RGD's (recent NGD's but been too busy to post)

[BlueSparkle]

a few months ago I posted over on the strat forum about my NGD's and forgot to update here.

So I'll link in the pics.

First, the 2018 Autumn Burst SG standard (2018) which was meant to be a Fiesta Red 60th anniversary JM. I can extrapolate how that went down, but the long and the short of it was "I" was gassing for the JM. I sent a pic to missus for 'approval in kind' - aka pre-notification I was bringing it home.

except I got a text back immediately "let's go down tomorrow" and that's not a bad thing. So I hold off.


We got down, there are new models everywhere. She likes a green gretsch 5429 and the JM. the gretsch develops some capacitance issues that could not be immediately fixed (BNIB) so tech put it aside. Picked up the JM... she plays it... sounds good, but something not right. Then she goes looking at the SG.

I'm already 'ugh' because that's about another grand more than I was going to pay....

the SG comes home with us. and I'm not an SG guy, so in effect I bought the missus a guitar. Not sure how that all happened.... but it happened.
It was not more than 5 minutes after coming home and the modding starts. Gibson historic amber top hat knobs and the poker chip was put on.


FF a few weeks, my ongoing desperation to find my Ric 360/12 is seemingly coming to fruition. We're about to go on holidays and there happens to be a 360/12 near the destination airport. Some calls were made.

Flight got delayed. by time we landed, the guitar was sold.

I was bummed. We went to a local store a few days later and I bought some strings as consolation for missing out on the ric. It did not console me at all.

flew south, stopped at parents. checked out a store run by some mates. got a lead on a 360/12 literally minutes away. number handed to me on a piece of paper and I start driving, call on the way. " sorry bro, it sold just an hour ago"

completely bummed now.

Missus then flew home. I drove back the following day with the fur kids. plenty of time to think and plan. nonstoppers are always like that.

had a couple more days off after I got home and freshly recovered from the 1200 mile trip, decided to go to local store.

Looked at a guitar I was familiar with, haggled a bit, then came home with it.



It's a Gretsch 6129T, which I had my eye on for almost a year, when it first arrived.

So now the Gas has temporarily abated, but the desire for the ric 360/12 still exists. It will have to wait a while I guess.

[zhivago]

What a story!

Sometimes i takes a while to find the right guitar...I have some money to hunt dow a particular one myself, and now that I have the funds, they have all disappeared from the market...it's crazy...but I am trying to be patient...and occasionally failing!

Still, you have some cool guitars there.

[BlueSparkle]

Thanks,

As I mentioned earlier, there is a LOT more to the story, but in the end it all worked out - I brought home a guitar that I really enjoy playing.

The SG I am getting used to. I still don't know exactly 'how' my fiesta red JM turned into an autumn burst SG - but It has fantastic pair of humbuckers in it - and they are super lush. Hard to believe. Even harder to believe is the weight balance. It is absolutely neutral. no neck dive at all, and one finger balancing at the join.

For someone who isn't an SG guy, I know I ended up with a pretty darn special guitar. But all the 2018 models that came into the store's shipment (I was there for the unboxing of all the Gibson / epi / fender / gretch) were quite exceptional, compared to previous years. In particular the Gibson and Epi quality was very surprising. I mean to the point where I was "wtf" on the epi's - they all looked as good as Gibson LP/SG/ES custom, and played amazingly well, and these guitars weren't gibson custom prices.... about 1/5 actually. Epiphany more than epiphone....

The fiesta red JM - I missed out on it. It got sold very soon after, and I was sad. I really wanted a Fiesta Red 60th anniversary for my 'colour collection', but I think I may just now hang out for that Ric 360/12C63 that I have been gassing for an eternity - before dropping $ on another Fender.

And the Gretsch? I don't know what to say. It's simply amazing to play, and it has "That great Gretsch Sound" - such a stereotypical thing to quip about, but it really does. It sounds fantastic. Tonally, it sits between the Strat and my LP, it's got a bit of the Les Paul richness and a little bit of fender quack with the HS filtertrons. The tone circuit is very well setup too and quite linear, which makes for a very broad range of tone and pickup balancing. It's not full-on stratty, and has an aggression which is not like an LP when pushed hard - it truly is its' own sound... and I love it. I have been eyeing it off for nearly twelve months, so it's hardly surprising I came home with it, after playing it in the shop quite often.

The neck is a little more like a early 60's Les Paul, certainly nothing like a vintage strat or my JM, but nothing like the Budokan LP or the SG. Funnily enough, the SG has a quite medium neck by SG standards - not the painfully thin ones from the 80's and 90's.

Enjoying them both, and won't be buying a Ric before xmas, but I will be keeping my eye out for one .

[cestlamort]

Lovely. Sparkly Gretsches are always good.

Rickenbacker bound 360s are total dream guitars, too.

[HNB]

I was bummed. We went to a local store a few days later and I bought some strings as consolation for missing out on the ric. It did not console me at all.

When I read that line I thought of Morgan Freeman narrating "That day he would buy some strings as consolation for missing out on another Rickenbacker.....


It would not console him."