1977 Gibson Les Paul Custom Electric Guitar

Vintage American-made classic, upgraded pickups and aftermarket bridge 

The Takamine that was featured the other day is easily the guitar that I've put the most hours on, but this is the guitar that I've owned the longest and its the crown jewel of the collection. I picked it up at Westminster Jewelry and Loan in January 1991, for $550. I was 14 years old and had gone in the shop to buy an acoustic guitar, which I needed for a guitar class that I was taking as a freshman at Fountain Valley High School.

Once I saw a genuine Les Paul sitting on a hook for an attainable amount of money, there was no way it wasn't going to be mine. I had a decent first guitar at the time, a Kramer Striker 300ST, but it didn't really inspire me the way this did. I put down a certain amount of money and was on a layaway plan, I had 30 days to pay off the balance. Of course, I worked my ass off to earn the rest of the money and picked it up a few weeks later.

The same friend who customized the Ibanez Iceman IC-50 went through this guitar first and fixed the ground. He also told me that it had a Seymour Duncan Invader and DiMarzio Super Distortion pickup. That makes sense, because these pickups are absolutely screaming. Although I've owned this for nearly a quarter of a century, being a primarily a bass player, I've only used this myself in public a handful of times. However, nearly every guitar player in every band that I've played in has used it at some point, so it's seen its fair share of glory.

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1989 Roland Boss MG-10 Guitar Practice Amp

Vintage practice amp, from the famous effects and amp giants, made in Taiwan

Contemporary Americans may be among the most nostalgic humans to roam the Earth and this blogger is no exception. As mentioned in the post about the Squier 15 Practice Amp, this Boss amp was the first thing that I ever plugged a guitar into and made some horrible noise. So even though this little box isn't the world's greatest amp, I had to have one when I saw that they were still floating around 25 years later.

I plugged the Knight Warrior into this little guy when I got home on Friday night and messed around with it for about 20 minutes, before giving way to the Fender Eighty-Five and getting some real good Cobain-esque sounds. I'm not sure this will get very much use and I definitely bought it for the memories, but at least it is in impeccable shape.

The previous owner listed it as "never used" and I can believe it. You can see some white marks on the molding along the face of the amp, but those are the only and tiniest of imperfections. I definitely didn't remember this thing being so small, I think there are two 5-inch speakers inside. Other recent reviews claim that this takes Boss pedals very well, and that would make sense, but the only Boss pedals that I have are overdrive and distortion. This amp already comes with built-in distortion, possibly with the same components as the pedals, so I haven't made a point in plugging them in yet to find out.

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2009-10 Fender Stratocaster Electric Guitar

The first genuine Fender guitar featured here at SCGM, a flawless MIM Super Strat

I've never been much of a Fender guy, the Aria Pro II RS Special V, now one of my favorite guitars, is the first Strat that I've ever owned. This Mexican Fender fell into my lap over the weekend and when I saw the condition that it was in, I couldn't help but go for it.

The pickups and bridge all look like quality pieces and the guitar plays nice and easy. We'll get this one over to Clay sometime during the week, it definitely needs a setup and a fresh set of strings. The original owner said this thing was either in the case or hanging on the wall for most of the last few years and it certainly looks to be seldom-used.

The frets look basically untouched and there isn't a scratch on this guitar. When I was taking the photos, I saw what looked like some buckle rash, so I wiped the back of the guitar with a polishing cloth and re-shot a few photos, and it ended up just being fingerprints...

I'm not sure if this will end up staying in the collection, as I can't see it besting either of the Aria Pro IIs that I have. This did come with a nice tweed hardshell case that I can use for the Knight Warrior and the tremolo bar that it came with also fits that Kahler Flyer, so this deal ended up saving me some cash on a couple of things that I was needing.

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1994 Takamine G334 Acoustic Guitar

Vintage dreadnought, made in Taiwan, original owner and my main guitar since 1994

 

I wanted to feature the rest of my longtime pieces, before we move on to some new acquisitions and an update on some items that were featured in the past. This one has been my acoustic guitar of choice for over 20 years. Even when this thing was brand new, it sounded sweet enough that friends were asking to use it for demo recordings.

This has since seen countless recording sessions and shows all over the state. I recently took it to Clay at Beach City Pawn and Guitar for some fret work and a set up, and he was very impressed. He even swore up and down that it's a solid-top, even though it doesn't look like it to me and Takamine's website says otherwise.

I purchased this beauty at Guitar Center in Fountain Valley, I believe the day after Christmas, 1994. The sticker price was $699 and they were having a buy one, get one free sale. My good friend and eventual first roommate wanted to buy an acoustic guitar and I didn't have one myself, so we decided to take the plunge after sitting around and playing a bunch of them for a few hours. Over these last few years, I've only picked up a few acoustics that have rivaled this beauty and its still on the wall as one of my go to's...

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1980 Ibanez Iceman IC-50 Electric Guitar

Vintage Japanese axe, with original hardware and custom paint job

This is another guitar that I've owned for over 20 years and I also found this one at Westminster Jewelry and Loan. When I bought it, it was black and had many rough patches on the body, where it had been scratched and/or dinged. My buddy decided to strip it and sand it down a little to smooth out some of those blemishes and used crackle paint from the local hardware store for the paint job. A thin layer of lacquer was applied to seal it and it has slightly faded into a bit of a sweet cream color today.

The hardware was also in very bad shape, the tail piece and saddle were dipped in some sort of black coating that used to make a better grip on tools. Maybe it wasn't the best idea, sonically, but it looked cool and lasted a fairly long time.Another distinguishing feature on this guitar is the nut at the end of the fretboard, someone scalloped it at some point and that's not something you see on what is considered a mid-level guitar, at best.

I took this in to Clay at Beach City Pawn and Guitar to replace the toggle switch and clean up the electronics. He also set it up and raised the pickups. This one always played and sounded so good, that it was actually my main guitar when I first got it and I played it at my first gig over the vintage Les Paul that I've had for nearly 25 years. The pickups aren't quite as hot as the Gibson and it's a great option for laying down rhythm tracks. I'll take it back to Clay at some point to restore it further, the tuning keys have a fair amount of tarnish and the frets could use a cleaning.

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1980s J. Steele 300/301 Precision Bass Guitar

Vintage Korean Fender P-Bass copy, saw action at some of my first gigs and still going strong

Virtually everything featured here over the last few years is something that has been found within that time frame, with just a few notable exceptions. This cheap little nugget is something that I found at Westminster Jewelry and Loan around this time in 1993. I bought this for $85 and over 20 years later, there is little to no information available about the make or model. Used Price suggested the model numbers and stated that they were made in 1987, but that's all I could find.

I gigged with this and put in countless hours of practice in 1993 and 1994, but by the time I moved on to other bands in later years, I had upgraded to a mid-level Ibanez. A friend of mine cleaned up the pots a few years back when he was fostering it and it still sounds and plays great. The neck isn't quite as fast as the Ibanez Roadstar that sits in front of it on the rack, but I still pick it up every once in a while, for old time's sake.

Some of the stickers on this bass are really special, especially the ones on the back. There is a Philadelphia theme on both sides, but the Philadelphia Music Company is a now-defunct music store from that area and where I first fell in love with guitars as a kid. The White Zombie sticker was a fan club thing 20 years ago and is probably worth just as much as the bass today. Of course, the KNAC and Pirate Radio stickers are original, and those were the two main radio stations that I listened to as a teenager in So Cal in the early 1990s.

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1975 Takamine F400S 12-String Acoustic Guitar

Vintage Martin lawsuit copy, solid top 12-string, made in Japan

The quest for vintage solid tops may have ended, as this guitar is definitely an upgrade from the F-385 that I picked up a few months ago. This will require some TLC though. The body has warped and con-caved at the soundhole and one of the braces inside the body has also cracked. I wanted this guitar so bad, that I bought it knowing that I'd have to put some cash into it and I even took the train down to Oceanside to pick it up...

As soon as I got back home, I took the guitar to Clay at Beach City Pawn and Guitar to assess the damages. I was relieved to hear that giving the wood some moisture would help the body go to back to something resembling its former shape over time. After only 4 days of this treatment, I can already see the difference and I plan on taking new measurements on Saturday. There is also a crack on the bottom edge of the body, but it looks like it may only be in the clear finish.

This is something that will definitely have before and after photos, like the Yamaha FG-200 that I found last year. That one didn't really have any structural damage, but it was still in bad shape and now it looks and plays great. Hopefully, this will have a similar outcome. Clay also noted that the action wasn't bad, even though the body had sunken in so deeply and the bridge and neck are both in good shape. Hopefully we'll have good news to report in a couple of months.

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