New axe (G.A.S....)

[teknomike]

In contrast to the "other" new guitar thread, thought you all might be interested in my newest acquisition.

It's an early 80's IMC/Hondo Lazer. Don't see many of these around (or even their pricier cousins - the Erlewine Lazer, which Johnny Winter currently plays). Not much info to be found, either, but it appears that Mark Erlewine licensed the production to IMC/Hondo in the early '80, and when that expired, he started building them himself. Lore has it that the red ones were made in the US, black and white in Korea (but I will take that with a grain of salt).

Bought it on a bit of a whim - always wanted a headless guitar, but was never really thrilled with the Steinbergers and their various clones. This thing is, quite frankly, a surprise. Very well balanced (and plays well on the lap), rock solid tuning, and is quite the tone monster for just having the single pup (supposed to be a Dimarzio, but haven't confirmed this yet - I suspect it isn't, but who knows). And it doesn't require 2-ball end strings !

Needs some fretboard maintenance, and the pots are a bit scratchy, but in general, it's been pretty well kept for nearly 30 years. Having a lot of fun with it so far !

 

[WhiteStrat]

Definitely preferable to the other "new guitar" thread--thank you for that. But there's still a problem. G.A.S. is contagious. Now I want one.

Very cool. Nice find!

 

[dervish riff]

That looks pretty nice, I've never gotten to play one of those, they never made it this far into the boonies. That doesn't make much of a sig line, though.

 

[acidrock]

That's pretty damn cool.I love oddball stuff like that,they really round out a collection.

 

[Zaphod B]

Hey, that's a pretty cool axe, in a funky "what-the-hell-is-that?!" kind of way. Very unique.

 

[357mag]

Johnny Winter used to play Gibson Firebirds. Then he switched to these headless guitars. Big mistake cuz his tone has been like aluminum foil ever since. Absolutely no body to the sound at all. Thin and tinny. Why on earth did he do that?

 

[teknomike]

Johnny Winter used to play Gibson Firebirds. Then he switched to these headless guitars. Big mistake cuz his tone has been like aluminum foil ever since. Absolutely no body to the sound at all. Thin and tinny. Why on earth did he do that?

I suspect it had something to do with the weight of the Firebirds - he's a pretty fragile guy these days, and this little thing is a lot easier to handle, and weighs a lot less. JMHO.

 

[DrewPeterson7]

Hey, that's a pretty cool axe, in a funky "what-the-hell-is-that?!" kind of way. Very unique.

Definitely. "So ugly, it's actually kind of cool."

The one and only time I've been in a "real" studio, they had a Steinberger hanging on the wall. I picked it up to dick around on in the control room while our singer was re-recording a vocal part, and had such a blast playing the thing that I ended up using it on a solo somewhere.

I should try to track down those recordings, actually, it'd be kind of a rush to hear them. We basically broke up before we got around to releasing it, so...