What Makes Your #1 Your #1?

ibmorjamn said:
Is it more rock or metal with the lace sensor red?
I just ordered some GFS 10k albino 5 for my super Strat project “Goldie” beside the Humbucker set up I currently have and after it’s all will likely use a single Humbucker. Likely they will not be great but I will find out.
I would like a single could to handle the work but that’s a tough pull for a single.
I do here a lot of ideas about the quarter pound SD’s.
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The Red is pretty good for rock and can do 80’s metal. I’m not sure how well it would do modern metal. It I am digging it for this guitar. But I seem to like what is conventional wisdom says otherwise :wink:. My other favorite strat bridge pickup is the YJM, so take what I say with a grain of salt i suppose :ROFLMAO:. But I don’t see why a QP couldn’t get you there. Lots of ways to skin a cat.
 
C-Grin said:
Damn you know Bober? I have an East Club 18 also, killer amps,,,,Killer. The Budda is an older one (pre Peavy), love it!!
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DAMN, I love THAT EAST and the GNOME.

As for Mr Bober, super nice guy. I bet he would seriously dig seeing a shot of the Budda, The East and that Gnome all together. You have some cool looking amp/speaker gear there.
 
Fiesta Red said:
Despite all the “horse-tradin’” and GAS episodes and everything else that comes with the musician hobby/lifestyle/etc., I’ve been fortunate to find (and keep) twospectacular instruments that have been my “#1” guitar.

From 1993 to 2008, it was my (namesake) 1992 Fender US Vintage ‘62 Stratocaster.

It was amazing when I bought it…and with the mechanical, electronic and cosmetic customizations and modifications I’ve done to it, I truly have “My Stratocaster”, and I really can’t see it being supplanted from that lofty perch.

**For specific details of all the customizations and modifications I’ve done, see this:

​

My Fiesta Red Stratocaster

The first (and only, to date) Stratocaster that’s ever been a part of my guitarsenal was bought for $750 in summer of 1993, from the fantabulous but lamentedly defunct JAM Music and Sound. The expenditure of this money was the first major argument my wife (we’d been married three months) and I...
www.thetonerooms.com


But c.2008, it was eventually usurped from the #1 position by a lowly hecho-en-Ensenada 1995 Fender Special Tele that I bought used in 2003.

I liked the hard edges of the uncontoured slab body, and the weird-but-comfy neck with the unrolled edges…by the time I engineered or customized out the things I didn’t like about it, it became the guitar I reached for first, whether rehearsing, jamming, recording or performing, whether playing slide or straight or alternate tuning or plain ol’ 440/standard or blues or outlaw country or rock and roll…it’s the one I’d grab if the house is on fire…it relegated the guitar I had proclaimed my #1 for fifteen years to the secondary spot.

**For specific details of all the customizations and modifications I’ve done, see this:


But here’s the real question:

What makes your #1 instrument (guitar, bass, whatever) “Your #1”?

For me, it came down to this:

-Which guitar am I thinking about or comparing other guitars to?

-Which guitar am I wishing I was performing/recording/whatever with instead of the one I currently have in my lap or strapped across my shoulder?

-Which guitar do I grab without thinking, “This one *might* work ok for what I’m doing today…” vs, “This one always does what I need it to do…”

For me, it is my pinstriped Telecaster (“Big Tex”), or secondarily, my Fiesta Red Stratocaster…

Those two guitars always deliver…

I have (and I love) several other guitars, from cheap to high-end and all of them are vastly different in pickups, neck profiles, body wood, construction, etc…I’m partial to Fenders, but I’m not very brand-loyal and definitely not sycophantic in that preference.

But when I’m playing my (amazing) 1980 G&L F-100 or (cheap and funky) Dean VX or (kick-butt) 2007 Fender ‘72-reissue Telecaster Deluxe or whichever other guitar I’m playing at the moment, I’m thinking:

“This might sound better if I were playing Big Tex or Fiesta Red…”

…and more often than not, it’s Big Tex—which is why it is my 1A and Fiesta Red is my 1B.

Yeah, I like the humbuckers in my G&L and Telecaster Deluxe and Dean VX, but the P-90s and single coils of those two main guitars can do dang-near everything I want to do, sonically…and they look cool…and the playability is as good as I could ever ask out of any guitar…and…

You get the point.
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This one's pretty easy for me. Back in '91, I played a gig at a place called Finally Michael's, afternoon Hard Core show with my band from HS, Brain Damage. I bought a Candy Apple Red BC RICH BICH with money my mom left me when she passed. I only remember the date because I got the funds when I turned 21. So, somehow, after the show, someone stole that BICH RIGHT OFF the F'IN STAGE! It just VANISHED. The long/short of it is, I didn't have much funds left after that so the only thing I could afford at the time was a body blank and parts my bass player gave me. Suffice to say, I turned those parts and body blank into my very first custom build which is STILL my #1 to this day. It's been all over the US with me on tour with THC-The Hydroponic Cryptonite, from Sundance and Lamour to Whiskey a go go, (same members as Brain Damage, played with them for 17yrs). I've taken apart, stripped down, and painted this guitar so many times it's amazing there's any wood left. Swamp Ash body, Kramer neck, EMGs, Floyd Rose, Schaller tuning machines... I named her Yolanda, after my mom. Y. Caramico. I've built and own so many guitars. She's still my #1.
 

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Ku² said:
This one's pretty easy for me. Back in '91, I played a gig at a place called Finally Michael's, afternoon Hard Core show with my band from HS, Brain Damage. I bought a Candy Apple Red BC RICH BICH with money my mom left me when she passed. I only remember the date because I got the funds when I turned 21. So, somehow, after the show, someone stole that BICH RIGHT OFF the F'IN STAGE! It just VANISHED. The long/short of it is, I didn't have much funds left after that so the only thing I could afford at the time was a body blank and parts my bass player gave me. Suffice to say, I turned those parts and body blank into my very first custom build which is STILL my #1 to this day. It's been all over the US with me on tour with THC-The Hydroponic Cryptonite, from Sundance and Lamour to Whiskey a go go, (same members as Brain Damage, played with them for 17yrs). I've taken apart, stripped down, and painted this guitar so many times it's amazing there's any wood left. Swamp Ash body, Kramer neck, EMGs, Floyd Rose, Schaller tuning machines... I named her Yolanda, after my mom. Y. Caramico. I've built and own so many guitars. She's still my #1.
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Ku² said:
This one's pretty easy for me. Back in '91, I played a gig at a place called Finally Michael's, afternoon Hard Core show with my band from HS, Brain Damage. I bought a Candy Apple Red BC RICH BICH with money my mom left me when she passed. I only remember the date because I got the funds when I turned 21. So, somehow, after the show, someone stole that BICH RIGHT OFF the F'IN STAGE! It just VANISHED. The long/short of it is, I didn't have much funds left after that so the only thing I could afford at the time was a body blank and parts my bass player gave me. Suffice to say, I turned those parts and body blank into my very first custom build which is STILL my #1 to this day. It's been all over the US with me on tour with THC-The Hydroponic Cryptonite, from Sundance and Lamour to Whiskey a go go, (same members as Brain Damage, played with them for 17yrs). I've taken apart, stripped down, and painted this guitar so many times it's amazing there's any wood left. Swamp Ash body, Kramer neck, EMGs, Floyd Rose, Schaller tuning machines... I named her Yolanda, after my mom. Y. Caramico. I've built and own so many guitars. She's still my #1.
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Damn, Hell of a quest.
 
Different types give me two options?

The Black one in the middle and my favorite Lester L. Holio of them all. I can pinch myself over these two still...

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For years, my #1 was my '69 SG Standard. Tons of shows and recordings. I bought the SG in '90. Before I bought that one, I was using a different '69 SG Standard, but preferred this one over the other. My '85 Les Paul that I bought in '89 was my #2. Before these two guitars, I was usually using my '68 SG Junior or '82 Les Paul Standard. This SG was retired when I started building my own guitars. You can see some of the divots in the fingerboard of the SG in the photo, hence it's retirement. I still occasionally use it for jamming.


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'85 is on the left. My '82 that I've had since '83 is on the right.

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After building the Flying V and Billy-Bo, they became my number 1 and 2 guitars. My choice for retiring the SG was there was quite a bit of fingerboard wear, and it was close becoming terminally ill. I also had the luxury of making the necks to my liking while building the V and Billy-Bo. I would like to shave down the V neck a bit, and try to make it exactly like the Billy-Bo. That guitar is a dream to play.


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Nowadays... I think the ES-335 has taken over the number one slot. It is so much fun to play. The neck is really comfortable and the fingerboard feels really fast. The fingerboard grain looks like Brazilian, and it has a real nice snap to it. I really wish I had tried to come up with the cash to buy one forty years ago. I would have a bunch of good ones by now for sure.



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SG John said:
For years, my #1 was my '69 SG Standard. Tons of shows and recordings. I bought the SG in '90. Before I bought that one, I was using a different '69 SG Standard, but preferred this one over the other. My '85 Les Paul that I bought in '89 was my #2. Before these two guitars, I was usually using my '68 SG Junior or '82 Les Paul Standard. This SG was retired when I started building my own guitars. You can see some of the divots in the fingerboard of the SG in the photo, hence it's retirement. I still occasionally use it for jamming.


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'85 is on the left. My '82 that I've had since '83 is on the right.

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After building the Flying V and Billy-Bo, they became my number 1 and 2 guitars. My choice for retiring the SG was there was quite a bit of fingerboard wear, and it was close becoming terminally ill. I also had the luxury of making the necks to my liking while building the V and Billy-Bo. I would like to shave down the V neck a bit, and try to make it exactly like the Billy-Bo. That guitar is a dream to play.


View attachment 104798



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Nowadays... I think the ES-335 has taken over the number one slot. It is so much fun to play. The neck is really comfortable and the fingerboard feels really fast. The fingerboard grain looks like Brazilian, ad it has a real nice snap to it. I really wish I had tried to come up with the cash top buy one forty years ago. I would have a bunch of good ones by now for sure.



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Ever since I saw Alex Lifeson playing his early ES 335's and then 345/355's, I loved these guitars. Same story for me on if I could have had a stockpile of cash at a younger age. I'd have acquired a 335 and 345 at minimum.
 
My #1 these days is a 2002 Fender Stratocaster Classic 60s Series, oly white with a rosewood fretboard. I bought it a few years ago and it quickly became my #1 for one reason only: the neck just feels "right" to me. I don't know how else to describe it really, just an ordinary "C" profile with a 7.25" radius but it feels really comfortable.
 
Oldiemurphy said:
My #1 these days is a 2002 Fender Stratocaster Classic 60s Series, oly white with a rosewood fretboard. I bought it a few years ago and it quickly became my #1 for one reason only: the neck just feels "right" to me.
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The feel of the neck is the #1 thing that can make me love or hate a guitar…
Oldiemurphy said:
I don't know how else to describe it really, just an ordinary "C" profile with a 7.25" radius but it feels really comfortable.
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For me, it doesn’t have to be a particular profile (all my guitars are different, except two of the acoustics, and although they have the same profile, they feel slightly different), so it just has to have that particular “mojo.”

My #1 and my #1B have vastly different necks—9.5 vs 7.25, maple vs rosewood, unrolled edges vs rolled edges, even the fret wire—but they each feel Goldilocks…”just right”…
 
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