jisham

Woo hoo...thanks for the info. I just did the same thing for a vintage burst Midtown, although MF has definitely capped the refund at $100. Still...was the incentive I needed to take the plunge.

Wow! That's almost too good to pass up, but I'm going to do my best to resist. Even had one in my shopping cart, just seconds from hitting the button to commit, then I remembered the stack of unused guitars that are mercilessly mocking me as I type this. I'm going to point to the Slim Taper neck as the reason that I pass on one, but it'll probably bother me for a couple of hours until I forget about it. Well well well....look what showed up on my doorstep a couple of days ago. Mike, there's no way I'd call the neck on this one a "slim taper" -- more like nice and beefy IMO. Anyway, I too couldn't pass up the price on these Firebird Tributes and other than the finish being pretty cheesy, it sounds and plays fantastic. The mini-hums have a lot of chime and seem to sit right between a single coil and a humbucker. Great great tone. I'm glad I got it.

Would love to see you guys some time. Do you play covers or originals or both?

Parasite is one of the coolest KISS tunes ever IMO.

Zorrow, Gene and Paul have put out about 624 "Best Hits" CDs. Or, just go see any show in the past 10 years -- or the next 10 years -- and you'll hear the same crap they've been playing forever. KISS is the reason I'm a musician, as I'm sure they are to many others, but I don't dig what they're doing these days but that's just me. This Eric tune sounds like any other Peter Criss tune, and I'm sure Tommy's tune on the CD (an "ode to the Spaceman character" apparently), will sound just like Ace, the guy Tommy wishes he was. It's just all so contrived IMO. I do agree that REVENGE is a great CD though.

That video with Kevin Smith is extremely interesting, and funny as hell. It certainly gives you a glimpse into a world not many of us are able to experience.

Agreed! Can't wait for mine to show up...

Fuck, who cares? If you don't like him, turn off the radio/CD player/TV and go back to playing stuff that does inspire. Life is way too short to argue over music like it was some type of competition.

And this one....his mastery on guitar is epic IMO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDai2tk-eSE

Prince rules. All one needs to do is listen to his solo in this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zByqXu6nGYA

A friend of mine is the controller for the city of Hammond, Indiana, which hires bands like Queensryche for its fairs and whatnot. They recently did a Styx, Foreigner and Cheap Trick trifecta (separate shows) at the local fairground venue. I also saw Gretchen Wilson there, one of the acts that played at the city's annual week-long summer festival. He cuts the checks and says bands of that stature make in the $50-$75K range. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. Q'ryche maybe on the lower end of that as they really only had the one hit single. Decent money no doubt and it's certainly the reason those three bands tour every summer with no new output to speak of.

I'm not so sure the county fair circuit is that big of a money maker but who knows?

It's not a metal guitar IMO. I don't really play heavy shit these days so all good.

Just an update: I continue to love the Cabronita and am using it quite a bit with my band. My Jim Root remains "numero uno" at this point but the Cab is a close second.

Call me crazy but the Jim Root is MIM too.

Fender calls these "Fidelitrons" and they sound great IMO. Someone at TGP pulled the pickups in his MIM Cabronita and most said they exactly like rebranded TV Jones. I have no idea but I'm leaving the guitar stock because for me, it's perfect as is.

47 I think. LOL

No I have Blackstar HT 100 and am getting an Orange Jim Root Terror soon.

All the necks seem the same, although the Root's ebony board feels best to me. The Root also has a tummy cut on the back of the body which is definitely comfy. Tonewise they are all different. The Root is a rock guitar with EMGs; the American Special does the traditional Tele thing to the "T" and the Cabronita sits in between. I can't wait to try the Cabronita with my band as I'm loving it so far.

All three have the same Fender "Modern C" profile. The Jim Root has the exact same profile as the other two.

I knew about the $1700 USA models as well but wasn't willing to pay that much....I bet Fender sells a ton of these MIM models because of the price point: the burst and black versions are alder with a MAP of $599; the white blonde is ash with a $699 MAP.

It's not a "thin skin" finish by any means -- just the typical Fender poly. As for the buckered Tele: it's a Jim Root model with a mahogany body, EMGs and an ebony board. That guitar practically plays itself and I use it about 80 percent of the time these days.

As some of you may know, Fender just came out with a MIM version of the Cabronita, so I grabbed a white blonde ash model, which arrived yesterday. I've wanted a Cabronita for awhile now but never wanted to pay Custom Shop prices so when I saw the MIM, I jumped without thinking twice and I certainly don't regret it because this one sounds awesome. It weighs 7 lbs. and is really loud unplugged. I can't wait to use it at band practice with my live rig. I've pretty much been playing Teles only with my band, and this one makes a great addition to the tones I'm getting from my Jim Root and American Special. The trifecta:

Do you guys with the AXE FX gig with it and if so, what's your setup? Not that I'm interested in going that route but I'm wondering how well those things do live because most of the pros I've seen with them (Petrucci for example) seem to use it for FX only live.