Help me.

Played a dirty mod trick. Just messing with you.

But it's true, I don't think I could reasonably tell you what you should do.

Played a dirty mod trick. Just messing with you.

But it's true, I don't think I could reasonably tell you what you should do.

Yes, yes you did. :lol: I thought I had all bases covered and then you made a fifth base.. there are no five base sports, what metaphor should I be using now?

Well, I now ask that you could tell me what I should do in a rather unreasonable fashion. "Get lost" is not sufficient. :wink:

I think you should visit a music store that has these and play them, that is if you haven't already. Even if something isn't "American" you may like how it feels and/or plays. Secondly, what do you really have the desire to do? Sound better, get a cooler looking/better electric or go acoustic for a bit? Or do you have money burning a hole in your pocket? In my case (not to hijack), I want another electric maybe a strat at some point. I'm really having this desire for an acoustic though and that's like overriding everything else.

I was going to vote for "thread too long", but then I thought, "It's Friday and I ain't got stuff to do!" :P

I would go with an acoustic. When I play my acoustic, I'm concentrating only on the music and/or what I'm practicing. I'm not messing with the tone knobs, distortion pedals, amp settings, volume... you know what I mean? When I pick up my acoustic, I'm either having fun with something I already know, or I'm concentrating on learning something new. It's a nice change from the electric when I need a change.

Also, don't sell yourself on Martin before you get to the store. There are a TON of other guitars in that price range that blow Martin away. For $500, you CAN NOT get a solid top, back and sides Martin or Taylor. But you CAN get a solid Epiphone, Breedlove, Alverez and a bunch of others.

Dave

I'm presumptuous enough. You should DEFINATELY get the Fender Deluxe Reissue Amp. 100 percent positive.
_________________

I AGREE WITH NEZTOK ....

Hang on I m not you or NEZTOK ohh well

Aw, heck, get the Deluxe and be happy with it.

(I like those Artcore semihollows.)

Well,
A pretty complicated conundrum....

And, I was thinking along the lines of Eirraca - I wasn't too sure of your motives.
At times it seemed that you wanted good equipment....
Other times, you had me thinking you just want equipment that looks cool and has a brand name on it.

So, I'm also going to have to agree with Dave (Riff Raff) - that for the money you want to spend....
Well, like I wrote in Eirraca's post...
You can get an Epiphone Hummingbird acoustic for $299.00 (US) and have the cheapo plastic replaced with bone,
and while your at it have it set up professionally - and have a GREAT accoustic for around 400+ bucks or so.

Sure, it doesn't say Martin on it - it sounds great though and is pretty well made.
Can you live with that????

I also have to agree with Dave in that EVERY guitar player should have an acoustic.
I'm a die hard Strat guy - acoustics though....
They just get you in touch with your soul, or the Earth or something along those lines of depth :roll:
Very relaxing and so versatile.
And if you need to work on your singing/playing - nothing better than using an acoustic.
I could go on and on about the virtues of an acoustic - I'll stop here though.

As far as reaching the higher frets on your artcore - you should be able to do that with the proper technique.
Think more in the way of slide playing.
You'll probably have to bring your thumb out to the front with your fingers. (and so press more with your arm as you'll
lose the anchoring of your thumb behind the neck).
Also - don't think that you have to keep your hand straight up and down.
You may have to angle your fingers/wrist more toward the bridge to get it done on the highest frets.
It is doable though.

As far as amps go - I like the RI Blues Deluxe, and although I'm a tube amp purist and it has a printed circuit board....
I was myself considering getting one. (and still might)

A PCB lends itself to more reliability than a point to point, hand wired tube amp.

And they (along with the HR Deluxe amps) have a wonderfully warm tone that most vintage Fender RI amps do not.

The Blues is covered in tweed, though NON lacquered, so it will not last as long.

Also, I understand that the drive channel is 'worthless' on the Blues.
And that it breaks up rather quickly on the CLEAN channel.
So most players have complained of lack of headroom - sounds great to me though. :D

If those things bother you - check into the Hot Rod Deluxe.
It has a More Drive channel that works pretty well, more headroom on the clean channel, and has a black plastic-like
finish that seems pretty durable.
And I think that the HR's cost less than the Blues as well.

As for Mexican Strats - I personally have no love for them.
There's a post in Guitar players discussion I belive about the differences between MIM and MIA Fenders you might wanna
check out.

The value factor:
I have an 88 MIA Strat that I've had since new.
I paid 500 US for it in 88.
I've seen that they are going for about 750 US now.
A new one costs 1000 US.
So, although it's worth more than I paid for it (500 to 750 now),
for me to say that it held it's value it would have to be worth 1000.
For me to say that it went up in value - more than 1000.
You know, with inflation and all, that's how it works out.

That's not to say that someday it wont go up in value.
I also have a 71 Strat.
And CBS era Fenders were worthless for the longest time.
The prices have really taken off in the last few years though.
Soooo....

At any rate - if you really are interested in quality pieces, I say information is key.
I think you need to do a bit more research before making a decision.

If you just wanna look cool.....

Ken

ps
And as far as acoustic values go - Ricochet has a Johnson Tricone that looks and sounds great.
And I believe that the price was unbelievably low.

I'd get the MIM strat and the blues jr.

You won't NEED to upgrade a blues jr. unless you want to -- even if you're gigging. Just mic it!

But I'm not you, so I'm not going to say that's what you should do. Particularly since I'm notorious for my own minimalist approach to my own sound chain.

Think more in the way of slide playing.
Now THERE's some advice I can always agree with! :lol:

Well,

I also have to agree with Dave in that EVERY guitar player should have an acoustic.

They just get you in touch with your soul, or the Earth or something along those lines of depth :roll:
Very relaxing and so versatile.
And if you need to work on your singing/playing - nothing better than using an acoustic.

Agree - I think this is why I'm jonesin' for an acoustic now.

Hi,

Firstly, I'm deeply impressed that you've come this far with only one guitar. I've been going through this sort of puzzle every few months ever since I started. And my solution (which I can hardly recommend) has been to keep blowing my savings at regular intervals on relatively 'cheap-n-cheerful' guitars, instead of saving up for one or two of higher quality. :? (I did eventually end up with a decent acoustic and some reasonable electric gear).

This experience only confirmed what we probably all suspect from the start anyway - that the quality of the amp and the guitar (especially a decent pickup) can and do make a difference, but the most important part of the tone is in the player's fingers.

There are plenty of good combinations of gear out there, and mostly it boils down to practising enough with it until you can bring out the best from it. I.e. work out how to blend your style with the instrument's capability. As long as you avoid buying the real low end rubbish (which you clearly are intending to do) then it mostly seems to come down to a question of owning whatever gear that you will love and cherish enough to be motivated to put the hours in. Because, in the end, it's the happy hours of practice that build the sound, in a more lasting and useful way than the name on the gear does. At least that's how it seems to me. :)

Good luck. I'd love to come shopping with you, I've still got a few cents left, after blowing the last lot... :roll:

Cheers,

Chris

I think you should visit a music store that has these and play them, that is if you haven't already. Even if something isn't "American" you may like how it feels and/or plays. Secondly, what do you really have the desire to do? Sound better, get a cooler looking/better electric or go acoustic for a bit? Or do you have money burning a hole in your pocket? In my case (not to hijack), I want another electric maybe a strat at some point. I'm really having this desire for an acoustic though and that's like overriding everything else.

Thanks for the help, gave me some things to think about.

Yeah, I don't know why I included that American bit. I think I equate American stuff has having a longer shelf life/gaining value as opposed to other gear depreciating in value. Not that it makes a difference, a lot of it is just assembled in America, anyway, not necessarily made in. And my assumption about longer shelf life/gaining value might very well be wrong, too. CitiZenNoir had a little about that.

I'm not entirely satisfied with what I've got, and I've got money burning a hole in my pocket. I'd like to sound better, as well. It's all of the above. And anyway, I'm a little past coolness, hollow-body guitars undoubtedly look the coolest, and I've already satisfied that urge. ;)

Because, in the end, it's the happy hours of practice that build the sound, in a more lasting and useful way than the name on the gear does. At least that's how it seems to me.

The TRUTH!

I was typing a reply when Mozilla froze on me. Outstanding.
Well,
A pretty complicated conundrum....

And, I was thinking along the lines of Eirraca - I wasn't too sure of your motives.
At times it seemed that you wanted good equipment....
Other times, you had me thinking you just want equipment that looks cool and has a brand name on it.

The line seems to blur, sometimes. My fascination with the Martin acoustic I suppose is the bit of the child in me.
As far as reaching the higher frets on your artcore - you should be able to do that with the proper technique.
Think more in the way of slide playing.
You'll probably have to bring your thumb out to the front with your fingers. (and so press more with your arm as you'll
lose the anchoring of your thumb behind the neck).
Also - don't think that you have to keep your hand straight up and down.
You may have to angle your fingers/wrist more toward the bridge to get it done on the highest frets.
It is doable though.

I typed that up without the guitar handy. I can get to the 19th. Anything beyond that takes effort. I'll keep working on it.
As far as amps go - I like the RI Blues Deluxe, and although I'm a tube amp purist and it has a printed circuit board....
I was myself considering getting one. (and still might)

A PCB lends itself to more reliability than a point to point, hand wired tube amp.

And they (along with the HR Deluxe amps) have a wonderfully warm tone that most vintage Fender RI amps do not.

The Blues is covered in tweed, though NON lacquered, so it will not last as long.

Also, I understand that the drive channel is 'worthless' on the Blues.
And that it breaks up rather quickly on the CLEAN channel.
So most players have complained of lack of headroom - sounds great to me though. :D

If those things bother you - check into the Hot Rod Deluxe.
It has a More Drive channel that works pretty well, more headroom on the clean channel, and has a black plastic-like
finish that seems pretty durable.
And I think that the HR's cost less than the Blues as well.

I've been looking at the Hot Rod, too. I've been thinking/debating about the Fender briefcase-style amps pretty much every minute of every day. Twice a minute on weekends.

I would like an amp that is versatile, but I don't want to compromise too much on the creamy blues sound. You covered a lot of the negatives of the Blues Reissue, what are some of the positives in comparison to the Hot Rod? The Hot Rod is about $50 dollars cheaper on MF.
As for Mexican Strats - I personally have no love for them.
There's a post in Guitar players discussion I belive about the differences between MIM and MIA Fenders you might wanna
check out.

At any rate - if you really are interested in quality pieces, I say information is key.
I think you need to do a bit more research before making a decision.

Thanks. I'll be sure to check that thread out, I definitely have more research to do. Information is key, but I really have nothing to compare it to. Partially why I come to GuitarNoise.

Thanks to everyone, by the way. Really helpful. I'll definitely take Eirraca's advice and just go fiddle around in a guitar shop.