a friend was looking to get a sansamp bass driver. another friend was in the market for a bass. i was interested in testing out the vox AC4 and fender champion 600, so this seemed like a good excuse to hit richmond and stop at guitar center & sam ash, which are literally right next to eachother, and to hit a few other richmond shops while we were there.
this was my first trip to an actual guitar center. overall i was fairly underwhelmed. i was told to expect a good selection of used gear. in richmond this was DEFINITELY not the case. there was, however, a really sweet, semi hollow, fender 69 telecaster reissue. i passed it a few times while i was walking around, not wanting to pick it up. when i finally let myself do it... damn. it was immediately apparent that the previous owner had played the guitar. and loved it. some guitars just play themselves without any work... this was one of them! i've only ever experienced this with one other guitar, and i bought that one on the spot.
this one looked pretty good. knobs were missing, but the pots were solid. a few scratches here and there, nothing major. fretwork was great, action was *beautiful.*
price tag....
$349.
i know, i know.
my friends tried to talk me into plugging it in, but i tried to do the 'fiscally responsible' thing and not, because i knew that it was going to sound as good as it looked & played, and then i'd have no choice.
this is going to eat at me for the next few days. i can feel it.
...
on another note, i did end up playing the Vox AC4. the 10" combo version. it is awesome. very tight, punchy sound. and LOUD. loud enough to make me feel uncomfortable playing in guitar center. the champion 600 was equally nice, but i could feel the difference between the 6" and 10" speakers, of course.