Dana_V

Okay, that's it. Next time it comes up for sale I'm going for it.

That one kinda freaks me out a little every time I see it come up for sale, just because it looks so much like mine. (Well, except for the non-checkerboard headstock.)

This. ^^^ When I was younger, I used to always say I wanted to be buried with a guitar (specifically, my '75 SG). Probably because I thought it sounded cool and showed how dedicated I was to the instrument. But as I got older - and especially after I became a parent - I realized that really wasn't that great of an idea. So no, I don't want any guitars in the box with me. They'll belong to my kids when I'm gone, and they can play them, keep them, hang them on the wall or sell them to cover my funeral costs. I'd just like to think that, like @tbonesullivan said, my guitars will continue to make music long after I'm not around to play them any more.

The previous owner put Loller Imperials in mine; they're different from anything else I have so I left them. The guitar is extremely resonant, which is cool.

Yes, to me a Les Paul doesn't necessarily need to weigh as much as a small car like they did in the '70s, but it should have some heft to it. I get it that some people (like Billy Gibbons, for instance) like the weight-relieved/chambered ones, but I've picked up a few of them and it just feels...weird.

Yes, I read that on the Couch site too. About all I can do is continue to be careful and keep the strap from continuous contact with the finish. So far - knock on wood - I've never had a finish damaged by a strap.

Yes, I believe it's an established fact that blue guitars sound better. 😏 I haven't weighed it, but I would say it's about what you would expect from a non-weight-relieved LP. Lighter than a Norlin-era boat anchor, but heavier than one of those Swiss-cheese LPs Gibson had been passing off as Standards for a while. As for the strap, I'm not really sure. I've used Couch straps for about a decade now and never had any problems, but all my guitars are stored in the case with the strap removed and stored in the case pocket. And since the strap locks hold the strap slightly away from the guitar when it's being played, there's never really that much direct strap-to-finish contact.

It’s a bit of a long story, but I am now the owner of this 2013 Gibson Les Paul Traditional in Chicago Blue. The only thing that separates this guitar from “mint” is the previous owner had Guitar Center install Schaller strap locks before he brought it home. There are no marks or scratches; he never even changed the strings. The receipt from Guitar Center is still in the case. I swapped out the Schallers for Dunlops (none of my guitars leave the house without Dunlop Straploks), put a new set of strings on it and found an appropriate Couch strap. I still need to put it on the strobe tuner and check the intonation, but I’ll take care of that soon enough. The neck feels just a shade thinner and the frets are a little smoother than my 2014 Trad, both of which are good things.

If no one here buys them, there was a guy posting in the Shishkov group on Facebook about how he desperately wants an Ultimate. I don't know him and I don't know how serious he is, but it might be worth looking into. It was in response to when I posted a picture of mine: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10213790137302469&set=gm.2456616787753990&type=3&theater&ifg=1

I heard from Josh tonight: my pickups are finished and have been delivered to Mike. Progress is being made. 😏

No affiliation, but someone please buy this so I can stop thinking about it. I mean, it's BLUE. https://reverb.com/item/28525808-hamer-studio-1995-rare-kool-blue

It's a little messy, but here's 0063 on Slim Harpo's "Shake Your Hips" from last Saturday night.

Do NOT use dimmer packs - not with fixtures like these. Dimmer packs are only for conventional (incandescent) fixtures where the brightness is controlled by the applied AC voltage. LED fixtures like the Venue Thinpar64 should be connected to constant line voltage, then the intensity and color are controlled by DMX. They also have built-in presets to allow them to be used with no controller. There are DMX controllers in every imaginable configuration and price range, from simple and inexpensive to really complicated and expensive. There's also software-based lighting control, although you'll need USB-to-DMX hardware. Just don't plug those Venue Thinpar64s into dimmer packs.

I could narrow it down to three. The obvious choice is the ’81 Special that has seen more playing time than any of my other guitars, My Beloved Blackie. I’m the original owner; I bought it bought new from The Musician’s Shop (it’s long gone now) in Bellaire, Texas. When I was at GIT in the 80s, people tended to be identified by the guitar they played. The guy with the yellow Charvel, the guy with the red Strat, etc. I was The Guy with the Black Hamer. Next is my 1975 Gibson SG, bought new from Evans Music City in Houston on November 8, 1975, for $470.89, including hardshell case and sales tax. I was 14 years old. I saved up for it for months and months, forgoing any and all frivolous spending. I worked out a deal with my parents that when I was halfway there they would loan me the rest, and that’s what we did. It took a while, but I paid them back in full with money I earned playing it. These days it mostly stays in the case, but it still makes an appearance from time to time. (Sadly, after over 70 years in business, Evans closed in 2018.) Finally, Shishkov Ultimate #0063. It’s an amazing instrument in every way: workmanship, sound, playability, you name it (but y'all know that already). Beyond that, it was the first time I was able to have a say in every step in the process, from selection of the wood for the top to the neck shape. And as if that wasn’t enough, in the summer of 2017 my daughter and I embarked on an epic Texas-Connecticut road trip and picked it up in person, spending the day with Mike and his family. (0063, by the way, is a nod to my wife’s birthday, August 9, 1963. We had been married 30 years when she passed away in 2014.)

Just in case anyone wondered what would happen if a Hamer Special and a Gibson S-1 had a baby (and added a Bigsby).