Beginners Guitars, American Guitars, Versatile Guitars

[deaconblues]

Dan, re the c64 and 1996, they have different radii--7.5" on the c64 and 10" on the 1996. It surprised me too, I thought exactly the same thing as you--a c64 with a different paint job and an f-hole.

BIZARRE. I wonder what that's about...

I love Partsocasters! My Squier really opened up with new pickups and a vintage bridge...my goal is to build a semi-'57 RI.

I replaced so many things I'm thinking of making a guitar out of the old pieces!

[lennon211]

It's hard to begin narrowing things down here. I'm really lucky to have what I consider a good collection of quality instruments. They range from Mex Fenders to used Epiphones, and on up to Gibson, Fender and of course Ric. In addition there are Gretsch and Vox.

I would have to agree with a lot of the sentiment toward Teles that has been written already. I have 3 myself, a '52 AVRI, '62 AVRI, and a '50's Esquire. They are easily some of the best guitars out there and they sound simple and clean. Fender Jaguars are among some of the more, IMO, versatile guitars that are often overlooked in favor of Strats. I have one in Dakota Red that is killer.

Regarding Gibson, I've found that I lean more toward the acoustics than electrics, but that doesn't stop me from picking up my Firebird or Townshend SG from time to time.

If I had to pick my top 5 in terms of tone and versatility, here they are: Ric 330, '62 Tele AVRI, Gretsch '57 Duo-Jet TSP, Gibson J-160E, and '60's Player Strat in Sonic Blue. Of course, that could change tomorrow, but I'd say that the list remains relatively steady.

[JakeK]

I have three guitars: two Fenders and a Ric 12. My Fenders include a '62 RI Strat in three-color sunburst and a Highway 1 Tele in wine red (yes, I feel blessed to own two good American Fenders!)

I loved the Strat when I bought it, and it's still the guitar I always seem to go to when I'm just goofing off and wanting to practice. The thing I hate on it on are the pickups. I've lowered them as far as they can go, and I still have this problem: Whenever I play over the pickup, this horrible noise comes out from the pickup. It's hard to describe, but anyone with a vintage RI Strat can probably guess what I'm talking about. Example: I play an open 'E' string, it sounds like an Eb, an open E and an F all combined into one. I know, I can change out the pickups, but I'm better off selling it with the cash heading toward my dream guitar: a Ric 1997 RM RI. I might just sell it, because my current go-to guitar is described below...

I bought the Highway Tele about two/three months ago, and the more I play it, the more I seem to warm to it. The pickups are AMAZING on it. It really opens me to a wide variety of tones. It sounds twangy for country and the blues, bright and clean for the Classic Rock that I love play and crunchy (with distortion) for metal (not that I like it, just saying) and fuzz box stuff ("Satisfaction", random Kinks and Who stuff, etc). In short, it's a great guitar, and the most veristile I have so far. It's my current go-to guitar, and will probably be it for a while. I don't think I went wrong buying it.

I did have a MIM Tele in white, but it was too heavy (I inherited back problems from my dad), and it gave more of a growl more than a twang. It had an accident, and I still have the body and neck with all the parts intact, but they'll be salvaged if I plan to go all John Entwistle (did it to a P-bass) or Clapton (made his "Blackie" Strat doing this) and make a "Frankenstein" Tele.

The Ric 660/12 is a fun instrument, but there's only so far I can go on a 12-string, as we all know. It's got a LOT of sustain, which will suit me fine until I can scrape the money together to get a J-box. For the record, it NAILS Tom Petty's sound. It doesn't sound too bad with the Beatles and give the Who and the Byrds a more solid sound. While it doesn't get the latter two the sound I want, (duh, I need compression), it still holds up, and while I'm sad I don't have a Ric 6-er, I'm still lucky that I have this 12-string.

There are three guitars that I have on my "Guitar Wish List" that would make me a happy man: Ric 1997, a Ric 360/12V64 and a Gibson SG Classic, but for now, I'm happy holding down the fort with my lucky three: two Fenders and a Ric.

[wj350]

My Teles...I guess I'm partial to blondes (in a guitar way!! ). T-B: '52AVRI, Partsocaster, all three, Baja on the left.

[JakeK]

Just thought I'd add more praises to my Highway 1 Tele...

Today, I was at the local music store, buying strings for my Highway 1 Tele when I noticed they finally had FLATWOUND strings in stock! I thought I'd go for a different tone and add flats to a Tele. Got home, strung it, tuned it up, plugged it in and WHAT A SOUND!!! The flats made this guitar more versatile than it is! Sure, I can't have that machine gun screech like I hear with rounds, but it's still a great sound. I'm going to make D'addario Jazz flats my main choice of string. It's definitely makes the guitar!