I have 10 guitars but I really only play 6. My Fender Custom Shop Strat and my Gibson '59 Les Paul Special and my Martin are not one of those six. LOL
You should not pick a guitar because your favorite player has one nor because the whole world things it's cool. Most COOL guitars only became cool because the guy saw it on the wall of a store and the damn thing said "Play me." He did ...you heard him ...you copied his choice ...LOL
In short you will be the happiest when you just have to look at your guitar and want to grab it. Better still you will improve your playing again, and again if you can not leave the thing alone.
One great thing is that you can always upgrade hardware and PU's so you can get the sound you want.
YES ...you can make bad choices but you can try again.
HOW I GOT IT RIGHT
I bought with my heart ...not my intellect.
None of these guitars cost over $500.00 US to buy. I have new, used, on sale etc. but I put a lot of money in some of them. Only the PRS and the Ibanez have nothing done to them. The Fender Duo-Sonic was gutted.
One thing they all have in common is a very good fit and finish and they all use good tonewoods. These are things are very important as you can not realistically fix bad workmanship and nothing can fix inferior wood. Hardware and PU's are secondary as they can easily be upgraded.
The wood will only improve with age.
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| This is NOT a Dano ...but it was made by them for Sears in 1963. Sears as you know went bankrupt just months ago. SILVERTONE 1449 It is not hollow it is virtually all mahogany. It now has a Duncan Pearly Gates PAF in the bridge and a Q handwound '64 (Hendrix) Strat PU in the neck. I will try to get a pic taken and put it here asap. Because the guitar is mahogany with PAF on it the guitar sounds like a Gibson SG. The Strat PU really seems strong enough to do what it was meant to. I get a convincing late 60's Stat sound going thru my Marshall Plexi. :-) Still out there $525.00 USD __________________________________________________________________________ |
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| the Airline H44 DLX a replica of a ' 55 HARMONY H88 STRATOTONE DOUBLET with thanks to me it has a ... Duncan Pearly Gates hiding under a 50's 'Toaster' Rickenbacker PU cover in the bridge a '58 Harmony DeArmond S style gold foil in the neck and a Fender Mustang bridge. The original bridge is wood. It sucks up the sustain and you can not. accurately intonate the strings. I finished it off by finding the correct knobs The body is solid ash with a very thick maple neck on a recording you would easily mistake this as an LP it weighs the same but sustains even longer. It has a killer tone! It reminds me of Bernie Marsdens LP mods were pricey ...with PU's new bridge, the correct knobs and labor but worth every penny!!!  with the correct bridge the wrong knobs and 2 mini HB that look a bit like the original DeArmonds but are not. To be fair the PU's are not obtainable. I used a gold foil from the '58 Stratotone because although it is a completely different guitar the PU is still available. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ |
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| 2017 PRS SE 245 Paul designed the PU's in this himself to get a 50's LP sound It does. Mahogany body & neck with a maple cap & rosewood fretboard It is beyond beautiful as it was hand picked for the 2017 NAMM trade show as a display guitar I got it for half price :-) ___________________________________________________________________________________________ |
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| 2009 IBANEZ JET KING actually a Guyatone LG130T For the first few years Ibanez did not even make guitars they were a marketing company and bought Guyatone guitars with Ibanez stamped on them to sell in the US Solid mahogany with a maple neck & rosewood fretboard So this is a reissue LOL It has the fattest sound I have heard in my life just as it comes. The PU's are Ibanez P-90 with an added noise cancelling dummy coil. It kills some of the bite of a P90 but it gives you a massive killer mid range. a retro guitar fatter then a Metal guitar ...now the 'is' funny LOL With most pics it looks like your average silver finish but it is actually a 'sparkle' finish just a bit of direct light and it blinding. I got it recently in mint condition for $225.00 USD :-) ____________________________________________________________________________________________ |
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CONCLUSION
I love the crazy colours too. Added bonus ...so does any audience.
It is not hard to see I love the look of the old US guitars all made in the Chicago area in the 50's.
Years ago I had a date with a lady and I went on and on about the cool wood grain on an LP as we sat in a club. She said the guitar looked like a brown blob. SHE WAS RIGHT!
Yes the only guys at a club that like that $6000.00 rare wood guitar are other musicians ...and they hate the guy that owns it. LOL
I go to great lengths to update them but to also disguise my updates with period correct parts. Like Ric 'Toaster' PU covers over the PAF's I even found a German made open top chrome cover to hide my Strat PU in the Silvertone.
The guy that does my work is not cheap...he restores guitars for guys like Clapton and Gilmour. He has a lot of old bits of hardware from the past that he collects for future restorations. He can even upgrade my tuners to excellent custom Gotoh which come with the correct buttons to match some old crap tuners that look cool but were NFG even when they were even new.
He loves when I come in because I give a free rein to get as creative as he likes. Like putting NOS cupcake knobs on the Harmony ...just like the original!!!
Why don't I sell my Strat and Les Paul then ???
If I keep them and tell you you do not need one to have a world class sound it is believable.
PRS found that guys who bought a US made PRS only played it at home and in the studio.
When they played live they used a SE equivalent. They confessed that the difference was minimal and if they had the guitar damaged or stolen they did not have to sweat it!
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