We, as players, should all learn to wear the hat of guitar tech as well. Being able to set up your own guitar is not only convenient, its ultimately liberating. There isn't really that much to it. It can all be very easily learned and once you know how, it adds a whole new dimension to your enjoyment of the hobby we all love so much. If you think it feels good to find a guitar with that something special, you should try finding one that has the potential, and make it something special. Rescuing a forgotten, mistreated guitar and giving it a new life is an indescribable feeling! If you want to REALLY LOVE a guitar, rescue one. It will love you back!
@@castleanthrax1833 It really is a fairly simple process, it just takes a bit of patience. And when you can work on your own guitars flea markets and yardsales become music stores!
Not so. My collection started when I began using double-locking trems and realizing that guitarists were using different tunings. I began buying different guitars and tuning them all differently. So, if I wanted to practice an Eddie song, I had one in Eb. One is tuned to drop D. Then, I started to buy guitars to do my own custom paint schemes. As an artist, there are more facets of enjoyment to guitars other than just playing them.
yup, when in 1987 I read that David Gilmour had bought too much guitar at over 360 of them, it was going to be in the way of anybody else enjoying any of them with our own hands. It's a good thing he made sweet love to our ears with them, or something like that.
My thoughts on dings - the first one usually hurts, but soon comes the realisation , this came about because you regularly get it out the case and play it. It's the sign the guitars a keeper, a badge of honour. There is surprisingly great satisfaction in seeing the guitar relicing naturally over time. Over time guitars improve with age but they have to be played and sometimes take the knocks and scrapes from transporting from one place to another and/or the bedroom wall.
Or your beloved dog knocks one guitar into another and the most expensive gets the dent not the one rescued from a pawn shop with two dents in its top (acoustic of course) already.
That first ding hurts a ton, but then shrug and go "Well, it's mine now!" and carry on. I have long since tried to buy used so I can just shrug and go "Huh, well another scratch/ding" and go right back to playing.
I got a 6-string bass second hand from someone I met at a guitar store. Had it for close to 15 years now. I've added a couple dings to it, and it survived being run over by a car (long story short, don't rush to band practice after immediately waking up from an all-nighter 🤦 Take the time to actually wake up and think clearly). I had a custom made pickguard cut from aluminum checker plate to cover up the car damage. It's officially a one of a kind instrument now, and to me, it's priceless. Nothing can replace it
My grandpa always said, "dings on a guitar are like dents on a car.... adds character." I always loved that idea. That those scratches and dings are like scars, and each one tells a story.
I have owned and gigged with a number of collectable, vintage Martin acoustic guitars. My old, tired hands have fallen in love with a pair of new, Squire Mustang electrics under $200 each. They feel right and sound great off the back of a hay wagon, in someone's greasy, old machine shed or at someones back yard BBQ. Ya just wipe the BBQ sauce off, and you're back in business. They're made for playing in "the mud and the blood and the beer".
Same here. My Gibson Les Paul Custom "owned me" and I played it very little. Eventually I realized that the guitars I loved playing the most were the two cheapest ones I had. I got great deals on them and also learned enough to be able to set them up and tweak them until they sounded just right for me. They've been nicked and beat up a little, but who cares? I love to play them.
I briefly had a fender Player mustang. It was the most comfortable guitar I've ever had. I just really didn't prefer the way it sounded. I thought about putting some Tele pickups in it, but I decided to sell it instead.
@@jimmyparris9892 at first, I really didn't like the sound of electric guitars in general, but my hands were happy. I've come to terms with how my Mustangs sound now. One has single coil pickups and the other has humbuckers. I appreciate the differences between them and my hands are discovering how to make all kinds of new sounds. It's an adventure!!!
I don't know how old your "old, tired hands" are, but I think mine are even older. I've played the guitar since I was a kid, but now I'm having problems with my hands. I can't play any of the Fender (or others) guitars that have a 1.65" nut. So the Squire guitars are out of the question.
#1 really resonates. I had a 2020 Troublemaker in black. It was perfect. I couldn’t stand seeing dust on it, let alone scratch or ding it. After two long years of cleaning it every time I played it, I sold it. What a relief.
Used to own a 1977 Explorer from the first run of reissues. This guitar immediately came to mind when the "cool on stage" category was mentioned haha. I was lucky enough to find a buyer that got to do guitar tech for The Edge when the 360 Tour came to town. I was a kid in the bleachers for that show so it kind of came around full circle. He happened to know a ton of sources for vintage and knows everyone I know who is in that market so I'm lucky enough to have a trustworthy source. He even lent us a few vintage Fender guitars and amps while trying out the Explorer that I'd otherwise would never gotten to try. Was a fun summer! I feel even more fortunate to have that opportunity after seeing this.
@@SquirtHoliday No way! Our band won a local music contest right out of high school and received a gift card to a local music store. When we went in, my fellow guitarist and I used our portion to split the Explorer. It was brought in by someone who found it in a relative's attic who had recently passed. The store bought it off her for 1000CAD and we got it for not too much more. Took me a few years to realize how much it was worth at that point and stop gigging with it haha. Lots of great pics from those shows tho, mixing in Allman Bros. and Skynyrd covers!
@@dannobilly I only got a Tele in the last few years and maaaaaaan do I love it. Was going to get a hollowbody but prioritized a 12-string electric. Only style left to get is a hollowbody electric now. I am taking recommendations! (Used to use an 80s Lee Ritenour signature Ibanez in jazz band and I liked that a lot)
Great episode and everything you said makes complete sense. I just want to say that your editing skills are great. Your visuals and auditory combination are spot on. I use to record and edit books on tape and worked on at least 100 or more books and when you get the timing and pauses right as well as to know the levels of the sound in the background and when to bring them up to the right level for the setting is so monumental, and you have that down in spades! It brings your guitar passion to the professional level that we so appreciate. Thank you and I proud to be part of the Five Watt World.
Never buy a guitar that you won't play, guitars, like cars, are meant to be used. I'm don't buy them because I think they might become a good investment. I buy them to play them.
I disagree. I've bought many guitars with no desire to play or keep them. I've been able to acquire the guitars that I do play by buying smart buys on guitars that I won't play.
@@ChrisEck13 missing the point. He's talking about people like Trogly who buy all of these "collectible " guitars that just sit around and never get played. Flipping them is different. The end goal is an instrument you will actually use.
The discussion points of “negatively impacting the guitar’s value” reminds me of the phrase “knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing.” The “value” of something as a measure of what someone else would pay for it is irrelevant if you’re enjoying it for its intrinsic value- that you’re enjoying the experience of playing it. That when you look at it in the case or on the stand, you’re reminded of the good times you’ve had playing it.
Understood but misquoted in most people's minds. They think something is worth a lot to themselves but in reality it's sadly not most of the time. It only matters when you enjoy playing it. But dropping a boat load of money on something doesn't make it any better than something that costs less than half of it. I know because I've played $2,000.00, $3,000.00, $4,000.00, $10,000.00 all the way up to $50,000.00 guitars and beyond.The value is what you feel when you play - not the monetary value. Just because something is expensive that doesn't make it a better instrument than something that costs less. I've played $400.00 guitars that I liked better than their $4,000.00 counterparts. So you're right - the cost doesn't always equate in the value of an instrument no matter what it is. My hands can't tell how much it costs or the brand but it can feel the quality of the workmanship.
18 hooks on the wall, full. I look at the beauty of all of them and know they will show wear and tear over time. Several are over a half century old, like me. The first ding is kind of a relief with a new guitar. Now it is "yours" and you can just have fun with it. I still take care of them, but it is not the same as freaking out over a scratch. All the same, in a store I ask before handling things and don't bother fondling stuff I am not really interested in buying.
@@ratwynd I understand. But I play everything even if I'm not interested in buy it just to see what's out there and the quality of the build - the finish, fit, frets, tremolo, electronics. You can't tell until you try it.
One of my guitar students thought the coolest thing about my strat was how dinged up it is. Bought it new over 40 years ago and every one of those scratches and dents just shows how much it is loved.
When we were really young musicians, we had an older friend who could drive, and whose dad bought him a new truck. He loved to drive through mud and rocks and all sorts of inclement weather, but was weirdly worried about every little scratch. I remember saying to him, "Dude, it's a truck, it's going to get scratched. It's just the physics of driving a big machine through the world." He was a drummer, and as we got older, and I was finally able to buy better equipment, I remember him fretting over every little scratch my equipment acquired and kind of being weirded out that I was not more upset about it. Again, I would explain to him that this is just going to happen. Fast forward to the more recent relic craze, and I started to remember those days and really put into words what it was I was feeling and how that had changed over the years. I don't hate on people who like relic, it's a thing and a choice. But one day, in light of the subject, I said to my wife that our guitars don't so much just acquire their wear and tear, as EARN it. I do like the clean "newness" of my newer guitars, but it's nice to finally have touched upon a philosophy to help me reinforce my feeling that scratches and dents and chips happen, and a guitar exists to be played. Like us, our instruments earn their scars, and their scars deserve to be seen.
Oh my god, I think you've just given me a year or more's worth of therapy material. The word "blame" comes to mind... So, my mother is house proud, clean obsessed and chastised me through my entire childhood for wear and tear on clothes, toys, anything that accumulated damage or I broke. Also, I don't know if I'm just unlucky or I am rough handed - but the amount of items that I have owned that have just spontaneously broken.. its disproportionate to the average! I've cracked screens on phones plenty too - she has a running total of times I've had to repair a phone. She'd broken a far few herself, but when I point that out - her's is luck, mine is not being careful, and I've done it more. I remember being in a pub in my mid 20s and I heard an enormous SMASH sound... a few of us ran outside to find a woman in an giant SUV absolutely demolish my small hatchback car! In the carpark too.. no idea how she managed that. My mum still brings up the fact I've written off a car. Also, the woman didn't want to tell either her husband or insurance about the accident so she showed up the next day with a suitcase full of cash to the value of the car! I was very happy. I got a 2nd hand that was an upgrade from the last and spent the rest on upgrading my already ridiculous car stereo to the tune of some 25 grand total.
I totally agree on the objective lameness of Relic'd instruments. Reminds me of pre-worn jeans, and I don't mean buying them used, I mean they look ruined when they're "new". Get something that actually looks new and you'll naturally put little wear marks on or in as a result of living with it. I don't see all the little nicks on the headstock or the wear marks around the body and neck of my Jag when I pick it up, I see an instrument I like to play. A lot of those headstock nicks are from pointing the guitar upwards during solos and forgetting the venue has low ceilings so when I do remember that makes me laugh at myself for being so careless.
I'm the same way, there's something odd about relicing and there's also this odd business of whether the headstock is "right" which I've never understood. It's not just guitarists, bassists are also weirdly obsessed with choosing brands that have "normal" headstocks so I think there must be something connecting the same psychology there. Something from my experience: I recently bought a MIJ Fender Precision bass second hand, it's about 21yo Candy Apple Red and has a few dings and was cheap mainly, I believe due to the colour and the dings. It sounds amazing, but given how bassists tastes are, it had been sitting around for a couple of years unsold. The dings are inconsequential, that's earned experience and who doesn't like a red guitar?! Their loss, my gain 😀
@@MOSMASTERINGYour Mother's blaming you for that car accident? You weren't even in the car, and it was parked - what more could someone possibly want to prove innocence? Unless you are either extremely bad at parking, poured nails on the road next to a speedy highway (surely not,) or had 3 big red neon arrows over your car saying "CRASH HERE," I don't think she has a leg to stand on in blaming you. She probably has good points about taking care of different things instead of abusing them, but from what little I can see here, it sounds like she might also be _too_ worried about breaking things. Of course one should avoid breaking things unless they're working for the IIHS or something like that where crash testing is the job, but let it be water off a duck's back when or if it ever does happen. No need to blow a gasket over something unavoidable or accidental, but do be cautious as well as is possible.
Exactly. Over time your belt buckle is gonna put a wear mark on the back. You’re going to get scratches around the cable jack. You’re going to get a ding on the headstock from that time you didn’t see the mic stand. Like you said, it’s a tool. And while I don’t intentionally abuse my tools I do use them, sometimes roughly.
In 1977 I saved every nickel and dime I had to buy a Gibson J-55 arch back acoustic. It was way too expensive for me, but it was the only guitar I owned, so I had to play it. Everywhere and very time I played guitar and sang, that is the guitar in my hand and held against my heart. It is beat up as hell. But every nick and rub is a memory. A good memory. Playing guitar has been the best part of my life since I was 12 and this guitar has been there for almost every part. Would it be worth more to you with fewer nicks? Maybe. But it would be worth far less to my life and that is why I started playing in the first place. Thanks for the video and reminding me of what is important about owning and playing fine guitars.
I couldn’t agree more! My guitars are made to be played or they wouldn’t be my guitars. I own a Martin 1990 OMC-28 Guitar of the month that was a gift from my wife on our 10th Anniversary. Yes, I actually picked out the guitar as my wife is not a guitar player, she is just married to one. I spent hours playing various Martin Guitars (I’ve always wanted to own a Martin since I sold Martin’s when I was in my 20’s and managed a music store. I’m now 73 years old but in 1990;I was 40 years old and married for ten years when my wife asked me what I wanted for a gift on our tenth anniversary. I didn’t think that I could never afford one in the past or even now that I was forty years old (on our anniversary in 1990) or that I was still going to be the one who was actually “robbing Peter to pay Paul” so that my wife and I will need to sacrifice something like a nice vacation I promised her when we couldn’t afford a honeymoon, I blurted out the one inarguable thing that I promised myself when I was in my twenties I would own one day - a Martin Guitar. When I blurted this out expecting to be reminded that we really couldn’t afford one (although I gave her the diamonds ring that she wanted when I couldn’t afford an engagement ring) we left for the local Guitar Center in Hollywood California and I spent the next four or five hours playing every Martin guitar in the store. I’m not a profeional guitarist, but I’ve been playing guitar since I was eight years old. I knew the moment I found “my guitar” among a wide selection of Martins from D-18’s to D-45s, I wasn’t interested in the embellishment’s, I fell in love with the sound and how it fit in my arms. I fell in love with a 1990 Martin OMC-28 “Guitar of the Month. “. I’m a finger stylist and this Orchestra Model (OM) series 28 sounded so sweet, the neck was perfect for playing blues to rag to folk. It was a cutaway series 28 with a small body clear tone that I simply fell in love with but still had to spend hours convincing myself that I was going to buy this Martin and take it home with us. I probably wouldn’t see my wife until some time the next day or two when I came up for air and some nutrients and put it back in it’s hard shell case that I kept opening to check and aee if there was really a Martin OMC-28 in the cas and it wasn’t just a dream. I’m nearly 74 years old and Mari and I have been married nearly 44 years, we met nearly 50 years ago and underneath the bed we shared for nearly fifty years is the same Martin hard shell case with the same Martin OMC-28 guitar. I’ll venture a guess that there are probable fewer than the 89 1990 OMC-28 Guitar oh the Month instruments left in this world and I still own the same one that my wife gave me on our tenth anniversary. Unfortunately, she lost her diamond ring a few years after we bought it and although I offered to buy her another, it doesn’t replace the intentions of the original ring I gave her on out tenth anniversary. In six years we will be married for fifty years and I will never regret one day of all those years, I only wish that time would slow down a bit.
My papaw gave me his 1977 Martin D-41. It's beautiful, it's an heirloom, and I learned to play on it.... It blows his mind that I'll choose to pick up and play my 94 Yamaha FG 410 😅 The sound doesn't compare to the Martin, but it sounds great still and is just easier to play.
I started with a squier Stratocaster that my dad bought for himself but decided to give to me. He got a Yamaha Pacifica which is still pretty good. Since then, I’ve had two Ibanez , two squiers , a PRs, a deangelico acoustic and a Taylor acoustic, a schecter, two Epiphone les Paul’s. I’ve tried to take time for each one. But that’s a tough thing with a full time job and a good wife. Those are more important but I do enjoy playing.
I always enjoy the calm and measured way you approach any subject. My collection is up to two acoustic, one electro'coustic, and two electric guitars. Prices ranged from $45 to $425, all are used, and all of them get played. Thanks for creating our Five Watt World, it's a great place to be 😁
If you've played long enough you should know how to adjust the truss rod, set pickup & string height, and set the intonation. It's not that difficult to learn how to do these things. Learning these skills will not only save you money, but will also give you a closer connection to your instruments.
Also - personal experience mostly from owning Fender guitars - when that's set just right you can tend to just leave it alone for a long while, excepting massive changes of climate like going somewhere that's hotter and more arid than the guitar usually lives. So all that time doing minor tweaks yourself saves you a fortune and other than maybe a fret job which is more complex, allows you to get a near-perfect setup.
I did walk in with experience in electronics and woodworking, but I started doing setup work because I don’t have a shop near me I trust. I also buy lower end gear, so got good at dressing frets then replacing nuts. The little things like setup, fret work, cleaned up nuts and saddles, and maybe a neck shim on a Fender make the biggest difference in playability. If it feels good, stays in tune, and doesn’t go “plink” when tuning or using a trem you’ll play it so much more. It was a short leap from that stuff to kits and restoration, now mid way through my first custom build. I’m better at luthier work (on electrics) than playing. I do a lot of restoration. The tools can get pricey, but I find it really rewarding. Especially getting a neglected instrument back into playing shape in the hands of a musician. But you don’t have to be leveling and crowning frets to make a good guitar great. And you rarely have to replace major parts, unless you just want to.
@@mikesalmo I ruined my setup on my Lp studio while changing strings last year. Had the strings off so I decided to tinker around thinking I could put it back how it was if things went south. I fooled around with that guitar for days trying to make it playable again. I have been a autobody tech for the last 24 years. And have done some pretty complicated major repair work in that time. But I was totally defeated with fixing the setup of this guitar. A week at the music store and 120 bucks later? I got it back and was blown away by how good it sounded. And it also felt way easier to play. I was a happy man. Anyway it made me realize that just because I paid for a gibson setup from the factory. And they send you a pic of your guitar on a bench. Don't mean a great job was done with the setup. I now feel no matter what guitar you buy. It needs to be taken in and have a real shop setup done for it to be any good.
I've gone thru 3 purges - about every 15 years, I re-evaluate a guitar's money-making ability. Is it inspiring for composition? Inspiring enough to session work? NO guitar has ever sold tickets to my concerts - I do that, my playing does that. I don't lie to myself that "it's the guitar". No. It's me, my fingers, my years' of playing.
Thanks for this video! I've felt surrounded by a world just saturated with obsession over purchasing and owning, but my favourite part of any piece of gear is the bond you get to form with it. I'm not the best player, and I like guitars that are inexpensive and feel like they align with my ethos of originality over virtuosity. Of course, whatever works for other people is fine, but I just don't have the type of mind or lifestyle for endless practice to where I'd feel that I needed a "precision instrument" so much as a guitar or amp that feels like that old flannel or your favourite pair of sneakers - it's just there for you, meeting you where you're at, and you get to take care of each other. Thanks for being a voice of moderation in a world that often feels like it's at the beck and call of product catalogue refreshes and convention cycles.
This will on some guitars, but not all. I have a '52 reissue Tele. The tech took the neck off and I thought "Oh hail no." I carved out a slot in the pick guard, bought slick littler wrench from StewMac and never have to remove the neck. If defiling the original pickguard bothers you (like it did me), get a replacement and use that.
@@glenlapwing8468 Here's something that you can do to avoid that altogether - stress relief. I put a quarter turn in the truss rod so that it has a very slight up bow to it. This allows the strings to pull the wood as far as it can go. This means that at full tension your strings won't pull the wood of the neck any further. I've done this for over thirty years and I still have yet to see one warped neck out of any of my guitars.
This is I why I think a vintage Greco or Burny are so special: the sounds of playing a hand made vintage instrument, plenty of dings and scratches to add to, and any tech can work on them because they cost the same as a current import.
I'm restoring a vintage greco P-bass at the moment. Ordinarily I would never dream of refinishing a vintage body, but this one wasn't just a relic, it was a straight up wreck and I had to glue big parts of the body back together, it was just a mess. Regretably, as part of that process I had to level-sand a big area on the body and with it sand out 50 years of dings and scratches. I'm going to repaint it vintage white, and it'll look like new, ready for another 50 years. But It's got me thinking about "vintage mojo", and how I've effectively robbed this bass of it's history, but I've come to the conclusion that if the vintage mojo is in the wood then surely it can survive a couple of coats of paint? Just a random thought.
This is why I LOVE vintage Ibanez and Ovation. I have a 79 ovation legend that I found at a pawn shop a few years ago, tops in rough shape no structural cracks but big gouges in the poly finish, $150 bucks, some new strings and some light tech work on the truss. Thing is a loaded gun. I saw in 1979 the guitar went for $660 new which is like $2800 accounted for inflation. It’s not worth anything these days, but it kills most acoustics I stack it against.
Dude, they cost as much as a new gibson and as a functional instrument are way worse. They have their own whole microculture around them that has inflated both their value and percieved prestige far beyond what they should be in reality
Great list and right on the nose on all. I'm a tech and builder and have some limitations of what I want to own too. Keep in mind that all guitars eventually become Vintage. My main Tele I bought new in 1993, so she an I have become vintage together, and while I at one time "retired" her from live use, I have since decided that due to her age and "pedigree" that she deserves to be played as much as possible and when she does finally die, it will be whilst being played, and not covered in dust, sitting safely on a stand in my office.
Been there, done that. However, I don't have regrets for it because it's really part of the journey of going through the learning process and seeing what's right/not right for you in terms of preference in the sounds and playabilty on various guitars. I've gone through over a hundred guitars bought-and-sold in the last twenty years. I've slowed down quite a bit, and finally realized what I need versus want. It's a relief to unload so much gear and focus/concentrate [key words] on the particular fewer things to get you to practice more often and enjoy it more frequently without being distracted by the unnecessary excess piling up around at home.
I have an addiction to buying cheap guitars, because these days they’re very good and the options on styles and colors are so many. It’s also fun to take a cheap guitar, mod it, give it a nice setup, and not be too worried about damaging or losing it.
@@TonyToledo22i guess estsblishing what cheap is is the first point , as he Said they are so good these days … and That is what i have found as Well and I also have a habit of buying cheap guitars … as they are so good these days but that’s not 200 bucks but can be 500- 800 bucks …. In that range they have become so dang good as of late
Some are not worth the effort and investment of replacing the hardware, but some are hidden treasure waiting to be unearthed. That is if you actually enjoy the work.
Nice to see different angles being taken on this. I bought a barely functional Ibanez for very little. The seller was okay but I guess if he was any easier to work with the guitar would have costed more. But now that the guitar has been fixed up, I just love how "nothing fancy" it is. Losing or it being damaged would suck but it's a very long way from any kind of a disaster. An over pricey guitar that would affect insurance and sleep is probably not for me. As for "vintage", naaahhhh, I've had a bitsa-caster vintage thing, it was an absolute PITA. Modern guitars all day for me, thanks.
@@strumminronin There are still some relatively cheap vintage ones. Silvertone 1448 and 1457 models (those 2 models are Danelectro built,) random imports from the 60s - 70s, Kay Vanguards, etc. Not all are going to be good out of the box, but a lot of the ones I mentioned are very light to hold.
Great video!! Thank you!! I started my guitar journey late in 2019 at the age of 45. Got a black Gibson Firebird, it was the oddball guitar I always loved. It’s a joy to play (but it’s the only thing I know ! ). Anyways,I’m 50 now and still try to play every day. Loved your short history of the Firebird and many other of your videos. Thank you !
I have been playing guitar for almost 50 years. Fate/circumstance/tragedy/The Good Lord Above has blessed me with 21 guitars and 5 amps. They each have a name and a voice, and I couldn't imagine my life without them. Since learning to play, the longest I've ever gone without playing was my first submarine patrol. All this rambling to say that no guitar sucks to own. In my experience, vintage guitars are a lot like owning vintage muscle cars; you have to swing wrenches and keep them happy. I do all of my own repairs and maintenance, so I don't have to pay anyone to do it for me. I had to recover from rotator cuff/biceps tendon surgery and couldn't play.... that sucks a lot more than not loving your guitar. Sorry for the long winded comment. I love 5 Watt World and I really appreciate all you do, Keith!
@@NoWayOut55 My wife and I were only blessed with one child, we lost him in 2016, at age 30, to the opioid crisis. We were also blessed with one granddaughter, who is my pride and joy. I am teaching her how to play and care for these instruments, and I hope they bring her as much joy as they have me. Rock On, Friend! 🎸🤟
I agree with point #1. My favorite guitar was a Gibson ES 335. It was a tobacco sunburst, exquisitely beautiful. This guitar had a miraculous ability to sound great plugged into any amp without even adjusting the settings. Everything about the guitar was perfect, but it was impractical. I was hosting a blues jam, and I worried every time a jammer played the guitar, or bumped into the guitar. The ES335 was a big guitar with a high center of gravity. It was easy to bump into, and easy to knock over. My main guitar nowadays is a 1977 Tele, which I bought new. It's a canoe paddle. I like the weathered funky look of it. My friend left a cigarette burn on the headstock. The pick guard is missing a chunk of it. I love my Tele in a different way from my ES335.
@@MichaelC76x I would guess that roughly 80% of all Gibson USA guitars are not regularly played. Tons of people will buy a Gibson, but many end up living in the case or on a wall. They're definitely the #1 offender for guitars that don't get played, and there are likely thousands of them sitting around right now.
Guitars definitely stay in better shape and play better if they're played, no doubt. I'd rather have a guitar that was played regularly with a few dings than one that'd sat in a case for 20 years - for numerous reasons. Even if you play daily, you can only really take care of about 10 guitars.
Great vid, Keith! I finally came to my senses a few years ago and sold all my vintage and boutique guitars and rebuilt my collection with solid players that I'm not afraid to take on the road...I feel better abot the decision even without this video's validation but it's great to be in good company! I will admit to thinking wistfully sometimes about my old 66 ES 335 with factory bigsby...lol
I'm going through the same thing right now, I have a bunch of guitars and only play a handful of them. I just sold a '65 Melody Maker D today that hadn't been out of the case in over a year and I'm about to sell a bunch of others, including probably the best SG I've ever played but too rich for my blood, a 2003 Gibson SG Elegant Custom Shop. I know it's going to hurt but I need to just focus on what matters; playing and enjoying guitars.
I agree for the most part. I just got my first double cut "F" hole guitar, a 335 copy. I didn't like the volume pots and decided to change them. what a nightmare!! All of the electronics have to come out of the pickup cavity. They used small pots from the factory, which were put in through the F hole. but I wanted a CTS for the volumes which are much larger and had to chisel out part of the wood to get them out through the pickup hole. Also, since everything is grounded together, it ALL had to come out. Definitely the hardest guitar I've worked on. Probably won't get another one. Great channel!!
Great takes Keith. I love to gig out with my guitars and consider all the dings little birthmarks. They are unique and I love to play them as much as they beg to be played. They become part of you and you them. It's symbiotic and I love it. Keep the great videos coming.
Very much agreed. It's a BIG waste both for the buyer and the manufacturer to create a very beautiful guitar only for the guitar to live in a case never to be use forever. I've known someone who is a collector who owns 50+ expensive guitars that will never see the light of day because the owner said "it's too expensive".😅 Also if you disregard the money, the manufacturer used a scarce natural resource (woods - Ash, Mahogany, Maple, etc.) and labor to create a functioning tool or "instrument" only to be a piece of furniture or much worse be in its tomb case for decades. What a waste. 🤭 So if anybody have a guitar, please play it.🎸 Cheers.👌🤘
For many years I avoided Explorers due to their reputation for being cumbersome or being "metal" guitars. Last year I found a great deal on a Gibson Explorer that was in mint condition and I realized that I've been missing out, its become one of my favorite guitars to play. The case is absolutely enormous but the guitar is so comfortable and feels great.
I bought an Epiphone Explorer off eBay about 5 years ago. Me and my Luthier Instructor opened the control cavity covers and it discovered it had Gibson pots, .022uF Bumblebee cap. I then took the strings off to see what pickups it had it had. Lo and behold it had REAL 59 pickups (my Instructor has books with almost every guitar ever made and he date coded them to a 59 Les Paul). We had a customer in the shop and asked what I paid for it..... Said he'd buy it for what I paid for the guitar. My luthier Instructor looked at me and just rolled his eye's. I said I'll keep this guitar until I'm dead and they'll bury me with it! It sounds great, in near mint condition, and absolutely plays outstanding. I guess when I bought it; I got lucky!
I have a Jackson Kelly (with a hardtail). It's relatively light, well balanced, feels great, and looks sexy. I love the sharkfin inlays. I replaced the stock pickups with a set of DiMarzio PAFs. Now it sounds like a Les Paul Standard. Nicely done, Jackson.
One of my happiest guitar-owning experiences was an Ibanez Rocket Roll Sr. Flying V. It sounded so good and was so much fun to play. Yeah, I eventually sold it because I couldn't play it sitting down, but I've regretted it ever since. It was so great at a gig.
Great video, I own a couple of older guitars that I take out and play every now and then but my favorites are guitars that I leave out so I can plug in and enjoy. If I lost the older guitars I wouldn't lose any sleep over them but the one's that I play everyday I would miss dearly. Thanks again for the video!!!
I owned a PRS wood Library. An absolute beautiful piece of art. I was terrified to play it just in case I dinged it. Sold it shortly afterwards. Those guitars are great for collectors not for gigging musicians.
@@jonbuckleythen why buy it? It’s just a tool. A pretty tool but a tool nonetheless. If youre just a working musician then ur not buying wood library to play anyways, and if you can Really afford a wood library you probably don’t need to worry about selling it next month to make rent. In which case any wear is irrelevant outside the ocd in one’s head. I gig both my custom Murphy labs. Go live your life my friend, that wood library wants to be shown off for the ppl in the back of the bar.
Keith - I stumbled across some of your videos, and as a man of a certain age with a collection of electric guitars I found your thoughts almost therapeutic. I am currently reassessing my collection: as someone who plays in a covers band it is rare that I'm able to use more than two of my guitars, particularly as our singer reads the room at a gig and shouts out (at speed) our next number. No guitar tech in sight! Keep up the good work!
It took almost 30 years for me to get a Gibson Les Paul Custom. I found a 68 reissue with a Koa top on consignment and pulled the trigger. It was almost mint condition when I got it, and I was really paranoid about damaging it so was really careful playing it (not my style). Best thing to happen to it was the case getting bumped while I was putting it away, causing the lid to close and the latch to put some impressions in the side, so now I don't worry as much.
My Gibson LPC was beautiful and sounded fantastic, but it was a case queen because I was afraid of dinging it. Finally wised up and sold it. Went back to my upgraded Epiphone LPCs and I'm happy with them.
+1 on Number One. I lucked into a well-preserved '64 Strat with a mint '61 Princeton for $150. OK, it was 1981 but still a screamin' good deal. I proceeded to gig the Strat in the country bars every night for 3 years. It wasn't so well-preserved by the end of it all. Worn frets, stiff tuners and banged up to medium-relic level. Now it's WAY too valuable to even think about gigging it, but it'd be a lot more valuable if I'd remembered about how gigging a '64 Strat is a whole lot like commuting 50 miles into and out of New York City every day in a well-preserved '64 Chevy Impala. A guitar is at heart a work tool meant to be used to earn a living, but there aren't many of them that actually get commercial use, and those that do generally end up like Willie Nelson's Trigger.
I knew a guy in AZ who regularly bar gigged his all original '59 Strat, without a second thought. These "vintage" instruments only have value when you sell them for good money or you are actually using them to play out (or for studio work). Otherwise, they're completely worthless.
Lovely video Keith. I have a custom Martin D-42 that I had built in Nazareth, PA and picked up myself and brought back to the Netherlands. She is showing her 18 years as I am a hamfisted guitarist. In some ways the scratches detract from the pure aesthetic of this sea of abalone and prime woods. But she is just too darn good sounding. She doesn't even live in the case normally, and I play her every day. Over the years I have come to appreciate the scratches. She and I will go until my death. Last year I had a Strat custom built for me by a local (American but living in Holland) builder and I decided to go for a relic guitar. The freedom that the relicing has given, and the way she feels to play, have sped up the bonding process enormously. I love that thing. And also play that every day.
After finally playing beyond first 3 frets..began my search for the perfect guitar. Acquired 10 or so inexpensive ones before losing them in a fire. Insurance allowed me to buy better guitars. Finally realized better guitars don’t matter as much as ..being a better player.
I dont have to remove the neck on my 77 telecaster or my 73 telecaster bass. The stewmac truss rod crank for tele, or the 'free' paint can lid opener tool from the hardware store, will sneak in and adjust the truss rod, with the neck on, strung to pitch. You might have to remove your pickguard. Fenders either do or do not have a bit of wood removed at the body for access. I make room for the tool.
I agree with several points. I play acoustic guitars largely. I volunteer to play/ sing at places where folks can't get out. About 20 hours a week. They all get played. Some with with specific songs. Thanks
Great video Thanks! I took my 1964 Gibson Banjo to a guitar shop and had them replace some missing screws for the tuners. First shock was he gave me back my old screws in a Ace Hardware bag. Yup, he replaced all the screws for the tuners with what looks like galvanized, big ugly screws (from Ace Hardware obviously). When I complained he said, "look its just an old banjo!" I learned a lesson that day. I don't trust.
I own a ‘92 Gibson Custom shop Edition ES-350T. It’s my most expensive guitar. It lives in the case. I take it out maybe 8 or 10 times a year and play for a days or weeks then it goes back in the case. I don’t take it to gigs or jams because I’m afraid something might happen to it. I’m also like that with my Martin 000-28EC, although that now has its own wall hanger and I pick it now and then just to remember how great it is. Depending on the gig, if it’s with my band or I’m sitting in with someone or if it’s a funky bar or on the beach(I’m in Florida), this will determine what guitar I bring. Now a days, there almost always a telecaster involved, but I might bring my ES335 or LP or PRS SE or Sire S7 along and use the tele one set and the other for the next set. If it’s an acoustic gig, I like to use my J45 but if it’s a hot and humid summer day, I take an Epiphone. Yes I keep a close eye on things when the Gibsons come out, so the stress sucks. Then I realize how much I love them and why I spent the money them in the first place. To play them. I think I cherish some too much which makes it suck to own them…. But I can’t bring myself to sell them.
Just play em brother. They deserve to be loved and enjoyed. I play my expensive instruments every day and feel so lucky that I have the opportunity to do so. As it stands, you essentially spent a lot of money for nothing in return. If something actually did happen, at least you got some time to enjoy the instrument instead of it sitting in its case.
The other problem with owning and using a vintage ax is worrying about theft. I have owned and gigged with a 1953 Tele and a 1963 Strat since the mid 70's. It wasn't a problem until around the mid 80's when the guitar mags and the vintage guitar dealers started making a big thing of them. Before then only a small percentage of people (generally just pro guitar players who would not steal your stuff anyway) were interested enough to know a vintage ax when they saw one. There were guitar thefts, but usually they stole them because they belonged to a rock star, not so much that they were vintage, even though most of them were. Or you left your ax on the stage in the club during the day (a lot of cats did back in the old days), or in an unlocked car while you were "gettin' some". I've had to ask a band member to watch the stage/ my guitar while I used the head for decades now, they don't ever mind, they know the score, but I do worry about a break in when I'm not home, or stopping to get something to eat while my gear is locked in the car, etc. Loading into a club the guitars go in first and come out last, never leave them unattended in the car (locked or not), it only takes a second while you're grabbing your amp to have some thief run away with it. When I toured with a recording artist I never let anyone carry my ax back to the buss (there were a lot of offers), I took it myself and put it in my bunk (the buss was always locked and the driver had a 357 magnum, so no problem there). My vintage Fenders were already "player grade" when I got them, not mint condition collector's items, and now they're very worn old guitars, but I got them for just a few hundred bucks and I made a living with them, I have others now for places where I worry about security, but I use my old girls whenever possible, they have become a part of me, they won't be for sale until I'm dead. As far as repairs go I learned to do my own frets and nuts, etc. But yeah before that most of the techs that worked on my axes were guys like Glasser in Nashville, Toru and or Caruthers in L.A. Then again besides fret and nut wear there really isn't much needed for a pre CBS Fender, Leo knew what he was doing. Amps too.
I’ve owned probably 10 different guitars throughout my playing “career” but I always gravitate back to my Squier Tele. I bought it about 6 years ago because I needed a cheap guitar in a pinch, but I’ve completely fallen in love with it. It’s a low maintenance guitar and feels great every time I pick it up. Literally have never had any issues with it; just made a few upgrades that I really wanted to do: new neck, tuners, nut and hopefully some new pickups soon. It’s the only guitar I’ve never ever considered selling, and I will probably play it for the rest of my life.
RESPECT! As a kid, 1969, in the mountains of Oregon, an old timer gave me an acoustic guitar that played itself! I cut it up to use the neck to build an electric guitar influenced by FM Radio. I cut up a pre-war Martin D-18! I am now a retired Neuroscientist Luthier from the Doyle clan, with a large collection. I still Love and Play my "Mistake" and teach music science outreach at our school every week. Both the music and the instrument are Art! but...OOPS (smile)
I remember when I was young I was scared shitless to try old Gibsons in shops of fear of having to pay if you dropped it etc.. Now I don't touch them because you can get a better new guitar for a fraction of the price. Guitars are to be played or they're antiques for folks with too much money.
I always think about how disgusted Leo Fender would be if he saw his old 50s and 60s guitars going for multiple millions, even the ones not played by famous musicians. He made tools for working players - in fact a lot of his best designs were made by getting country players among others to try prototypes out in the field (gigging), so there's a collaboration aspect too. I respect modern Fender a fair amount because they're still affordable and still can be workhorse instruments that'll last - my 2021 Meteora Mk. III is a good example of that. Nice sounding low output humbuckers too.
I can relate to the last point ... having a guitar you are afraid to gig with, or even play. A member of the church that I pastor gave me an emerald burst Gibson SG Supreme several years ago. His reasoning is that, though I'd love to have a Gibson, I would never pay that much for a guitar on my budget with a family to support. I was afraid to take the guitar out of the case for a long time. I never played it anywhere but home for over 2 years. I finally came to the conclusion that if God blessed me with this, then I need to play it. I love that guitar now. It is so much fun to play. It sounds amazing, the neck is very comfortable, and, well, it's an SG! Some of my heroes played SG's ... Tony Iommi being the one that comes to mind, and Clapton for a short time played one with Cream. Thanks for another great video!
@@garydiamondguitarist Charlie Starr is now proving to the rest of the guitar community just how awesome the Les Paul Specials are. His tone is amazing!
Some years ago, my oldest brother got a great deal on a pre factory PRS (can't remember the model). It's a low production number instrument, probably one of only a few. In later years he and I were in a church band together and I asked why he doesn't use the PRS there. He said it's too nice and too rare to be playing out, so I reminded him that there's no point in having it, then. Two weeks later he showed up with it and frequently played it out after that.
I sold everything i had with a floating trem, and block the strats. I just don’t use trems, so keeping them maintained and in tune was a waste of my time and money
@@lahar2412i love my teles, but they stay at home, i have a single coil and a p90 tele, but i use humbuckers live. I wish i had a hardtail strat, and someday I’m gonna swap one of mine to it
Another great video that makes sense.❤ I don't are if I pay $300 or $3000 for a guitar, I'm gonna play it. Of course I know I'll have to do a lot of work on the $300 one. I've had a few where the neck goes in and out so I either sell them or get another neck. One thing I've noticed on those necks is that the grain is not as dense as the ones that stay true and are less effected by humidity and temperature changes. Have a good one.
I solved that by selling my Ric 12 string and restringing an unused danelectro to high strung or Nashville tuning. Doubling that with a standard 6 string gives you "that sound" - at least as for as recording goes.
I really think you’ve nailed it here! I’ve owned approximately 130 guitars and related string instruments and of those, more than half have been vintage instruments. I reached the point where it was a burden to own them. I felt like they owned me, for all of the reasons that you so clearly articulated. By the way, it can’t be over emphasized that there are a lot of crooks and ignorant dealers in the vintage business. Of all of the dealers that I’ve met, there are 3 that I trust. Oh, and modifying a true vintage instrument, if that’s what is required to make it playable, don’t buy it. That will totally destroy it’s value.
I bought an 2022 Epiphone Firebird last April, and it’s become my #1. At a gig in February, I tripped coming down a short flight of stairs. I landed with the case edge-on, and that prevented me from face planting on the floor. The case kept the guitar in perfect condition. That said, I toted my Ric to recent rehearsal, and yeah, I had forgotten how massive the Firebird case is. 😅
On my 18th birthday my dad took me to a shop to get my first "proper" guitar. I wanted an SG, having been smitten by AC/DC, but decided on a whim to try a gibson firebird. I knew immediately that it was the one coming home with me. Just felt too right to play
Just first reaction here…well thought out. Before purchasing a new guitar I ask myself: “Why THIS guitar? What do you need it to do? What are you hoping to learn from this guitar? Can this guitar musically speaking get you where you want to go”. I find these questions take time for me to answer which is just as well as good guitars are not cheap. Love the content @five watt world keep up the good work.
I had a '37 Gibson L-7 that smelled like an antique shop when you opened the case. Dull purple felt lined. Varnish finish covered with hairline checking
Not true. Not all vintage guitars are highly prized Gibson, Fender, or Gretsch models. Many vintage guitars are just nice old instruments and they are quite affordable, even on a musicians budget.
Thank you Keith, love this one! I'm about your age and waited to start learning to play the guitar until about 10 years ago. When I listen to your channel, I feel like a boy who has an amazing coach and mentor and I'm reminded of why I want to play, because of the art of guitar itself and of the art that can be made with it!! Thank you for reminding us of why love the guitar!!
My Explorer has become my #1 again after years of Tele/Esquire fever. The massive case comment is SO TRUE but these guitars are a dream to play otherwise. The hidden virtues of the Explorer: -balanced weight that plays well sitting or standing (built-in arm rest?) -simplified control layout in a straight line for easy access (who needs two Tone knobs?) -6 in-line tuners (less G string string pull issues for tuning stability IME) -tonal sweet spot between Les Paul and SG -solid upper fret access IMO it's Gibson's best overall guitar design. I've emailed Gibson and MONO about the need for a super protective, professional-level gig bag for the Explorer. I think MONO's rigid design, neck support, and Boot bottom can be applied to the Explorer to deliver a bag that is protective enough for the city-navigating gigging musician like myself; I've hauled that massive case down busy Deep Ellum blocks (the guitar makes it all worth it) but would have no hesitation using a MONO or Reunion Blues bag for those situations. Gibson's current gig bag offering is no more protective than a Jansport backpack... Great video Keith, hit me up if you ever want to talk Explorers
I totally understand the need for a solid Explorer gig bag. I use a Gator for my Epiphone Korina 58 "Reissue," because the monster case will NOT fit in my trunk. I have "concerns."
@@ruminantmelanoid5444 When I traded in my old Tahoe to get a much smaller Mazda, I had to do some research to figure out if the trunk was going to be big enough to fit the case... A true testament to how massive the case really is. and perhaps, how obsessed with my Explorer I am.
Great episode - each of my guitar has dings and nicks or something. Heck, I recently purchased an overexpensive Tremonti PRS and the first thing I did was sanddown the neck to get a satin feel (which I prefer on all my guitars). The Warmoth guitars I build also have limited finish on them as I want them to age. Guitars I had to look at ended up on Marketplace. Thanks Keith for continuous great content
9:29 - _Hardtail Strat_ all the way! Can't understand why they aren't popular. I've had one since 2001 and it's still my favorite guitar. 6:30 - In 2003 I bought an _Explorer Pro_ brand new for only $1399 (ah, the good ol' days). Definitely very long, but still one of the most ergonomic guitars I've ever had.
@@RelicOnMaui back then, that was definitely the predominant theory, along with overwound pickups and brass everything! The YSG even had a brass “sustain plate” on which the bridge was mounted!
As an owner of a Firebird (awkward to sit with), a Jaguar (annoying to stabilize tuning-wise and from weird errant noises), and a Lucille I added a Bigsby to (any ES-355 TDSV / Lucille with a Bigsby is 10 pounds, weighs a ton), I'm grateful for this video, and that I'm not alone 😂
In 2019 I got my first telecaster. Just a middle of the road performer series in the “penny” finish. Not super high priced but still brand new. I remember thinking when I got it that I was a little nervous about bumping or dings. Literally, less than 24 hours after I brought it home I was sitting down playing it and I took a break to have a cigarette. So I layed it across my lap. I finished my cigarette and looked down to see that I had dropped a little piece of the head of my cigarette on the front of my brand new tele! Nothing major, just a little melt spot in the finish. OH MAN!!! I was so pissed off at myself! Unbelievable! Less than 24 hours! But suddenly it hit me that I am never getting rid of this guitar and I don’t actually care about that little ding in the finish. All of the nervousness had left and I just felt comfortable with it! The guitar was officially mine. It had been officially welcomed into my stable of guitars that all have scratches and dents and dings and they all play just fine! Now that is just an $1100 dollar guitar. I can’t imagine I would feel the same way if it had been a $5000 dollar custom shop guitar. I’ll never know.
I keep my "best" USA-built guitars in a rack downstairs next to the amp. That way, I get to admire them every day and I pick up whichever one takes my fancy and play it. Quite often, I swap them in and out to experience a different feel and sound for certain licks, or if I'm in the mood for a change. The only downside is having to wipe the accumulated dust off every week or so - that and deciding which ones to take out for live playing situations.
I’ve been playing guitar almost 50 years. I once knew a guy that in 1983 bought every color of Strat Fender made that year just to own them. (He barely knew how to play.) They never came out of the case except to be shown to visitors, ( never played). Sad. Guitars are tools. Made to be used. When something made for a specific purpose is “too nice” to use for that purpose, it becomes an idol and is worshipped. That’s when it owns you.
Although big-spending collectors help keep guitar companies in business, they also drive up the prices more than any other type of customer. They're the reason why guitars that are worth $1000 costs $3000. As you said, they worship guitars - imparting superficial and arbitrary value to otherwise simple instruments. They buy and hoard so many guitars that they create scarcity, and send a message to companies like Gibson and Fender that paying absurd prices is okay. Naturally, this only serves to drive up prices.
Really enjoyed the video. Thanks! Gotta say, my experience is the only guitars that suck to own are the ones I don't play regularly. I have about 10-12 guitars total and play most of them very often. it was the ones that just sat on the rack (some at the top end of my price point) that I would sell/ trade. I just wasn't getting a lot out of them. Thanks again!
More of a Drummer than a Guitar Player, I still love this channel! Some years back I picked up a Les Paul Special II. It was a nightmare to own, especial for a novice guitar player. I just could not keep it in tune going up and down the neck. I sat down in the basement for about 2 days, with a You Tube video on how to set the intonation, setting the truss rod, and what ever else was involved for a basic set up. (It's been a minute so I don't recall everything) I still have to be carefull when playing not to bend it out of tune by putting too much physical pressure on the neck with my left hand while putting too much pressure on the body with my right arm...(Again, a novice player) but the difference is like night and day after setting it up properly. It sounds great with my '67 Deluxe Reverb and the sense of pride of accomplishing the set up made it go from a nightmare to own, to probably out of 15 to 20 ish... my favorite guitar I have ever owned. Thanks, Keith. I appriciate all that you do and, Say hi to Rick for me!
I bought a 1960's Telestar 3/4 length electric. At first I was disappointed in the size but after playing it and some new strings I found out that it has incredible playability and sound. Now I love it. Glad I kept it.
Great video. I agree with you about Strats. They take a little more work than other guitars, especially if you float the term. That said, it's worth it to me. I love Strats and Strat-style guitars.
I bought my favourite guitar from a friend a few years back, a 98 PRS CE. He never played it as he said it was ‘too nice’. I’ve owned it for 8 years now and my sweat has corroded the bridge saddles, you can see scratches in the finish from my pick, I regularly hit the body with my fist during a gig but I get it set up every 6 months to keep the frets healthy. As long as it’s able to be played it’s never been kept locked away and it’s only going to get more battle scars/love for more years to come. Also I find guitars which are played more tend to stay in tune a lot better
I have several guitars, Jeff Beck strat, Tele, Starfire 4, and 78 Gibson The Paul (that I love to play) to name a few…and one that I was fortunate enough to own, a Gibson Firebird Acoustic. It sucks to own that guitar because it’s “too nice” to take out on a gig or to a party. It literally only leave the house to play at church on Sundays. I even go so far as to put a cloth over my belt buckle…I know, it’s a bit much! So now I’m purchasing an old Guild JF-55. The guild is nice too but at least it’s been played and broken in so I don’t have to baby it like the Firebird. ( maybe it’s just my GAS that’s motivating my purchase of yet another guitar! LOL) I love your show. Keep’m coming!
Good video, I once owned a ES335, Warren Haynes ‘61. It was so pristine that I rarely played it. In hindsight, I should have but it was intimidating and maybe more guitar than I could handle at the time. Live and learn. Love your videos, keep up the good work.
I'm both a sax player and a guitar player. I agree about vintage guitars. I'm afraid of all the issues associated with old wood. I like old saxes though. Once the old pads have been changed, it is how the instrument has been treated that matters, not the age. No need to worry about humidity. Also, I have one of the best techs anywhere about a 15 minute drive from me! Actually I have one of the very best guitar techs around here too. But he is crazy busy.
It's weird to type this, but I have a '75 Tele Custom that I got when I started HS around '80-'81...it literally became vintage over the course of my life. As the guitar I cut my teeth on & played in tons of bars/stages with, it slowly shifted into the vintage/too nice (or too sentimental) to play category! 😅 Definitely doesn't suck to own however...feels so good every time I pick it up.
Wonderful episode. Speaks to me at a different level. Growing up with Jazz, classical, blues, rock and metal, you learn many different techniques. It allows you to play to the instrument and is why my modest collection is played and does include all aforementioned guitars. Except… Still wanting a firebird and a good resonator to add over the next few years. No rush and not married to vintage.
Nah, as a real guitar player who has toured and recorded, each guitar gives you a different type of inspiration and teaches you something about yourself AND about guitars themselves (as a non-luthier)…. Life is too short and they ain’t getting any cheaper…. Guitars are a great investment in the least, if you know what you’re doing…. And they’re an even greater joy if you can actually play anything you want a will. Much love! -Big Mart
This is what I’ve learned in my years of purchasing these wonderful instruments that I play. You can buy a great guitar and not have to break the bank… Instance I bought one of those new Marty Schwartz 335s recently and I really enjoy playing it. I figured I can get the 335 that I want without paying For the name on the headstock if you know what I mean… The same thing goes for my BB King Lucille. Didn’t want to fork out the seven grand for the Gibson so I went with the Epiphone model and I absolutely love it.
I spent 4 Gs on a figured ES 335 in “blueberry burst” a few months ago. It’s the nicest guitar I’ve ever owned in over 40 years of playing. I’m a casual hobbyist player, and pretty much always have been. I’m an “OK” guitarist at best, in the larger scheme of things, even though I continue to use online resources in an effort to improve, even at my advancing age. I have a SoundCloud page with my original stuff, and some cover tunes, but don’t perform live at all, ever. I play the thing, and always keep it in the case when I’m not. I have 3 electric and 2 acoustic guitars. Once I spend the money, I don’t care about the resale value or anything else. I will only take normal, reasonable caution with it that allows me to enjoy it and play it however and wherever I want.
I bought a custom shop strat once that was supposed to be my only guitar moving forward. I sold it in a few months because I realized I wanted more than one instrument and that the teles and strats that I made from parts sounded better, played better, and were way more fun
I'm using a Japanese Fender Strat with a very eye catching candy red finish. People would always compliment its color. It's also one of the many reasons I bought it; but it never stopped me from abusing it on stage (throwing it on the air, hammer fisting by the bridge, and jumping around the stage with it). I agree with the sentiment that the instrument is a tool to be used. I would be upset if it got destroyed or significantly damaged but I wouldn't be lonely if it went out the way I wanted it to be: me playing it on stage to be best of my ability while having the time of my life.
I bought a relatively expensive Strandberg 7 string and couldn’t find anyone competent to work on it. I paid nearly $300 on setups before deciding that *I* was the best tech to handle it. Once I learned how to set it up and maintain it it’s one of the best guitars I own for playing. It stays in tune, the action is perfect and I love the engineering and ergonomics. TLDR: learn to set up and maintain your instruments - you are the best tech your guitar ever had.
I agree mostly with No.1 because I own a couple of guitars that I never want to take anywhere and they live in their cases. I hate dings and having others touch them. I love a pristine looking guitar and it’s such a treat when I do pull them out of their cases. It always feels like the first time.
Great video! I just brought my favorite guitar of all time thank goodness a 1951 American Fender telecaster 2022 reissued satisfied me. The rest are very good-playable tributes . I fully understand the addition of the hobby 🎸🎸
I have a K Garage Les Paul lawsuit era guitar, it's a bolt on from the eighties, the tis a heck of a instrument, her name is Kokum, Cree for grandmother, cuz she has a soul and I'm pretty sure that soul is in my guitar, a spiritual connection is a beauty to behold.
I own a Gibson L6 Deluxe from 1970s. It sounds fantastic. I confidently claim that it sounds as good as any vintage Les Paul. However, there are no spare parts. Pickup surrounds are gone and need replacement and they have been patched up with those ancient plastic phone cards from British Telecom in the 1990s. Luckily, they still hold. I contacted Gibson about it and they told me that they no longer have any spares. It is also apparent that the guitar fell at some point and one of the tuning pegs paid the price and got bent. Luckily, it still works. Fortunately the neck also survived with a minor crack. All luthiers that I contacted told me not to try to fix it because it will not be worth it. My point is that all those odd guitars have no spare parts. Just like antique cars. So, if I buy a new and emerging brand of guitar I will never be able to repair or upgrade it, and that could be the point of this video but the author failed to mention it: no spare parts!! My impression is that only Fender might offer some hope and I think they designed their instruments from the beginning with exactly that idea.
We, as players, should all learn to wear the hat of guitar tech as well. Being able to set up your own guitar is not only convenient, its ultimately liberating. There isn't really that much to it. It can all be very easily learned and once you know how, it adds a whole new dimension to your enjoyment of the hobby we all love so much. If you think it feels good to find a guitar with that something special, you should try finding one that has the potential, and make it something special. Rescuing a forgotten, mistreated guitar and giving it a new life is an indescribable feeling! If you want to REALLY LOVE a guitar, rescue one. It will love you back!
Right on
Many beginners look at the words "guitar set-up" with a bit of mystique until they learn how simple it actually is.
@@castleanthrax1833 It really is a fairly simple process, it just takes a bit of patience. And when you can work on your own guitars flea markets and yardsales become music stores!
I wouldn’t condone “bringing back to life” vintage pieces, but:
SETTING UP YOUR OWN GUITAR IS THE ONLY WAY TO REALLY ACHIEVE YOUR SOUND.
Yeah it can be challenging and I was afraid to work on my guitar for a long time. But it's now fun !
"Buying too much guitar gets in the way of your enjoyment."
A lesson to live by.
Not so. My collection started when I began using double-locking trems and realizing that guitarists were using different tunings. I began buying different guitars and tuning them all differently. So, if I wanted to practice an Eddie song, I had one in Eb. One is tuned to drop D. Then, I started to buy guitars to do my own custom paint schemes. As an artist, there are more facets of enjoyment to guitars other than just playing them.
@@rinkydinkfretboard8737well said
I bet you learned by your mistakes...Poahahahah
I like that !! Who said it?
yup, when in 1987 I read that David Gilmour had bought too much guitar at over 360 of them, it was going to be in the way of anybody else enjoying any of them with our own hands. It's a good thing he made sweet love to our ears with them, or something like that.
My thoughts on dings - the first one usually hurts, but soon comes the realisation , this came about because you regularly get it out the case and play it. It's the sign the guitars a keeper, a badge of honour. There is surprisingly great satisfaction in seeing the guitar relicing naturally over time. Over time guitars improve with age but they have to be played and sometimes take the knocks and scrapes from transporting from one place to another and/or the bedroom wall.
Or your beloved dog knocks one guitar into another and the most expensive gets the dent not the one rescued from a pawn shop with two dents in its top (acoustic of course) already.
I bought a couple of B-stocks and second hands with dings. It wasn't so bad. The dings on those as you'd expect weren't actually noticeable.
That first ding hurts a ton, but then shrug and go "Well, it's mine now!" and carry on. I have long since tried to buy used so I can just shrug and go "Huh, well another scratch/ding" and go right back to playing.
If a careless roadie or friend does it....different feelings again!
I got a 6-string bass second hand from someone I met at a guitar store. Had it for close to 15 years now. I've added a couple dings to it, and it survived being run over by a car (long story short, don't rush to band practice after immediately waking up from an all-nighter 🤦 Take the time to actually wake up and think clearly). I had a custom made pickguard cut from aluminum checker plate to cover up the car damage. It's officially a one of a kind instrument now, and to me, it's priceless. Nothing can replace it
I enjoy setting up my strat, tweaking and fine-tuning it for an afternoon every few months.
Great vid
My grandpa always said, "dings on a guitar are like dents on a car.... adds character." I always loved that idea. That those scratches and dings are like scars, and each one tells a story.
I have owned and gigged with a number of collectable, vintage Martin acoustic guitars. My old, tired hands have fallen in love with a pair of new, Squire Mustang electrics under $200 each. They feel right and sound great off the back of a hay wagon, in someone's greasy, old machine shed or at someones back yard BBQ. Ya just wipe the BBQ sauce off, and you're back in business. They're made for playing in "the mud and the blood and the beer".
Same here. My Gibson Les Paul Custom "owned me" and I played it very little. Eventually I realized that the guitars I loved playing the most were the two cheapest ones I had. I got great deals on them and also learned enough to be able to set them up and tweak them until they sounded just right for me. They've been nicked and beat up a little, but who cares? I love to play them.
I briefly had a fender Player mustang. It was the most comfortable guitar I've ever had. I just really didn't prefer the way it sounded. I thought about putting some Tele pickups in it, but I decided to sell it instead.
@@jimmyparris9892 at first, I really didn't like the sound of electric guitars in general, but my hands were happy. I've come to terms with how my Mustangs sound now. One has single coil pickups and the other has humbuckers. I appreciate the differences between them and my hands are discovering how to make all kinds of new sounds. It's an adventure!!!
@@thehaughtcorner You're definitely doing it right.
I don't know how old your "old, tired hands" are, but I think mine are even older. I've played the guitar since I was a kid, but now I'm having problems with my hands. I can't play any of the Fender (or others) guitars that have a 1.65" nut. So the Squire guitars are out of the question.
#1 really resonates. I had a 2020 Troublemaker in black. It was perfect. I couldn’t stand seeing dust on it, let alone scratch or ding it. After two long years of cleaning it every time I played it, I sold it. What a relief.
When I was growing up, nothing looked cooler than Bob Mould slamming away on his Ibanez Rocket Roll Flying V and screaming into that microphone. 🙌
and today nothing looks cooler than Bob Mould slamming away on his Strat Plus and screaming into that microphone!
@@metrokosmiko Bob Mould is definitely still the man
The Rocket Roll Flying V were great guitars, I owned one in 1980, I sold it to get a very good Gibson SG but I wish I had kept it...
HUSKER DU!
thanks for that
Used to own a 1977 Explorer from the first run of reissues. This guitar immediately came to mind when the "cool on stage" category was mentioned haha. I was lucky enough to find a buyer that got to do guitar tech for The Edge when the 360 Tour came to town. I was a kid in the bleachers for that show so it kind of came around full circle. He happened to know a ton of sources for vintage and knows everyone I know who is in that market so I'm lucky enough to have a trustworthy source. He even lent us a few vintage Fender guitars and amps while trying out the Explorer that I'd otherwise would never gotten to try. Was a fun summer! I feel even more fortunate to have that opportunity after seeing this.
I had a used ~1988ish Explorer for a couple months back in high school. An impulse buy that I got rid of too quick, that thing was gnarly
I had a Hamer Flying V in high school and it was not fun to play but looked cool. I quickly moved on to Teles and Hollowbodies.
@@SquirtHoliday No way! Our band won a local music contest right out of high school and received a gift card to a local music store. When we went in, my fellow guitarist and I used our portion to split the Explorer. It was brought in by someone who found it in a relative's attic who had recently passed. The store bought it off her for 1000CAD and we got it for not too much more. Took me a few years to realize how much it was worth at that point and stop gigging with it haha. Lots of great pics from those shows tho, mixing in Allman Bros. and Skynyrd covers!
@@dannobilly I only got a Tele in the last few years and maaaaaaan do I love it. Was going to get a hollowbody but prioritized a 12-string electric. Only style left to get is a hollowbody electric now. I am taking recommendations! (Used to use an 80s Lee Ritenour signature Ibanez in jazz band and I liked that a lot)
Great episode and everything you said makes complete sense.
I just want to say that your editing skills are great. Your visuals and auditory combination are spot on. I use to record and edit books on tape and worked on at least 100 or more books and when you get the timing and pauses right as well as to know the levels of the sound in the background and when to bring them up to the right level for the setting is so monumental, and you have that down in spades! It brings your guitar passion to the professional level that we so appreciate. Thank you and I proud to be part of the Five Watt World.
Never buy a guitar that you won't play, guitars, like cars, are meant to be used. I'm don't buy them because I think they might become a good investment. I buy them to play them.
Hard to do as a lefty player
I disagree. I've bought many guitars with no desire to play or keep them. I've been able to acquire the guitars that I do play by buying smart buys on guitars that I won't play.
Words of wisdom. Right now I have a strat infestation in my mancave…lol
Exactly!✌️😎🎸🎶🎵🎶
@@ChrisEck13 missing the point. He's talking about people like Trogly who buy all of these "collectible " guitars that just sit around and never get played.
Flipping them is different. The end goal is an instrument you will actually use.
The discussion points of “negatively impacting the guitar’s value” reminds me of the phrase “knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing.” The “value” of something as a measure of what someone else would pay for it is irrelevant if you’re enjoying it for its intrinsic value- that you’re enjoying the experience of playing it. That when you look at it in the case or on the stand, you’re reminded of the good times you’ve had playing it.
Understood but misquoted in most people's minds. They think something is worth a lot to themselves but in reality it's sadly not most of the time. It only matters when you enjoy playing it. But dropping a boat load of money on something doesn't make it any better than something that costs less than half of it. I know because I've played $2,000.00, $3,000.00, $4,000.00, $10,000.00 all the way up to $50,000.00 guitars and beyond.The value is what you feel when you play - not the monetary value. Just because something is expensive that doesn't make it a better instrument than something that costs less. I've played $400.00 guitars that I liked better than their $4,000.00 counterparts. So you're right - the cost doesn't always equate in the value of an instrument no matter what it is. My hands can't tell how much it costs or the brand but it can feel the quality of the workmanship.
18 hooks on the wall, full. I look at the beauty of all of them and know they will show wear and tear over time. Several are over a half century old, like me.
The first ding is kind of a relief with a new guitar. Now it is "yours" and you can just have fun with it. I still take care of them, but it is not the same as freaking out over a scratch.
All the same, in a store I ask before handling things and don't bother fondling stuff I am not really interested in buying.
@@ratwynd I understand. But I play everything even if I'm not interested in buy it just to see what's out there and the quality of the build - the finish, fit, frets, tremolo, electronics. You can't tell until you try it.
Great quote, and agree fully
One of my guitar students thought the coolest thing about my strat was how dinged up it is. Bought it new over 40 years ago and every one of those scratches and dents just shows how much it is loved.
When we were really young musicians, we had an older friend who could drive, and whose dad bought him a new truck. He loved to drive through mud and rocks and all sorts of inclement weather, but was weirdly worried about every little scratch. I remember saying to him, "Dude, it's a truck, it's going to get scratched. It's just the physics of driving a big machine through the world." He was a drummer, and as we got older, and I was finally able to buy better equipment, I remember him fretting over every little scratch my equipment acquired and kind of being weirded out that I was not more upset about it. Again, I would explain to him that this is just going to happen. Fast forward to the more recent relic craze, and I started to remember those days and really put into words what it was I was feeling and how that had changed over the years. I don't hate on people who like relic, it's a thing and a choice. But one day, in light of the subject, I said to my wife that our guitars don't so much just acquire their wear and tear, as EARN it. I do like the clean "newness" of my newer guitars, but it's nice to finally have touched upon a philosophy to help me reinforce my feeling that scratches and dents and chips happen, and a guitar exists to be played. Like us, our instruments earn their scars, and their scars deserve to be seen.
Oh my god, I think you've just given me a year or more's worth of therapy material. The word "blame" comes to mind... So, my mother is house proud, clean obsessed and chastised me through my entire childhood for wear and tear on clothes, toys, anything that accumulated damage or I broke. Also, I don't know if I'm just unlucky or I am rough handed - but the amount of items that I have owned that have just spontaneously broken.. its disproportionate to the average! I've cracked screens on phones plenty too - she has a running total of times I've had to repair a phone.
She'd broken a far few herself, but when I point that out - her's is luck, mine is not being careful, and I've done it more.
I remember being in a pub in my mid 20s and I heard an enormous SMASH sound... a few of us ran outside to find a woman in an giant SUV absolutely demolish my small hatchback car! In the carpark too.. no idea how she managed that. My mum still brings up the fact I've written off a car. Also, the woman didn't want to tell either her husband or insurance about the accident so she showed up the next day with a suitcase full of cash to the value of the car!
I was very happy. I got a 2nd hand that was an upgrade from the last and spent the rest on upgrading my already ridiculous car stereo to the tune of some 25 grand total.
I totally agree on the objective lameness of Relic'd instruments. Reminds me of pre-worn jeans, and I don't mean buying them used, I mean they look ruined when they're "new". Get something that actually looks new and you'll naturally put little wear marks on or in as a result of living with it. I don't see all the little nicks on the headstock or the wear marks around the body and neck of my Jag when I pick it up, I see an instrument I like to play. A lot of those headstock nicks are from pointing the guitar upwards during solos and forgetting the venue has low ceilings so when I do remember that makes me laugh at myself for being so careless.
I'm the same way, there's something odd about relicing and there's also this odd business of whether the headstock is "right" which I've never understood. It's not just guitarists, bassists are also weirdly obsessed with choosing brands that have "normal" headstocks so I think there must be something connecting the same psychology there. Something from my experience: I recently bought a MIJ Fender Precision bass second hand, it's about 21yo Candy Apple Red and has a few dings and was cheap mainly, I believe due to the colour and the dings. It sounds amazing, but given how bassists tastes are, it had been sitting around for a couple of years unsold. The dings are inconsequential, that's earned experience and who doesn't like a red guitar?! Their loss, my gain 😀
@@MOSMASTERINGYour Mother's blaming you for that car accident? You weren't even in the car, and it was parked - what more could someone possibly want to prove innocence? Unless you are either extremely bad at parking, poured nails on the road next to a speedy highway (surely not,) or had 3 big red neon arrows over your car saying "CRASH HERE," I don't think she has a leg to stand on in blaming you.
She probably has good points about taking care of different things instead of abusing them, but from what little I can see here, it sounds like she might also be _too_ worried about breaking things. Of course one should avoid breaking things unless they're working for the IIHS or something like that where crash testing is the job, but let it be water off a duck's back when or if it ever does happen. No need to blow a gasket over something unavoidable or accidental, but do be cautious as well as is possible.
Exactly. Over time your belt buckle is gonna put a wear mark on the back. You’re going to get scratches around the cable jack. You’re going to get a ding on the headstock from that time you didn’t see the mic stand. Like you said, it’s a tool. And while I don’t intentionally abuse my tools I do use them, sometimes roughly.
In 1977 I saved every nickel and dime I had to buy a Gibson J-55 arch back acoustic. It was way too expensive for me, but it was the only guitar I owned, so I had to play it. Everywhere and very time I played guitar and sang, that is the guitar in my hand and held against my heart. It is beat up as hell. But every nick and rub is a memory. A good memory. Playing guitar has been the best part of my life since I was 12 and this guitar has been there for almost every part. Would it be worth more to you with fewer nicks? Maybe. But it would be worth far less to my life and that is why I started playing in the first place. Thanks for the video and reminding me of what is important about owning and playing fine guitars.
I couldn’t agree more! My guitars are made to be played or they wouldn’t be my guitars. I own a Martin 1990 OMC-28 Guitar of the month that was a gift from my wife on our 10th Anniversary. Yes, I actually picked out the guitar as my wife is not a guitar player, she is just married to one. I spent hours playing various Martin Guitars (I’ve always wanted to own a Martin since I sold Martin’s when I was in my 20’s and managed a music store. I’m now 73 years old but in 1990;I was 40 years old and married for ten years when my wife asked me what I wanted for a gift on our tenth anniversary. I didn’t think that I could never afford one in the past or even now that I was forty years old (on our anniversary in 1990) or that I was still going to be the one who was actually “robbing Peter to pay Paul” so that my wife and I will need to sacrifice something like a nice vacation I promised her when we couldn’t afford a honeymoon, I blurted out the one inarguable thing that I promised myself when I was in my twenties I would own one day - a Martin Guitar. When I blurted this out expecting to be reminded that we really couldn’t afford one (although I gave her the diamonds ring that she wanted when I couldn’t afford an engagement ring) we left for the local Guitar Center in Hollywood California and I spent the next four or five hours playing every Martin guitar in the store. I’m not a profeional guitarist, but I’ve been playing guitar since I was eight years old. I knew the moment I found “my guitar” among a wide selection of Martins from D-18’s to D-45s, I wasn’t interested in the embellishment’s, I fell in love with the sound and how it fit in my arms. I fell in love with a 1990 Martin OMC-28 “Guitar of the Month. “. I’m a finger stylist and this Orchestra Model (OM) series 28 sounded so sweet, the neck was perfect for playing blues to rag to folk. It was a cutaway series 28 with a small body clear tone that I simply fell in love with but still had to spend hours convincing myself that I was going to buy this Martin and take it home with us. I probably wouldn’t see my wife until some time the next day or two when I came up for air and some nutrients and put it back in it’s hard shell case that I kept opening to check and aee if there was really a Martin OMC-28 in the cas and it wasn’t just a dream.
I’m nearly 74 years old and Mari and I have been married nearly 44 years, we met nearly 50 years ago and underneath the bed we shared for nearly fifty years is the same Martin hard shell case with the same Martin OMC-28 guitar. I’ll venture a guess that there are probable fewer than the 89 1990 OMC-28 Guitar oh the Month instruments left in this world and I still own the same one that my wife gave me on our tenth anniversary. Unfortunately, she lost her diamond ring a few years after we bought it and although I offered to buy her another, it doesn’t replace the intentions of the original ring I gave her on out tenth anniversary. In six years we will be married for fifty years and I will never regret one day of all those years, I only wish that time would slow down a bit.
Great story! Thanks for sharing.
My papaw gave me his 1977 Martin D-41. It's beautiful, it's an heirloom, and I learned to play on it.... It blows his mind that I'll choose to pick up and play my 94 Yamaha FG 410 😅 The sound doesn't compare to the Martin, but it sounds great still and is just easier to play.
I started with a squier Stratocaster that my dad bought for himself but decided to give to me. He got a Yamaha Pacifica which is still pretty good. Since then, I’ve had two Ibanez , two squiers , a PRs, a deangelico acoustic and a Taylor acoustic, a schecter, two Epiphone les Paul’s. I’ve tried to take time for each one. But that’s a tough thing with a full time job and a good wife. Those are more important but I do enjoy playing.
Speaking about waiting on videos,…
Still Waiting on _the Short History of G&L_ 🙁
That would be great, I love my ASAT classic semi-hollow, and just picked up a Legacy HSS too.
I'm lucky enough to have a few. Great guitars
I’m still waiting on history of Brown Face 😂 I’d really love to try a G&L Asat tho
Maybe a history of the brown face, using a G&L?
Ask Zac did one on G&L recently…
I always enjoy the calm and measured way you approach any subject. My collection is up to two acoustic, one electro'coustic, and two electric guitars. Prices ranged from $45 to $425, all are used, and all of them get played. Thanks for creating our Five Watt World, it's a great place to be 😁
Used cars are selling because if it’s preLoved some else took the initial hit. Price is not relevant if you don’t like to drive or play it.
If you've played long enough you should know how to adjust the truss rod, set pickup & string height, and set the intonation. It's not that difficult to learn how to do these things. Learning these skills will not only save you money, but will also give you a closer connection to your instruments.
Also - personal experience mostly from owning Fender guitars - when that's set just right you can tend to just leave it alone for a long while, excepting massive changes of climate like going somewhere that's hotter and more arid than the guitar usually lives. So all that time doing minor tweaks yourself saves you a fortune and other than maybe a fret job which is more complex, allows you to get a near-perfect setup.
Isn’t it Keith Richards who said something like tune your Tele when you restring, 1 or 2 times a year, or when you hit someone over the head with it.
I am pretty sure he did not say that he did not know how to do it, he said that it takes too much time if he does it himself ;)
I did walk in with experience in electronics and woodworking, but I started doing setup work because I don’t have a shop near me I trust. I also buy lower end gear, so got good at dressing frets then replacing nuts. The little things like setup, fret work, cleaned up nuts and saddles, and maybe a neck shim on a Fender make the biggest difference in playability. If it feels good, stays in tune, and doesn’t go “plink” when tuning or using a trem you’ll play it so much more.
It was a short leap from that stuff to kits and restoration, now mid way through my first custom build. I’m better at luthier work (on electrics) than playing. I do a lot of restoration. The tools can get pricey, but I find it really rewarding. Especially getting a neglected instrument back into playing shape in the hands of a musician.
But you don’t have to be leveling and crowning frets to make a good guitar great. And you rarely have to replace major parts, unless you just want to.
@@mikesalmo I ruined my setup on my Lp studio while changing strings last year. Had the strings off so I decided to tinker around thinking I could put it back how it was if things went south. I fooled around with that guitar for days trying to make it playable again. I have been a autobody tech for the last 24 years. And have done some pretty complicated major repair work in that time. But I was totally defeated with fixing the setup of this guitar. A week at the music store and 120 bucks later? I got it back and was blown away by how good it sounded. And it also felt way easier to play. I was a happy man.
Anyway it made me realize that just because I paid for a gibson setup from the factory. And they send you a pic of your guitar on a bench. Don't mean a great job was done with the setup. I now feel no matter what guitar you buy. It needs to be taken in and have a real shop setup done for it to be any good.
I've gone thru 3 purges - about every 15 years, I re-evaluate a guitar's money-making ability. Is it inspiring for composition? Inspiring enough to session work? NO guitar has ever sold tickets to my concerts - I do that, my playing does that. I don't lie to myself that "it's the guitar". No. It's me, my fingers, my years' of playing.
Thanks for this video! I've felt surrounded by a world just saturated with obsession over purchasing and owning, but my favourite part of any piece of gear is the bond you get to form with it. I'm not the best player, and I like guitars that are inexpensive and feel like they align with my ethos of originality over virtuosity. Of course, whatever works for other people is fine, but I just don't have the type of mind or lifestyle for endless practice to where I'd feel that I needed a "precision instrument" so much as a guitar or amp that feels like that old flannel or your favourite pair of sneakers - it's just there for you, meeting you where you're at, and you get to take care of each other. Thanks for being a voice of moderation in a world that often feels like it's at the beck and call of product catalogue refreshes and convention cycles.
Love this one! Oh and to be clear I HATE taking the neck off of the guitar to adjust the neck. So it goes...
Loosen the strings till they’re slack, put a capo on the first fret & then remove the neck
@@glenlapwing8468 It's STILL a pain -in-the-NECK!!
Yep, I hear you, but the upside is you got a great Strat or Tele to play after the truss rod tweak and makes it worth the effort.
This will on some guitars, but not all. I have a '52 reissue Tele. The tech took the neck off and I thought "Oh hail no."
I carved out a slot in the pick guard, bought slick littler wrench from StewMac and never have to remove the neck.
If defiling the original pickguard bothers you (like it did me), get a replacement and use that.
@@glenlapwing8468 Here's something that you can do to avoid that altogether - stress relief. I put a quarter turn in the truss rod so that it has a very slight up bow to it. This allows the strings to pull the wood as far as it can go. This means that at full tension your strings won't pull the wood of the neck any further. I've done this for over thirty years and I still have yet to see one warped neck out of any of my guitars.
This is I why I think a vintage Greco or Burny are so special: the sounds of playing a hand made vintage instrument, plenty of dings and scratches to add to, and any tech can work on them because they cost the same as a current import.
I'm restoring a vintage greco P-bass at the moment. Ordinarily I would never dream of refinishing a vintage body, but this one wasn't just a relic, it was a straight up wreck and I had to glue big parts of the body back together, it was just a mess.
Regretably, as part of that process I had to level-sand a big area on the body and with it sand out 50 years of dings and scratches. I'm going to repaint it vintage white, and it'll look like new, ready for another 50 years. But It's got me thinking about "vintage mojo", and how I've effectively robbed this bass of it's history, but I've come to the conclusion that if the vintage mojo is in the wood then surely it can survive a couple of coats of paint?
Just a random thought.
This is why I LOVE vintage Ibanez and Ovation. I have a 79 ovation legend that I found at a pawn shop a few years ago, tops in rough shape no structural cracks but big gouges in the poly finish, $150 bucks, some new strings and some light tech work on the truss. Thing is a loaded gun. I saw in 1979 the guitar went for $660 new which is like $2800 accounted for inflation. It’s not worth anything these days, but it kills most acoustics I stack it against.
Those would be awesome if people didn't try to upsell them because "RARE VINTAGE CLASSIC..." Etc etc etc...
Dude, they cost as much as a new gibson and as a functional instrument are way worse. They have their own whole microculture around them that has inflated both their value and percieved prestige far beyond what they should be in reality
Great list and right on the nose on all. I'm a tech and builder and have some limitations of what I want to own too.
Keep in mind that all guitars eventually become Vintage. My main Tele I bought new in 1993, so she an I have become vintage together, and while I at one time "retired" her from live use, I have since decided that due to her age and "pedigree" that she deserves to be played as much as possible and when she does finally die, it will be whilst being played, and not covered in dust, sitting safely on a stand in my office.
Been there, done that. However, I don't have regrets for it because it's really part of the journey of going through the learning process and seeing what's right/not right for you in terms of preference in the sounds and playabilty on various guitars. I've gone through over a hundred guitars bought-and-sold in the last twenty years. I've slowed down quite a bit, and finally realized what I need versus want. It's a relief to unload so much gear and focus/concentrate [key words] on the particular fewer things to get you to practice more often and enjoy it more frequently without being distracted by the unnecessary excess piling up around at home.
I have an addiction to buying cheap guitars, because these days they’re very good and the options on styles and colors are so many. It’s also fun to take a cheap guitar, mod it, give it a nice setup, and not be too worried about damaging or losing it.
It sucks to work on cheap guitars. Like Polishing a Turd
@@TonyToledo22i guess estsblishing what cheap is is the first point , as he Said they are so good these days … and That is what i have found as
Well and I also have a habit of buying cheap guitars … as they are so good these days but that’s not 200 bucks but can be 500- 800 bucks …. In that range they have become so dang good as of late
Some are not worth the effort and investment of replacing the hardware, but some are hidden treasure waiting to be unearthed.
That is if you actually enjoy the work.
Nice to see different angles being taken on this. I bought a barely functional Ibanez for very little. The seller was okay but I guess if he was any easier to work with the guitar would have costed more. But now that the guitar has been fixed up, I just love how "nothing fancy" it is. Losing or it being damaged would suck but it's a very long way from any kind of a disaster. An over pricey guitar that would affect insurance and sleep is probably not for me. As for "vintage", naaahhhh, I've had a bitsa-caster vintage thing, it was an absolute PITA. Modern guitars all day for me, thanks.
@@strumminronin There are still some relatively cheap vintage ones. Silvertone 1448 and 1457 models (those 2 models are Danelectro built,) random imports from the 60s - 70s, Kay Vanguards, etc. Not all are going to be good out of the box, but a lot of the ones I mentioned are very light to hold.
Great video!! Thank you!!
I started my guitar journey late in 2019 at the age of 45. Got a black Gibson Firebird, it was the oddball guitar I always loved. It’s a joy to play (but it’s the only thing I know ! ).
Anyways,I’m 50 now and still try to play every day. Loved your short history of the Firebird and many other of your videos. Thank you !
I have been playing guitar for almost 50 years. Fate/circumstance/tragedy/The Good Lord Above has blessed me with 21 guitars and 5 amps. They each have a name and a voice, and I couldn't imagine my life without them. Since learning to play, the longest I've ever gone without playing was my first submarine patrol. All this rambling to say that no guitar sucks to own. In my experience, vintage guitars are a lot like owning vintage muscle cars; you have to swing wrenches and keep them happy. I do all of my own repairs and maintenance, so I don't have to pay anyone to do it for me. I had to recover from rotator cuff/biceps tendon surgery and couldn't play.... that sucks a lot more than not loving your guitar. Sorry for the long winded comment. I love 5 Watt World and I really appreciate all you do, Keith!
Been playing as long...But, I was busy raising Children.
And they all turned out as any other Kid their age, with add ons!
@@NoWayOut55 My wife and I were only blessed with one child, we lost him in 2016, at age 30, to the opioid crisis. We were also blessed with one granddaughter, who is my pride and joy. I am teaching her how to play and care for these instruments, and I hope they bring her as much joy as they have me. Rock On, Friend! 🎸🤟
It was a slice of your life not a long comment.
@@davidcraft4919I'm sorry for your loss, and joyful for your connection with your granddaughter. I hope she loves the guitars as much as you have
Thanks, Friend!@@stevescuba1978
I agree with point #1. My favorite guitar was a Gibson ES 335. It was a tobacco sunburst, exquisitely beautiful. This guitar had a miraculous ability to sound great plugged into any amp without even adjusting the settings. Everything about the guitar was perfect, but it was impractical.
I was hosting a blues jam, and I worried every time a jammer played the guitar, or bumped into the guitar. The ES335 was a big guitar with a high center of gravity. It was easy to bump into, and easy to knock over.
My main guitar nowadays is a 1977 Tele, which I bought new. It's a canoe paddle. I like the weathered funky look of it. My friend left a cigarette burn on the headstock. The pick guard is missing a chunk of it. I love my Tele in a different way from my ES335.
John McLaughlin "The worst thing for a guitar, is to not be played"
It’s sad to think of all those Gibsons just hanging around in shops and wall art.
@@MichaelC76x I would guess that roughly 80% of all Gibson USA guitars are not regularly played. Tons of people will buy a Gibson, but many end up living in the case or on a wall. They're definitely the #1 offender for guitars that don't get played, and there are likely thousands of them sitting around right now.
Guitars definitely stay in better shape and play better if they're played, no doubt. I'd rather have a guitar that was played regularly with a few dings than one that'd sat in a case for 20 years - for numerous reasons. Even if you play daily, you can only really take care of about 10 guitars.
Great vid, Keith! I finally came to my senses a few years ago and sold all my vintage and boutique guitars and rebuilt my collection with solid players that I'm not afraid to take on the road...I feel better abot the decision even without this video's validation but it's great to be in good company! I will admit to thinking wistfully sometimes about my old 66 ES 335 with factory bigsby...lol
I'm going through the same thing right now, I have a bunch of guitars and only play a handful of them. I just sold a '65 Melody Maker D today that hadn't been out of the case in over a year and I'm about to sell a bunch of others, including probably the best SG I've ever played but too rich for my blood, a 2003 Gibson SG Elegant Custom Shop. I know it's going to hurt but I need to just focus on what matters; playing and enjoying guitars.
I agree for the most part. I just got my first double cut "F" hole guitar, a 335 copy. I didn't like the volume pots and decided to change them. what a nightmare!! All of the electronics have to come out of the pickup cavity. They used small pots from the factory, which were put in through the F hole. but I wanted a CTS for the volumes which are much larger and had to chisel out part of the wood to get them out through the pickup hole. Also, since everything is grounded together, it ALL had to come out. Definitely the hardest guitar I've worked on. Probably won't get another one. Great channel!!
You live and learn. Due diligence in the guitar world is paramount. Never be afraid to ask how things are done!
Yeah the switch on my Heritage 535 went bad after a few years, and replacing it was an “adventure”.
Great takes Keith. I love to gig out with my guitars and consider all the dings little birthmarks. They are unique and I love to play them as much as they beg to be played. They become part of you and you them. It's symbiotic and I love it. Keep the great videos coming.
Love the shout out to Matt at 30th St! Not only a legend but one of the nicest and fairest guys in the biz.
Very much agreed. It's a BIG waste both for the buyer and the manufacturer to create a very beautiful guitar only for the guitar to live in a case never to be use forever. I've known someone who is a collector who owns 50+ expensive guitars that will never see the light of day because the owner said "it's too expensive".😅 Also if you disregard the money, the manufacturer used a scarce natural resource (woods - Ash, Mahogany, Maple, etc.) and labor to create a functioning tool or "instrument" only to be a piece of furniture or much worse be in its tomb case for decades. What a waste. 🤭
So if anybody have a guitar, please play it.🎸 Cheers.👌🤘
For many years I avoided Explorers due to their reputation for being cumbersome or being "metal" guitars. Last year I found a great deal on a Gibson Explorer that was in mint condition and I realized that I've been missing out, its become one of my favorite guitars to play. The case is absolutely enormous but the guitar is so comfortable and feels great.
Explorers are best. All who disagree smell like squeaky farts.
The case is actually ridiculous. Why didn’t they just tilt the guitar and make the case smaller?
I bought an Epiphone Explorer off eBay about 5 years ago. Me and my Luthier Instructor opened the control cavity covers and it discovered it had Gibson pots, .022uF Bumblebee cap. I then took the strings off to see what pickups it had it had. Lo and behold it had REAL 59 pickups (my Instructor has books with almost every guitar ever made and he date coded them to a 59 Les Paul). We had a customer in the shop and asked what I paid for it..... Said he'd buy it for what I paid for the guitar. My luthier Instructor looked at me and just rolled his eye's. I said I'll keep this guitar until I'm dead and they'll bury me with it! It sounds great, in near mint condition, and absolutely plays outstanding. I guess when I bought it; I got lucky!
I have a Jackson Kelly (with a hardtail). It's relatively light, well balanced, feels great, and looks sexy. I love the sharkfin inlays. I replaced the stock pickups with a set of DiMarzio PAFs. Now it sounds like a Les Paul Standard. Nicely done, Jackson.
One of my happiest guitar-owning experiences was an Ibanez Rocket Roll Sr. Flying V. It sounded so good and was so much fun to play. Yeah, I eventually sold it because I couldn't play it sitting down, but I've regretted it ever since. It was so great at a gig.
Great video, I own a couple of older guitars that I take out and play every now and then but my favorites are guitars that I leave out so I can plug in and enjoy. If I lost the older guitars I wouldn't lose any sleep over them but the one's that I play everyday I would miss dearly. Thanks again for the video!!!
I owned a PRS wood Library. An absolute beautiful piece of art. I was terrified to play it just in case I dinged it. Sold it shortly afterwards. Those guitars are great for collectors not for gigging musicians.
You could have played it. I have a PRS and it sounds and plays amazing. You only live once, brother. Money comes and goes, guitars are forever.
@@JS-nf1sn I already have a nice Custom 24 that I play. The wood library was not something you are going to smash around at a pub gig.
PRS are the best used buys, heavily discounted and with the best chance of being like new.
Like a car, you only worry until you get the first ding.
@@jonbuckleythen why buy it? It’s just a tool. A pretty tool but a tool nonetheless. If youre just a working musician then ur not buying wood library to play anyways, and if you can Really afford a wood library you probably don’t need to worry about selling it next month to make rent. In which case any wear is irrelevant outside the ocd in one’s head. I gig both my custom Murphy labs. Go live your life my friend, that wood library wants to be shown off for the ppl in the back of the bar.
Thanks man, I'm going to play them all today. I love the feeling when I open the cases!
Keith - I stumbled across some of your videos, and as a man of a certain age with a collection of electric guitars I found your thoughts almost therapeutic. I am currently reassessing my collection: as someone who plays in a covers band it is rare that I'm able to use more than two of my guitars, particularly as our singer reads the room at a gig and shouts out (at speed) our next number. No guitar tech in sight! Keep up the good work!
It took almost 30 years for me to get a Gibson Les Paul Custom. I found a 68 reissue with a Koa top on consignment and pulled the trigger. It was almost mint condition when I got it, and I was really paranoid about damaging it so was really careful playing it (not my style). Best thing to happen to it was the case getting bumped while I was putting it away, causing the lid to close and the latch to put some impressions in the side, so now I don't worry as much.
My Gibson LPC was beautiful and sounded fantastic, but it was a case queen because I was afraid of dinging it. Finally wised up and sold it. Went back to my upgraded Epiphone LPCs and I'm happy with them.
@thehaughtcorner I was thinking of selling it, but it was also partially a gift from my Mom who recently passed, so now has extra sentimental value.
+1 on Number One. I lucked into a well-preserved '64 Strat with a mint '61 Princeton for $150. OK, it was 1981 but still a screamin' good deal. I proceeded to gig the Strat in the country bars every night for 3 years. It wasn't so well-preserved by the end of it all. Worn frets, stiff tuners and banged up to medium-relic level. Now it's WAY too valuable to even think about gigging it, but it'd be a lot more valuable if I'd remembered about how gigging a '64 Strat is a whole lot like commuting 50 miles into and out of New York City every day in a well-preserved '64 Chevy Impala.
A guitar is at heart a work tool meant to be used to earn a living, but there aren't many of them that actually get commercial use, and those that do generally end up like Willie Nelson's Trigger.
Trigger is one of the greatest instruments of all time. Willie has literally basically played that thing to death. It's inspiring.
I knew a guy in AZ who regularly bar gigged his all original '59 Strat, without a second thought. These "vintage" instruments only have value when you sell them for good money or you are actually using them to play out (or for studio work). Otherwise, they're completely worthless.
Just sold a 58 Princeton for 2k
Lovely video Keith. I have a custom Martin D-42 that I had built in Nazareth, PA and picked up myself and brought back to the Netherlands. She is showing her 18 years as I am a hamfisted guitarist. In some ways the scratches detract from the pure aesthetic of this sea of abalone and prime woods. But she is just too darn good sounding. She doesn't even live in the case normally, and I play her every day. Over the years I have come to appreciate the scratches. She and I will go until my death. Last year I had a Strat custom built for me by a local (American but living in Holland) builder and I decided to go for a relic guitar. The freedom that the relicing has given, and the way she feels to play, have sped up the bonding process enormously. I love that thing. And also play that every day.
After finally playing beyond first 3 frets..began my search for the perfect guitar. Acquired 10 or so inexpensive ones before losing them in a fire. Insurance allowed me to buy better guitars. Finally realized better guitars don’t matter as much as ..being a better player.
finally bought a vintage (birth year) Les Paul for twice as much as the first car I bought myself....
and I play it every day now
Thanks; we all needed to hear this👊🏽
'It does exactly what it says on the tin' - RonSeal TV advert slogan, UK
You're right - I'd forgotten where that came from. I remember the ad now!
AKA "the most overused title used by unoriginal people writing an Amazon review". Literally seen thousands at this point.
I dont have to remove the neck on my 77 telecaster or my 73 telecaster bass. The stewmac truss rod crank for tele, or the 'free' paint can lid opener tool from the hardware store, will sneak in and adjust the truss rod, with the neck on, strung to pitch. You might have to remove your pickguard. Fenders either do or do not have a bit of wood removed at the body for access. I make room for the tool.
i was thinking the same thing. the proper tool makes this a non- issue for my tele.
Too intelligent. Too sensible. Too logical. No one is going to pay attention to this!
I agree with several points. I play acoustic guitars largely. I volunteer to play/ sing at places where folks can't get out. About 20 hours a week. They all get played. Some with with specific songs. Thanks
Great video Thanks!
I took my 1964 Gibson Banjo to a guitar shop and had them replace some missing screws for the tuners. First shock was he gave me back my old screws in a Ace Hardware bag. Yup, he replaced all the screws for the tuners with what looks like galvanized, big ugly screws (from Ace Hardware obviously). When I complained he said, "look its just an old banjo!"
I learned a lesson that day. I don't trust.
I also don't agree with using the hardware that they did. But I am curious if any of that was discussed when you took it in?
You know... at least he gave back the old screws..! 🫠
Now you can go to Ace and get nice stainless screws and polish them.
he wanted them all to match, he went to extra trouble.
I own a ‘92 Gibson Custom shop Edition ES-350T. It’s my most expensive guitar. It lives in the case. I take it out maybe 8 or 10 times a year and play for a days or weeks then it goes back in the case. I don’t take it to gigs or jams because I’m afraid something might happen to it. I’m also like that with my Martin 000-28EC, although that now has its own wall hanger and I pick it now and then just to remember how great it is. Depending on the gig, if it’s with my band or I’m sitting in with someone or if it’s a funky bar or on the beach(I’m in Florida), this will determine what guitar I bring. Now a days, there almost always a telecaster involved, but I might bring my ES335 or LP or PRS SE or Sire S7 along and use the tele one set and the other for the next set. If it’s an acoustic gig, I like to use my J45 but if it’s a hot and humid summer day, I take an Epiphone. Yes I keep a close eye on things when the Gibsons come out, so the stress sucks. Then I realize how much I love them and why I spent the money them in the first place. To play them. I think I cherish some too much which makes it suck to own them…. But I can’t bring myself to sell them.
Just play em brother. They deserve to be loved and enjoyed. I play my expensive instruments every day and feel so lucky that I have the opportunity to do so.
As it stands, you essentially spent a lot of money for nothing in return. If something actually did happen, at least you got some time to enjoy the instrument instead of it sitting in its case.
The other problem with owning and using a vintage ax is worrying about theft. I have owned and gigged with a 1953 Tele and a 1963 Strat since the mid 70's. It wasn't a problem until around the mid 80's when the guitar mags and the vintage guitar dealers started making a big thing of them. Before then only a small percentage of people (generally just pro guitar players who would not steal your stuff anyway) were interested enough to know a vintage ax when they saw one. There were guitar thefts, but usually they stole them because they belonged to a rock star, not so much that they were vintage, even though most of them were. Or you left your ax on the stage in the club during the day (a lot of cats did back in the old days), or in an unlocked car while you were "gettin' some". I've had to ask a band member to watch the stage/ my guitar while I used the head for decades now, they don't ever mind, they know the score, but I do worry about a break in when I'm not home, or stopping to get something to eat while my gear is locked in the car, etc. Loading into a club the guitars go in first and come out last, never leave them unattended in the car (locked or not), it only takes a second while you're grabbing your amp to have some thief run away with it. When I toured with a recording artist I never let anyone carry my ax back to the buss (there were a lot of offers), I took it myself and put it in my bunk (the buss was always locked and the driver had a 357 magnum, so no problem there). My vintage Fenders were already "player grade" when I got them, not mint condition collector's items, and now they're very worn old guitars, but I got them for just a few hundred bucks and I made a living with them, I have others now for places where I worry about security, but I use my old girls whenever possible, they have become a part of me, they won't be for sale until I'm dead. As far as repairs go I learned to do my own frets and nuts, etc. But yeah before that most of the techs that worked on my axes were guys like Glasser in Nashville, Toru and or Caruthers in L.A. Then again besides fret and nut wear there really isn't much needed for a pre CBS Fender, Leo knew what he was doing. Amps too.
I’ve owned probably 10 different guitars throughout my playing “career” but I always gravitate back to my Squier Tele.
I bought it about 6 years ago because I needed a cheap guitar in a pinch, but I’ve completely fallen in love with it. It’s a low maintenance guitar and feels great every time I pick it up. Literally have never had any issues with it; just made a few upgrades that I really wanted to do: new neck, tuners, nut and hopefully some new pickups soon.
It’s the only guitar I’ve never ever considered selling, and I will probably play it for the rest of my life.
RESPECT! As a kid, 1969, in the mountains of Oregon, an old timer gave me an acoustic guitar that played itself! I cut it up to use the neck to build an electric guitar influenced by FM Radio. I cut up a pre-war Martin D-18! I am now a retired Neuroscientist Luthier from the Doyle clan, with a large collection. I still Love and Play my "Mistake" and teach music science outreach at our school every week. Both the music and the instrument are Art! but...OOPS (smile)
I remember when I was young I was scared shitless to try old Gibsons in shops of fear of having to pay if you dropped it etc.. Now I don't touch them because you can get a better new guitar for a fraction of the price. Guitars are to be played or they're antiques for folks with too much money.
So true
I always think about how disgusted Leo Fender would be if he saw his old 50s and 60s guitars going for multiple millions, even the ones not played by famous musicians. He made tools for working players - in fact a lot of his best designs were made by getting country players among others to try prototypes out in the field (gigging), so there's a collaboration aspect too. I respect modern Fender a fair amount because they're still affordable and still can be workhorse instruments that'll last - my 2021 Meteora Mk. III is a good example of that. Nice sounding low output humbuckers too.
I can relate to the last point ... having a guitar you are afraid to gig with, or even play. A member of the church that I pastor gave me an emerald burst Gibson SG Supreme several years ago. His reasoning is that, though I'd love to have a Gibson, I would never pay that much for a guitar on my budget with a family to support. I was afraid to take the guitar out of the case for a long time. I never played it anywhere but home for over 2 years. I finally came to the conclusion that if God blessed me with this, then I need to play it. I love that guitar now. It is so much fun to play. It sounds amazing, the neck is very comfortable, and, well, it's an SG! Some of my heroes played SG's ... Tony Iommi being the one that comes to mind, and Clapton for a short time played one with Cream. Thanks for another great video!
I love the SG, Eddie. Angus and Malcolm/Stevie Young, Derek Trucks and Dickey Betts are more well known players. It's also a physically light guitar.
Wow, my pastor covets my gear...
SGs rule. They should get even more love than they do. That and the Les Paul Special Doublecuts with the dual P90s - hugely underrated Gibsons.
@@garydiamondguitarist Charlie Starr is now proving to the rest of the guitar community just how awesome the Les Paul Specials are. His tone is amazing!
Some years ago, my oldest brother got a great deal on a pre factory PRS (can't remember the model). It's a low production number instrument, probably one of only a few. In later years he and I were in a church band together and I asked why he doesn't use the PRS there. He said it's too nice and too rare to be playing out, so I reminded him that there's no point in having it, then. Two weeks later he showed up with it and frequently played it out after that.
I sold everything i had with a floating trem, and block the strats. I just don’t use trems, so keeping them maintained and in tune was a waste of my time and money
hardtail strats and tele gang
@@lahar2412i love my teles, but they stay at home, i have a single coil and a p90 tele, but i use humbuckers live. I wish i had a hardtail strat, and someday I’m gonna swap one of mine to it
@@Ottophilwhat about a telecaster deluxe?
Another great video that makes sense.❤ I don't are if I pay $300 or $3000 for a guitar, I'm gonna play it. Of course I know I'll have to do a lot of work on the $300 one. I've had a few where the neck goes in and out so I either sell them or get another neck. One thing I've noticed on those necks is that the grain is not as dense as the ones that stay true and are less effected by humidity and temperature changes. Have a good one.
'Guitars are tools' - spot on. I love the idea of buying a vintage guitar to use live, giving it a second life; a whole new story.
Any hollow body 12-string you expect to stay in tune...so all of them.
But what else has 'that' sound?😍
Gibson Double-neck solid-body is just as exasperating.... and, again, heavy as sht
I solved that by selling my Ric 12 string and restringing an unused danelectro to high strung or Nashville tuning. Doubling that with a standard 6 string gives you "that sound" - at least as for as recording goes.
I really think you’ve nailed it here! I’ve owned approximately 130 guitars and related string instruments and of those, more than half have been vintage instruments. I reached the point where it was a burden to own them. I felt like they owned me, for all of the reasons that you so clearly articulated. By the way, it can’t be over emphasized that there are a lot of crooks and ignorant dealers in the vintage business. Of all of the dealers that I’ve met, there are 3 that I trust. Oh, and modifying a true vintage instrument, if that’s what is required to make it playable, don’t buy it. That will totally destroy it’s value.
I bought an 2022 Epiphone Firebird last April, and it’s become my #1. At a gig in February, I tripped coming down a short flight of stairs. I landed with the case edge-on, and that prevented me from face planting on the floor. The case kept the guitar in perfect condition.
That said, I toted my Ric to recent rehearsal, and yeah, I had forgotten how massive the Firebird case is. 😅
Thats just like the shockproof leather case I keep my phone in. Had never had a cracked screen when i dropped It on the floor.
Great episode Kieth
Oh man ! How are your wrists , hands ?
On my 18th birthday my dad took me to a shop to get my first "proper" guitar. I wanted an SG, having been smitten by AC/DC, but decided on a whim to try a gibson firebird. I knew immediately that it was the one coming home with me. Just felt too right to play
It wasn't a long fall, so fortunately I suffered no injuries. @@ianpadraig5263
Just first reaction here…well thought out.
Before purchasing a new guitar I ask myself: “Why THIS guitar? What do you need it to do? What are you hoping to learn from this guitar? Can this guitar musically speaking get you where you want to go”. I find these questions take time for me to answer which is just as well as good guitars are not cheap. Love the content @five watt world keep up the good work.
Cool... thank Keith for adding my Photo at the end... so cool to be part of your gig... regards from Prague... keep on Rocking! 👍👍😉😉😎😎🎸🎸🤟🤟🙌🙌😃😃
That was a cool photo of Greg in the TruFire ad.
My vintage guitar is a player-grade ‘66 Mustang. It plays, intonates and sounds fantastic and has “mojo.” Best of all, I’m not afraid to gig with it.
Anything vintage I can imagine would be a pain in the ass to own
I had a '37 Gibson L-7 that smelled like an antique shop when you opened the case. Dull purple felt lined. Varnish finish covered with hairline checking
Not true. Not all vintage guitars are highly prized Gibson, Fender, or Gretsch models. Many vintage guitars are just nice old instruments and they are quite affordable, even on a musicians budget.
Thank you for sharing your experience! 🙏🏽
Thank you Keith, love this one! I'm about your age and waited to start learning to play the guitar until about 10 years ago. When I listen to your channel, I feel like a boy who has an amazing coach and mentor and I'm reminded of why I want to play, because of the art of guitar itself and of the art that can be made with it!! Thank you for reminding us of why love the guitar!!
My Explorer has become my #1 again after years of Tele/Esquire fever.
The massive case comment is SO TRUE but these guitars are a dream to play otherwise.
The hidden virtues of the Explorer:
-balanced weight that plays well sitting or standing (built-in arm rest?)
-simplified control layout in a straight line for easy access (who needs two Tone knobs?)
-6 in-line tuners (less G string string pull issues for tuning stability IME)
-tonal sweet spot between Les Paul and SG
-solid upper fret access
IMO it's Gibson's best overall guitar design.
I've emailed Gibson and MONO about the need for a super protective, professional-level gig bag for the Explorer. I think MONO's rigid design, neck support, and Boot bottom can be applied to the Explorer to deliver a bag that is protective enough for the city-navigating gigging musician like myself; I've hauled that massive case down busy Deep Ellum blocks (the guitar makes it all worth it) but would have no hesitation using a MONO or Reunion Blues bag for those situations. Gibson's current gig bag offering is no more protective than a Jansport backpack...
Great video Keith, hit me up if you ever want to talk Explorers
I totally understand the need for a solid Explorer gig bag. I use a Gator for my Epiphone Korina 58 "Reissue," because the monster case will NOT fit in my trunk. I have "concerns."
I bought a James Hetfield ESP Snakebite guitar which is an Explorer and it’s AWESOME, absolutely love it
@@ruminantmelanoid5444 When I traded in my old Tahoe to get a much smaller Mazda, I had to do some research to figure out if the trunk was going to be big enough to fit the case... A true testament to how massive the case really is. and perhaps, how obsessed with my Explorer I am.
Great episode - each of my guitar has dings and nicks or something. Heck, I recently purchased an overexpensive Tremonti PRS and the first thing I did was sanddown the neck to get a satin feel (which I prefer on all my guitars). The Warmoth guitars I build also have limited finish on them as I want them to age. Guitars I had to look at ended up on Marketplace.
Thanks Keith for continuous great content
9:29 - _Hardtail Strat_ all the way! Can't understand why they aren't popular. I've had one since 2001 and it's still my favorite guitar.
6:30 - In 2003 I bought an _Explorer Pro_ brand new for only $1399 (ah, the good ol' days). Definitely very long, but still one of the most ergonomic guitars I've ever had.
Love your videos! Always well thought out, spoken, and produced. Your perspectives are informative and in-tune with the now!! Thank you!!
❤🎸🔥
Yamaha SG2000? As heavy as a Gibson double neck! 😂
I could NEVER understand the thickness of that thing. I guess the "Resonance/sustain theory"???
@@RelicOnMaui back then, that was definitely the predominant theory, along with overwound pickups and brass everything! The YSG even had a brass “sustain plate” on which the bridge was mounted!
As an owner of a Firebird (awkward to sit with), a Jaguar (annoying to stabilize tuning-wise and from weird errant noises), and a Lucille I added a Bigsby to (any ES-355 TDSV / Lucille with a Bigsby is 10 pounds, weighs a ton), I'm grateful for this video, and that I'm not alone 😂
Jaguar with poor tuning stability sounds like it needs a good setup!
Way ahead of you, @@atealime . It took a Staytrem bridge, flipping vibrato screws, 1:19 ratio locking tuners, and shims to keep it stable.
In 2019 I got my first telecaster. Just a middle of the road performer series in the “penny” finish. Not super high priced but still brand new. I remember thinking when I got it that I was a little nervous about bumping or dings. Literally, less than 24 hours after I brought it home I was sitting down playing it and I took a break to have a cigarette. So I layed it across my lap. I finished my cigarette and looked down to see that I had dropped a little piece of the head of my cigarette on the front of my brand new tele! Nothing major, just a little melt spot in the finish. OH MAN!!! I was so pissed off at myself! Unbelievable! Less than 24 hours! But suddenly it hit me that I am never getting rid of this guitar and I don’t actually care about that little ding in the finish. All of the nervousness had left and I just felt comfortable with it! The guitar was officially mine. It had been officially welcomed into my stable of guitars that all have scratches and dents and dings and they all play just fine! Now that is just an $1100 dollar guitar. I can’t imagine I would feel the same way if it had been a $5000 dollar custom shop guitar. I’ll never know.
I keep my "best" USA-built guitars in a rack downstairs next to the amp. That way, I get to admire them every day and I pick up whichever one takes my fancy and play it. Quite often, I swap them in and out to experience a different feel and sound for certain licks, or if I'm in the mood for a change. The only downside is having to wipe the accumulated dust off every week or so - that and deciding which ones to take out for live playing situations.
Buying a guitar that is very expensive for you sucks to own. You always worry about damaging it. Moderately priced guitars get a lot of play.
I’ve been playing guitar almost 50 years. I once knew a guy that in 1983 bought every color of Strat Fender made that year just to own them. (He barely knew how to play.) They never came out of the case except to be shown to visitors, ( never played). Sad. Guitars are tools. Made to be used. When something made for a specific purpose is “too nice” to use for that purpose, it becomes an idol and is worshipped. That’s when it owns you.
Although big-spending collectors help keep guitar companies in business, they also drive up the prices more than any other type of customer. They're the reason why guitars that are worth $1000 costs $3000.
As you said, they worship guitars - imparting superficial and arbitrary value to otherwise simple instruments. They buy and hoard so many guitars that they create scarcity, and send a message to companies like Gibson and Fender that paying absurd prices is okay. Naturally, this only serves to drive up prices.
Really enjoyed the video. Thanks! Gotta say, my experience is the only guitars that suck to own are the ones I don't play regularly. I have about 10-12 guitars total and play most of them very often. it was the ones that just sat on the rack (some at the top end of my price point) that I would sell/ trade. I just wasn't getting a lot out of them. Thanks again!
More of a Drummer than a Guitar Player, I still love this channel! Some years back I picked up a Les Paul Special II. It was a nightmare to own, especial for a novice guitar player. I just could not keep it in tune going up and down the neck. I sat down in the basement for about 2 days, with a You Tube video on how to set the intonation, setting the truss rod, and what ever else was involved for a basic set up. (It's been a minute so I don't recall everything) I still have to be carefull when playing not to bend it out of tune by putting too much physical pressure on the neck with my left hand while putting too much pressure on the body with my right arm...(Again, a novice player) but the difference is like night and day after setting it up properly. It sounds great with my '67 Deluxe Reverb and the sense of pride of accomplishing the set up made it go from a nightmare to own, to probably out of 15 to 20 ish... my favorite guitar I have ever owned. Thanks, Keith. I appriciate all that you do and, Say hi to Rick for me!
I bought a 1960's Telestar 3/4 length electric. At first I was disappointed in the size but after playing it and some new strings I found out that it has incredible playability and sound. Now I love it. Glad I kept it.
Great video. I agree with you about Strats. They take a little more work than other guitars, especially if you float the term. That said, it's worth it to me. I love Strats and Strat-style guitars.
I bought my favourite guitar from a friend a few years back, a 98 PRS CE. He never played it as he said it was ‘too nice’. I’ve owned it for 8 years now and my sweat has corroded the bridge saddles, you can see scratches in the finish from my pick, I regularly hit the body with my fist during a gig but I get it set up every 6 months to keep the frets healthy. As long as it’s able to be played it’s never been kept locked away and it’s only going to get more battle scars/love for more years to come.
Also I find guitars which are played more tend to stay in tune a lot better
I have several guitars, Jeff Beck strat, Tele, Starfire 4, and 78 Gibson The Paul (that I love to play) to name a few…and one that I was fortunate enough to own, a Gibson Firebird Acoustic. It sucks to own that guitar because it’s “too nice” to take out on a gig or to a party. It literally only leave the house to play at church on Sundays. I even go so far as to put a cloth over my belt buckle…I know, it’s a bit much! So now I’m purchasing an old Guild JF-55. The guild is nice too but at least it’s been played and broken in so I don’t have to baby it like the Firebird. ( maybe it’s just my GAS that’s motivating my purchase of yet another guitar! LOL) I love your show. Keep’m coming!
Good video, I once owned a ES335, Warren Haynes ‘61. It was so pristine that I rarely played it. In hindsight, I should have but it was intimidating and maybe more guitar than I could handle at the time. Live and learn. Love your videos, keep up the good work.
I'm both a sax player and a guitar player. I agree about vintage guitars. I'm afraid of all the issues associated with old wood. I like old saxes though. Once the old pads have been changed, it is how the instrument has been treated that matters, not the age. No need to worry about humidity. Also, I have one of the best techs anywhere about a 15 minute drive from me!
Actually I have one of the very best guitar techs around here too. But he is crazy busy.
It's weird to type this, but I have a '75 Tele Custom that I got when I started HS around '80-'81...it literally became vintage over the course of my life. As the guitar I cut my teeth on & played in tons of bars/stages with, it slowly shifted into the vintage/too nice (or too sentimental) to play category! 😅 Definitely doesn't suck to own however...feels so good every time I pick it up.
Wonderful episode. Speaks to me at a different level.
Growing up with Jazz, classical, blues, rock and metal, you learn many different techniques.
It allows you to play to the instrument and is why my modest collection is played and does include all aforementioned guitars.
Except…
Still wanting a firebird and a good resonator to add over the next few years. No rush and not married to vintage.
Nah, as a real guitar player who has toured and recorded, each guitar gives you a different type of inspiration and teaches you something about yourself AND about guitars themselves (as a non-luthier)….
Life is too short and they ain’t getting any cheaper….
Guitars are a great investment in the least, if you know what you’re doing…. And they’re an even greater joy if you can actually play anything you want a will.
Much love!
-Big Mart
This is what I’ve learned in my years of purchasing these wonderful instruments that I play. You can buy a great guitar and not have to break the bank… Instance I bought one of those new Marty Schwartz 335s recently and I really enjoy playing it. I figured I can get the 335 that I want without paying For the name on the headstock if you know what I mean… The same thing goes for my BB King Lucille. Didn’t want to fork out the seven grand for the Gibson so I went with the Epiphone model and I absolutely love it.
I spent 4 Gs on a figured ES 335 in “blueberry burst” a few months ago. It’s the nicest guitar I’ve ever owned in over 40 years of playing. I’m a casual hobbyist player, and pretty much always have been. I’m an “OK” guitarist at best, in the larger scheme of things, even though I continue to use online resources in an effort to improve, even at my advancing age. I have a SoundCloud page with my original stuff, and some cover tunes, but don’t perform live at all, ever.
I play the thing, and always keep it in the case when I’m not. I have 3 electric and 2 acoustic guitars. Once I spend the money, I don’t care about the resale value or anything else. I will only take normal, reasonable caution with it that allows me to enjoy it and play it however and wherever I want.
I bought a custom shop strat once that was supposed to be my only guitar moving forward. I sold it in a few months because I realized I wanted more than one instrument and that the teles and strats that I made from parts sounded better, played better, and were way more fun
I'm using a Japanese Fender Strat with a very eye catching candy red finish. People would always compliment its color. It's also one of the many reasons I bought it; but it never stopped me from abusing it on stage (throwing it on the air, hammer fisting by the bridge, and jumping around the stage with it). I agree with the sentiment that the instrument is a tool to be used. I would be upset if it got destroyed or significantly damaged but I wouldn't be lonely if it went out the way I wanted it to be: me playing it on stage to be best of my ability while having the time of my life.
I bought a relatively expensive Strandberg 7 string and couldn’t find anyone competent to work on it. I paid nearly $300 on setups before deciding that *I* was the best tech to handle it. Once I learned how to set it up and maintain it it’s one of the best guitars I own for playing. It stays in tune, the action is perfect and I love the engineering and ergonomics. TLDR: learn to set up and maintain your instruments - you are the best tech your guitar ever had.
I agree mostly with No.1 because I own a couple of guitars that I never want to take anywhere and they live in their cases. I hate dings and having others touch them. I love a pristine looking guitar and it’s such a treat when I do pull them out of their cases. It always feels like the first time.
Great video! I just brought my favorite guitar of all time thank goodness a 1951 American Fender telecaster 2022 reissued satisfied me. The rest are very good-playable tributes . I fully understand the addition of the hobby 🎸🎸
I have a K Garage Les Paul lawsuit era guitar, it's a bolt on from the eighties, the tis a heck of a instrument, her name is Kokum, Cree for grandmother, cuz she has a soul and I'm pretty sure that soul is in my guitar, a spiritual connection is a beauty to behold.
There's a passenger for every train !!! 💯
I own a Gibson L6 Deluxe from 1970s. It sounds fantastic. I confidently claim that it sounds as good as any vintage Les Paul. However, there are no spare parts. Pickup surrounds are gone and need replacement and they have been patched up with those ancient plastic phone cards from British Telecom in the 1990s. Luckily, they still hold. I contacted Gibson about it and they told me that they no longer have any spares. It is also apparent that the guitar fell at some point and one of the tuning pegs paid the price and got bent. Luckily, it still works. Fortunately the neck also survived with a minor crack. All luthiers that I contacted told me not to try to fix it because it will not be worth it. My point is that all those odd guitars have no spare parts. Just like antique cars. So, if I buy a new and emerging brand of guitar I will never be able to repair or upgrade it, and that could be the point of this video but the author failed to mention it: no spare parts!! My impression is that only Fender might offer some hope and I think they designed their instruments from the beginning with exactly that idea.