Happy Independance Day Strat-o-Kidz!

(image: www.worth1000.com - user agarcia0721)

Have fun tonight!

Protect your ears and your fingers!!!

Stick your fingers in 'em and everything will be safe.

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1:3 Scale SRV #1 GMP Replica Guitar

Although the description sez it comes with strings and working vol & tone controls, it also informs us that this guitar is not playable. What's up with that? Bet my dentist could play it! Even the pickup switch and trem are movable, and the strings are scaled. Yeah, my dentist could play it alright.

Fortunately it doesn't come with a choking hazard warning or a "Do not eat!" label.

At 12" in height this will look great on the desk, mantle or bar. Or if you keep a Jesus on your dashboard, maybe this can fill in at the dash position when JC is at the cleaners.

Warpdrive Music has some in stock.

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Vintage Style Tweed Briefcase

classic Fender case

For those of us who haven't quit our day jobs to become full time musicians, these nifty briefcases help carry the vibe regardless. Also available in black tolex for the post-tweed enthusiast. Action Music eBay store has a few other Fender novelty items i.e. a Strat - Twin Amp salt & pepper shaker set as well as some of those collectible limited, 50th Anniversary Pick Trucks from 2005-- a little semi tractor trailer loaded with 50th Anniversary Fender picks.

Oh yeah, they also have old school wall mount bottle openers with Fender logo that resembles the Coca Cola logo-- a must accessory for the shop, garage or man cave.

Yep! Everything we need!

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CliqueHear.com to Find the Musician's Musicians

Clique Hear gig directory

CliqueHear.com is a site to list or find gigs. It's free to use and doesn't even contain advertising.

Browse the current gig listings to see the caliber of musicians already listing there, and also read their mission statement. See this VIDEO for a message from the founder of CliqueHear.

Found at XoticGuitars Youtube channel.

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Eric Johnson's Fantastik Tone Secret!

Part of a series of Harmony Central interview clips with Eric Johnson, this vid wraps up on the lighter side with an important product tip, so pay attention.

I also want to plug HC's Youtube channel:

www.youtube.com/user/HarmonyCentral

If you've found navigating and loading times to be difficult at HC, you'll find their YT channel much nicer to use!


Eric Johnson Strat Deals!

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Vacuum Tube Chess Set?

Guitar players and chess may not be a good mix, but this could change everything!

Check out Pribek for more details & links about it.

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Bonamassa & Robben Ford Jam

Found this lively clip on the Youtube, from looks like maybe early 90's. We don't see young Joe B. playin' a Strat these days, and fortunately he didn't get stuck to that hat either. Looks like Mr. Ranger Smith or a scoutmaster hat. He sure does a good job stealing Ford's pic-a-nic basket here though, whaddaya say Boo Boo!

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A Strat for Friday #131 - Xotic XS Series Featuring Allen Hinds

Xotic Strat Guitar

This week's Friday installment departs from our usual format in that I'm promoting Xotic's S-type line of guitars. Above we have fusion man Allen Hinds demoing his Xotic configuration which shares some of the basic XS Series features except for some personal upgrades. Yes these are the same Xotic-Prosound Communications folks who brought us the AC & RC Booster pedals as well as their newest Raw Vintage line of trem springs and saddles, which I'll be upgrading my own Strat with soon and talking about in the near future.

The XS guitar line incorporates hi-end electronics and hardware into a variety of classic finishes. I personally like the dark green with the tortoise pickguard. So check all the above links and browse the XS specs and the full Xotic product line too!

Xotic Youtube Channel

Allen Hinds Discussion

more Friday Strats!

Super Strats on the Block

Xotic Pedal Deals

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Wishbone Ash Guitarist Selling Rare Vintage Fender

eBay Starcaster auction

Guitar collector mojo alert!

Yeah, I'm pimpin' a lotta gear these days, so apologies to the regular readers who probably expect more content variety. Nevertheless this is a very interesting gear find.

The seller, claiming to be Ted Turner from the legendary Wishbone Ash, is auctioning this vintage Fender Starcaster. Yes, the original Starcaster model was a 70's attempt by Fender to attract the 330 series Gibson market. Nowadays, Fender is reusing the "Starcaster" moniker on an ultra-cheap-cheese department store Strat-type guitar that goes for under $100. Pretty dismal, I know...

Anyway, regardless of all that, this looks like a pretty clean guitar. The bullet truss rod, 3 bolt neck and skunk stripe certainly reflect early to mid-70's features. The Wide Range pickups of that era have the real magnetic adjustable poles as opposed to the steel poles in today's Fender WR humbucker reissues. The orig. WR's are fat sounding. My '72 Tele Thinline has a big loud sound, so I imagine these hollow Starcasters to be very sweet when set up well.

Do your homework and contact the seller with any questions. If he's really Ted from Wishbone Ash, and can verify things to your satisfaction, this would add mojo to any guitar collection.

Seller listing info:

Seller: 5668ted (Feedback 8)
Feedback: 100 % Positive
Member: since Mar-20-05 in United States

Item ID# 270416176261

End time: Jul-03-09 12:20:22 PDT
Shipping: US $50.00
UPS Ground
Service to United States
Ships to: United States
Item location: Phoenix, AZ, United States

More Cool Listings!

Vintage 1959 Stratocaster, Blonde Custom Color

eBay auction Fender collectible











"Hey Blondie!!!"

COLLECTOR ALERT!

Eli Wallach could have been yelling at this one-- already more than a few years old when that movie came out. This is one of the sweetest vintage relic Strat listings I've seen in awhile. The listing features TONS of great photos, ultra close-ups, details and specs, including the standard vintage disassembly dissection shots. Yeah, this is the real deal alright!

Quite a war horse, she is a textbook study for anyone interested in guitar aging patterns. You'll wanna get over there soon and snag the photos for relic research purposes. Textbook!

The bidding is heavy! Evidently someone's not getting that boat this Summer.

Meet the parents:

Seller: thriftstoremusic (525Feedback score)
Feedback: 99.4 % Positive
Member: since Aug-19-03 in United States

Item # 260435871744

End time: Jul-05-09 17:54:32 PDT

Shipping: FREE shipping
US Postal Service Priority Mail
Service to United States
(more services)
Ships to: Worldwide
Item location: Los Angeles, California, United States

Vintage Strat Listings

Breedlove AN 250/CR Nylon to Steel Conversion

eBay customized finger style acoustic guitar

I'm unplugging for a moment here to help a friend sell his guitar. This cedar top, concert size Breedlove started out as a nylon string, but now accommodates steel strings too. The bridge was replaced, plus a JLD truss system was installed underneath. The JLD unit is a cantilevered truss apparatus which removes the string tension from the top-- and is standard on Breedlove's steel string models. The tuner post shafts were upgraded to steel as well, and the neck already had a truss rod. In fact, this neck has very little flex compared to some standard steel string flat tops. When you de-tune with steel strings on this guitar, the other strings hold their pitch very well.

The neck width at the nut is 1 7/8", so we're talkin' whole lotta neck, but the action and relief with steel is actually low and comfortable once you get used to the nut width-- and no string buzz. My favorite thing about this guitar is its crazy midrange punch. Concert size cedar top steel string acoustics are known for a pronounced midrange and this one is a killer, especially as it is braced for nylon. The bottom is tight without being boomy or muddy, and the high end isn't airy & glassy. A good finger style responsive guitar that you can dig into hard-- also good for bottleneck slide. We put EXP acoustic light steel strings on it.

If you want to stick with nylon, just be sure to buy a ball end type nylon string set.

This guitar is currently listed at eBay by user jaimemay. The listing page provides full specs, details and more pics.

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Strats With Issues #2 - Natural Ash ,Too AMAZING to Play

eBay Seller: robszat
Item # 180372743474


Nice lookin' ash body. That's a Duncan rails in the bridge position. Might be a great find. Not too crazy, but the following from the seller's description got me going a bit:

"...it sounds and plays amazing... I have owned this guitar for about 8 years and the only reason I'm selling it is in the last three years I've only played it about ten times..."

I dunno about you but if I had something that sounds and plays AMAZING it would be very difficult to restrain myself from picking it up more than 10 times in 3 years. And to imagine owning it 8 years and STILL considering it sounds and plays amazing. Maybe this guitar is simply so amazing that it makes the owner feel guilty and unworthy for touching it. Maybe he has it in a display case on the wall and watches it in the evenings instead of television. Maybe his wife or girlfriend doesn't allow him to play it. He could be in therapy and advised to just let it go. I can imagine many possible scenarios.

Hopefully the next owner can deal with it. Would somebody buy this Strat and help the poor bastard find some sort of closure. Amazing.

I also thought of this heartwarming quote from The Man Book
by Otto DeFay:

"Show me a beautiful woman with a boyfriend, and I'll show you a guy who's already tired of f#*@%ng her."

Now, isn't that special.

more Strats With Issues

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A Strat for Friday #130 - Custom Shop Competition Stripe

Food & Beverage Suggestion:
(Lunch)
Shrimp Tempura
Starbucks Green Tea Frappuccino

Here's one of those NAMM '07 Limited racing stripe units. This seller actually has a red one too. We're looking at the teal green with cream color stripe. These are also referred to as 60's Closet Classics from Fender Custom Shop. It's in brand new condition and comes with case, COA and all the candy.

In these photos at least, the teal green looks very similar to the sage green. The sage goes very well with a brass pickguard. Check out Friday Strat #113 I actually checked out #113 first hand as it was listed by a local retailer at the time. Of course the color looked different in person, but the brass and sage was even better.

Meet the parents:

strummer1960 (1336)
99.6% Positive feedback

Item condition: New
Time left: Jun 29, 200904:44:50 PM PDT

Item number: 220440274148

Item location: South Saint Paul, MN, United States
Ships to: United States

more Friday Strats

Fresh Custom Shop Listings

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Laurie Morvan, Certified Blues Strat-o-Sister

I just ran across a great article about Laurie Morvan, and I'm thinkin', "oh yeah, she's one of my Strat-o-Sisters. But somehow, even though I knew about Laurie, I'd neglected to blog her and add her to our directory. Sorry Laurie!!!

Thanks to the recent piece at Recordnet.com, I'm correcting this oversight at this moment.

Laurie has a very cool personal story, and the article also emphasizes the growing guitar gal phenonmenon we've been tracking for a couple years here at Stratoblogster. So be sure to visit the above link and read it!

Here's one of my favorite quotes:

"...After graduating - and earning her airplane pilot's license - she plugged in, working to earn enough money for a Gibson Les Paul.

Then "I tried the Stratocaster," Morvan said. " 'Oh, my god,' I said. 'This is it.' I've been a Strat girl ever since..."

A "Strat Girl" indeed-- and a Strat girl all the way, cuz I don't see her playing anything else!


Discover more about Laurie Morvan at these links:

www.modernguitars.com (interview link)
myspace.com/lauriemorvanband
www.lauriemorvan.com

Strat-o-Sisters Directory

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Strats With Issues on eBay - DIRECTORY

Here's a new series about Strats people are listing that just don't seem quite right. Either it's something said in the description that makes you wanna read between the lines, or it's a mod that you wonder about-- "Why would they do that?"

But this isn't a freak show folks. Guitarz blog features the more blatant oddities. Like if you've ever been to a 24 hour supermarket at 2:38 AM, only to discover that besides yourself, the only other person in the produce section is a woman with no face. Literally, no face-- it's missing. We're not going there ok.

This series is more like the middle aged divorced person meeting other people their age. You just know there are issues. It's something that they said or a personality quirk that sends your mind into overtime. These are the Strat stories we'll be featuring here in our continuing series. They will be actual listings; actual case histories folks, so be very very careful in the dangerous kitchen, and do not blame Stratoblogster if you are smitten and later burned.

"The earth is bi-polar." Steven Wright

CASE FILE DIRECTORY:

Strats With Issues #1 - '72 With Bill Lawrence's
Strats With Issues #2 - Natural Ash, Too Amazing to Play

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Strats With Issues #1 - '72 With Bill Lawrence Blades

Click top 2 images for larger views.

Obviously a '72 from the bullet truss rod, skunk stripe, 3-bolt and fat headstock. Must be Olympic white because at this age, oly gets pretty damn creamy for sure. Judging from the butt, somebody used a dog chain for a strap. Yeah, she's a '72 with issues. A 37 year old with some rear end finish damage isn't uncommon, but still I'm thinkin' dog chain. My '72 Tele is pretty banged up, but not at the bottom strap button area. Gotta be a dog chain. Definitely dog chain. Must I go Rain Man here?!

Seller is eBay Store Musicians-BEST-Friend - A clever name with an equally clever 97.8% rating. Not necessarily an evil & nefarious rating, but perhaps NOT our "best friend" either.

Mr. Best-Friend refers to it as "a workhorse guitar" that "plays like a dream". Both friendly descriptions. He also goes on to indicate the following important item:

"The original pickups do come with this auction only one of the three work the other two will need to be rewound."

So, did the dog chew up two of those original pickups?

The seller is located in Palm Desert, CA. Isn't that where Michael Vick is incarcerated?

"Hey, while we're waiting for our golf tee time let's play 'fetch the Strat' with my pit bull!"

Why can't they teach pickup rewinding in the joint? There's a lot of call for this skill on the outside! Something to fall back on if you get sacked by a 350 lb. linebacker and PETA member.

more Strats With Issues (coming soon!!!)

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Strat Style Guitar Cufflinks from Kenneth Cole

"RIFF" by Kenneth Cole

If you do the old school of dapper Bluesman suave-ity, these Strat-o-Riffic cufflinks might be just the accessory which dots the i's and crosses the t's in the beingness of your universe. Great with that herringbone suit!

Myself, I don't wear the cufflinks, but each to his own yknow. I do have an appreciation of these things...

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Peter Gusmano's GUITAR FOR A CURE Fights ALS

(photo: http://guitarforacure.com)

Peter Gusmano (pictured right) is the man behind Guitarforacure.com , an effort to treat and discover a cure for ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease, which claimed the life of his mother and affects many people including guitarist Jason Becker. Gusmano's efforts support Project ALS.

Visit Gusmano's site for details about "A Flickering Light", a serious guitar CD release with some big Favored Nations talent onboard, the proceeds of which go to Project ALS. The Nash guitar pictured with Peter will be up for auction soon. Details on the auction schedule are forthcoming and will be made available at Guitarforacure.com, so stay tuned!

Also check the blog:
http://guitarforacure.com/blog/

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Blues Harp Pedalboard Demo

Here's a fun clip I found at Live Texas Music , a blog run by a 7th generation Texan, which means he probably also knows the correct way to smoke a brisket.


Top pedal suppliers:

Fat Tone Guitars
TunnelVisionMusic
Guitar Gear Stores (pedal merchant directory)

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Fuchs Overdrive Supreme, Fender Deluxe Mod Combo Listing

eBay Andy Fuchs boutique guitar amp auctions

This one is very interesting, and could be sweet, but do your diligence, make a few calls and ask the seller whatever questions you may have.

Seller: billi3964 (ebay currently not displaying a rating or rank... First time listing I guess.)

Item # 220438281711

End time: Jun-26-09 11:35:15 PDT
Shipping: US $70.00
US Postal Service Parcel Post®
Service to United States
Ships to: United States
Item location: Shelby, AL, United States

Fresh Amp Listings

also recommended: Super Clean 80's Music Man 112RD 50W Combo at Guitar Adoptions.

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