Richard Monroe
Well-known member
I bought my first electric back in 1972, an old Gibson hollow body. I'm not even sure of the model. Body like an ES335, no center block, one dog-ear P-90, sunburst, with the finish checking from hell. The tuners were shot, so I put some Grovers on it. I had to replace the first 7 frets, worn to the fingerboard. $150 plus later parts and labor. I played it for 4 years, and in a fit of poverty, sold it for $250. The stupid shit we do when we are kids!
Well Friday was my 50th birthday, and my wife, the enabler, and general executive producer, authorized me to spend $500 on a toy. Oh boy. Well I went out and played the Ibanez Artcore series. They were among some of the best looking cheap guitars I have ever seen, but they sounded like shit. I must've gone through 30 or 40 axes until I settled on an Epiphone Casino, cherry red. My fingers get along well with the Epiphone neck, and it felt like my Epi Les Paul. Both are Korean made. It was tagged $600, out of my range, but I walked out with the axe and a new hard case for $500. Woo Hoo!
I never plugged it in in the store. I generally expect to replace the pickups in a mid priced guitar, anyway. I just wanted to hear the wood. Well I've messed with it most of today, and it's like coming home after many years. Not the heavy, tiny block of a Les Paul, the coffee table of a Telecaster, the huge body of a dreadnought to reach around, but the just right feel of a 335 or a Guild Starfire. Yeah, the frets are a little sharp, and the tuners aren't top of the line. New P-90's will happen soon, but it's still like an old friend. It's like going out on a date with a woman who's a dead ringer for your old girlfriend. It's a little eerie.
My wife watched me play it today and said,"I see you have an understanding of that type of guitar. I think you are good for each other." I don't know how I could have not had a hollow body for so long. May you all have as satisfying a 4th of July weekend as I am having.-Richie
Well Friday was my 50th birthday, and my wife, the enabler, and general executive producer, authorized me to spend $500 on a toy. Oh boy. Well I went out and played the Ibanez Artcore series. They were among some of the best looking cheap guitars I have ever seen, but they sounded like shit. I must've gone through 30 or 40 axes until I settled on an Epiphone Casino, cherry red. My fingers get along well with the Epiphone neck, and it felt like my Epi Les Paul. Both are Korean made. It was tagged $600, out of my range, but I walked out with the axe and a new hard case for $500. Woo Hoo!
I never plugged it in in the store. I generally expect to replace the pickups in a mid priced guitar, anyway. I just wanted to hear the wood. Well I've messed with it most of today, and it's like coming home after many years. Not the heavy, tiny block of a Les Paul, the coffee table of a Telecaster, the huge body of a dreadnought to reach around, but the just right feel of a 335 or a Guild Starfire. Yeah, the frets are a little sharp, and the tuners aren't top of the line. New P-90's will happen soon, but it's still like an old friend. It's like going out on a date with a woman who's a dead ringer for your old girlfriend. It's a little eerie.
My wife watched me play it today and said,"I see you have an understanding of that type of guitar. I think you are good for each other." I don't know how I could have not had a hollow body for so long. May you all have as satisfying a 4th of July weekend as I am having.-Richie
