Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Post Your Guitar
- Thread starter nickster9224
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
WOAH! Dude what the **** is THAT?!! noice!
Steinberger 1988 GM5TW Newburgh, NY
Double Balled Strings
Graphite Neck
40:1 tuners
Quite Simply The greatest guitar I have ever played, Im going to be buried with this thing
Here are mine:
Gibson Les Paul Studio and an Epiphone Les Paul Black Beauty
Those are very nice. I though with your handle, you would have one or both of these.
Of course, though I have a 335 style semi-hollowbody from Ibanez, I don't have the Epiphone 1963 "dot" re-issue or the Gibson 1964 "block" re-issue, which they also made back in the day from 1961 onward.
Attachments
no, just non budget guitars
I have had many of both types, but if I think of the term non budget, just a few guitars instantly come to mind which would be Gibson SG or Les Paul Standards/Customs, Fender American Standard Stratocasters/Telecasters, ESP guitars which are not the budget LTD models, non Electromatic Gretsch guitars, Rickenbackers, Martin D18s and up, Taylor 400 series and up, and signature guitars from John Mayer stratocasters to 1000 level JS Ibanezes, to the Gibson version of the Slash guitar.
Everything listed is at least $1,000 dollars street and at least $1400 list, and if that was the general rule, then this thread would be tiny.
The good thing about a budget guitar is that you can get a decent Fender Telecaster (Highway One or 1972 Thinline re-issue for instance), a decent Les Paul (Epiphone Les Paul Custom, black beauty pictured earlier), a decent hollowbody (Gretsch Electromatic 5120), a decent metal guitar (LTD Kirk Hammett signature), or a decent acoustic (Taylor Big Baby) for at or under $1,000 dollars.
I have played for over 30 years and in many cases, not all, the budget guitars are just as good in how they play and how they sound. I have owned that 40's Martin and I think that a modern computer manufactured re-issue OO Martin in satin finish, while very affordable, sounds nearly just as good, but definitely will over time.
Not too long ago I played an LTD Viper 400 with dual EMG 81s and it sounded just as good as the ESP Viper Standard with dual EMG 81s. The budget one was $900 dollars with case and the more prestigious handmade one was more than double that. At a certain point you are paying for what it says on the headstock. I tried the two guitars through an inexpensive, small Fender amp and through a large, expensive Marshall half stack. Both guitars sounded and played the same. If I wanted the ESP Viper Custom Shop, with same pickups, it would set me back four times as much as the LTD Viper 400 and twice as much as the ESP Viper Standard, or about $3800 dollars out the door, and $5000 dollars with custom ordered changes such as rock maple bolt on neck, EMG 60 in neck, and silver sparkle finish on body only. Any changes not standard on an ESP costs about a grand and months to wait for since it can very well be one of a kind, yet still not substantively better than the LTD Viper 400 for a fifth of the price.
Anyway, here's the budget LTD Viper which would run about $725 with hard case (if bought online) vs. a custom shop ESP Viper (also online) which would run $4500-$5000 with hard case.
The specs on the LTD are real EMG pickups and not the budget, lower output EMG-HZs. The mahogany body has a set in mahogany neck. Made in South Korea.
The specs on the ESP custom shop Viper are either real EMG pickups or anything one pleases, any type of wood for body like Mahogany/Maple/Alder/Basswood/Poplar, and this one pictured has bolt on maple neck. Made in Japan.
When you plug in the sub-$1000 dollar LTD vs. the $5000 dollar ESP, what the heck is the difference?
And what's the big deal between a factory disheveled Fender Joe Strummer Tele for a Grand vs. the Andy Summers Tele, also made to look old, for ten times that? Both are copies of 60s Fender Teles. The former is made in Mexico in the Fender Custom shop there supervised by the same man who supervises the manufacture of the California made Andy Summers Tele.
The specs on the LTD are real EMG pickups and not the budget, lower output EMG-HZs. The mahogany body has a set in mahogany neck. Made in South Korea.
The specs on the ESP custom shop Viper are either real EMG pickups or anything one pleases, any type of wood for body like Mahogany/Maple/Alder/Basswood/Poplar, and this one pictured has bolt on maple neck. Made in Japan.
When you plug in the sub-$1000 dollar LTD vs. the $5000 dollar ESP, what the heck is the difference?
And what's the big deal between a factory disheveled Fender Joe Strummer Tele for a Grand vs. the Andy Summers Tele, also made to look old, for ten times that? Both are copies of 60s Fender Teles. The former is made in Mexico in the Fender Custom shop there supervised by the same man who supervises the manufacture of the California made Andy Summers Tele.
Attachments
no, just non budget guitars
You first, then. I and many other members have posted some very decidedly non-budget guitars, by any definition.
He didn't see the whole thread. I love all guitars, whether it's a cheap beginner's guitar all the way up to a one of a kind Fender custom shop personal order that made their widely sold calendar.
The simple one, which comes without the girl, is about 200 dollars, where the custom order one is more like 20,000 dollars. But they both have their own mojo.
I actually see guitars like I do Macs. The Squier, and entry level instrument is like a Mac mini, where a Fender Standard Telecaster is like the iMac, the Fender American Standard Telecaster like a maxed out iMac, and a Fender Custom Shop Telecaster is like the Mac Pro. They are all cool and serve a purpose. When I used to record and gig a lot, I had the vintage Fenders and Gibsons in my collection, but these days I only play at home so I have an entry level guitar and a midrange guitar. If I get a vintage guitar itch, I can scratch it with a re-issue and I won't have to sell my car to find a 1960s Melody Maker in original condition, '68 Tele with custom ordered Bigsby, or like some, go to Texas or LA and put down 50K on a Gretsch Penguin or pre-war Martin herringbone D-28. Pretty much all the stuff, or junk, I have owned didn't make me one iota better as a player. What we need is a thread with short video clips of what Macrumors people could do on their instruments.
Attachments
there is no debate. if you get a 500$ guitar and try to compare it to a 4,000$ guitar.
sure they may have similar specs but there's this thing called craftsmanship.
the more expensive guitar is usually more beautiful - plus... bragging rights
not trying to step on anyone's toes here i was just kiddin' around!
sure they may have similar specs but there's this thing called craftsmanship.
the more expensive guitar is usually more beautiful - plus... bragging rights
not trying to step on anyone's toes here i was just kiddin' around!
Ernie Ball Music Man John Petrucci 6-string in Lava Pearl (This isn't mine, but looks just like it).
Apologies for the blurry shot, taken on my iPhone but my girlfriend bought me an authentic Jack Daniels accoustic :
Also I have a Les Paul Standard in Cherry sunburst
Sweet, I was totally expecting to see something like Michael Anthony's bass guitar from VH era. That would be an odd looking acoustic!
there is no debate. if you get a 500$ guitar and try to compare it to a 4,000$ guitar.
sure they may have similar specs but there's this thing called craftsmanship.
the more expensive guitar is usually more beautiful - plus... bragging rights
not trying to step on anyone's toes here i was just kiddin' around!
Generally speaking, the more you spend the more you have craftsmanship.
I do have to admit the computer built (robotics) Martins made in the USA and Mexico are pretty decent. Some are as good as my handmade '47 Martin I used to have and some are not as good, yet still are very good.
I never thought computers would go far beyond the then amazing 1984 Macintosh. Who would have thought a computer could aid in the making of a guitar into a precision instrument that can even please many a discriminating player?
Yes, I still like one of kind, luthier-built instruments but I don't, and many don't, have a minimum of $3500 dollars or so (US), to meet the luthier, talk over specs, and purchase a guitar or bass work of art that also happens to be an instrument.
I make custom made skateboards that are far more expensive than the average skateboard one usually buys at the big retailers like Wal-Mart and Zumiez. I cater to a very small market of skaters and in some cases, my buyers are people who hang the skateboards as one of a kind pieces of art in their homes or businesses. But I will concede that my $160 dollar longboard deck does not ride any better than a screen printed, mass produced $69.95 deck found online.
It's only I hand sand, prep, and paint my own decks where as a major skateboard deck maker will have a computer "print" the art on the wood. But basically, we both get our decks from two or three of the main skateboard wholesale suppliers.
So I have nothing against one of kind craftsmanship, fully handmade products. It's just that you can get a decent guitar (like a Gibson carved top mahogany Les Paul, Ibanez Joe Satriani JS-100, or a Fender 1969 Thinline Telecaster, with cases, each for under a grand), and they are very good guitars.
there is no debate. if you get a 500$ guitar and try to compare it to a 4,000$ guitar.
sure they may have similar specs but there's this thing called craftsmanship.
the more expensive guitar is usually more beautiful - plus... bragging rights
not trying to step on anyone's toes here i was just kiddin' around!
I did post a $4k guitar, so what? I also posted a "budget" guitar, my Epiphone dot, and something in the middle, one of my American Strats with upgrades that are almost worth as much as the guitar.
If you want to see a bunch of geezers debating over slab board/non-slab 60's Strats, or Dumbles, and anything else ridiculous, head over to thegearpage.net. All the gear elitism you can shake a stick at. It's fun, I'm a paying member there.
I just think it's lame to bring the thread down with that kind of negativity.
Agreed.
I posted exactly the same stuff as you, a $4K or so gitfiddle, an American Standard Fender Stratocaster and Telecaster, and many things that are budget stuff. The whole point of this thread is to show that us Mac folk also play guitar or whatever, not how expensive those instrumentss are.
The bragging rights on Macrumors belong to those who have maxed out Mac Pros and Macbook Pros, not some vintage guitar or custom built guitar!
Posting who has the best guitars is similar to posting who has the biggest "organ" or "body part/implant". Let Peter North or Dolly Parton post elsewhere.