A hard-tail guitar that’s bright? Is that about it? Tele, all the way. Go play a few MIMs you may like them.
Having said that, if you get a guitar with a tremolo arm, you really don’t have to use it, just take off the arm and ignore the tremolo. You can easily block the tremolo on, say, a Strat and never think about it again.
Besides Fuzzhugger, which apparently makes a lot of one or three-off weird pedals, this place seems interesting.
People are saying good things about the results.
You see them at every guitar show. Near as I can tell, their prices aren’t all that much better vs. buying a used mass-produced version of the same pedal. Based on that, therefore, I get the impression that these are for solder geeks who enjoy electronics, being able to tweak the circuit, etc. - not really for a Handy guy who’s looking for a cheap alternative. I know folks who’ve built them and been pleased with the results.
Continuing with the fuzzhugger pipe amp, my buddy got a hold of one of the first, and he put a little demo up. He’s got a little reverb on it, but that’s it, other than that, it’s all the pipe.
http://tindeck.com/listen/hgkm
Also, I discovered this site, like Woot, but for music gear. Haven’t bought anything, but it’s neat to watch.
www.goingtoday.com
Fun - I listened to a minute or two. Big thick tone - nothing clean about it. Good for some specific uses - I’d like to play some Stones through it.
Your friend is a solid player - I am not a fusion guy, but good stuff.
Great article on acoustic guitars- reasons why older guitars *may *sound different from newer guitars and how to factor that into your thinking.
As someone who plays and enjoys older guitars, both acoustic and electric, I can say I hear and feel a difference, but I think another player I know summed it up best when he said that a bad guitar will always sound bad, but a well-made, good-sounding guitar matures…
Just in case anyone didn’t know, there is an Amp show this weekend, Saturday and Sunday in Van Nuys CA at the Airtel Plaza Hotel. A lot of locals will probably be there.
Oooo. A couple of brands that have been super-buzzy over the past couple of years that are based in SoCal include 65 Ampsand Divided by 13- if you go, I would be interested if you get to try either out…
I will probably swing by there tomorrow (Sunday).
I just got back, and here’s my take. This for the 65Amps. They look small, and they are physically small compared to some other amps, but they sound good and they can get loud - even the “little ones” can get loud when you turn the volume up. The “breakup” is very controllable and comes up gradually, without “turning to mud”. They are sensitive to picking attack and the force you bash the strings with - just like you’d want. The power levels I saw went from about 12-15 Watts (not exactly sure) to ummm 50 Watts. I was favorably impressed.
Contact info: Rick Benson 818-760-5089 or rick@65amps.com
Nice people. Even after I told them I was “just looking”, they still took time to talk to me.
I didn’t see any Divide By 13 displays at all.
I guess I am getting old. Even the teeny tiny ones sounded TOO LOUD 
My worst nightmare - there’s now a long crack in the side of my new Baritone classical after shipping it. I’m now waiting to hear from the luthier to find out how to proceed. It looks repairable (though I’m not the expert here by a long road) but I’m just gobsmacked. I’ve been shipping my guitars since the flight in 2006 where West Jet wrecked the case on my steel string, and now I find out Purolator can’t be trusted either.
I’ll keep you posted how it unfolds.
Ow ow ow, Ministre. I’m so sorry to hear it.
In the body of the guitar itself? I’m told it’s amazing what luthiers can do to repair, but it’s still… well.
In other news, Spectre of Pithecanthropus has a question about pick technique.
I think this one’s the clearest picture of the lot.
Oh nutbunnies. How’d it happen? Got shipped in a softcase?
Aw crap. Sorry Ministre.
From the pic it looks like it’s on the side of the guitar about 1/2" from the face/top? Ow.
No, it was tuned down a third and packed in a hard shell TKL archtop case, which was itself in a cardboard carton. The carton shows a little bit of compression on the bottom, which gives me the impression that it was dropped from a height and landed right on the end.
It would seem that it landed hard enough that the foam inside the case compressed and then the pickup jack took the rest of the fall, spreading the impact to the end block and then from there, to the sides. I’ll be able to tell more tomorrow after I contact Purolator and take it to every guitar tech in Edmonton to get an estimate for repairs and get an opinion on how it could have happened without leaving much of a mark on the carton. (The shipment was signed for by a security guard on Friday as being in good condition.)
Such a drag!
From the back, but otherwise, bang on.
Coulda been worse - coulda been the top.
Yeah, I see from one of your other pics that the injury is 4-6 inches long and located somewhat near the bottom strap button. One small comfort might be that a repair won’t be all that visible when you’re playing the instrument. Having said that - ow. My condolences.
If it were the top, I’d hope the insurance and/or shipper would accept that the instrument is totaled and reimburse you for a new guitar. Not that that is much comfort, I’d bet you’re pretty fond of this guitar.
Ouch. Compression damage. Probably the whole bottom end is weakened. What squeegee said, man. Get a good quote and look at the insurance.
I tend towards thin necks myself. My hands are fairly short, so I’m much more comfortable that way. I had a great deal of trouble playing acoustic guitars at all until I found an Ibanez with a small, low profile neck.
But the neck profile is definitely worth considering in general. With an electric guitar, it’s the only factor in playability (apart from scale length) that you can’t adjust.
