eclecticsynergy
Ambassador of Electric Synergy
With the advent of Reverb & eBay in the past couple of decades - and the concurrent demise of most independent music stores - I've made a number of purchases without playing them first. It's something I'd never have considered decades ago. Always was a big believer in playing a bunch of the same model and choosing the ones that felt lively and spoke to me. But things are the way they are and the luxury of playing in person seems to be practical only seldom, especially when it comes to older and used instruments.
Years ago I bought a number of Japanese-made LP types from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Went on kind of a binge when I discovered how affordable they were relative to the build quality. (And back then I could still deduct my equipment purchases.) MIJs were still sleeper gems at the time; you could get an awful lot of guitar for a couple hundred bucks. Over the course of a couple years - mostly on eBay, but a couple on music forums - I bought these:
'77 Greco LP Custom. The owner had installed hot Duncan Distortion pickups, so it needs different amp settings from my other guitars. Still, once in a while I enjoy having a high output axe to play with.
Mid-80s Burny LP Custom. (These are hard to date accurately.) The pickups are original, but the previous owner put 'cutout' covers on them.
'96 Orville LPS-Q. Quilt top model in special order raspberry, with matching headstock & gold hardware. Made without a pokerchip or a pickguard, hallmarks of custom order builds from the Terada factory. I've seen red ones, but never saw another in raspberry.
'98 Orville By Gibson LPS-80 in faded orange drop. Previous owner put a Gibson headstock overlay on it and installed Sheptone pickups, which sound great. According to the serial it was built by FujiGen in August '98, making it one of the last ones made under the Orville brand. I named it Unburst.
Also got this 1980 Tokai Silver Series Strat for $175. No case, but a cool guitar nonetheless, All original. I dig the 70s style headstock.
I bought this Gibson years after those others, but it too was a mailorder. It's an '04 Tradtitional Plus. Very bright natural voice; its stock BurstBuckers sounded thin and impossibly harsh. Dimarzio AT-1 at the bridge and an Air Norton (wired parallel) in neck position fattened it up & filled in the mids.
Years ago I bought a number of Japanese-made LP types from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Went on kind of a binge when I discovered how affordable they were relative to the build quality. (And back then I could still deduct my equipment purchases.) MIJs were still sleeper gems at the time; you could get an awful lot of guitar for a couple hundred bucks. Over the course of a couple years - mostly on eBay, but a couple on music forums - I bought these:
'77 Greco LP Custom. The owner had installed hot Duncan Distortion pickups, so it needs different amp settings from my other guitars. Still, once in a while I enjoy having a high output axe to play with.
Mid-80s Burny LP Custom. (These are hard to date accurately.) The pickups are original, but the previous owner put 'cutout' covers on them.
'96 Orville LPS-Q. Quilt top model in special order raspberry, with matching headstock & gold hardware. Made without a pokerchip or a pickguard, hallmarks of custom order builds from the Terada factory. I've seen red ones, but never saw another in raspberry.
'98 Orville By Gibson LPS-80 in faded orange drop. Previous owner put a Gibson headstock overlay on it and installed Sheptone pickups, which sound great. According to the serial it was built by FujiGen in August '98, making it one of the last ones made under the Orville brand. I named it Unburst.
Also got this 1980 Tokai Silver Series Strat for $175. No case, but a cool guitar nonetheless, All original. I dig the 70s style headstock.
I bought this Gibson years after those others, but it too was a mailorder. It's an '04 Tradtitional Plus. Very bright natural voice; its stock BurstBuckers sounded thin and impossibly harsh. Dimarzio AT-1 at the bridge and an Air Norton (wired parallel) in neck position fattened it up & filled in the mids.
