $600.00.
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67plexi
Ambassador of Amps
I still have my first guitars at my moms house and still have my first new electric guitar 1972 LE 1954 RI Les Paul Custom
First band we had a seven piece horn section at the end of one of our shows John Kay invited me to his apartment '
he had a room full of guitars started me off with a Les Paul JR and a little Tweed Fender Champ next was a 1957 Les Paul Gold top
I told John I love this guitar I bet you do John had me playing along with Black Sabbath records one night John said you need to
take this guitar home and practice what we went over that Kay guitar won't do next day after school went to John's apartment
gone moved out he gave me a 1961 LPSG Standard and 90 days of guitar lessons 2 to 4 hours a day I don't know why John took
my under his wing but I'm thankful when we first met he did say his first guitar was a Kay
Next we started a 3 piece band Dave Body on Bass Danny Motors on Drums me on Guitar and Vocals
1974 we were playing at a private party I met Tony Iommi he asked to see my guitar that's realty nice but one thing it's not left handed
next a bunch of young women started jumping in the Olympic size indoor pool naked Tony Steve if I didn't have to do a sound check
I'd be joining them so I did Tony put me on the guest list and backstage pass a night to remember.
First band we had a seven piece horn section at the end of one of our shows John Kay invited me to his apartment '
he had a room full of guitars started me off with a Les Paul JR and a little Tweed Fender Champ next was a 1957 Les Paul Gold top
I told John I love this guitar I bet you do John had me playing along with Black Sabbath records one night John said you need to
take this guitar home and practice what we went over that Kay guitar won't do next day after school went to John's apartment
gone moved out he gave me a 1961 LPSG Standard and 90 days of guitar lessons 2 to 4 hours a day I don't know why John took
my under his wing but I'm thankful when we first met he did say his first guitar was a Kay
Next we started a 3 piece band Dave Body on Bass Danny Motors on Drums me on Guitar and Vocals
1974 we were playing at a private party I met Tony Iommi he asked to see my guitar that's realty nice but one thing it's not left handed
next a bunch of young women started jumping in the Olympic size indoor pool naked Tony Steve if I didn't have to do a sound check
I'd be joining them so I did Tony put me on the guest list and backstage pass a night to remember.
OP
Jethro Rocker
Ambassador of Live & Loud Action
Wow! Very cool.
:dood:
chilipeppermaniac
Ambassador of Decibels
WOW, Robert, you are virtually the same height wise as my nephew whom we have spoken about. He may be a bit heavier, or maybe not. He was about the same weight as me at one time but lost some with a bit of reduced eating.
I am pretty sure if I wanted to drop 35 lbs to match your 198, I would have to do about 6 things for at least a year.
A. Get sick and waste away. ( I inadvertently started here) Stupid Diabetes Type 2 Nov 2021.
B. Reduce my calorie intake again. ( I started here after initial Diabetes diagnosis Nov 2021) Lost 30 lbs by Calorie drop from 3000+ to <1500
C. Get Back Surgery, so I can actually walk without stabbing pains or weak hips/legs causing easy missteps and falls.
D. Be miserable from all the above and the other couple things I haven't listed here.
