#83 : 1980 Gibson Firebrand (Les Paul)

(#83) 1980 GIBSON Les Paul Firebrand

Made for about 3 years from 1979 to '81 or '82. Notice the serial number on the back of the headstock. the 1st digit is the decade and the 5th digit is the 2nd digit in the year, so this will be 80. When I bought it, it was covered in red, white and blue paint ala the Texas flag. A few hours of work and some chemicals and wala, you see the finished product. I paid $325 for it online. Resold it for a decent buck. They also made the 335 in a solid body and SG firebrand that were sister guitars to this. Back about 4 years ago, you could buy these for about $350-$400. Now they are significant more. STAY TUNED!

#84 KRAMER USA " Bent Pipes Strat

ca. 1982 KRAMER USA "BENT PIPES". Made in NJ usa. Original Factory graphics. Original case. Added was a Rockinger locking tremelo but was original equiptment on some from that era. This is the original style from Kramer that EVH used. Paid less than $300 at a 2nd hand store. Great collectable. More to come...STAY TUNED!

http://mcnaughtguitars.com/

Visit David and Dave for some of the best hand built guitars in the world!

http://mcnaughtguitars.com/

#85 - Reverend USA Rocco

Entry 85 is an American made Reverend Rocco in a gold finish. These guitars were formerly made only in the good 'ol USA but has since fallen victim to the almighty dollar. Now most of them are made over seas with just a few made in the USA today. These are great quality guitars and definitely be considered if you are searching for something along the lines of a Telecaster. Everyone has Tele's but how many of these have you seen. Bought at Guitar Center for $399. (Yea - they blew it!) ---- STAY TUNED!!

#86 Fender Stratocaster MUTT 1975/1983

#86 Fender Stratocaster MUTT 1975/1983 - This baby came from my favorite place for music...Austin Texas and yes...it looks like it too! Austin takes it's music very serious and this one is no exception. An original 1975 Strat body, original finish, original wear with EMG single coil pickups, newer Fender bridge and a large headstock neck dated 1/83. What's so unusual is that this is probably a left over neck from 1980 or 1981. Around that time, the new owners came in and re-designed the head to a newer, smaller head and wa-la... The Dan Smith Era was born. How this one snuck by, I'd love to hear. Any way it's a beater but I LOVE it...This one's a keeper! I paid $450 including shipping for this from eBay in 2007.

MY 1968 Gibson SG Restoration project

I came across this 1968 Gibson SG about 2 years ago now on eBay. It was a project guitar selling for cheap! Well I had been looking for a '68 main guitar for a while then. Why? It was simply my birth year. So I grab this SG for $300 including a beat up original Gibson case. It came to me half stipped. Apparently a GIT shredder guy had owned it. Put in an EMG and 1 volume, that's it! I took it, stripped it with citrus chemicals, brought it to my friend Bil Jones formerly of LA Guitar Factory and Splawn Guitars. Now of The Fret Garage, he re-fretted the guitar, re-drilled the controls and brought it back all original routes that he formatted from another 68 he was working on at the time.

I was then lucky enough, yes I said lucky enough to have Dave Masel of McNaught Guitars in Locust, NC agree to refinish the guitar. Well if you've ever had the pleasure of seeing or better yet playing a McNaught, you know what I said I was lucky to have him do the paint. Dave is also known as Paint By Dave at http://www.paintbydave.com/ . Absolutely stunning! More to come on this BEAST.! Mean while check out Dave's list of players he has built for. Tell me this is not impressive!

John 5--Solo Artist/Rob Zombie Band, Matt Pike of HIGH ON FIRE, Jon Schaffer of ICED EARTH, Tim Sult of CLUTCH, Neil Fallon of CLUTCH, Neal Schon of JOURNEY, Ariel Pozzo of MIGUEL MATEOS BAND/Studio Guitarist/Solo ArtistChris Henderson of 3 DOORS DOWN, Tony Rombola of GODSMACK, Jasin Todd of SHINEDOWN, Jimmy Bower of SUPERJOINT RITUAL...Oh yeah, almost forgot...add me to his list! ;)

Still many 2nd hand guitars around dispite eBay

I just returned from a great week long trip in Florida. I came home with 8 guitars. I was actually surprised how many used guitars are around dispite eBay sellers grabbing everything in sight the last 3 years. I came home with a vintage Martin acoustic, 80's Kramer, 80's Westone flame top, Ibanez Starfield, '75 Fender Startocaster- customized lefty (CHEAP!), WD Custom Strat, A killer Hondo Ibanez Artist copy and a Chandler Custom from SanFrancisco; CA.. Except for the Martin I paid less than $200 FOR ALL AND ONLY $275 for the Vintage Strat! Lucky me! Pictures coming soon!

I would assume this change in the market is due to the headaches presented by the eBay scams that have occured over the last 12 months. Anything from Paypal constantly siding with crooks to foreign fraudulent money orders and fraudulent listings have helped slowed this market. Nothing I hate more than to see a local shop lend money on a man's guitar only to sell it on eBay to a guy in another country. Talk about the blues!

Check out one of the best - McNaught & Mansel Guitars

http://www.mcnaughtguitars.com/

http://www.manselcustomguitars.com/

I had the pleasure of meeting David McNaught and Dave Mansel of David Thomas McNaught DTM Guitars last week. Dave and David are true craftsmen of superb quality, handmade guitars made in Locust, NC about 30 minutes outside Charlotte, NC.

Dave Mansel is refinishing my 1968 Gibson SG for me. I wanted the best, and I was lucky enough to get him.

I brought my SG to McNaught Guitars last week. The guys have a terrific facility. I was pleasantly surprised when I entered the shop. It was simple, yet very professional. These guys know how to build a guitar. I have owned a Strat style guitar from them a few years ago and the quality was Fender Custom shop X's 10! Fender can't build a guitar like these guys. They don't know how! Fender uses machines to basically stamp out bodies. McNaught does it by hand. You decide! Truly an old school organization. David built his 1st guitar when he was 13. He uses many of his grandfathers tools to craft these masterpieces.

They also build custom guitars under the name of Mansel Custom Guitars. These are made right there in the same facility. They are only able to produce about one a month of the Mansel Custom Guitars since the McNaught are selling so well.

2 amazing craftsmen that clearly know their calling. I could go on and on but I'll let you jump to their web site's now. Don't hesitate for a moment. You'll be glad you did!

#87 - Original 70's Hagstrom SUPER SWEDE

ca. 1970's HAGSTROM SUPER SWEDE. Original edition. Made in germany. If the cool name doesn't do it for you, the guitar itself will! A pure rocker, based n the Gibson Les Paul. These guitars were so good they just re-released these. Obviously nothing is ever as good as the original but if you get a chance to pick up an original for the $500- $800 do it vs. getting a re-issue for around the same money. I paid $200 for it in a 2nd hand store in the mid atlantic region, USA.

#88 Gibson SG 70's modified HOTROD

ca. 70's Gibson SG (modified hotrod). Very cool Gibson I purchased in a 2nd hand store for $350. Came with Bartolina Hi-A pickups. Refinished in black. Just was one of those great guitars you hated to part with. MADE IN THE USA...."Stay TUNED"

#89 - Electra MPC Flametop

Electra - MPC with modules that you would insert. They offered several different modules with different tone. Very unique guitars and excelllent quality. Made in Japan in the 80's.

#90- ca.1970's Ibanez Double Neck Gibson Copy

Made in Japan. A Gibson Jimmy Page copy. Ibanez made several copies in the 1970's until Gibson persued a lawsuit against them for copyright infringement. Thus the 70's was dubbed the "Lawsuit Era" for these Ibanez copies. Good quality copies, but not near as good as the original Gibson's. During this time Ibanez made several copies using various names to avoid getting caught by the Gibson team of attorney's. This one was refinished when I purchased it. Previous owner also upgraded tuners to Sperzel locking tuners and I believe the pickups were also upgraded. I paid $299. for this.

#91 - IBANEZ LA Custom Shop Iceman

#91 - IBANEZ LA Custom Shop Iceman





Here's a cool and very rare Ibanez Iceman made in the USA (just about all Ibanez guitars are made in Korea/China and a few are still made in Japan) at the Los Angeles (LA) , CA, Custom Shop. This one was built by Matty Baratto. He started working at the Ibanez Custom Shop in late 1994 to late 1999. He made prototypes, and all the endorsee's guitars for Ibanez as well as repair, R&D, paint, inlay, you name it! Matty worked with some of the most respected guitarists in the world. He built over 200 guitars for them and now has his own shop in California. See http://www.barattoguitars.com/index.htm for more info on Matty. He's a great guy and I was able to talk with him personally about this guitar about 2 years ago when I 1st purchased it. The kicker... I paid $250 for it in a pawn shop.

Super bright white finish, 2 humbuckers and Sperzel locking tuners. Bound fretboard. I picked this up 2nd hand for a very reasonable price. STAY TUNED!