Guitar & Bass Players / Any band members?

ace@high said:
The money that i can appropiate i about 2,500 -3,000 dollars.
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If you have that much to spend, you really need to check out a Paul Reed Smith (PRS) guitar. They are currently the best factory built guitars. Their quality control is second to none. I have been through their factory and have seen everything firsthand. I use to be a die hard Les Paul guy until I played a PRS. If you are just dead set on Gibson or Fender, for the amount you mentioned you should be able to get one of each. Do not discount the used market for guitars either. There are a lot of great guitars out there for reasonable prices.
 
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Another suggestion:

There is an app out there called Reverb. It is handy because it scans multiple sites to put sale guitars in one convenient location. It is where I found my Ric 650 Swamp Ash.
 
Fearless Tower said:
You should be able to get a nice setup in that range.

Seriously - while the place makes me want to vomit, I would recommend going to a Guitar Center and trying out a few guitars and amps and see what you like best and once you have settled on a brand/model and amp combo, go search other avenues to buy them.
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+1 :yes:

After visiting the Guitar Center I head over to the local Deitz Music shop for real advice.

Currently narrowed my 12 string choice down to a Taylor 150e. Amazing amplified sound from a reasonably priced Taylor. $699.
 
MadseasoN said:
More than 20 years on bass. I average around 40 gigs per year (cover bands). Most of the money goes to flying!

My #1 is a German made Warwick Corvette 5, played through an Ampeg SVT 3 Pro and a classic 4x10.
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Nice rig! I run a ESP (LTD) F-4E with a natural finish through a Hartke HA3500 and an Transient attack aluminum cone 8X10 stack. Always loved those Warwicks! Would love one someday.
 
N801BH said:
Boy is this thread bringing back all kinds of great memories..:yes:..:):)
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It never ceases to amaze me of the depth of knowledge and experiences of POA members. Then to have so many offers of advice, help and encouragement for the newbie musician is just icing on the cake.

I'm continuing to learn new songs and play basic scales for solo licks. My fingers wear out long before my desire to learn. I keep a glass of ice water handy after a long session. :lol:

I cannot begin to tell you the flood of memories (we use to call them flashbacks :rofl: :eek:) of the good and bad times playing as a boy.

Thank you one and all for the advice & encouragement.

Mods! We need a better rock on smiley! This dude looks like a fan, not a player! :rockon: ;)
 
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Fearless Tower said:
You should be able to get a nice setup in that range.

Seriously - while the place makes me want to vomit, I would recommend going to a Guitar Center and trying out a few guitars and amps and see what you like best and once you have settled on a brand/model and amp combo, go search other avenues to buy them.
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Hmm, bought my electric guitar there in November. Went back today for a capo and chord buddy. Uh-oh....

I shall now duck the vomit. Sorry Fearless.

David
 
flhrci said:
Hmm, bought my electric guitar there in November. Went back today for a capo and chord buddy. Uh-oh....

I shall now duck the vomit. Sorry Fearless.

David
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If you can stand it, more power to you. I just get quickly annoyed with the stoners turned used car salesmen environment that is prevalent in most locations.
 
Fearless Tower said:
If you can stand it, more power to you. I just get quickly annoyed with the stoners turned used car salesmen environment that is prevalent in most locations.
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There are other ways to judge a guitar store.

Do they have a Fender Stratocaster with triple single coil pickups and a whammy bar? Pre CBS Fender corporate buyout

Will they let you play Stairway? Or will you be denied?
 
Fearless Tower said:
If you can stand it, more power to you. I just get quickly annoyed with the stoners turned used car salesmen environment that is prevalent in most locations.
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The sales"man" here could only talk about his gig last night. He could have cared less that I am in the market for 2 Taylors / Martins and a Fender Strat + amp.

I just ordered a Taylor 150e 12 string on line, (the Martin at Guitar Center was made out of Formica :eek: for $599) now shopping for an old Gibson or Strat. I tend to buy things that hold their value, no matter what they cost.
 
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Geico266 said:
The sales"man" here could only talk about his gig last night. He could have cared less that I am in the market for 2 Taylors / Martins and a Fender Strat + amp.

I just ordered a Taylor 150e 12 string on line, (the Martin at Guitar Center was made out of Formica :eek: for $599) now shopping for an old Gibson or Strat. I tend to buy things that hold their value, no matter what they cost.
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Man.. You got bit by the bug BAD....:eek:
 
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Geico266 said:
I had three years of guitar lessons in the 60's. Learn how to read music and play the 6 or so basic cords, but that is about it. Joined the Navy at 17, 45 years latter I decided to take it up again. :eek:

The internet is AMAZING! Every song you ever wanted to play is on You Tube. My fingers are crazy sore, but getting tougher after a month of 2 hours a day. Rhythm and technique is returning and its fun to play old songs I learned 45 years ago, and new ones. Hotel California, Let it Be, House of the Rising Sun, Horse with no name, Ramblin man.

Currently, my wife picked up a basic Yamaha acoustic and a capo. for $100. Im having a blast, but looking towards the next purchase. Electric hollow or solid? I played solid body a long time ago, love acoustic now.

Brands? A cheap guitar can ruin any "juke box player" so I want to get a GOOD one this time if you catch my drift. ;)

Which portable / small amp for in home practice?

Which web sites do you use?

I appreciate any advice, just want to keep progressing for personal enjoyment and playing for family. Its been a real trip after not playing for 45 years, serious mind trip. Music is VERY powerful to me. Each song takes me back to the time I enjoyed it decades ago.
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I'd be glad to help.

I have 78 guitars now (down from 80). Oldest is a 1956 duo sonic. Have a lot of vintage and 14 PRS. I think my newest guitar may be a 2010. I have about 14 amps as well. My price is a 1959 Gibson 355 mini with Bigsby and PAF pickups. Have a 60 Tele, 60 Danelectro, 61 Melody Maker and Country Gentleman, 62 Jazzmaster, 64 Jaguar, 64 EBO, 65 Strat, 66 Mustang, 66 Firebird I, 67 Melody Maker, 69 Dan Armstrong, 73 Tele Deluxe, 74 Les Paul Deluxe, a couple of 76 Strats, a 1979 Anniversary Strat a couple of Rics and a whole bunch more. For acoustics, I have a Taylor T5 12, an 814CE, and one more. Have a Gibson SJ200. I've bought many online but you have to be careful and know what you're doing. Amps I have a Mesa Triple Rec and Mark V, VHT, Diezel VH4, Bogner Uberschall, 63 Fender Showman, Trace Elliott Velicette, modded Marshall JTM 45, Peavy EFX40, PRS Dallas, Blues Jr., PRS Sweet 16, Zinky Mofo, abd a few more.

Anyway, if you want to chat, PM me for my phone number. Guitars are a tricky deal. I think PRS SE guitars are generally good lower end products. Fender MIM guitars are good as well as Epis. But, the guitar has to be set up properly. For amps, a fender blues junior are great little amps. Also, I'd advise to buy used equipment. There are great deals out there. BTW, of the 150 or so guitars I've owned in my life, only about 15 were bought new, and 3 of those were absolute crap.
 
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Fearless Tower said:
Another suggestion:

There is an app out there called Reverb. It is handy because it scans multiple sites to put sale guitars in one convenient location. It is where I found my Ric 650 Swamp Ash.
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Prices in reverb tend to be more expensive than Craigslist.
 
asgcpa said:
Prices in reverb tend to be more expensive than Craigslist.
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Maybe, but Reverb seems to have a more comprehensive list than what you might find searching Craigslist.

Also, you can make offers on Reverb like eBay. You don't necessarily have to pay the asking price.

If I was looking for something specific, I'd probably look at all sources.
 
MickYoumans said:
If you have that much to spend, you really need to check out a Paul Reed Smith (PRS) guitar. They are currently the best factory built guitars. Their quality control is second to none. I have been through their factory and have seen everything firsthand. I use to be a die hard Les Paul guy until I played a PRS. If you are just dead set on Gibson or Fender, for the amount you mentioned you should be able to get one of each. Do not discount the used market for guitars either. There are a lot of great guitars out there for reasonable prices.
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Concur. I have 14 PRS guitars and two of their amps.
 
Fearless Tower said:
Maybe, but Reverb seems to have a more comprehensive list than what you might find searching Craigslist.

Also, you can make offers on Reverb like eBay. You don't necessarily have to pay the asking price.

If I was looking for something specific, I'd probably look at all sources.
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I have contacts at a lot of stores across the U.S. One of my buddies is the vintage guitar buyer at the Hollywood CA GC. I like searching GC online and I can generally negotiate a better price. The added plus is if you buy it and don't like it you return it within 30 days.
 
jordane93 said:
Check out The Gear Page Forum http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?
You'll get a lot of good advice and spend a lot of money. I'm an active member on this forum as well.

Here is outdated pic of board that I use for church. Either a Les Paul with mini humbuckers or an ES-339 through a Marshall Class 5 combo. I'll upgrade the amp soon once I have some money. Beware, buying pedals is an addiction!

a18cc1fd-c885-4925-9537-5205ce2862ec_zps8f0c9ab8.jpg
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Buying guitars is an addiction.
 
Being a newbie in guitars I need to buy gear. I bought a Hercules tri stand and a humidifier system for my acoustic at Guitar Center. If I bought it on line I would have saved 50%. :mad:

Seriously, are they that desperate and stupid to chase away customers with outrageously high prices? I will never buy anything from GC again.

I'm taking it all back today. :mad:
 
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At the risk of getting strafed, I'm a ukulele player. I play mostly 70s and 80s rock and CW. Also Puerto Rican Plena. GEICO, if you haven't been here, check it out. http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/ They have 800,000 songs you can search by song, artist, or genre.
 
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Maxmosbey said:
At the risk of getting strafed, I'm a ukulele player. I play mostly 70s and 80s rock and CW. GEICO, if you haven't been here, check it out. http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/ They have 800,000 songs you can search by song, artist, or genre.
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I go there daily, thanks for suggesting it. Amazing web site!

I promise not to call you Tiny Tim. ;).

Seriously, the ukulele is a great sound.
 
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I'm primarily a bassist, but play guitar too, among other things. Guitar opinions are much like high v. low wing or Chevy v. Ford v. Dodge, etc. There are lots of good gitfiddles out there, so get to the shop and play as many as you want until you find it. Good luck and rock on.:rockon:
 
Geico266 said:
Being a newbie in guitars I need to buy gear. I bought a Hercules tri stand and a humidifier system for my acoustic at Guitar Center. If I bought it on line I would have saved 50%. :mad:

Seriously, are they that desperate and stupid to chase away customers with outrageously high prices? I will never buy anything from GC again.

I'm taking it all back today. :mad:
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FWIW, You can typically haggle at GC. I don't buy much there, but every so often, I'll wander in to see what they have, and end up walking out with something.

I got a very nice MIM Tele back during their Labor Day sale. It was set up nicely, with no evidence of the usual GC "relicing" treatment.

They sell everywhere for around $500. When I asked the sales guy how low they'd go on it, they offered $377. I countered with $350 for it with a gig bag, and they gave that price to me. I'm happy with it.

Last month, I was in looking at the 2015 Gibsons. While I was trying to wrap my head around the robotuners and the graffiti headstock "art" on the LPs, a Pelham blue SG caught my eye.

It was an Epiphone '66 G-400 LTD. Just for kicks, I picked it up and plugged into a JVM. It sounded really good, although the setup needed tweaking (but not too badly, just a little high for my liking). It was marked $299. I messed with it for a little longer, and decided that I could always use a $300 SG, so I did the usual, and seeked out the manager. I got it for $250 plus tax.

I took it home, did a setup and was gonna throw a JB/Jazz combo into it, but the pickups even sound decent. I still might swap them at some point.

I've been using it at band rehearsals and it sounds great, just as good as my SG Std. that is my #1 gig axe. It'll make a great backup for gigs that I don't have to worry as much about.

It will never replace either of my Gibson SGs, but it is a darn good axe for twice the price.
 
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I bought a Peavey Raptor and a Marshall amp, neither high dollar items, at a garage sale for twenty dollars. The woman said it was her husband's. I have to wonder if he knew she was selling it. I messed with it a couple of weeks. I wanted the amp more than the guitar, but she was selling them together, so what the heck. So my friend has this fifties theme bar, and asked me what I needed for the guitar, so that he could put it on the wall. I told him that if I broke even on the amp, I was good. So be gave me twenty dollars and took the guitar. That is the extent of my guitar playing. Those two extra string just confused me anyway.:wink2:. By the way, I do play in a band at festivals and on holidays in San Juan.
 
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ethan-De said:
Fender is the best choice for your style that you want.
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I am certainly no expert, but Gibson's humbucker pickups seems to play the blues really well. The "hum" of a Strat disturbs my hearing aids. :lol:

The Gibson hollow body just seems to "look & sound" more "bluesy" to me. BB King look I guess. Maybe it was the way the sales man played it. The guy is amazing, can play anything.

Seriously, I'm still working on barre cords. :rolleyes:
 
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Geico266 said:
I am certainly no expert, but Gibson's humbucker pickups seems to play the blues really well. The "hum" of a Strat disturbs my hearing aids. :lol:

The Gibson hollow body just seemed to "look" and sound more "bluesy" to me. BB King look I guess. Maybe it was the way the sales man played it. The guy is amazing, can play anything.
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I think Joe Bonamassa plays great blues on a Les Paul.

 
I don't remember if I posted this, but I finally got my Taylor 150e 12 string. The sound is amazing and it is very easy to play. I have big hands and fingers so I love the wide fret board. I am playing rhythm and a little finger picking. I know, sacraligious to what a 12 string is for, but it sounds too good not to play it. Well worth $700 delivered.
 
Geico266 said:
I don't remember if I posted this, but I finally got my Taylor 150e 12 string. The sound is amazing and it is very easy to play. I have big hands and fingers so I love the wide fret board. I am playing rhythm and a little finger picking. I know, sacraligious to what a 12 string is for, but it sounds too good not to play it. Well worth $700 delivered.
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Awesome!

It's hardly sacraligious to play rhythm with a 12-string. If you listen to alot of the Travelling Wilburys stuff, they laid down most of the rhythm tracks with multiple 12-strings playing rhythm in unison. Great sound!
 
Geico266 said:
I don't remember if I posted this, but I finally got my Taylor 150e 12 string. The sound is amazing and it is very easy to play. I have big hands and fingers so I love the wide fret board. I am playing rhythm and a little finger picking. I know, sacraligious to what a 12 string is for, but it sounds too good not to play it. Well worth $700 delivered.
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I love my 12 string for all those things. When I bought a new 6 string last summer I looked around and bought a Breedlove with a wider nut. I find it much easier to play than my Taylor 420R (because of the width. The Taylor is a great guitar.).

John
 
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