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New Guitars Month: Why I Lost the Buy No Guitars Challenge


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A New Guitar Extravaganza in Multiple Posts!

When I signed up for the challenge, I didn't count on the effect of having my wife go back to visit the old country, leaving me on my own for nearly 8 weeks. I don't hide it from her, but she gets irritated with every guitar box that arrives, especially when someone uses styrofoam peanuts that get on the floor, because I never manage to get them all cleaned up.

When she's out of the country, however, I can wheel and deal and bring them all in, send others out, and generally make a mess of the house for a few weeks, and she doesn't see it, so it doesn't irritate her.

This one started because I was watching eBay while with her, and I picked up 3 guitars that I just couldn't pass up in the last week of my portion of the visit. Then I came home and, well, "in for a penny, in for a pound", and I had stumbled on the high-end Yamahas for cheap. One thing led to another, and it culminated in the red Yamaha Pacifica 812S I posted yesterday.

Here are some of the others:

Other High-End Yamahas:

Yamaha Pacifica 1221:

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http://s716.photobucket.com/user/brainfertilizer/media/all%20guitars/DSC_7511_zps27ff3724.jpg.html'>DSC_7511_zps27ff3724.jpg

Amazingly low action and skinny neck. Great sound despite the aftermarket EMGs. No real story about this one. I jumped on it and got it with the high bid of $380, shipped. The total-access neck joint works as claimed.

Yamaha RGX 1212:

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This was the one that started my Yamaha obsession. I jumped on it because when you can get a neck-through, ebony fretboard guitar at the professional end of Yamaha's guitar lines for under $500, you do it.

The mini-switches are all aftermarket. One is a bypass, one is a coil split, and the other one does nothing that I can tell. The seller had no idea, either. Great tone, great player, stays in tune without touching the fine tuners for literally months. It arrived in tune, I just pulled it out of the box and played. I have adjusted the fine tuners once since I got it in mid-February.

The graphics are what made me look closer in the first place. It is just a decal applied to the front, and you can take it off w/o hurting the guitar...but I kind of like it.

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Yamaha RGX 612:

http://s716.photobucket.com/user/brainfertilizer/media/all%20guitars/DSC_7556_zps85dcdfb8.jpg.html'>DSC_7556_zps85dcdfb8.jpg

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This is both an "eBay SUX!" and "eBay RAWKS!" story.

He didn't have good pictures. Described it as a guitar he used to play but put away 10 years ago and hasn't touched since. Described as good condition. I figured I was getting a steal by getting it with a case for a bid of $150 ($180 shipped). Then it arrived. Look at my first picture. That was better than his best picture, but the missing parts still aren't obvious. Look at the 4th picture: obvious missing parts. He could have done the same, but didn't.

Then again, the guitar sounds great, plays great, and actually stays in tune without the string clamps. I grilled him a little, and he sounded genuinely distraught and apologetic. I was disappointed, but in the final analysis, I still got a great deal, so I dropped the issue, thanked him for his sincerity, and gave him good feedback.

Total Access Neck Joint still/also works exactly as claimed.



I've got bunches more!

But no time right now, will post later tonight.

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+1 on the Yammies! I recently scored a RGX603A with active single-coils and a mid-boost. Kicks all kinds of arse it does. $110 from a local. Also have a SE612 that is MIJ and it is seriously sweet for $150.

BTW, you can get most of those trem bits from Frets On The Net - not cheap, but they are available. Have you figured out the little thumbwheel on the bass side of the trem yet? Cool little bit there for sure!

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A friend of mine here in Quebec has a Pacifica just like that one, amazing guitar. That's his main baby, we did a gig a few years back and that's what he used.

I don't recall the insertS, but everything else is exactly like his down to the color. Sounds incredibly too. And it's great for AC/DC music (That's what we played)

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Higher-end Yamahas are underrated! Great build quality, and used ones don't usually break the bank. Now, if you can just find a minty early '90's Yamaha Weddington Custom...

When I signed up for the challenge, I didn't count on the effect of having my wife go back to visit the old country, leaving me on my own for nearly 8 weeks. I don't hide it from her, but she gets irritated with every guitar box that arrives, especially when someone uses styrofoam peanuts that get on the floor, because I never manage to get them all cleaned up.

When she's out of the country, however, I can wheel and deal and bring them all in, send others out, and generally make a mess of the house for a few weeks, and she doesn't see it, so it doesn't irritate her.

Ain't single life wunnerful? No worries about anybody getting "irritated"...except maybe the neighbors when you crank your amp's volume! ;)

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Next up is a 1984 Westone Spectrum LX:

http://s716.photobucket.com/user/brainfertilizer/media/all%20guitars/DSC_7559_zps275025f3.jpg.html'>DSC_7559_zps275025f3.jpg

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I had a 1985 Westone Dynasty, but I didn't bond with it, and mostly because there were some electronics problems that I didn't know how to fix. I suck at soldering, but I'm going to try to learn now (on an upcoming featured guitar).

So on the Westone board, I asked if someone wanted to trade any mid-80s H-S-H for my Dynasty (which is sorta like a flying V). The reason for the H-S-H stipulation is because of Westones switching method: 3-way chooses Bridge, B+N, or Neck. The first pot turns the middle coil on/off. The 2nd pot splits the HBs. The 3rd pot reverses phase. Is that cool or what? So I didn't want to lose that, but I wanted to try a different one. This one has the ultra-hot MMK 45s. They make the guitar sound about 10 times as pointy as it is.

Then there is the Yamaha RGX 420S-D6. It had been hanging around the pawn shop for 8 months that I knew of. This is the same pawn shop that I got the Line 6 AxSys in perfect condition + long footboard for $70. The Yamaha had a $399 price tag on it. So I dug through his amp pile and found a Line 6 Spider III 2x10 120Watt with a price tag of $270, and since it was at the bottom of the pile and the Yamaha had some wiring problems, offered him $300 for both and he took it.

http://s716.photobucket.com/user/brainfertilizer/media/all%20guitars/DSC_7550_zps96b763fa.jpg.html'>DSC_7550_zps96b763fa.jpg

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Amazingly low action. 27" (I think) scale baritone guitar. Great dark metal tone. But the 5-way switch makes no difference, and the bypass switch has become a cut-off switch. So repairing/rewiring it has become my first electronic repair project. I'm open to suggestions.

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Then there was the eBay accident:

http://s716.photobucket.com/user/brainfertilizer/media/all%20guitars/DSC_7542_zps3d18ac1b.jpg.html'>DSC_7542_zps3d18ac1b.jpg

http://s716.photobucket.com/user/brainfertilizer/media/all%20guitars/DSC_7544_zpse3dd4a36.jpg.html'>DSC_7544_zpse3dd4a36.jpg

http://s716.photobucket.com/user/brainfertilizer/media/all%20guitars/DSC_7543_zps922c5015.jpg.html'>DSC_7543_zps922c5015.jpg

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I saw "Westone Pantera X390" and the starting bid was just $500, and 0 bids to that point, with over half the auction over. Only 96 X390s were ever made. These are professional quality instruments, with great attention to detail and some nice features. They usually go for $1k. So I dropped a bid of $550, just because I wanted to see the reminder of where it ended up. And hey, if it had lasted that long w/o bids, maybe I'd get lucky. Okay, I should have been smarter than that. WHY did it not have bids. The headstock had been broken and repaired.

But I got it, and it played and sounded great. The repair is solid. It really ends up being just a cosmetic issue.

So it was a mistake, but I don't regret it.

But Pearl White is a little boring. I really wanted the Caspian Blue color scheme.

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A week later, and what do you think happens?

My standard "Westone" search on eBay returns a Westone X390 Caspian Blue with a BIN of $850, free shipping.

What could I do?

What would you do?

I Bought It Then (Now, past tense).

http://s716.photobucket.com/user/brainfertilizer/media/all%20guitars/DSC_7537_zps613f02dc.jpg.html'>DSC_7537_zps613f02dc.jpg

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Notice how the back is concave. It isn't neck through, it is a long-tenon set neck.

Active pickups. Coil tap with the push/pull knob.

This became the Trevor Rabin signature model in Westone's last year, and when Westone became Alvarez. You can see him playing a Caspian Blue Westone in some of the Yes concert videos on YouTube. I wish it was this one, but I'm not that naive.

So, yeah: I currently own 2.1% of all Westone X390 Panteras ever made.

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I saw something cool on Guitar Center's website, soon after I got my Yamaha jones: a Yamaha SSC 500, $300. I talked them into $330 shipped:

http://s716.photobucket.com/user/brainfertilizer/media/all%20guitars/DSC_7532_zpsafcb3b99.jpg.html'>DSC_7532_zpsafcb3b99.jpg

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http://s716.photobucket.com/user/brainfertilizer/media/all%20guitars/DSC_7535_zpsb2e7f77b.jpg.html'>DSC_7535_zpsb2e7f77b.jpg

http://s716.photobucket.com/user/brainfertilizer/media/all%20guitars/DSC_7536_zps0fa79543.jpg.html'>DSC_7536_zps0fa79543.jpg

Set neck.

Made in Japan.

3 on/off toggles, one for each pickup. And for some reason, a push/push vol pot that various reviews have said is a coil tap. On a single coil? Really?

The only thing I can think of is that if they are overwound single coils, then maybe you could tap the coil partway for a less hot sound. Or maybe it is an EQ boost of some sort. Or maybe it switches parallel to series wiring. I dunno. It sounds different, but I haven't done more than test it for functionality yet. Having too much fun with high-end Yamahas.

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Sometimes my heart/mouth get me "in trouble", but I've never regretted it.

I made a promise to someone that if they didn't like their Alvarez AES Graphite neck guitar, I'd buy it from them. Well, he didn't like it. He mentioned in passing that he was also going to sell his Westone X300 Pantera CR (Cherry Red), so we made a deal for both of them, $530 shipped:

http://s716.photobucket.com/user/brainfertilizer/media/all%20guitars/DSC_7527_zps7e1047ad.jpg.html'>DSC_7527_zps7e1047ad.jpg

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http://s716.photobucket.com/user/brainfertilizer/media/all%20guitars/DSC_7530_zpsf4b2ca4a.jpg.html'>DSC_7530_zpsf4b2ca4a.jpg

http://s716.photobucket.com/user/brainfertilizer/media/all%20guitars/DSC_7531_zps0f8ab5b4.jpg.html'>DSC_7531_zps0f8ab5b4.jpg

The neck is comfortable, it has great tone, and despite the crudity of the trem, it stays in tune even with moderate use.

Here's the Alvarez:

http://s716.photobucket.com/user/brainfertilizer/media/all%20guitars/DSC_7524_zps0dbeb30e.jpg.html'>DSC_7524_zps0dbeb30e.jpg

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The two-point trem keeps it in tune fairly well, despite no string locks and no locking tuners. The graphite neck is cool and collectible. Plays very nice. But who likes EMG Select pickups? I'm not impressed with them. The trem withstands light use, but I just have no desire to sink that much effort into making it a top-notch guitar (locking tuners, new pickups, etc), so I'll probably sell it.

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A few months ago, Carfish7 helped me snag a Hamer Slammer Series strat copy. It was the 2nd version, without the roller nut. It sounded sort of strat-like, but just didn't grab me. With apologies to him for not bonding with it despite his generous help, I sold it.

After already buying a half-dozen guitars, I saw this Slammer Series strat copy. With the roller nut. Like an idiot, drunk on New Guitar Excitement, I decided it was worth a $302 bid. I "won" the guitar as the only bidder at $300.

http://s716.photobucket.com/user/brainfertilizer/media/all%20guitars/DSC_7516_zps500d1a41.jpg.html'>DSC_7516_zps500d1a41.jpg

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But you know what? It is pretty, plays well, sounds great, and the roller nut keeps it tune. It was actually worth the $330 shipped.

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So since I spent $300 on this guitar, and it was worth it, then wouldn't another Slammer Series strat with the roller nut be even more worth it at $150?

So, yeah, I "won" the bid with $150. I really expected someone to snipe it away, but I couldn't resist less than $170 shipped.

So here's what I ended up with:

http://s716.photobucket.com/user/brainfertilizer/media/all%20guitars/DSC_7520_zps66b3ed11.jpg.html'>DSC_7520_zps66b3ed11.jpg

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The seller talked about cleaning and oiling it, so I figured he also stripped the paint off, but after getting it, I guess it was originally finished in natural. Dunno.

The little white button is cool. The seller thought it might be a bypass button, but it seems to be a mid-range boost. In any case, it seems to make the guitar twangier. I love the strat tones from this one. The trem is blocked, so I haven't seen if the trem stays in tune. I love both of the import Daytonas enough to keep them both, I think. One maple board, one rosewood. The frets are divoted almost to canyons in the cowboy chord area, but no buzzes and pretty low action and playability. Absolutely a keeper.

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Last but not least:

The one that kicked all the guitar acquisition off was actually a Steinberger ZT3.
I decided I wanted a trans-trem extremely urgently. I had been watching used ones go (losing auctions I was competing in at the $1000 price point) for $1100, $1200, and then saw this Brand New In Box one for $1000, free shipping, so I Bought It Now.
Then over the next 3 weeks, I watched another seller attempt to sell a brand new one for decreasing BIN amounts, finally going no lower than $699. I actually considered buying it and then listing it for the $1000 BIN I got mine for, but then sanity reasserted itself.
Pictures:

http://s716.photobucket.com/user/brainfertilizer/media/all%20guitars/DSC_7549_zps7c85de52.jpg.html'>DSC_7549_zps7c85de52.jpg

And that's it.

These are the guitars I got as a consolation prize for losing early/often in the Buy No Guitars Challenge 2013.

Two more on the way, pictures when they get here:

a Yamaha AES 820 for $215 shipped

a Yamaha PAC 812v (different generation than the 812s mentioned earlier...this one has a flame-top strat body, Wilkinson-style trem, locking tuners, and Seymour Duncan pickups) for $350 shipped

And that's it. I'm pretty much in guitar heaven these days.

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Hero !

Do you have to get rid of some when your wife comes home ?

Yep.

I have storage space for 40, so I ended up having to sell 14. I still have 4-5 to go...

Shall I post pictures of those I got rid of next?

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