Musical Instruments

[heysi]

I know there has to be a bunch of us here that play musical instruments. A diverse group like us have to be full of artistic talent or at the very least a passing interest in making a bunch of loud racket.

I've been playing guitar since I was 10 years old. I bought my first electric when I was 13 (a crappy piece of plywood with the worst pickups screwed on the to face), and that thing passed away long ago. Later I bought myself an early 1980's Squire Strat that is a beauty and what I thought was the pinnacle of guitars for me.......until I wandered into a guitar shop here in Vegas back in 2003 to pick up some new strings and I spotted this amazing Tele hanging on the wall under the USED sign. I asked the owner if it really was used and he said the the guy that previously owned it had been told by his wife to return it after only 3 weeks and he couldn't, in good conscience, sell it as new. The going price for a new Tele at the time was $1200 so when he said he was asking $300 for it I asked if he would accept cash. By the time I got back from the atm, he had located the case that went with it and I was on my way home with this....



...its a 2001 American Standard Telecaster.

Two weeks ago I took it to a friend of mine, a great guitar tech and even better guitar player and he gave it a full once over and adjustment and it now plays even better than before....in fact, I think its perfect.

So lets see your guitars, basses, drums, flutes, ukuleles, saxophones, violins....what ever you got.

 

[bosch]

This guy's the latest. '51 Custom Shop Nocaster (built in 2021). My wife bought it for me on the occasion of her retirement. Funny, between the 2 of us we had 58 years at the same company. Except, she was in HR and we had those phones that identify the internal caller. So, most wouldn't pick-up when they saw her name. Finally, it kinda scared me too. So, retirement for both of us is better than they told us it would be!! Hi, my name's Bosch, and I'm a Tele-holic!!

 

[heysi]

This guy's the latest. '51 Custom Shop Nocaster (built in 2021). My wife bought it for me on the occasion of her retirement. Funny, between the 2 of us we had 58 years at the same company. Except, she was in HR and we had those phones that identify the internal caller. So, most wouldn't pick-up when they saw her name. Finally, it kinda scared me too. So, retirement for both of us is better than they told us it would be!! Hi, my name's Bosch, and I'm a Tele-holic!!


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Wow!!! That is beautiful. The Custom Shop stuff is amazing. Congrats on the retirement.

 

[SteveChuckFrank]

@heysi you got an American Standard Tele for $300?!?! That’s insane!



2007 US Highway One Strat. It needs to be rewired but the stock pickups have been ripped out and it now has a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in the bridge, Seymour Duncan SSL 5 RWRP single in the middle, and a Seymour Duncan Cool Rails in the neck. Rewiring for custom switching options.

2011 Mexican Standard Telecaster. I bought this used and it came with a Wilkinson ashtray bridge with brass saddles, Wilkinson vintage tuners, and GFS vintage 63(?) pickups. Sounds great so I left it all as is.

2013 Gibson Les Paul Studio. Stock except for Grover sealed tuners. I’ve also since removed the pickguard.



1999 ESP LTD EXP. I got this new when I was A junior in high school. Swapped out the bridge pickup for a Seymour Duncan Dimebucker and had a friend’s dad airbrush some lightning bolts on it. I call it the Dime-Field. (Dimebag Darrell paint job on a James Hetfield style body). This one doesn’t get played much these days but I’ll never sell it.

These are all run through a small assortment of pedals. Always in the chain is my EHX Soul Food and Dunlop Crybaby From Hell wah pedal. Everything else changes depending on the mood. After that the signal goes into my first generation (fewer switching options) Blackstar HT-Club 40.

 

[BarberDave]

Just when i think I am out….. they pull me back in. Will post my items later

 

[heysi]

@heysi you got an American Standard Tele for $300?!?! That’s insane!

View attachment 62532

2007 US Highway One Strat. It needs to be rewired but the stock pickups have been ripped out and it now has a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in the bridge, Seymour Duncan SSL 5 RWRP single in the middle, and a Seymour Duncan Cool Rails in the neck. Rewiring for custom switching options.

2011 Mexican Standard Telecaster. I bought this used and it came with a Wilkinson ashtray bridge with brass saddles, Wilkinson vintage tuners, and GFS vintage 63(?) pickups. Sounds great so I left it all as is.

2013 Gibson Les Paul Studio. Stock except for Grover sealed tuners. I’ve also since removed the pickguard.

View attachment 62534

1999 ESP LTD EXP. I got this new when I was A junior in high school. Swapped out the bridge pickup for a Seymour Duncan Dimebucker and had a friend’s dad airbrush some lightning bolts on it. I call it the Dime-Field. (Dimebag Darrell paint job on a James Hetfield style body). This one doesn’t get played much these days but I’ll never sell it.

These are all run through a small assortment of pedals. Always in the chain is my EHX Soul Food and Dunlop Crybaby From Hell wah pedal. Everything else changes depending on the mood. After that the signal goes into my first generation (fewer switching options) Blackstar HT-Club 40.

View attachment 62535

To say I'm impressed would be an understatement. That gear looks sick.

 

[SteveChuckFrank]

To say I'm impressed would be an understatement. That gear looks sick.

Thanks. Now if it only sounded as good as it looks when I play it…

 

[WildWest74]

My Taylor T5-C1. This was a day-one model that I bought the very day they were released in 2005. Maple top, semi-hollow, with stacked humbuckers at the bridge and in the neck pocket. There is also an acoustic body sensor that makes this thing sound like a beautiful acoustic when I want it to, or I can use any of the other pickups either individually, or paired in-phase or out-of-phase.

It's an electric profile neck with electric strings making it effortless to play. I did replace the original machine heads with Sperzel locking tuners, and got the custom truss rod cover plus the squadron button from my father's last squadron.

Since I was playing weekly gigs in Irish bars when I got her, I thought it was fate when I read her serial number, and it showed that her "birthday", the day they started construction, was March 17th, 2005.

 

[BarberDave]

OK Here goes: I found a facination with Music early on as my father had played the Clarinet in Hershey, PA and later with Tommy Dorsey for a gig or two. Once in Tucson he decided that the classic guitar would be his choice so he bought, at that time a Goya Classical for about 350.00 in 1972 ( I still have that guitar, and play it every so often.) Anyway I would sneak out of bed and listen to him night after night as he listened to Christopher Parkening, and read his Mel Bay books. He was totally self taught. One day I thought he was gone and I grabbed his guitar ( A BIG NO-NO ) and plugged in a cassette of his guitar music. After about 10-tries I was playing the song. What I did not know was my father had been watching me, and stormed in the room and as a typical dad was a bit upset. Then something caught his ear, and he exclaimed "Do that again".... So I played what I had been messing with, and his eyes grew big. He plugged in another tape and said "Try to play that" Within about 10- minutes I was playing a very close approximation to the song. He then told me he thought I could play by ear, and thus started my journey. In school I did not play in the band, as In my neighborhood that was the quickest way to get beat up, but I plunked away at home, In High School it was cars, but I plunked away at home. then Life started and the military etc, etc. but by happenstance while stationed at Pope AFB, I took a trip to Ashville, NC and was introduced to BlueGrass. I was hooked and began playing the banjo.. Had a few cheapies, and yet again life got in the way. About 7 yrs ago, I go serious again with both the Banjo, Dobro, Harmonica, and of course the guitar. Here is what i play most often now when I find the time.

My RK Flying Eagle .

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Wyle E. and RoadRunner
This was I had made and commissioned as completely a tribute to my dad / Sharon's dad ( both loved the cartoon) and to the state of AZ, by a Luthier in Phoenix. A loose copy of it hung in the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, AZ for a bit. It is made completely of items from AZ, including all the copper which is engraved with desert scenes, the "Acme Portable Hole" and is all done in Mesquite from trees in my yard. The neck is inlayed with Synthetic Stone with Wyle E. chasing the RR. I play this whenever I can

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My RK Dobro

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My Epiphone Les Paul

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and the harmonicas for messing around. There are a few more acoustic guitars around, but this is what I play most when I get the time

​

 

[Scuttlesoap]

OK Here goes: I found a facination with Music early on as my father had played the Clarinet in Hershey, PA and later with Tommy Dorsey for a gig or two. Once in Tucson he decided that the classic guitar would be his choice so he bought, at that time a Goya Classical for about 350.00 in 1972 ( I still have that guitar, and play it every so often.) Anyway I would sneak out of bed and listen to him night after night as he listened to Christopher Parkening, and read his Mel Bay books. He was totally self taught. One day I thought he was gone and I grabbed his guitar ( A BIG NO-NO ) and plugged in a cassette of his guitar music. After about 10-tries I was playing the song. What I did not know was my father had been watching me, and stormed in the room and as a typical dad was a bit upset. Then something caught his ear, and he exclaimed "Do that again".... So I played what I had been messing with, and his eyes grew big. He plugged in another tape and said "Try to play that" Within about 10- minutes I was playing a very close approximation to the song. He then told me he thought I could play by ear, and thus started my journey. In school I did not play in the band, as In my neighborhood that was the quickest way to get beat up, but I plunked away at home, In High School it was cars, but I plunked away at home. then Life started and the military etc, etc. but by happenstance while stationed at Pope AFB, I took a trip to Ashville, NC and was introduced to BlueGrass. I was hooked and began playing the banjo.. Had a few cheapies, and yet again life got in the way. About 7 yrs ago, I go serious again with both the Banjo, Dobro, Harmonica, and of course the guitar. Here is what i play most often now when I find the time.

My RK Flying Eagle .

View attachment 62554​

Wyle E. and RoadRunner
This was I had made and commissioned as completely a tribute to my dad / Sharon's dad ( both loved the cartoon) and to the state of AZ, by a Luthier in Phoenix. A loose copy of it hung in the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, AZ for a bit. It is made completely of items from AZ, including all the copper which is engraved with desert scenes, the "Acme Portable Hole" and is all done in Mesquite from trees in my yard. The neck is inlayed with Synthetic Stone with Wyle E. chasing the RR. I play this whenever I can

View attachment 62556View attachment 62557


​

My RK Dobro

View attachment 62558​

My Epiphone Les Paul

View attachment 62560
​

and the harmonicas for messing around. There are a few more acoustic guitars around, but this is what I play most when I get the time

View attachment 62562​

Really dig the Wyle.En& Roadrunner banjo!

 

[SteveChuckFrank]

In school I did not play in the band

I tried to join the jazz band in high school so could learn some theory and expand my limited knowledge. I learned how to play by getting my hands on tabs (guitar notation) for every Metallica song I could find. The jazz teacher asked if I could read traditional sheet music and when I said no he said I couldn’t play with the jazz band…I still don’t know how to read traditional sheet music

 

[MarkB]

Here's my brood. With the exception of the fretless Lakland and the Mike Lull M5V, my main basses are all made by Anthony "Nino" Valenti out of Staten Island NY. Great basses!

Here they are..

 

[MarkB]

Also have a couple of PRS SEs. Nice instruments.

 

[SteveChuckFrank]

Also have a couple of PRS SEs. Nice instruments.

View attachment 62628View attachment 62629

I’ve only played maybe 2 PRS guitars in my life and with as much as people rave about them I wasn’t blown out of the water. Am I missing something??? Lol

Yours are both gorgeous specimens though, I will say that!

 

[heysi]

My Taylor T5-C1. This was a day-one model that I bought the very day they were released in 2005. Maple top, semi-hollow, with stacked humbuckers at the bridge and in the neck pocket. There is also an acoustic body sensor that makes this thing sound like a beautiful acoustic when I want it to, or I can use any of the other pickups either individually, or paired in-phase or out-of-phase.

It's an electric profile neck with electric strings making it effortless to play. I did replace the original machine heads with Sperzel locking tuners, and got the custom truss rod cover plus the squadron button from my father's last squadron.

Since I was playing weekly gigs in Irish bars when I got her, I thought it was fate when I read her serial number, and it showed that her "birthday", the day they started construction, was March 17th, 2005.

View attachment 62545

My daughter talked me into buying her a Taylor Acoustic a few years back when she was obsessed with Taylor Swift (Taylor plays Taylors....how original). She left it to me when she moved to Tennessee (which seems like the perfect place to take a Taylor acoustic guitar).

 

[heysi]

OK Here goes: I found a facination with Music early on as my father had played the Clarinet in Hershey, PA and later with Tommy Dorsey for a gig or two. Once in Tucson he decided that the classic guitar would be his choice so he bought, at that time a Goya Classical for about 350.00 in 1972 ( I still have that guitar, and play it every so often.) Anyway I would sneak out of bed and listen to him night after night as he listened to Christopher Parkening, and read his Mel Bay books. He was totally self taught. One day I thought he was gone and I grabbed his guitar ( A BIG NO-NO ) and plugged in a cassette of his guitar music. After about 10-tries I was playing the song. What I did not know was my father had been watching me, and stormed in the room and as a typical dad was a bit upset. Then something caught his ear, and he exclaimed "Do that again".... So I played what I had been messing with, and his eyes grew big. He plugged in another tape and said "Try to play that" Within about 10- minutes I was playing a very close approximation to the song. He then told me he thought I could play by ear, and thus started my journey. In school I did not play in the band, as In my neighborhood that was the quickest way to get beat up, but I plunked away at home, In High School it was cars, but I plunked away at home. then Life started and the military etc, etc. but by happenstance while stationed at Pope AFB, I took a trip to Ashville, NC and was introduced to BlueGrass. I was hooked and began playing the banjo.. Had a few cheapies, and yet again life got in the way. About 7 yrs ago, I go serious again with both the Banjo, Dobro, Harmonica, and of course the guitar. Here is what i play most often now when I find the time.

My RK Flying Eagle .

View attachment 62554​

Wyle E. and RoadRunner
This was I had made and commissioned as completely a tribute to my dad / Sharon's dad ( both loved the cartoon) and to the state of AZ, by a Luthier in Phoenix. A loose copy of it hung in the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, AZ for a bit. It is made completely of items from AZ, including all the copper which is engraved with desert scenes, the "Acme Portable Hole" and is all done in Mesquite from trees in my yard. The neck is inlayed with Synthetic Stone with Wyle E. chasing the RR. I play this whenever I can

View attachment 62556View attachment 62557


​

My RK Dobro

View attachment 62558​

My Epiphone Les Paul

View attachment 62560
​

and the harmonicas for messing around. There are a few more acoustic guitars around, but this is what I play most when I get the time

View attachment 62562​

And we have a winner for most diverse musician in the group. Sweet.

I wish I could play more than just guitar and drums....something like the piano would be nice.

 

[heysi]

Here's my brood. With the exception of the fretless Lakland and the Mike Lull M5V, my main basses are all made by Anthony "Nino" Valenti out of Staten Island NY. Great basses!

Here they are..

View attachment 62622View attachment 62623View attachment 62624View attachment 62625View attachment 62626View attachment 62627

Always thought the bass was cool....until I roadied for a band and now I'm instantly suspicious of the bass player. Shady characters and lazy as all get out. I'm sure @MarkB is fine.......

 

[bosch]

Every band I ever played bass in said that all their previous bass players were difficult. C'mon man!!!

The closet. Not just basses.



The tribe. 3 brothers.



Lull modern Jazz 4.



Sadowsky. She's a sweetheart!!



Grandma. There's a reason why most recorded bass parts are recorded on a P-bass. Some recording engineers mandate that a Precision is available for a session.

 

[heysi]

What's in the tweed case???????

 

[bosch]

Here goes...

'52 Thin Skin Tele w/ Humbucker. I'll take photos of the others while they're out.