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Got a geeetar??? What you got??


TheGreek

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37 minutes ago, TrevorR said:

Oh, the hours I spent in that little shop in the late 80s and 90s... And in the Slough branch (which was where I got my first ever acoustic guitar - a slope shouldered Washburn D25S dreadnought. 

Do you remember the odd little guitar shop down by the level crossing, can’t for the life of me recall the name. Guitar Galleries or something...? Got my Wal Pro IIE there in 2001 after 2 years (yes, two years!) of haggling the price down!

I only knew ABC in Addlestone.  There used to be Adam Music on Station Path...you know where the the footpath goes under the railway line? It was just there.  Tiny little place.

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2 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

How much???

Well, back in 1999 a new Wal Custom Series Bass was in the region of 2 and a half grand. Up in that London a second hand Custom Series 4 string was around £1,500 at most. An old Pro Series Wal was about £450-500.

Well, in Spring 1999 a nice red Wal Pro 2E turned up. Really good condition and IMHO a real looker.  But the price tag said, £1,500! Of course I had a try (I’d actually been looking for a Pro 2E ) and said to the owner. It’s lovely. I’d take it off your hands today but it’s just way overpriced... by a factor of about 3, you know.” “Nah mate. That’s a Wal that is. They’re top flight basses those. That’s what they go for up in London. Properly rare.” “Well, yeah, the newer Customs go for that, the ones with the exotic wood bodies and newer electrics. This is a Pro Series. The market value is about 500 quid. Honest, I’d take it off your hands today for that.” “You’re ‘avin’ a larff, mate. This one’s worth one and a half grand. That’s the price. Take it or leave it.” “OK, I’ll have to leave it. But I’m telling you now, it’s just going to sit there gathering dust, taking up floor space and cluttering up your inventory. But if you don’t mind I’ll pop in every two or three months to have a bit of a play on it and see if the price has come down to a sensible price. That OK?” “Huh, please yourself but it’ll be gone in no time. Really sought after these are. It’ll be gone within a week.”

So that’s what I did. Every so often I’d pop in, have a look at the guitars have a noodle on the Wal and offer £500 for it.” Over the course of two years the price label was amended to say £1400, £1250, £1100, £1000, and then £900. 

Then one month in 2001 The Guitar Magazine covered Pro Series Wals in their vintage basses you might see around and what they’re worth feature.  As ever, it finished with a price round up which said that a good condition Pro IIE could go for up to £500 or £550. It was a Saturday morning so I rushed down to the local library and got a photocopy. Then it was straight to the shop to wave it under the owner’s nose. Sadly he wasn’t in, just the Saturday boy (to whom I was a familiar face by then. I had a chat with him and said, “You know that Wal?” He smiled, “Well can you show your boss this article in this month’s TGM and let him know that my offer for £500 quid absolutely still stands.” I wrote my name and number on the sheet and toddled home for lunch.

It was about 2:30 when the phone rang and the Saturday boy was on the other end. “I’ve had a word with the boss and showed him the article. He says that you can have it for five hundred and fifty quid.” “Shall I pop over now?”...

Got there about 20 minutes later and watched him take the £900 sign off and hand me the bass...

Here she is...

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2 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

I only knew ABC in Addlestone.  There used to be Adam Music on Station Path...you know where the the footpath goes under the railway line? It was just there.  Tiny little place.

This was Guitar Galleries  (looked it up). Also a tiny place in that little parade of shops near the level crossing on Station Road, opposite where the Asda was (used to park in the Asda car park). Must have been there from mid-90s to mid-2000s. Now Premier Lettings...

 

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Tokai SG

Ibanez AS53 semi-acoustic pimped with getsch/DiMarzio pups in gold covers, scratchplate (and ex-gibson small knob Kluson tuners and Gibson knobs added after this pic).

587077552_Ibanez4.thumb.JPG.28442aff0633ac864038be6c706917ef.JPG

Squire Tele, with dimarzio stacked bridge pup, Gotoh-like tuners soon to get new pickguard, 3-bar bridge and through-body stringing.

Kay 2-T,my first electric.

Strange thing made with a neck out of a skip, cheap Floyd rose copy bridge, generic humbuckers and now a heap strat type body.

 

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Some fabulous skinny-stringers on this thread........:i-m_so_happy:

As with basses, I'm a sucker for a vintage Gibson; my 1972 LP Custom and 1974 SG Standard pictured below (guess which one is literally around a quarter of the weight of the other......).  Also an oddball semi - an early '60's Broadway (I think) with dual Fenton-Weil pickups, found in a poor state in a junk shop and restored by me a few years back.  Until recently I had a 1954 ES-175, but traded it with a great BC-er against a Wal MK 1.

However, my pride and joy are my two late '60's / early '70's MG Contreras flamenco guitars, which I play more even than my basses - the one on the right was my Dads and I'll keep it until the day I can no longer play, and then pass onto my eldest son (who's also in a band, and a way better guitarist than me).

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Edited by Shaggy
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I'm currently at 3 guitars:
kKOCFxc.jpg
From left to right: 2018 Fender American Performer Telecaster, 2019 Eastman E1OM, 1959 Höfner. The Höfner is a bit of a story: I got it for super cheap from a friend. The neck needed a reset (so it got one). The knobs aren't original of course, and neither are the pickups: the neck pickup is a 1970's DeArmond humbucker, the bridge pickup is a 1970's Gibson T-Top. It feels and sound amazing, but a bit fragile at the same time.

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24 minutes ago, BassAgent said:

I'm currently at 3 guitars:
kKOCFxc.jpg
From left to right: 2018 Fender American Performer Telecaster, 2019 Eastman E1OM, 1959 Höfner. The Höfner is a bit of a story: I got it for super cheap from a friend. The neck needed a reset (so it got one). The knobs aren't original of course, and neither are the pickups: the neck pickup is a 1970's DeArmond humbucker, the bridge pickup is a 1970's Gibson T-Top. It feels and sound amazing, but a bit fragile at the same time.

That Hofner needs tea cups!!

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2008 Les Paul Standard Faded.

Bought in 2016 after I preferred it to any of the current Traditional/Classic/Standard line.

The Standard Faded line is essentially a Les Paul Standard in a satin finish which was seen as a cost saving measure. Costs were also saved in the fact that no effort was made in terms of applying the finish. I think that my finish is ‘tobacco burst’ but I think of it more as ‘half arsed burst’.
 

The Standard Faded line are a bit sought after in that some folk (i.e Larry Corsa) think that the satin finish has more resonance than the usual gloss finish. It may or not be nonsense but even so I really like the satin finish on the neck and body.
 

I also like the ‘is it pretty or is it pretty ugly?’ finish. It also sounds great and is pretty light thanks to the weight relief (about 8.5 lbs).

I used to have a Fender American Deluxe Toronado but sold it to buy the Mesa Rectoverb last year. A2A88ED7-3E42-48AD-8329-1B089722053A.thumb.jpeg.66b9b79608a8795625e4cd52edf1a4fc.jpeg

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1 hour ago, thodrik said:

2008 Les Paul Standard Faded.

Bought in 2016 after I preferred it to any of the current Traditional/Classic/Standard line.

The Standard Faded line is essentially a Les Paul Standard in a satin finish which was seen as a cost saving measure. Costs were also saved in the fact that no effort was made in terms of applying the finish. I think that my finish is ‘tobacco burst’ but I think of it more as ‘half arsed burst’.
 

The Standard Faded line are a bit sought after in that some folk (i.e Larry Corsa) think that the satin finish has more resonance than the usual gloss finish. It may or not be nonsense but even so I really like the satin finish on the neck and body.
 

I also like the ‘is it pretty or is it pretty ugly?’ finish. It also sounds great and is pretty light thanks to the weight relief (about 8.5 lbs).

I used to have a Fender American Deluxe Toronado but sold it to buy the Mesa Rectoverb last year. A2A88ED7-3E42-48AD-8329-1B089722053A.thumb.jpeg.66b9b79608a8795625e4cd52edf1a4fc.jpeg

Lovely. I had one of those Les Pauls in Honey Burst I think - a lighter version of yours. It was a really nice guitar, but I reckon you had to chose in person to make sure you got a decent maple top - they were pretty variable. Looks like you cracked it!

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