Several years ago when my count of guitars and basses exceeded ten I became quite embarassed at the thought that others struggled to find one beater. And could probably play circles around me.
So I had a fire sale and bought my fine wife jewelry with the proceeds. My one-in-a-million wife, who actually said these words one day: "I think it's time for a new guitar around here"...and meant it. She also bought me one of my few really good guitars. One day, she got an unexpected windfall/bonus that was in the low-to-mid five digits. She actually went to the bank and came home one Friday. "Take this", she said, "and go down to LA and buy yourself that good acoustic guitar you've always wanted".
She handed me a stack of THIRTY hundred-dollar bills. Thirty+ years of playing and listening have convinced me of a couple of truths about guitars (for me, anyway): #1) I'm definitely a short-scale lover. 24-1/2 or less. #2) Regarding acoustic guitars, there is an enormous diminishment in dollar: quality ratio starting smack dab at $2000... In other words, while you can spend as much as you want on a guitar, once you hit the 2 grand mark, sound is about as good as it will get. I once played a $100,000 D-45 that was one big hunk of MOP and abalone inlay. Soundwise? Ehhhhh. I prefer an all-wood D-28 at about 2-grand. Couple of things stopped that: I far prefer the timbre/tone of a good Gibson to a good Martin. Thicker, woodier, "Bonk"-ier. Hard to put in words.`
Not to slam Martin at all. They make a fine product as ever. It's just a personal thing. It's true, I've played old Martins that just kick ass in tone, volume, and projection, as well as old Gibsons that were pretty thumpy and lifeless. But IN GENERAL, I'm a Gibson guy, and far prefer their tone, at least with acoustics. I also prefer their short scale ; Both my Gibson Hummingbird and Les Paul have 24-1/2" scale lengths, as opposed to the 25-1/2" on my Tele and Strat.
But my point on diminishing return on acoustic guitars simply means that in my opinion, after you reach around the $2K mark, tone does not improve much if at all. Yes, they certainly get fancier and the fit and finish on a great one is amazing. But CNC and other computerized cutting, routing, and assembly have made (again, generally) machine-built guitars much tighter in tolerances and better sounding than handmade. Voodoo and romanticism aside, an acoustic is merely a small system of parts. As we all may recall, any given system is only as strong as its weakest link. A '39 D-28 is useless if the neck is grossly warped, or it won't stay in tune. In that area, computerized pre-production and assembly have consistency honed to perfection. Less individual personality, but a far better chance at one good sounding guitar after another.
I've built three over the years by hand: Martin OM copies all. One sounded great, which is still in daily use by the friend I gave it to. The second was prettier but not quite as much a cannon. Gave it away, also. The third I experimented heavily with bracing, using perhaps 1/3 the usual amount of bracing for the top. Less bracing=more wood vibrating=louder and clearer. Which it was. In fact, it sounded gorgeous, with huge sustain and a big, deep mellow sound. Until, after about ten minutes of playing, slack jawed at the amazing sound, the whole thing made this awful ripping, banging, twanging noise and just exploded into a pile of kindling. Just wish I'd been rolling tape for those 10 min. Oh well. Successful experiment; unsuccessful guitar.
Back to my generous wife: I knew a chance to spend up to three g's on an acoustic was going to come up exactly once - and this was it. We are far from rich (financially - however, after 15 years of marriage, she remains my best friend and offers me lovemaking of a quality I had no idea was possible. Rich? I certainly am, though my financial worth is minute, indeed.) The Gibson Hummingbird has always been my dream guitar; I love a good one's short scale, easy playability, and indescribable woody Gibson tone. Stopped at Oxnard Guitar Center on my way south on the 101 and played the one 'Bird they had, plus a couple of D-28s. Clearly, I would stick with Gibson, and in fact almost bought the one 'Bird they had - it felt good and sounded tiiiiight. But I had a few more Guitar Centers to visit, including the mother ship in Hollywood, which is the Mecca of guitar players. One whole wall - perhaps 75 guitars - nothing but vintage (pre-'65) Strats. All tobacco sunburst. Racks of just lefties, of all type and quality. Boogie. Fender. Marshall...all the best tube amps. Plus, I wanted to stop at McCabes, a fine indy store in Santa Monica, and to say hello to Paul and the boys at the Hollywood Mesa/Boogie showroom on Sunset.
I ended up playing about 12 Hummingbirds. But I found a J-45 "vintage reissue" that was sweet. Waverly tuners and a dark 'burst. I thought it sounded best, so I bought it, getting almost $1000 in trade on my older Gibson Songwriter and spending almost $3500 with trade. Drove the 2-1/2 hrs home, anxious to show Lois and make sure it sounded as good at home. Sometimes they sound totally different at home...like this one. A $3500 Gibson and it sounded limp and lifeless at home. I wanted to cry. Instead, first thing Sunday, I took it down to that first GC in Oxnard, praying that A) they still had that first Hummingbird I'd liked so much and B) they'd let me swap here in Oxnard, half the distance of H'Wood. Praise the Gods: no problem on both. Took my Hummingbird home and it lit up the whole house with thick, fat chords and burning single string and double-stop slurring. This was indeed the nicest guitar I'd ever played...and it was MINE, all MINE! Ya ha haaaa!
We've become fast friends, and in the manner of Moore's Law, every 18 months or so, it sounds noticably better, a sure sign of a good acoustic. My respect and admiration for this fine instrument only increases with every session. Thank you, Lois.
So back when I cleaned house: here's the reduced quiver I kept: 1) 1952 reissue USA Telecaster (made circa 2002); heavily modified by yers trooly. Parts of solid machined brass by Armadillo Tele parts out of texas.Those Duncan mini-humbuckers sound great with a Tele at the neck. Tip: buy the one intended for the bridge, but install it at the neck. Great tone. 2) 1996 Fender Strat sunburst. Replaced P'ups with a set of gold Lace-Sensors and a Warmoth faux abalone pickguard. 3) Epiphone Les Paul Elitist - quickly pulled by Gibson when it turned out to be a far better guitar than the Gibson LP at half the price (I got mine for $1100, with $100 knocked off for a small ding.)
This handful of beauties were made - before Gibson shut them down - at the world reknowned Fuji-jen luthiers workshop in Japan, noted for it's low output of high quality handbuilt instruments. When I found out Fuji-jen was the source, I suspended my CNC-only electric guitar rule, and as a result own a fine hand built Les Paul. Sounds like Pearly Gates, with those US-made PAF pickups. 4) Hummingbird. My sweet baby. 5) Schecter C-4 bass. Fantastic price ($500) for a bass that sounds more like 3X that amount. Not a big fan of EMG or active pickups, but I leave the tone set flat and run it through a SansAmp Bass Driver and some liberal compression with a UAD limiter plug-in and it sounds pretty good.
6) This used to be a Dean 12-string acoustic/electric. Nice guitar, great electronics. But I had made two rules: anything not played within 90 days gets sold. Rule 2: want a new guitar? Gotta get rid of one. Getting rid of the Dean was relatively painless, as I'd learned I didn't much care for the sound of a 12 (again, totally subjective) and hated the difficulty of playing. Hopeless w/tendonitis. PLUS - you may have noticed, Fender recently came out with some reissues of the Jaguar and Mustang. They'd removed those awful sliding switches from the Jag and just slicked it up cosmetically. Best of all: 24" scale, to my knowledge the shortest on a production, full sized electric. I play a harmonic style; mostly chords and chord fragments, played all over the neck. Short scales are perfect for that Chuck Berry/John Fogerty/Keith Richards style of chord and riff based playing. Had it for a week and playing it constantly; loving it. Great job, Fender. Made in Mexico, which to me has come to mean perfect fit and finish, great neck; crappy to no intonation/setup and lousy pickups. Intonation and action done by me with a Peterson Strobe, and still shopping Duncan (all I use) Humbuckers. 'Buckers and 24" scale...on a Fender! You can't beat my longer scale fenders for that twang, but for rhythm, I can tell that with some good pickups, the Jag will be it. Gorgeous neck.
Thanks all, if you waded through! To sum: Fender Blacktop Jag their most exciting release in years...at a good price.
Rudi
So I had a fire sale and bought my fine wife jewelry with the proceeds. My one-in-a-million wife, who actually said these words one day: "I think it's time for a new guitar around here"...and meant it. She also bought me one of my few really good guitars. One day, she got an unexpected windfall/bonus that was in the low-to-mid five digits. She actually went to the bank and came home one Friday. "Take this", she said, "and go down to LA and buy yourself that good acoustic guitar you've always wanted".
She handed me a stack of THIRTY hundred-dollar bills. Thirty+ years of playing and listening have convinced me of a couple of truths about guitars (for me, anyway): #1) I'm definitely a short-scale lover. 24-1/2 or less. #2) Regarding acoustic guitars, there is an enormous diminishment in dollar: quality ratio starting smack dab at $2000... In other words, while you can spend as much as you want on a guitar, once you hit the 2 grand mark, sound is about as good as it will get. I once played a $100,000 D-45 that was one big hunk of MOP and abalone inlay. Soundwise? Ehhhhh. I prefer an all-wood D-28 at about 2-grand. Couple of things stopped that: I far prefer the timbre/tone of a good Gibson to a good Martin. Thicker, woodier, "Bonk"-ier. Hard to put in words.`
Not to slam Martin at all. They make a fine product as ever. It's just a personal thing. It's true, I've played old Martins that just kick ass in tone, volume, and projection, as well as old Gibsons that were pretty thumpy and lifeless. But IN GENERAL, I'm a Gibson guy, and far prefer their tone, at least with acoustics. I also prefer their short scale ; Both my Gibson Hummingbird and Les Paul have 24-1/2" scale lengths, as opposed to the 25-1/2" on my Tele and Strat.
But my point on diminishing return on acoustic guitars simply means that in my opinion, after you reach around the $2K mark, tone does not improve much if at all. Yes, they certainly get fancier and the fit and finish on a great one is amazing. But CNC and other computerized cutting, routing, and assembly have made (again, generally) machine-built guitars much tighter in tolerances and better sounding than handmade. Voodoo and romanticism aside, an acoustic is merely a small system of parts. As we all may recall, any given system is only as strong as its weakest link. A '39 D-28 is useless if the neck is grossly warped, or it won't stay in tune. In that area, computerized pre-production and assembly have consistency honed to perfection. Less individual personality, but a far better chance at one good sounding guitar after another.
I've built three over the years by hand: Martin OM copies all. One sounded great, which is still in daily use by the friend I gave it to. The second was prettier but not quite as much a cannon. Gave it away, also. The third I experimented heavily with bracing, using perhaps 1/3 the usual amount of bracing for the top. Less bracing=more wood vibrating=louder and clearer. Which it was. In fact, it sounded gorgeous, with huge sustain and a big, deep mellow sound. Until, after about ten minutes of playing, slack jawed at the amazing sound, the whole thing made this awful ripping, banging, twanging noise and just exploded into a pile of kindling. Just wish I'd been rolling tape for those 10 min. Oh well. Successful experiment; unsuccessful guitar.
Back to my generous wife: I knew a chance to spend up to three g's on an acoustic was going to come up exactly once - and this was it. We are far from rich (financially - however, after 15 years of marriage, she remains my best friend and offers me lovemaking of a quality I had no idea was possible. Rich? I certainly am, though my financial worth is minute, indeed.) The Gibson Hummingbird has always been my dream guitar; I love a good one's short scale, easy playability, and indescribable woody Gibson tone. Stopped at Oxnard Guitar Center on my way south on the 101 and played the one 'Bird they had, plus a couple of D-28s. Clearly, I would stick with Gibson, and in fact almost bought the one 'Bird they had - it felt good and sounded tiiiiight. But I had a few more Guitar Centers to visit, including the mother ship in Hollywood, which is the Mecca of guitar players. One whole wall - perhaps 75 guitars - nothing but vintage (pre-'65) Strats. All tobacco sunburst. Racks of just lefties, of all type and quality. Boogie. Fender. Marshall...all the best tube amps. Plus, I wanted to stop at McCabes, a fine indy store in Santa Monica, and to say hello to Paul and the boys at the Hollywood Mesa/Boogie showroom on Sunset.
I ended up playing about 12 Hummingbirds. But I found a J-45 "vintage reissue" that was sweet. Waverly tuners and a dark 'burst. I thought it sounded best, so I bought it, getting almost $1000 in trade on my older Gibson Songwriter and spending almost $3500 with trade. Drove the 2-1/2 hrs home, anxious to show Lois and make sure it sounded as good at home. Sometimes they sound totally different at home...like this one. A $3500 Gibson and it sounded limp and lifeless at home. I wanted to cry. Instead, first thing Sunday, I took it down to that first GC in Oxnard, praying that A) they still had that first Hummingbird I'd liked so much and B) they'd let me swap here in Oxnard, half the distance of H'Wood. Praise the Gods: no problem on both. Took my Hummingbird home and it lit up the whole house with thick, fat chords and burning single string and double-stop slurring. This was indeed the nicest guitar I'd ever played...and it was MINE, all MINE! Ya ha haaaa!
We've become fast friends, and in the manner of Moore's Law, every 18 months or so, it sounds noticably better, a sure sign of a good acoustic. My respect and admiration for this fine instrument only increases with every session. Thank you, Lois.
So back when I cleaned house: here's the reduced quiver I kept: 1) 1952 reissue USA Telecaster (made circa 2002); heavily modified by yers trooly. Parts of solid machined brass by Armadillo Tele parts out of texas.Those Duncan mini-humbuckers sound great with a Tele at the neck. Tip: buy the one intended for the bridge, but install it at the neck. Great tone. 2) 1996 Fender Strat sunburst. Replaced P'ups with a set of gold Lace-Sensors and a Warmoth faux abalone pickguard. 3) Epiphone Les Paul Elitist - quickly pulled by Gibson when it turned out to be a far better guitar than the Gibson LP at half the price (I got mine for $1100, with $100 knocked off for a small ding.)
This handful of beauties were made - before Gibson shut them down - at the world reknowned Fuji-jen luthiers workshop in Japan, noted for it's low output of high quality handbuilt instruments. When I found out Fuji-jen was the source, I suspended my CNC-only electric guitar rule, and as a result own a fine hand built Les Paul. Sounds like Pearly Gates, with those US-made PAF pickups. 4) Hummingbird. My sweet baby. 5) Schecter C-4 bass. Fantastic price ($500) for a bass that sounds more like 3X that amount. Not a big fan of EMG or active pickups, but I leave the tone set flat and run it through a SansAmp Bass Driver and some liberal compression with a UAD limiter plug-in and it sounds pretty good.
6) This used to be a Dean 12-string acoustic/electric. Nice guitar, great electronics. But I had made two rules: anything not played within 90 days gets sold. Rule 2: want a new guitar? Gotta get rid of one. Getting rid of the Dean was relatively painless, as I'd learned I didn't much care for the sound of a 12 (again, totally subjective) and hated the difficulty of playing. Hopeless w/tendonitis. PLUS - you may have noticed, Fender recently came out with some reissues of the Jaguar and Mustang. They'd removed those awful sliding switches from the Jag and just slicked it up cosmetically. Best of all: 24" scale, to my knowledge the shortest on a production, full sized electric. I play a harmonic style; mostly chords and chord fragments, played all over the neck. Short scales are perfect for that Chuck Berry/John Fogerty/Keith Richards style of chord and riff based playing. Had it for a week and playing it constantly; loving it. Great job, Fender. Made in Mexico, which to me has come to mean perfect fit and finish, great neck; crappy to no intonation/setup and lousy pickups. Intonation and action done by me with a Peterson Strobe, and still shopping Duncan (all I use) Humbuckers. 'Buckers and 24" scale...on a Fender! You can't beat my longer scale fenders for that twang, but for rhythm, I can tell that with some good pickups, the Jag will be it. Gorgeous neck.
Thanks all, if you waded through! To sum: Fender Blacktop Jag their most exciting release in years...at a good price.
Rudi
