@robertdee As humor writer/columnist Carl Hiassen once pointed out to Warren Zevon, "the red ones sound better".
Trying to see where the pickup selector is on this clip - looks the neck pickup is being used. My favorite Strat setting is one position forward from the furthest back. This is the setting that Clapton, Knopfler and so many others use. Not as fat sounding as this clip - more of a slightly out of phase single coil sound.
@rusty Thanks Rusty. I hadn't paid attention to where those guys had their pickup selector so thanks for the tip.
I have an old beat up 1964 Strat that is pretty cool for the blues or playing like the Ventures in the neck position. Someone scooped it out at the bridge position and installed a humbucker. No cover so for awhile I thought it was two single coils wired tighter.
Les Paul is my favorite and the good Pauls all sound pretty much alike. There are all kinds of Strat tones depending what's in the guitar. Some of the old Strats really sound good. Love those tones.
EC on this. Not my favorite Strat tone but it's loud. Steve Gadd on drums.
For the acoustic guitar lover on the forum.
Murphy lab lightly aged acoustics
https://www.musicradar.com/news/gibson-murphy-lab-acoustic-guitars
Best years for vintage Fender Stratocasters
https://www.guitarworld.com/features/fender-stratocaster-ultimate-strat
@bill_graham Speaking of vintage guitars Bill, I read last night that many serious electric guitar collectors cut off their interest at about 1965. 1965 or older.
Plus usually it's the pre 1965 guitars which sound the best when played without out being plugged in to an amp.
Those from the 1950's didn't cost a lot either and oddly the Les Paul wasn't a good seller. Gibson ES-355 was the one from Gibson then and of course the Fender Stratocaster and Telecaster were big sellers from the beginning.
Many of those 1950's electrics are worth a ton now.
Said anyone who has any make of electric guitar which perhaps belonged to grandad in a case under the bed, you likely have some real money lying there.
Looks like the COVID guitar sales bubble has burst. Lots of guitars were sold during Covid by people stuck at home.
Will be curious to see if there is a spike in used guitars being sold as the Covid buyers lose interest now that they don't have to stay stuck at home.
https://www.guitarworld.com/news/fender-100-million-dollars-sales-canceled-2022
Epiphone guitar overview
Epiphone has really stepped up their game over the last 3-4 yrs. Thats what I play. I have one of the newer LP models and you can tell a difference vs an older one. I played an Epi 1961 Les Paul SG Standard awhile back and it very sweet. Its at the higher price end for that brand, but still a great buy ,IMHO.
If you have not check out Gretsch guitars, I highly recommend. The lower price range models are real good as well.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/manufacturer/Gretsch?sb=low2high&pn=2
Everyone has a plan, till you get punched in the face,
Yeah vintage guitar prices have really gone crazy. Your mid 1960's preCBS Strat is worth some $$$ these days.
I posted these in earlier posts I think but here are some early 1980's flyers from a musical instrument store "Guitar Trader" in Red Bank, N.J.. They don't exist anymore but used to specialize in vintage used instruments.
Look at these prices for 1950/60's Fender's and Gibson's.
You could get a nice 1950's/ preCBS 60's vintage Fender Strat back then for $1250-2500 that now sell for 10-20X those prices now.
And look at he prices for 1950's Gibson Les Paul's back then. Vintage Sunbursts for around $7K, SG's for less than $1K and LP Jr's for less than $600. Those 1958-60's Sunburst LP's now can go for 50X those 1982 prices. You could buy Goldtop and Black Beauty LP's with single coil P90's for less than $2K.
It is all relative as that was a lot of $$$ for me back then, as I was married to the first wife and scraping by in Engineering school so could not have afforded buying even a cheap guitar but man seeing how the LP's and Strat have appreciated I wish I had a time machine to go back and load up a truck.
Fender prices
Gibson prices
Even cheaper prices just 4 years earlier in 1978. A 1960 LP Burst for $3.3K.
@bill_graham I guess a 1950's Les Paul is the crown jewel for collectors. I've read Keith Richards has over 300 Les Paul's. I assume they are all Gibson and not Epiphone.
New to newer Paul Reed Smith guitars are expensive at the big music store here.
Everyone has a plan, till you get punched in the face,
I think the 1958-60 Les Paul's are so expensive as there were only about 1500- 2000 total were made in those three years, and not all them probably survived, so it comes down to supply and demand and the fact that our guitar heroes played them. They have a real cult around them even though not every one that did survive is a great sounding guitar from what I have read.
The pre-CBS Strats were mfg from 1954 until 1964 as CBS ownership started in January 1965 and I have read they started cost reduction and changes to the guitar, and later the amps, as soon as they took over.
There are many more Vintage pre-CBS Fender Strats than 58-60 Les Paul's.
Today new American made Gibson's, Fenders, PRS guitars etc are not cheap and seem to hold their value used. I bought my Gibson Les Paul Natural Raw Power 15 years ago and could probably sell it for what I paid or more these days.
The real deals are for the used foreign made Epiphone, Squiers, PRS guitars etc. I think. You can get great deals on used Epi's, Mexican made Strats etc. if you shop around on eBay and Reverb and they are well made guitars if you don't have to have American made.
Nepco issued a cease and desist by Gibson for their Flying V guitar
https://www.guitarworld.com/news/gibson-issues-cease-and-desist-letter-nepco-v-guitars
@bill_graham I read just recently that during the peak COVID years, Fender had orders for 600,000 guitars and 200,000 amps to cancel resulting in layoffs in California and abroad.
And during this time the used guitar market surged.
But the Fender CEO said things have stabilized and employment is back to normal now.
Here is Grandma Via Van Halen playing an old beat up Strat with a humbucker in the bridge. This old woman just sniffed some glue.
https://youtube.com/shorts/upgFHxs8esE?si=AKZ0EHdMPpMIPqjk
Beautiful Murphy lab ultra lightly aged Gibson Cherry1964 ES-335
Good close up of Butch Trucks playing One Way Out on the Fillmore East stage.
@bill_graham I saw this about 3 weeks ago and remembered it was a Gibson ES-335.
@bill_graham And some ES-355 action with Clapton! No pick either!! This is real nice.
Yeah also love the tone of Alvin Lee of Ten Years After as well on his legendary ES.
And Keef on Gimme Shelter. Not the greatest technically but still the coolest cat in town.
If I had money to burn I would get an ES-335 and an American Strat but can't justify the cost considering my ability how much I play the guitars I already own. Maybe once I retire in a few years.
@bill_graham I don't know Bill. Keef some say is an excellent rhythm guitar player and a riff machine. Probably came up with more catchy riffs for songs than anybody.
And the old boy owns 6,000 guitars with over 250 being Les Pauls. If Keef would sell most of those Les Pauls and flood the market, maybe it would drive the price down!!:)
Ol' Keith is worth $500 million dollars!!! But he sure don't dress like it!!
https://youtube.com/shorts/whjWME09FmY?si=KXNnZ3X4Ht5FLkFO
@bill_graham Alvin Lee's 335 was another one of those modified dogs. Among others, he stuck a Fender Strat pickup between the two humbuckers - of which he removed the covers. One of my favorite players when I was a teenager. TYA was always a great, fun show!
@rusty I found a video of Lee on YouTube playing with Ten Years After and Alvin is playing a red Stratocaster. Even uses the whammy. Maybe that guitar is where he got the single coil.
Lest we forget what a fantastic player Dickey Betts was, this intro on Liz Reed live at Nassau Coliseum in 1973 is stellar!! I can't imagine anyone doing this any better!!
Yeah Alvin was one of my guitar heroes. He was the original shredder but his shredding had some soul to it.
I got to see TYA back in the early 1970's with opening acts Edgar Winter Group (w/ Ronnie Montrose) and a group called Ramatam that had Mitch Mitchell on drums and a female guitarist named April Lawton who was fantastic.
It was a guitar onslaught that night
This is from Ramatam's second album when the band was only Lawton, a bass player and a drummer so this is her shredding.
Joe Bonamassa playing a 1959 Gibson ES-345 varitone that was literally a barn find.
There is a short video of him playing through the pickup and varitone settings
https://www.guitarworld.com/lessons/joe-bonamassa-gibson-es-345-licks
Guitar of the day. 1959 Gibson Les Paul Jr. Doublecut
Those Les Paul Juniors have a lot of pop. Good hard rock guitar!
Dickey with an outstanding performance on a Les Paul from 1973 on Whipping Post!
Jimi Hendrix gear used on Are You Experienced
Yamaha SG2000 Doublecut late 1970's
https://www.guitarplayer.com/gear/yamaha-sg2000
@bill_graham I remember seeing Santana playing a Yamaha double cutaway and it has a Les Paul tone. Only seen one guy in a club setting with one. Same thing. Tone was practically like a typical Les Paul.
I assume they are cheaper to purchase.
@robertdee Those Yammer-hammers are great guitars. I have a friend who has one - it'll do anything that a Les Paul can do.
The downside (if there is one) on these and all the Epiphones, Squires etc. is that they don't have the resale value of Fenders and Gibsons ... mainly because they are not Fenders and Gibsons.
