How long has you Number One been your Number one?

[KeeperOS]

Re: How long has you Number One been your Number one?

The one I've been playing for the longest was my first one, a 2000 Fender Strat that I bought new at Christmas that year and have modded to hell and back. However I never really felt like she was my be all-end all guitar, mainly because of how uncomfortable I found the neck to be (too thick and C-shaped). Since that, the next guitar I'd get would be the one I'd play the most but in truth, the very first time I felt like "This is my no.1" was my 2007 Swing EZ-10, bought new in mid-2008.

She also went through modding hell as well but that was by design as I bought her with that intention, a very ambitious project that ended costing me almost 5 times the guitar's original cost, something I'd never do again but also one that I never regretted.

Finally, after many years of wanting to have a custom guitar built and after a couple of years of nailing down the specifics, mainly by seeing what I liked in my Swing and my Washburn MG-122 and what I'd do differently, I had Will Stinnett build me my dream guitar.

She was completed in late 2010 but I only got her in my hands in early 2011, almost exactly two years ago, and has been my no.1 ever since. A couple of guitars have come after that and I truly love each one of them (with an emphasis on my latest acquisition, my Parker Mojo Fly Single Cut, the first guitar to win a clear-cut #2 place whereas before I had two #2s and no #3) but I do believe that none will be able to match what the Stinnett brought, the realization of a dream that for many years existed only in my head...

 

[Zerberus]

Re: How long has you Number One been your Number one?

I've been touring since I was 19. I'm 50 now. It's been my only source of income my whole adult life. For the past 14 years, the majority of my work has involved interstate air travel. We carry our own back line. I take one guitar. It's kept in a professional standard of maintenance. I break a string maybe once every couple of years. The sky doesn't fall, nobody walks out, the show goes on. Anybody who would walk out of a gig they paid to see because the guitar part was missing from half a song gets exactly what they deserve. They miss the rest of the show because they're a knob. The longest breaks I've ever encountered at gigs have been when the three phase has gone down or a generator has tripped at a festival. Digital front of house console has to reboot, still nobody leaves. Changing a guitar string? Barely a ripple on the ocean.

I'm not talking about playing some dive or a weekend blues jam, I'm talking about working at a professional standard, playing to tens of thousands of punters per year. I know dozens of working professionals who do exactly the same, bass players included. Keyboard players with one keyboard. Drummers with one kick pedal. Here's me playing to 16,000 people...one guitar...tell me it can't be done and isn't professional.

Cheers.......................................... wahwah

Bro, as everybody knows I have immense respect for you, and to be honest If I had a truly bulletproof instrument I might even considerletting everything ride on 1 card. Probably not long, but... At any rate, I wouldn´t refer to you as unprofessional, esp. since the main reason is a logistical one, but I do feel it´s a less than optimal approach. However, you also seem to have numerous alternatives at your regular disposal (someone else´s instrument, said tambourine, et.al.), that´s something that definitely factors in. If all you can do is play guitar and your guitar is screwed, then so are you, but when there are alternatives available why not make use of them while someone replaces that string.

It may just be a difference in scene, but here in Europe snafus like string changes at metal festivals almost universally end up in bands getting free beer via airmail and a piece of the crowd´s mind, including International acts. I`ve actually see bands FIRE their guitarist onstage for exactly this reason and continue the rest of the set and tour as a 4 piece.

And I feel it´s understandable, People here pay through the nose just to get tickets in the first place, and they therefore nip that kind of thing in the bud very aggressively, because they know that if they don´t next year everybody is going to change strings onstage, and that they definitely won´t pay for. They have absolute tolerance for global issues like generators going down or somebody´s airline ****ing up the equip, but the tolerance for what I wouuld consider personal failings as a professional is very close to zero. Maybe we just view it as inconsiderate to make 60.000 people that already paid wait unnecesarily, I dunno... Again, I think it´s just a wholly different scene.

But hey, that´s what makes life so interesting, everybody leads a different one, regardless of how similar they may sometimes seem :beerchug:

 

[IMENATOR]

Re: How long has you Number One been your Number one?

Since 1998, it is a '96 Ritchie Sambora Standard Lake Placid Blue with rosewood fingerboard. Its been thru an slow DIY upgrade process since 2009 but now it has a white pearl pickguard and SD pickups and liberator. I may give it away to a beloved person one day but definitly never sell it, it should stay in the family.

 

[Metalrulez]

Re: How long has you Number One been your Number one?

My main for 20 something years is a The Heritage H170 I bought used for $300.00. I swapped the stock Schaller bridge pickup with a Seth Lover back when they came out in the 90's. It might not be everyones mug of coffee but it works for me.

 

[Jeffblue]

Re: How long has you Number One been your Number one?

2012 Gibson Les Paul Supreme, Seymour Duncan 59/JB model pickups, Wilkinson brass roller bridge, brass stop tailpiece, TonePros locking studs, Schaller strap locks and vintage style control knobs. THis is my number 1 since I had first received it and I modified it immediately.

 

[wahwah]

Re: How long has you Number One been your Number one?

Bro, as everybody knows I have immense respect for you, and to be honest If I had a truly bulletproof instrument I might even considerletting everything ride on 1 card. Probably not long, but... At any rate, I wouldn´t refer to you as unprofessional, esp. since the main reason is a logistical one, but I do feel it´s a less than optimal approach. However, you also seem to have numerous alternatives at your regular disposal (someone else´s instrument, said tambourine, et.al.), that´s something that definitely factors in. If all you can do is play guitar and your guitar is screwed, then so are you, but when there are alternatives available why not make use of them while someone replaces that string.

It may just be a difference in scene, but here in Europe snafus like string changes at metal festivals almost universally end up in bands getting free beer via airmail and a piece of the crowd´s mind, including International acts. I`ve actually see bands FIRE their guitarist onstage for exactly this reason and continue the rest of the set and tour as a 4 piece.

And I feel it´s understandable, People here pay through the nose just to get tickets in the first place, and they therefore nip that kind of thing in the bud very aggressively, because they know that if they don´t next year everybody is going to change strings onstage, and that they definitely won´t pay for. They have absolute tolerance for global issues like generators going down or somebody´s airline ****ing up the equip, but the tolerance for what I wouuld consider personal failings as a professional is very close to zero. Maybe we just view it as inconsiderate to make 60.000 people that already paid wait unnecesarily, I dunno... Again, I think it´s just a wholly different scene.

But hey, that´s what makes life so interesting, everybody leads a different one, regardless of how similar they may sometimes seem :beerchug:

Zerb, I hear ya and that all makes sense. The differences in scenes and audience demographics explain the difference in crowd reactions that we would experience. I suspect that metal audiences here might be similarly intolerant of delays, but I wouldn't know for sure because I've never played metal or played to a metal audience. I've toured through Europe not playing metal, and from my perspective they were some of the most musically aware and appreciative audiences I've ever played to, but clearly the genre makes the difference. Moral of the story, if you're playing to a metal crowd, take a spare guitar or expect vitriol of the 'bottle to the face' variety should you break a string mid show.

The audiences I'm playing to have paid to see the artist I work for, and to be honest, as long as he is singing and present on stage, the crowd are going to be far more tolerant of something like a string change, in fact if it's not pointed out, they may not even notice. With the measures I take to maintain the guitar and strings, it is a rare event, considering the time spent on the road and on stage. That's why I've been confident to take the one solid instrument for all these years. If the conditions were different (e.g., equipment travelling by road, etc) I would happily have a spare, and have done in the past. But to some extent, the artist takes responsibility, since it is his money I am saving on air freight. But it is what it is, and under these conditions, one guitar works just fine.




Cheers......................................... wahwah

 

[Aceman]

Re: How long has you Number One been your Number one?

Since 1979. Technically, it was probably since 1993 or so, since it was my ONLY one until then....

 

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: How long has you Number One been your Number one?

The three guitars I currently own have been with me less than two years, so it's hard to say, maybe one of the two 1993 Hamer Specials (third is a 93 Tele).

I rarely thought of a guitar in those terms, but probably the closest I came to feeling that way was a modded Strat (X2N or Invader bridge) that I gigged from 1981-1993. Despite its "#1" rating, it had its neck busted off twice, and the body cracked in half once. I doubt if any guitar wants to be my #1 after that, hehe...although I have calmed down since then...

 

[bluesbend]

Re: How long has you Number One been your Number one?

He/she/it's a beauty.

Thanks, man.

 

[butnut]

Re: How long has you Number One been your Number one?

Been a LP guy since the 70's. Started gigging regularly almost 5 years. A few years ago, thought I'd try a CS336, same size as a LP, 1 piece mahogany body/maple cap...loved it, but traded it for an old LP Deluxe...mistake. Searched for a KS 336, same as the CS but with ebpny board, super markers, antique gold finish. It was a limited run, took almost a year to find one. Dropped in a Bare Knuckle JP set, it has been my #1 almost 2 years. With practice/gig once a week and homework, I'm wearing the finish off. It really feels like a true custom shop, the neck plays better than my Customs or Standard any day. Just to see if I could fall back with my LP, I took my gold top to a gig...man, the KS blows it away. I got a Pellham Blue Epi 336 ordered (backorder) as I'm playing the crap outta my KS...gonna use that Epi for band practice and homework, save the KS for gigs only.