Let's see your GUITAR!

[dubkitty]

the reflection of the bedroom light fixture bothered me, so i took one with daylight + bedside reading lamp.

[dubkitty]

the case arrived Saturday afternoon. it's a nice case for a $130 eBay dealie. i wouldn't call it great, but IMO it's better than GFS or Rondo cases. the fit and finish are pretty good, and the lining appropriately fluffy. the stitching is a bit inconsistent, which keeps it from Really Good Case status. it has this odd fleece-covered block on the inside of the top down toward the endpin which i assume is there to keep the guitar from flapping around. mission accomplished, i guess. i have to push the top down slightly to get the lid to latch. you can already see the impression of the harp tailpiece on the block from being in the case for a few hours. i'm not worried about it because most of what could be affected is solid maple and it's not exerting much force. i will have to keep an eye on the tailpiece, though. it also came with two odd little cushions approximately 14" x 3" made of the same fleece as the lining, doubled over a thin foam core. i'm really not sure what they're good for, so i may use them as fillers in the guitar case/stand.

nowadays i try to get cases that are close to or harmonize with the guitars' finishes. this is one of four different shades of blue on eBay by the same maker, Crossrock. they have a wide variety of cases for different sizes and shapes of electric and acoustic guitars. check them out if you need an affordable case that doesn't suck. the eBay listing said it shipped from China, but if it did it got to Southern Californi-yay exceedingly quickly. no tariffs.

[dubkitty]

i got out the M-75T for some tinkering and couldn't resist getting a shot of the M-75 and M-75T together. sorry the lighting is so crap...i literally had to stand between the lamp and the guitars to keep reflections from spoiling the shot which resulted in the weird angle. it's wild how different the Moon Blue looks depending on the light.

[Zork]

I'm moving houses soon, so for the first time in year's I'll have all my guitars and basses in one place. There will be a photo shooting day soon when most of the other stuff is packed and the overall chaos is more under control. Having them all here made me realize two things:
#1: I'm at the point where I'm left with keepers only
#2: I don't want to acquire any more guitars except for maybe a very nice acoustic 12 string. I sometimes think about a Tele Custom, a Baritone or a Jaguar and an Explorer looks amazing to me but I quickly realize I don't really want, let alone need another guitar and frankly: I really have enough. I can give you a list:

Electrics:
Squier Strat tuned to B Standard
Partscaster Telecaster with Bigsby & flat wounds
Ibanez 2350 Les Paul Custom with P90s
Epiphone Casino with Bigsby
Session Firebird III copy with Bigsby
Egmond Rambler converted to electric sitar
Guild Starfire I 12 string

Basses:
Squier CV Jazz Bass with flats
Squier Partscaster fretless Jazz Bass with flats
Squier VM Bass VI
Cimar EB copy in cello tuning

Acoustics:
Fender F35 dreadnaught
Epiphone AJ18S in Nashville tuning
Harmony H1213 archtop tuned to C standard or open C
Unknown archtop made in GDR with flats

Other:
Silvertone 1319 lap steel
Harmony H425 Batwing mandolin
Unknown Thuringian Waldzither

Yay! A list! Lists are so cool!

[dubkitty]

i have way more than enough, but i’m getting to the end of my want list. when the current projects are sorted i’ll have 3 more electric guitars to get bringing me to 24, two acoustics which make 5, and a Starfire Bass which i probably won’t get because i don’t play enough bass to justify it. they should all be ready just in time for me to die.

the only one i’d be willing to let go of is the Fender Lead II. it’s a good guitar, but i haven’t really found my way into it yet. maybe the Double Jet when it’s finished. a fair number of the electrics have negligible value because they’re projects or otherwise non-standard for their model. i sold just about everything i could spare when i had to leave California and needed money to live on. i still miss some of that stuff.

[dubkitty]

my Quest For Green Guitars hit paydirt with the discovery on the Guitar Center site of a almost-new Fender Player II Stratocaster in a absolutely gorgeous metallic British Racing Green that’s actually pretty close to the proper shade. it even came with the correct tremolo arm and a decent Fender gig bag i wasn’t expecting. i haven’t plugged it in yet and probably won’t until tomorrow when i’d have time to futz with it, but a cursory examination shows no visible flaws at all. i’ll change the knobs to match the pickguard because i’m fussy about shit like that. i already plan to swap the pickups for a set of Custom Shop 69 pickups i already ordered and add a Stellartone Tonestyler, a rotary multi-capacitor selector that beats the shit out of varitones. i had a Strat with exactly this setup that i loved but had to sell in the 2012-13 window, so i’m really happy to have this. the CS 69 covers match the pickguard. woop woop.

the Tonestyler is supposed to arrive on Monday; when it comes i’ll do a general takedown-and-reset including changing the pickups and wiring, oiling the fingerboard which is dry as dust, figuring out how to adjust the 2-post tremolo, and restringing/string height/neck relief/intonation. till then i’m fine just looking at how pretty it is. the neck has a satin finish of the sort i’m usually not crazy about, but it’s comfortable. if only all of my projects could be this simple.

[dubkitty]

my pickiness about British Racing Green goes back to watching F1 and LeMans auto racing in the early/mid 60s, when the Brit marques all ran in that color. don’t fuck with my childhood memories, bitches.

[dubkitty]

i already changed out the volume/tone and switch knobs…i was actually startled by how many different Strat knobs and pickup covers i had in the parts box, but happy that i had more-or-less matching ones. i probably have knobs and covers left over from building Strats before 2010. i’m OK with leaving the trem arm knob as-is, partially because i’ve seldom been able to remove them without breaking them and partially because the slightly darker knob may be easier to see against the sea of white. i saw some multicolored resin ones on Reverb that were striking, but they might be cartoonish on the fairly conservative backdrop. the CS69 pickup covers are “Off White” and go with the other plastics. the Tonestyler is due tomorrow, and i’ll do all the wiring at once before changing the strings and setting it up.

it’s really hard to get used to a brand-new guitar after buying used for a decade. the BRG finish has an almost preternatural shine to it, and the edges light up metallic when hit with oblique light. it feels a little too nice for me. i’ll knock the gleam off with time, but may as well enjoy the bling while it lasts. probably try it through the amps later today. yeah, the Eastwood Wandré was new, but it’s white and wasn’t polished till it makes your teeth hurt. the only indication i could find that it had been used at all was a thin black mark about 3 mm long near one of the bridge pickup adjustment screws. the original owner must have hardly played it, because even careful playing changes things subtly.

[dubkitty]

much to my surprise, i come today to sing the praises of the Squier Esquire Custom. i bought this guitar intending to cannibalize the body for my Telecaster project which i still intend to do, but i like the rest of the guitar enough that i'm going to order a sunburst Classic Vibe Telecaster body, use the rest of the Esquire gear on it, and keep it. i think it'll make a great live guitar because i generally use the bridge pickup anyway, and the tone bypass position adds extra treble and teeth for solos. as is true of my CV Jazzmaster, the pickup is much better than it has any right to be; i saw a review that said it would make a good replacement pickup for any Telecaster, and i like it better than the '62 Custom Shop bridge pickup in my old Tele build. i was hesitant about the poplar body and laurel fingerboard, but they're both fine though the board is a bit dry. it's such a little country/rock machine that it makes me play old Flying Burrito Brothers shit. through the board it's probably a nifty punk guitar too. i've never really been a Tele Guy, but i can actually use this as different to my old Tele which i never really found my way into. if you have any bent at all towards loud, snappy Telecaster tones check this out. also widely available in Candy Apple Red, and in FSR runs of black at CME and other colors i don't recall. after seeing how good this guitar is i'm even more sorely tempted by the Squier Custom Tele with the neck humbucker, Jazzmaster bridge, and Bigsby B50. it would be really weird to have more Teles than Strats.

i ordered a Decoboom pickguard for the green Strat...i felt like the guard was a bit plain. hopefully they'll have the matching back cover plate back in stock soon. idly considering a flat jack plate instead of the stock Strat plate. i've never much liked the stock arrangement, and if i'm changing things to suit me why not?

[dubkitty]

i’ve been trying to clean up the apartment, and a large part of that is putting stuff away. i now am down to having only guitars i’m working on right now out on the sofa…there were several i’d adjusted but kept out to check after settling in. the current wait list includes the 2 green Fender-oids, the downtuned Jazzmaster to test through the board, the Jetstar, and the M-75 with the hot DeArmond Gold Tone ‘buckers which i’m still getting used to.

today i sanded all the areas on the Jetstar that need paint so they’re ready to go. i have a lacquer pen with Vintage Amber translucent paint that i’m going to try mixing into the Vintage White which is a tidge too light. once that’s painted it’ll have to cure for another 2 or 3 weeks so i’ll move on to other stuff. i don’t want to put any more money into the Tele until i know how badly the tariffs will fuck the price of the pickups. once i’ve tested the baritone concept i’ll know whether or not that’ll go ahead. i could order the Squier CV Tele Custom body to put together with the Esquire bits, but will probably finish the M-77T first. i ordered long metric ‘bucker mounting screws because either mounting option will be significantly taller than the way the pickups are mounted now, and have to wait till Allparts pulls their thumb out.

ordered a groovy “Autumn Pearl” tremolo tip for the Strat in a nice tortoise shade and a nickel finish flat jack plate, and am waiting for the Decoboom pickguard. i need to figure out a pickguard template for the M-77T so i can have a pickguard made. the Supro and Double Jet have moved back in the queue accordingly.

[Kacey Y]

I played one of those Squier CV Esquires recently and it felt and sounded great. I was at GC with my kids, because my daughter wants to learn ukulele and I wanted her to actually pick some up and see how they felt. While we were there I played that Esquire and the new CV Jazzmaster and hardtail Strat and they all looked, felt, and sounded as good as any MIM Fender I've ever owned, probably better than some tbh.

[dubkitty]

it’s even better after i adjusted the pickup. i haven’t messed with the intonation but did do string height. i’ll probably need to do the nut slots which i also need to do on the Strat.

back in the 00s i used to annoy people by saying that the better Epiphones were so good that there was no point to buying a Gibson. honestly, these Squiers seem better than that. i would not hesitate to take the Esquire onstage. other than the knurling on the knobs being a bit crude the quality is very close to my new-ish Fender Player II Strat.

[Zork]

The green Strat looks cool. Quite unusual color but fits the shape really good.

[dubkitty]

i probably mentioned somewhere how much i love that color, going back to when i used to watch Formula One as a child in the early 60s and drivers like Graham Hill and Jimmy Clark ruled the roost. i'm very fond of colors so deep that they're almost black. the rest of the parts are supposed to be here Monday...i'm changing the pickguard, adding a nicer trem tip, swapping out the rest of the taller saddle adjustment screws for shorter ones that don't treat my hand like a cheese grater, and installing a flat nickel jack plate because i've never liked the Strat jack setup. i filed the nut slots today so the first fretted note isn't horribly sharp. the beauty of Fender designs is that there's not THAT much you can do to them before you run out of tasks. i'll still be grumpy until i get the matching back plate for the pickguard, which is currently sold out along with a good third of the stuff on the Decoboom site. i could get a matte white cover with the design scribed into the surface, but why settle?

[Kacey Y]

Is British Racing Green the same as Sherwood Green? That shade range of metallic green is for sure underrated for guitar finish.