Very cool thread
@HydroRed. You fooled me. I never knew you played. Kudos and bravo.
Apparently there are quite a few other musicians here. I've collected gear and guitars
since I first started playing in '64.
I asked my parents if I could take music lessons after seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan
show. That started me on my musical journey which continues to this day.
Guitars and gear are kind of like seeds. Too many and not enough.
Here are a few pics. This will take more than one post at 5 pics per post.
'63 SG Special. I ruined this collectable as a lad. I stripped the cherry red finish off it down to the mohog
and put a linseed oil finish on her. The pick guard material where the volume/tone knobs are at was
put there to cover up a huge crack that happened on the road in early 70s. The re-finish and the crack ruined
it as a collectable, however the PAF pup is delicious sounding.
The SG Custom on the left is one that was made in Nov '68 for the new walnut finish. The walnut finish over mahogany
made it's debut in '69. The preceding years before '69 were only made in the Alpine White color. This one is a rare bird
as it is one of the first ones made for the '69 release. The other two are a Gibson goldtop 60's Tribute with P-90 pups. The red one
I bought in '86 from Elderly Instruments. It has a factory installed Kahler. When I used to live in Lansing, they got a lot of my business. I still have my Martin 12 string I bought from them. When Stan started his business in East Lansing, I was one of his first customers. He has long since moved his business to Lansing and expanded to being known worldwide.
That basement shop in that East Lansing mall where Stan first started is also the place that my wife first started our business in East Lansing. It was a small gift store similar to Pier One gifts where after two years, we moved it to the main drag with much more floor space.
For many years, Stan of Elderly Instruments was the number one seller of Martin guitars worldwide. He still may be.
It has been a joy to watch his business grow over the years.
Another nice Gibson. Les Paul Axcess with a beautiful top
In '72, I bought my first Marshall. We drove to Zoppi's in Detroit and bought two of them. One for me, and the other for my
bf and band mate. I also bought an EP-3 Echoplex made by Mike Battle, *RIP, by Maestro. The Marshall's were 100 amp
JMP's. No master volume on those first ones, unlike later releases. To get them to break up, one had to crank them to at
least 7 on the Richter scale. Loud. I also have a Peavey JSX 120w head that sounds great through that Marshall stack bought
in '72.
That Marshall has 25w greenbacks, and the other Marshall I own is one that many consider one of the best Marshalls
ever made. That is the 30th anniversary, or 6100 model. These were only made for just over a year with the EL 34 valves, and
because of a shortage of those tubes that year, they re-worked the circuitry for the 5881 tubes that replaced the EL-34's.
These have the blue tolex and sound like heaven through my '72 stack with the 25w greenbacks.
The Fender Twin Reverb re-issue I bought from a famous Nashville guitarist that everyone knows. I can't say his name, but he has
enough clout with Fender that he got them to re-wire it to '64 blackface specs. He bought one of the originals, so I got lucky being
able to get the one he had Fender re-work for him. The right place at the right time. It sounds much better than a few I've tried at Guitar Center.
Then there is this. The Axe FX II XL+ that is used for many of my recordings.
Here is a Satriani cover I did 15 years ago.
Well I can say for a fact that my '57 Goldtop is not in there.
