Got any "sleeper" gear?

Got any "sleeper" gear?

Got any "sleeper" gear?

“Scarlet Overkill” (named by my then-10-year-old daughter), my Epi LP Special I P-90. Bought it new from GC in December of 2015 for $99. Had gone in there looking at P-90 guitars and had been passing over this one because I figured it had to be a cheap-ass POS. Played a few others but their selection sucked (surprise!). Finally got through all the others and, because I hadn’t found anything I liked, decided to give it a go.

Holy crap! It just FELT good. Neck played great with no fret issues and the pickups were amazing! I ended up dumping the crap bridge for an intonatable one from GFS, adding some locking tuners and, for less than $200, ended up with a lightweight AWESOME little guitar that just rocks and is genuinely fun to play!

Before (stock photo):
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After:
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: Got any "sleeper" gear?

Digitech RDS 3.6 Delay. I have owned it for more than 30 years and its the only constant piece of gear I have used. Its on or its off. I turn the knob to change the speed of the delay to fit the song. Turn another knob to adjust the mix as needed. No midi, no muss, no fuss!

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Re: Got any "sleeper" gear?

Joyo classic flanger. Fully analog Ibanez/Maxon FL-9 clone. I also have their Voodoo octave pedal which is based on foxx tone machine fuzz from 70's

Both are around 40€, may look cheap outside, but the pcb and components are very good quality compared to analog pedals in any price range.

I now have mint condition MIJ Boss HF-2 for a flanger. It's wonder they still go under 90€ in used market.
 
Re: Got any "sleeper" gear?

Chistopher said:
What gear do y'all have that either by price, aesthetic, or reputation doesn't seem all that high quality, but works?
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Not famed guitar but my favorite neck ever so far !!!
This is a Westone Concord III (from 1982). I saw a blue one for sale on in the US for 300 dollars and here it costed 450 euros. And some people even wonder whether it is not too expensive.
It also have the best grip on the knobs I know to change your volume with the pinky while actually picking. But I will change all the pickups and electronics.

PB171697.jpg

Another unknown killer guitar is the Vantage X-88 (my new thrash metal guitar with ash body, huge mids and good low end)... But so few pictures in Google.
But here's some :

https://reverb.com/ca/item/1674149-vantage-x-88-matsumoku-built

But I do not understand the word "Sleeper" here.
 
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Re: Got any "sleeper" gear?

My MIC Fender Modern Player Stratocaster, with Texas Specials and seven-way switching. It’s the Stratiest Strat I’ve ever owned, and I’ve had an MIA Lone Star and three MIM.

DOD Boneshaker. Even if you don’t participate in the extended-range festivities, it’s an unbelievable distortion pedal that badly shows up many of the higher-gain pedals I’ve tried.
 
Re: Got any "sleeper" gear?

Re: Got any "sleeper" gear?

BriGuy1968 said:
After:
6ab13b51b70e30535300e5364e3d9f21.jpg
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Simple, clean, gorgeous. I've found, that in many cases, the difference between a "cheap" guitar and an expensive one is simply doing a proper setup, and changing out the electronics.
 
Re: Got any "sleeper" gear?

My pair of Echoplex Digital Pros. There is no deeper loopers available. They have been discontinued for 20 years, and current looping devices can do maybe 1/4 of what these can.

IMG_2138.jpg
 
Re: Got any "sleeper" gear?

The Laney Cub 8 combo is a so-so amp on it's own. A bit too honky and the EQ is a bit odd, too boxy but it works I guess.
Plugged it into my 2x12 it sounds absolutely BEAUTIFUL. 8 watts of smooth, raunchy 6V6 goodness.
Amazing rock n roll tone. And you can crank it without going deaf. Doesn't exactly sound like anything I can think of but it's just great.

If I could have it in head format I'd be so happy.

Also, my Ibanez SZ (all of them, actually) rivals most PRS SE guitars in quality for a fraction of the price.
 
Re: Got any "sleeper" gear?

Francois said:
Not famed guitar but my favorite neck ever so far !!!
This is a Westone Concord III (from 1982). I saw a blue one for sale on in the US for 300 dollars and here it costed 450 euros. And some people even wonder whether it is not too expensive.
It also have the best grip on the knobs I know to change your volume with the pinky while actually picking. But I will change all the pickups and electronics.

View attachment 98597

Another unknown killer guitar is the Vantage X-88 (my new thrash metal guitar with ash body, huge mids and good low end)... But so few pictures in Google.
But here's some :

https://reverb.com/ca/item/1674149-vantage-x-88-matsumoku-built

But I do not understand the word "Sleeper" here.
Click to expand...

I've always like the looks of those Westones. And they certainly seem like a bang-for-the-buck gear.

"Sleeper" is derived from car modding world. Vehices that look either completely ordinary, or just scrap, but pack serious heat.
 
Got any "sleeper" gear?

Got any "sleeper" gear?

Sleeper gear for me has been:

Fender Highway 1 Tele - became my #1 gigging guitar for almost 10 years. Could do everything I needed to play.

Zoom MS-50G pedal - that single pedal replaced over a thousand dollars worth of Strymons, Boss, MXR, Wamplers, TCs and others that I was lugging around every week. This is my pedalboard now.

Gibson Les Paul Studio “satin” - the lowest possible LP you could get with the Gibson name still on it. Many Epiphones are actually higher end. It’s been my pickup swap platform for more than 5 years and have gigged weekly with it.

Rickenbacker 420-12 - bought at GC for $200 a long time ago. Wasn’t sure if I would really get to use it much. I used it every gig for ~3 years then wrote music on it and used it in the studio for another 10 years or more. The thing is worth $4000 now due to its rarity.

Tech 21 SansAmp PSA-1 (rack unit) - skeptically bought it on recommendation from a studio engineer who told me more famous records were tracked with it than you would believe, at the time. Since I owned some of the amps it was simulating, I put them side by side and tweaked it to match, and it did a really convincing job of it. This was my gigging amp for direct line/no amp situations for about 10 years.

Line6 Flextone III - needed a small combo for cafe level gigs that could do the sound my SL-X or any JCM or Plexi makes. To be honest, a VOX Valvetronic at the time did Marshall better than any then-current production Marshall or other simulation, but this did 15 other amps as well. Gigged with it for 10 years. It’s now defunct, however. I managed to wear it out.

Not too much of this stuff is great, but these all worked out way better than expected.
 
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Re: Got any "sleeper" gear?

Metaltronix M-1000. Marshall tone in spades, particularly after FJA Mods got done with it.

It is still the UGLIEST amp I have ever seen.

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Re: Got any "sleeper" gear?

Well I can say this is a sleeper guitar that I bought back in 1989 for just over $2k not including the hard shell case. I've eyed quite a few other guitars before this like a '59 reissue Gibson Les Paul Standard with an amazing flamed maple top and I wanted that guitar so bad when I first saw it in the music store. It was selling for around $5k at the time and that was a lot of money back then and working as a janitor didn't pay much. This guitar below combined elements of other guitars like the Stratocaster and Les Paul with it's arched top. It's a Yamaha RGX Custom that is a top-line model. It has a 5-piece maple/mahogany neck thru-body. The body is select ash wood. It has an ebony fretboard and 12F crystal inlays. It also has 24 Jim Dunlop 6100 jumbo frets. It's been about thirty years I've had this wonderful axe. I plan to keep it 30 more.:)

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;>)/
 
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Re: Got any "sleeper" gear?

2010 G&L Tribute Jerry Cantrell Rampage. Cost me $330 with a nice gig bag. Puts my U.S.A. Gibsons to shame in terms of build quality.

'68 Guild T-100D, all original. Cost me under $800. Easily holds its own with my '68 ES-330 and '68 SG Standard (also both all original).

'03 Gibson Les Paul Melody Maker. $380 guitar when new; it was thrown in for free as part of a promotion when I bought my '04 Les Paul Standard. The MM rips, and I have played it much, much more than the Standard over the years since then.

'01 Gibson Les Paul Junior. Was something under $700 new, and it is a killer guitar in every way (after a new nut and a few fret dressings to get it just right).

'63 Gibson Skylark. Got it for free, and have $150 into repairs. It's a killer amp.
 
Re: Got any "sleeper" gear?

RorySquier said:
Well I can say this is a sleeper guitar that I bought back in 1989 for just over $2k not including the hard shell case. I've eyed quite a few other guitars before this like a '59 reissue Gibson Les Paul Standard with an amazing flamed maple top and I wanted that guitar so bad when I first saw it in the music store. It was selling for around $5k at the time and that was a lot of money back then and working as a janitor didn't pay much. This guitar below combined elements of other guitars like the Stratocaster and Les Paul with it's arched top. It's a Yamaha RGX Custom that is a top-line model. It has a 5-piece maple/mahogany neck thru-body. The body is select ash wood. It has an ebony fretboard and 12F crystal inlays. It also has 24 Jim Dunlop 6100 jumbo frets. It's been about thirty years I've had this wonderful axe. I plan to keep it 30 more.:)

IMG729_zpsvn7evlfb.jpg


full


full


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;>)/
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You know, I’ve had 2 of those and while the quality is undeniable, I just could not gel with either of them.
 
Re: Got any "sleeper" gear?

formula73 said:
You know, I’ve had 2 of those and while the quality is undeniable, I just could not gel with either of them.
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I remember you had a purple one and a rockin' YouTube video on it.;) They are definitely a different guitar that is not always appealing to others. I've always wanted that Les Paul that I've mentioned before. It took me a while to get used to the Yamaha but I can now appreciate it more. I plan on keeping mine until I die. The guitar has everything I need & thensome.



;>)/
 
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