I’d have to go through in detail, but they seem priced like the guy knows what he has. You may get a good guitar, but at a reasonable price, not a steal. The 1934 Carson Robison sounds like it would be a good blues player if it’s in decent shape: 1934 Gibson Recording King Model 681 Flat Top - Vintage Licks Guitars
An article on “Toploader” Teles: for a year or so around 1959, Fender modified the design so the string balls no longer went through the body from the back, but were instead strung through holes in the bridge on the top of the guitar.
Who cares, right? Purists insist that the string-thru-body design is essential (indeed, Fender went back to it after a year or so). But, one of the most famous Teles ever - the Dragon Tele Jimmy Page used to record LZ 1 and 2 and the solo in Stairway - was a Toploader.
Article here: Voodoo Guitar: The '59 "Top-Loader" Tele & It's Devoted Fans
I do not want to use a polish that contains any abrasive, I just want to clean off a couple of years of accumulated dirt, oil, and god-knows-what. It’s a 7-string archtop I have on a trial run to decide whether to buy it. The owner is a friend-of-a-friend so he is letting me try it out. He even said I could put on whatever strings I want and change the setup. So I figured I should find out how well it cleans up.
Hey good luck! An Eastman?
I hear about this stuff as the standard regularly: http://www.virtuosopolish.com
Ronsonol has always been the everyday solution to this issue. I don’t know about any recent developments. I cleaned my Guild F-30 with it and it was a labor intensive job, cause of all the gunk. I think I scraped the nitrocellulose off of a patch in the effort, by using a credit card in spots.
You might tell the owner you want to do this first, or maybe even get him to do it. Please post about how it went however you go.
Involving a process somewhat misunderstood by Jimi Hendrix at Monterey Pop.
I’ve seen this thread pop up time to time over the years, and it’s always made me a bit wistful. I played guitar, somewhat passionately, throughout my teens into my early 20s. Then I moved to L.A. to work in the entertainment industry, got busy with work and life, and played less and less. When my car died just a few years after I got out here, I sold my beautiful '62(?) Fender Strat reissue (something I regret to this day). Every once in a while, I would get the urge to play again, and eventually picked up a cheap ass Squire, but it never quite took again, and years went by without picking it up.
Sometimes life takes unexpected turns, and last year, I found myself as a full-time employee of Fender Musical Instrument Corporation, working as a video editor (I can’t really discuss too much of what I’m doing, but it’s talked about a little in this article). I’ve used my very generous employee discount to pick up a new Strat (a Mexican made one; if I’m still playing down the road a bit, I’ll upgrade) and a nice little Champion amp.
Really enjoying playing again. Muscle memory is a crazy thing… even though I haven’t played in years, the chords are all still right there. I can still run some scales. All sloppy of course, but the fingers remember where to go. The amount of resources that are available to guitarists now is crazy. All the tabs and tutorials online! I remember saving up my money to buy Boss effect pedals… now I can get effects that sound pretty damn good just by plugging the guitar into my phone. Amazing.
It’s also very inspiring being surrounded by some amazingly talented players. You walk into the office, and most people have guitars sitting next to their desks, and just pick them up and start playing whenever. They had a company band jam a few weeks back - bands (mostly) comprised of Fender employees. Most of the rest of my team performed a few songs. Who knows, maybe by next year, I’ll be ready to play with them. It’s a fun company to work for.
Anyway, I’m just sort of rambling, but it’s been fun picking it up again, and reading through this thread.
Wow, I know who I’m visiting when I get to SoCal (don’t tell my sister)!! 
Sounds like a fascinating situation at FMIC. I’d like to hear more about it when you can share. In the meantime, congrats on getting back in the saddle with guitar. Keeps me sane, it does.
Thanks–yes, an Eastman AR805-CE7, now replaced by the 810. Violin-type finish. Nice guitar but I am not sure I want to dive into that pool. I would not just use it to extend soloing range; the point would be to expand possibilities for chord voicings and chord-melody arrangements. I just don’t know if I have the time for that on top of everything else I’m trying to do.
Good luck with it; I’ve heard good things.
And hey, I don’t get guitar geek points for knowing it was an Eastman from your description?
You get mind-reading points!! All I said is that it’s a seven-string archtop! :eek:
There ya go. I feel better!
I’m really enjoying the 5A. Already taken it outside several times to play on my deck. I’ll be doing most weekends until it gets too hot.
I have a looper pedal. Still haven’t gotten the hang of using it effectively.
Tim Reynolds and Ed Sheeran both make pretty effective use of delays and loopers. Might be a good place to get some inspiration.
I picked up a JamMan stereo looper and have been messing with it. It took a little time to experiment with the timing of the record-start and then the record-stop to get the repeat timing where I wanted it but once I got the initial loop in it worked pretty good.
It’s still quarantined to my practice room. It might be a while before I’m brave enough to use it in front of an audience.
I actually recorded a full song with vocals (That’s the advantage of the second track) and then looped back to provide backup vocals on the refrain.
Try pure nickel strings. (Basically all the major string companies make some.) They’re more “broken-in” sounding and feeling right out of the pack, and stay more consistent across the life of the strings. I personally don’t prefer them, but they’re exactly what you’re looking for.
My wife surprised me with a early b-day gift. 
I’ve been eying the Thalia Capo’s. Operates easily with one hand. They are so expensive that I’ve been hesitant to buy one.
My wonderful wife picked out this one and had my name engraved. 
https://www.thaliacapos.com/collections/all/products/black-chrome-finish-with-birdseye-maple-inlay
It comes with a pad kit for various keyboard radius. Rubber and Teflon for easier sliding.
I’m using it on my Larrivee D09 now. I’ll change the pads to also use on my Gibson ES-390
This capo slides quickly enough that I should be able to change keys live. Especially at church. The piano can give me a 4 beat break while I slide it. We usually only modulate up a half or whole step at a time. Gives a nice lift to the worship songs.
Yowza. Fancy. Enjoy!
It’s a bit extravagant but I’ll enjoy it for many years. Now I have to figure out a b-day gift for my wife. It’ll be hard to match this. 
The Thalia capo does slide easier and faster than the Kyser Capo’s I’ve been using. That can save a lot of fumbling playing live.
I will keep this in mind when I break another bass string in 30 years.
Seriously, since I know how to deaden regular roundwounds now, I’ll probably try new strings more often. Thanks for the tip!