The Guitar Show (Show Yours)

[TapperMike]

I should re shoot this one.

 

This is my Godin Freeway SA

Unlike my other Godin's made in Canada This one is made in ...Upstate New York. USA

 

It's a quilted single piece maple body with a maple neck and rosewood fretboard.

The tuners are sperzel designed Godin tuners with a brushed aluminum finish.

 

The neck itself is a shallow "C" shape with a 12 inch radius and a 25.5 scale length.  The pickup configuration is HSH with Godin designed pickups with a conventional 5-way toggle switch and one volume one tone.

 

The additional knob and switches are for the "SA" or Synth Access.  I think (not sure) that Godin used ghost rider pickups for the roland GK system

The knob is for the synth volume.  One of the switches is for a three way toggle between synth (via roland's system) and the other is for the up/down patch select.

 

I love the neck on this guitar. I love the neck.  I hate the tone. The pickups are way too overwound which cuts out the high end. It's dark without warmth.  I've thought way to many times about replacing the pickups with something more reasonable.  The harmonics are for crap on this thing.

The intonation is right but they just don't ring out as they should.

 

This was my last ditch effort with pitch to voltage midi conversion and it failed.  For whatever reason notes on the upper regions would "jump up" in volume while notes near the middle or lower part would fade out. I'd always be playing a passage with a roland GR and the gk would "crap out" on the sustain.  I've thought about selling it but now that everyone is shifting from the roland 13pin system to the fishman wireless triple play (including godin) It's value has dropped considerably.

[TapperMike]

Here's another one of my ...Not really a guitar guitars

 

It's a "Digital Guitar" from Casio.back in the 80's

 

It doesn't have velocity sensitivity it doesn't have any way to control CC values but it does have midi out.

This thing has some "interesting" tones built in and a cheesy drum machine if ever there were one.

 

The strings are made of this rubber "o-ring" type material.  When it arrived one of them was cut so I had to replace it with a nylon "A" string.  How it works is a throw back to the first pre midi synth guitars of the early 60's

Underneath each fret there are contacts for each "string. When the contact is made that establishes what the note is (sort of like yourock guitars)  Each string has a spring attached to it. when the string is plucked (even lightly) it pulls on the spring which acts as a firing mechanism for the note.

 

This is a very fat narrow neck. The action is high and there is no way to adjust it down.  The strings are incredibly loose. They flop around like no ones business so it's not like you are going to get any serious alternate picking.

[The S]

Here's the bat cave where you can see some of the guitars I have.

 

 

[TapperMike]

Nice collection, thanks for sharing.

[TapperMike]

Here is my current "main" guitar

 

It's a MIM (made in mexico) Fender "Blacktop" telecaster.

All beef and no filler.

 

Blacktop models are considered "Vintage Modified" which means they start from a vintage design and modify it. The body a single piece of alder and a hearty chunk at that.  There is a "belly cut" along the top  for comfort..  The neck is a single piece maple with maple fretboard and jumbo frets. The neck is characteristically both thicker and wider then any "C" profile neck I've ever played with a 9.5 inch radius. The fretboard is considered a "Modern C" as the radius starts at 9.5 and increases to I'm guessing 11 to 12 at the 22 fret.  The action is ..a medium height. While generally I prefer a much lower string action adapting to the overall fell of the neck wasn't a challenge.  It does offer a little bit of resistance which may not be favorable for heavy metal players or speed demons but adds to the chemistry of laying down commitment when you reach for a note or better control over chicken picking.  The pickups are over wound alnico 5 humbuckers/  This is not a traditional "Country Bright" Telecaster.  Still with a little tweaking of the eq some of that twang can be brought back to life.  The reverse plate is a direct tribute to . Bill Kirchen

 

 

I've got to say this old dog learned some new tricks from watching that video.

The tone is ... a little beefy for my tastes out of the box but messing about with various settings on the guitar and amp I'm able to carve out some kinder gentler tones as well.

[TapperMike]

I was trying to hold out and only do one guitar a day.  Seems I can't help myself.

 

This is my SX Furrian from Rondo

 

I wanted a Tele but I didn't think I could afford one so I bought a copy.  I was so distressed by the poor quality of this instrument I eventually went for the real thing (my blacktop)

 

This guitar "looks' the part.  The tuners and the string trees are terrible I've broken strings at the tree due to the rough edge work of the tree. I always here that "ting" sound when tuning.  The body is three piece swap ash which looks really nice and could have a nicer tone with better pickups.  It has not only a belly cut but a forearm cut making playing while standing or sitting much more comfortable. 

 

Here's the rub.  The neck profile is great.. Had it been a decent neck with no warping or uneven frets or undressed fretwire.  The profile is a "C" shape that is slightly thicker then a shallow C and slightly shorter height. This allows for really digging in when you want to bend or over bend a note.

The 10.5 radius offers a nice mix were you don't have "note drop off" from over bends and you have very crisp well defined trills.  I've had to raise the action to an uncomfortable level so as to avoid the rather apparent fret buzz. I'm afraid to tap the frets back down properly because they are very cheap nickel frets and can nick very easily. (Something I'd rather have a pro do) and that damn fretwire has caused paper cuts moving around the fretboard.

 

It's become one of those guitars where I debate throwing it in the dumpster (no warranty no resale value) or spending six times as much at a tech shop to get it up and playing the way it should.  It's also become the.... Brian Adams guitar.  When ever I pick it up I'm invariably drawn to playing a Brian Adams cover.  Run to You, Summer of 69, It's only love.

[tinam]

oh dear! ive bought cheap copies before bcos thats all i could afford & theyve all been disastrous realy...but if youve not got the money for the real thing what else can you do ?

 

this thread is very disapointing ...people just post what triffic guitars theyve got & arent interested at all in what other people have got
 

Edited May 21, 2014 by tinam

[TapperMike]

Hey Tina.... I posted a few of my crappy guitars (sx, dg20) and I've got one more to go.

 

I'll tell you a secret.  Budgeting.  Rudi does a better job of it then I do. I used to know what I was doing. Figure out how much you are going to need to get a moderately priced guitar where the attention is on detail to construction.   Put money away a little every week. but most importantly sock it away regularly.  Changing my lifestyle help me to attain instruments that I would have not otherwise (without financing) Stopping drinking was the biggest. I no longer felt obligated to tieing one or a few on with the gang. I no longer felt I was impressing anyone with how much I could drink or spend in a night.  Then little things I never carry more then the amount of money I need to purchase things.  This stops binge or impulse buying.  I picked up part time work as opposed to sitting around watching TV.

 

Usually music shops have lay-a-way programs.  You bring them enough money and they will layaway the item for 90 days Same as cash. They'll be glad to set up a layaway program because...Their still selling the guitar AND you knowing that you've already invested X will make triple sure you have the rest of the money.

 

About buying guitars in brick and mortar businesses.  Just like online someone wants to sell you a guitar.  They may not be forthright with issues the guitar has and you might not know what to look for.  Bring someone who knows guitars like a tech with you.  A tech knows to look for things you might not.  If you are not liking the feel of it or something else isn't quite right walk away.  Walk away from the sale. You are not there to make the sales person happy, you are there to make you happy.

 

About used guitars.  Used guitars bought in a store or irl can be a great value if you can't afford it new.  More expensive used guitars are "in general" treated better then less expensive ones.  but again bring an independent tech.  New or used not all guitars get inspected at the store fully.

Even if they are aware of something fixable they may not fix it before it hits the showroom.  Sometimes noticing something might be off like the intonation or the neck bow can easily be addressed at the store on the spot.  However sometimes it can't.  That's why you bring a tech with you as well.  Knowing when to say no can save you a lot of problems down the line.

 

People can be happy with one guitar. It isn't a race to see how many you collect  Quite often applying yourself to one guitar (as opposed to several) is a better route for better sounds because you get to focus on where the sound comes first..Your fingers.

[davidmichael]

Here are pics of some of my favorites.

Couldnt figure out how to make the pictures show big but they will if you click on them.

[TapperMike]

Wow, Someone really likes those Ibby's.Nice collection.  Your Stratocaster Plus is looking a lot better then mine.

[davidmichael]

Yes indeed.I love fujien Ibanezes, [even with the IBZ pickups],

i have about 4 more i didnt post.

I also love the carvins.For the money ,you cant beat them.

Appreciate the nice comments !!!!

All together i have 25 guitars but some i lost the pics of when my old computer crapped out.

[TapperMike]

Judging from your collection you must be a serious shredder.  Hat's off to ya. I've had that randy rhoads jackson back in the 80's (long story) As well as some notable Charvels of the same vintage (another long story)

 

If you have a camera or even a smart phone try to snap a few more pics of what you haven't shown I'd love to see em.

[davidmichael]

Heres a link to my flickr page with all my guitars.

The majority were in the previous post ,but this is all of them  [For now anyways !!!!!]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dmmhrcg/

[TapperMike]

Speaking of your axe's Rob......

[TapperMike]

I've got this strung with light gauge electrics it's actually designed for nylons

 

It's features a spruce top with maple body, mahogany neck with a ebony fretboard.  As with my Freeway the SA stands for Synth Access.  The piezo I believe is Fishman.  The slider controls are for volume, bass, mid and an additional volume for the synth.  A three way switch operates for gut/both/synth and two buttons facilitate up down program change.

 

The neck is slim wide with a flat radius.  The slim wide makes it comfortable for both taller and shorter players to play with equal agility. When my fingers hurt too much from playing the hell out of electric guitars I'll often pull this one out and try my hand at nylon string guitars.  It's incredibly mellow and smooth.  Perhaps too much.

[Kaige Evans]

Wow, so many funky, weird & awesome guitars 

 

I'll post this pic I took of my "Self" custom'd Kramer Neptune since it may fall in the "weird" collection.

I customized it roughly 14 years ago when I was 16 so don't judge too hard!  

I basically combined the two things I love, Music & Technology. 

 

I'll post a "non-art" picture on request.

 

[TapperMike]

No such thing, brother Mike....no such thing.

 

It very well may be that that kind of touch and the sound it produces is not universally applicable.

 

Ketchup goes with anything, just about.

 

Fine, aged, single malt whiskey does not.

 

When I first got my baby z.  I didn't play a single guitar for 6 months straight. I was having too much damn fun with the baby. I'd play that Baby z sometimes 12 to 16 hours a day on a day off from work.  At the end of those six months I looked around at my guitars and said to myself I've got to start playing these things or selling these thing. So I picked up a guitar and tried to play for an hour. My fingers were feeling it in a few minutes.  Not only that, My technique went to hell in a handbasket. Songs that I'd played well for decades were a struggle to bring back.  So another three months passes playing just on the baby and then I start thinking about the guitars again.  This time it was even worse but I at least made the effort to play for a bit everyday and...in time my technique came back,, I was still hooked on the baby z (more on that later)  So 3 months after that I'm celebrating a year of owning the Baby Z and say "Okay this time it's for real. either get back to real guitar playing or get rid of them"  Eventually I built my technique back up to an acceptable level for myself.  Back on the road to recovering my guitar skills I'd have binge days of playing 8 hours of guitar a day.  My fingers still weren't developing callouses. So when I played as much as I could. I'd go bank and play a little more nylon string afterwards.

.  

Now I play roughly 50/50 guitar vs ztar.  But my desire (mostly from not playing out and not doing videos and not doing other stuff to keep it alive) wanes.  The profile of the baby is both relatively thin and narrow but what sets it apart is the "strings" Playing on hard rubber strings requires very little effort and no strain. They have this very hard to describe to no one who has played a ztar "log" neck feel. It's slightly bouncy/swishy from just touch the "strings" no sound to just a little force to make contact via "tapping" slightly more for pick, strum. Forget hours you can play this thing for days on end without sleep and stiff feel no finger soreness. Maybe your wrists might tighten up after 36 hours of playing straight. 

[TapperMike]

Wow, so many funky, weird & awesome guitars 

 

I'll post this pic I took of my "Self" custom'd Kramer Neptune since it may fall in the "weird" collection.

I customized it roughly 14 years ago when I was 16 so don't judge too hard!

I basically combined the two things I love, Music & Technology. 

 

I'll post a "non-art" picture on request.

 

 

Way cool.  I don't suspect the circuitry is functional.

 

I used to love the kent armstrong plexi guitars for looking at so you could see the wiring. (though didn't enjoy playing them)   I always thought variax guitars would look cooler with a plexiglass pickguard/top to show the guts.

[TapperMike]

We're all good Rob.

 

Umm,,Rob  I watched your video's.  You are a great player, care to snap a pic or two for the thread.

 

I'm running out. I've only got two more to go.

[TapperMike]

You can always resurrect it