Yamaha AES 800B (Factory Bigsby)
04/12/08 13:46 Filed in: guitar
sales
YAMAHA AES 800B / Metallic Blue / Factory Bigsby B5
PRICE: £295 ono (with gig bag)
SPECIFICATION: Quality parts (many USA) made in Taiwan, usual Yamaha attention to detail and QC. Retro-styled solid-body electric guitar reminiscent of a '60s Gretsch or Rickenbacker. Manufactured in 2000 or 2001. Alder body finished in metallic blue, maple bolt-on 22-fret neck, rosewood fingerboard, two DiMarzio Q100 soapbar humbuckers (THESE PICKUPS ARE KILLERS FOLKS & the same as fitted to the mega expensive AES1500 semi acoustic. The last lot I chased on eBay made 150USD the pair, FACT, as they are beloved by the Nashville session guys). 25.5" scale length, like a Stratocaster. Tune-O-Matic bridge, like a Les Paul. Nice neck with a matt finish and a profile somewhere between a Strat and a Les Paul. Big, thick, heavyish body (like an LP) with comfort profiling (like a Strat). Good balance when worn on a strap.
Bigsby USA B5 trem unit (these would cost another 80GBP) which accounts for the "B" in the model name. An interesting special knob mixes the coil-tapped output of both pickups in varying degrees of out-of-phaseness (it works only in the pickup selector's No 2 position). One volume control, one tone control. Five-way pickup selector: 1) neck humbucker, 2) both pickups coil-tapped, 3) both humbuckers, 4) bridge pickup coil-tapped, 5) bridge humbucker. Amazing tones
Don't be misled by frequent references to this guitar as a "semi-acoustic" in Yamaha dealers' online sales literature. It is not. Presumably someone confused it with the top of the AES range, the AES1500, which is an ES335-like semi. Discontinued, probably too expensive to make (that is the reason these days especially with this spec). You want to nail the clean tones, look no further, and the DiMarzios have the KICK when you need it. These were £450 in the shops.
CONDITION: B- (Played but extremely well cared for)
POSITIVES: All original except for a new jack plate, the original was plastic - silly but factory savings had to come somewhere I suppose! Cheaper than fitting new pickups and a proper trem!! Very little play wear. The Bigsby and pickups alone would set you back almost £200! And those DiMarzio soap bars are to die for. Blows away any solid Gretsch or Ricky tone wise.
CAVEATS: Usual pick marks. Some minor clothes and button marks on rear of guitar but nothing has broken the finish and they are impossible to see unless staring into the sun. In normal light it all looks perfect.
INDEPENDENT REVIEWS: Harmony Central
Parker Fly P-40
04/12/08 13:06 Filed in: guitar
sales
PARKER FLY P-40 / STEEL GREY
PRICE: £275ono (with non Parker gig bag)
SPECIFICATION: Made in Korea; June 2001 (see neck pocket) 22 jumbo nickel silver frets; select ash body; maple neck; rosewood fretboard; Wilkinson vibrato/Fishman piezo bridge; Parker Alnico humbucker at bridge; single coils at the middle and neck; 5-way selector for magnetic pickups; 3 way selector to go between magnetic signals, piezo signals, and blending of the two signals; 1 tone control for magnetic pickups; volume control for magnetic pickups; separate volume control for piezo pickup. Comes in a Steel Grey finish which starts out dull matt and rubs slowly to a glossier graphite look where it is used. Looks cool.
CONDITION: B- (easy B but for small blem see below)
POSITIVES: Everything virtually as new down to the plastic film still on the back plates. Virtually no fret wear. New strings.
CAVEATS: Tiny finish blem in cutaway. Some finishes can't deal with the neck pocket stresses and end up giving, this one polished through to the wood as a minor stress line caused the finish to lift. Nothing problematic, just the nature of 'material interfaces' - to give it the tech's term. We double checked as it was near the neck pocket. Everything checks out structurally 100%, just one of those things. Looking at reviews it seems this finish does produce the odd blem but it's otherwise all OK on this one. It could be touched up very easily and invisibly but we have left that to the buyer.
OVERALL: Like Marmite, you either love them or you hate them. Check out the Harmony Central reviews below, the guitar inspires extremes of adoration and loathing in the opinions but still scores highly.
INDEPENDENT REVIEW: Harmony Central
Framus Les Paul Model
03/12/08 14:26 Filed in: guitar
sales
Framus 'Les Paul Type' (Model 10605)
PRICE: £250ono (with gig bag)
SPECIFICATION: Mahogany body & neck. Rosewood fb. Brass bridge. Zero fret (nice!). Factory DiMarzios Made in '77 at the Wilfer factory, this is a 100% no nonsense working axe made to compete with both the flood of Jap copies and USA companies. The necks look to be a hybrid of fixed and glued with a small brass plate at the back. Ultra tight neck pocket whatever! There is one of these shop listed on eBay for £495! GET THIS FOR HALF THAT! Check out the Framus Museum.
CONDITION: C+/B- (well looked after & 100% genuine vintage axe)
POSITIVES: All original down to the zero fret. Pro set up before listing. Plays really well and pickups are top class.
CAVEATS: over 30 year old! This has been a working guitar and has the wear to prove it. However, it still looks to be in remarkably good condition overall and well above the state you will find most in of this vintage. It has been fully set up but the original frets are getting low with only maybe another one fret dress left so be aware that some work will be needed in a couple of years or so if this is going to be played regularly. The tech also advised a slight fingerboard skim at the top end when the re-fret takes place. A common enough practice to ensure everything is OK as woods do move in 30 years!
INDEPENDENT REVIEWS: None
Tokai Talbo 'Blazing Fire'. S-S-S. Black. 1984. MIJ.
01/12/08 07:19 Filed in: guitar
sales
PICS TO FOLLOW
Tokai Talbo 'Blazing Fire'. Black. H-S-S. 1984. MIJ.
Price: £695
Specification: We will be posting pics and spec later today. This is a very, very collectable guitar as well as being sonically unique. All original except the trem arm. The original was lost, I obtained a replacement from Tokai UK and got a chrome one as they are less prone to tarnish and it looks funkier. For less than a tenner get another gold one as well! Our price is well under what they have been selling for (£800 plus shipping and tax to get one from Japan at the last look, and that was before the pound committed suicide). You'll have to find $1200 plus shipping and duty and tax to get one from the USA (if you can find one), which is almost a grand in anyone's language these days by the time it arrives.
Condition: C>B but misleading, this is a guitar that needs some wear and tear to look good. The older it gets the better it will look, it is bulletproof.
Positives: Everything, even the worn black finish on the aluminium body looks so cool. If offers don't arrive it will be gladly put back into temp controlled storage and left to appreciate while providing all the tones and a uniqueness a Strat can only try to....
Caveats: TBC
Independent Review: Harmony Central
Tokai Talbo 'Blazing Fire'. Black. H-S-S. 1984. MIJ.
Price: £695
Specification: We will be posting pics and spec later today. This is a very, very collectable guitar as well as being sonically unique. All original except the trem arm. The original was lost, I obtained a replacement from Tokai UK and got a chrome one as they are less prone to tarnish and it looks funkier. For less than a tenner get another gold one as well! Our price is well under what they have been selling for (£800 plus shipping and tax to get one from Japan at the last look, and that was before the pound committed suicide). You'll have to find $1200 plus shipping and duty and tax to get one from the USA (if you can find one), which is almost a grand in anyone's language these days by the time it arrives.
Condition: C>B but misleading, this is a guitar that needs some wear and tear to look good. The older it gets the better it will look, it is bulletproof.
Positives: Everything, even the worn black finish on the aluminium body looks so cool. If offers don't arrive it will be gladly put back into temp controlled storage and left to appreciate while providing all the tones and a uniqueness a Strat can only try to....
Caveats: TBC
Independent Review: Harmony Central
Charvel 325 SL Surfcaster Electro-Acoustic
29/11/08 14:17 Filed in: guitar
sales
PRICE: £350 ono (with gigbag)
Rare collectable beast in the coolest of surf green finishes - wonderful!!!
Description:
It is almost impossible to find out anything about the acoustic surfcaster. It seems they were made between '92-'94, maybe in Korea by Samick according to one internet source but please don't take this as gospel. Bought off a collector because one of our number had a thing about Surfcasters back in the 90s. It has been cossetted, to put it mildly. There is no fret wear or buckle rash. In fact it's difficult to see any signs of play at all. This is clearly built to be an electric player's acoustic and has uncluttered access to all 22 frets. The neck is slim and quick and it has the more useful 3 band EQ option (the other SLX model had a chorus and 2 band EQ). And love the cat's eye f-hole!!
Specification:
Nothing on the Jackson / Charvel museum website which makes it tricky. 22 frets. Charvel logo tuners. Rosewood bridge & fingerboard. Bound body. 3 band EQ on piezo, jack output on endpin. I don't know if it is a solid top, but if not probably maple by the sound of it.
Condition: B = Extremely Good Condition:
Positives: Frets barely touched. Rarely played collector's piece. It looks dead cool. All original. Amazingly no lacquer crazing after 15 years or so.
Caveats: Some shrinking of finish around lower binding and side joint (see pics). We have owned the guitar (kept in a temperature stable environment) for several years and this shrinkage has got no worse. This is the problem with these opaque finishes, but in fairness it ain't bad at all. We had it checked out on purchase and it was pronounced superficial and stable - it has proved to be thus! It could be sorted but that kinda loses the vintage vibe. I have spotted one or two very small dings but overall superb. Any other micro imperfections such as slightly uneven binding in the cat's eye are from the factory
Overall: Rarer than a surfer in Sand Bay, Somerset. Great for vids or studio work, or tuck it away until next summer's beach parties and then do a Dick Dale medley rather than strumming the usual acoustic nonesense.
This is the the acoustic guitar for the electric player who swore never to buy an acoustic, or the electric guitar for the acoustic player who wants a slice of the single note action.
Great collector investment value. What a gift?
Independent Reviews: None!!
Fender Classic Player Baja Telecaster® Desert Sand
29/11/08 12:36 Filed in: guitar
sales
PRICE: £335ono (with non original gig bag) / £350ono (with deluxe Fender gig bag)
With their years of building experience, Fender's Custom Shop craftsmen created a "dream list" of specs, and this customized '50s-style Telecaster guitar-designed by Master Builder Chris Fleming-has it all! Special features include a soft V-shaped neck, custom pickups with four-way switching, knurled chrome knobs and "Custom Shop Designed" neckplate.
Model Name Classic Player Baja Telecaster®
Model Number 014-1502-(Color #)
Series Classic Player Series
Colors (389) Desert Sand,
(Polyester Finish)
Body Ash
Neck 1-Piece Maple, Soft “V” Shape,
(Gloss Urethane Finish)
Fingerboard Maple, 9.5” Radius (241 mm)
No. of Frets 21 Medium Jumbo Frets
Pickups 1 Custom Shop “Twisted” Tele® Single-Coil (Neck),
1 Custom Shop Broadcaster Single-Coil (Bridge)
Controls Master Volume, Master Tone
Pickup Switching 4-Position Blade Switch and 2-Position Push/Push S-1™:
S-1 Switch Up:
Position 1. Bridge Pickup
Position 2. Bridge and Neck Pickups (In Parallel)
Position 3. Neck Pickup (Standard Tele)
Position 4. Neck and Bridge Pickups (In Series) (Fatter Tone Than Position 2. and More Output Than Position 1., 2., or 3.)
S-1 Switch Down:
Position 1. Bridge Pickup
Position 2. Bridge and Neck Pickups (In Parallel)-Out of Phase
Position 3. Neck Pickup (Standard Tele)
Position 4. Neck and Bridge Pickups (In Series) Out of Phase
Bridge Original Vintage Tele Bridge with 3 Brass Saddles
Machine Heads Fender®/Ping® Vintage Style Tuning Machines
Hardware Chrome
Pickguard 1-Ply Parchment, (5-Hole) on: (389) Desert Sand
Scale Length 25.5” (648 mm)
Width at Nut 1.625" (41.3 mm)
Unique Features Soft “V” Shape Maple Neck,
Knurled Chrome Knobs,
“Custom Shop Designed” Neck Plate,
4-Way + 2-Way S-1 Switching,
Synthetic Bone Nut
Strings Fender Super 250R, Nickel Plated Steel,
Gauges: (.010, .013, .017, .026, .036, .046),
p/n 073-0250-006
Introduced 7/2006
Condition*: A- = AS GOOD AS IT GETS FOR A 'USED' GUITAR & BETTER THAN HANGING ON THE WALL GETTING 'TRIED OUT'...
The nearest Fender have come to producing a genuine snorter for years. The guitar was bought 4 months ago as there was simply no competition at this price point for a modded Tele. However I recently stumbled across a long sought after Hamer T-51 and bent the card something rotten - so something had to give. This certainly is a real Nancy (Roy Buchanan fans will understand) and aside from playing and feeling dead right weight wise it has the custom shop modifications as well. They are a b**** to get hold of and the pound's descent is going to push all imported prices ever upwards. The only marks are on the plastic cover which is still on the pickguard. If experience is anything to go by this wil be short lived as every time a non-USA guitar cuts into USA sales it inevitably gets discontinued (remember the MIK DeArmonds and pro-Tone Squiers?).
Samick IHJ-20CS (Artist Series)
28/11/08 19:06 Filed in: guitar
sales
Price: £295 (includes £30 worth of BNWT Tribal Planet soft case)
UK P&P £25 via DHLexpress including FULL INSURANCE
WORLDWIDE SHIPPING ON DEMAND
Description: Superior L5 style Cherry Burst jazzer made by a company who know what they are about. Feels like an early '70s Japanese guitar, with similar attention to detail and appointments.
Year / Origin: 2002 / Samick, Indonesia. The Samick Artist series are known as high-quality guitars; they were made under the Samick name from the mid-1980s till the late-'90s. Since 1999 the electric guitars made by Samick no longer carry the Samick name; they are now called Greg Bennett Guitars In 1992, Samick built its P.T. Samick factory in Cilesungi, near Bogor, Indonesia. This factory produces the majority of instruments that Samick makes. Samick one of the largest in the world have always made a wide range of guitars, from starter models to professional instruments, In factories in various Asian countries, Samick manufactures a large share of all electric guitars on today's market, mostly for other brands, Some other brands Samick builds guitars for are Epiphone, Gibson, Washburn, and Hohner.
Specification: Laminated Maple Body, 3 piece Maple Neck, Rosewood Fretboard, dot inlays, Flower inlay thing on headstock, 2 PAF style H/B pickups (middle reverse polarity), Individual pickup volume and tone knobs, Floating bridge (Rosewood base and cut bridge), Bound F-holes, 3 ply binding on body, medium frets.
Condition: B/B+ = Very Good to Excellent Condition for year.
It could be out of the showroom. Unbelievable condition for the price.
Another quality pro guitar. This time picking up on the classic slightly smaller bodied Gibson L-design.
For More info and pics contact us.
Epiphone Zephyr Blues DeLuxe SOLD
28/11/08 19:06 Filed in: guitar
sales
Price: SOLD via EBAY
including brand new fitted case, not the one shown
Description: stunning tiger stripe AAA Maple ES5 replica with original Frequensator tailpiece. 3 p90 pick ups, middle wound reverse polarity. Includes brand new fitted hard case, not the one shown which is wee . These guitars were discontinued on 2006, and represent a very sensible investment as well as the only serious working ES5 out there. Can be easily rewired to Switchmaster spec.
NOTE: This guitar was bought to be fully upgraded/customised as a 'RE:twang' project to Switchmaster spec (and still could be, contact us) but is offered here with the orginal (albeit upgraded) spec.
Year / Origin: According to the s/no dating system the guitar was made at the Unsung Plant, Korea January 2005. We suspect this is not strictly accurate and would suggest an earlier date, maybe 2004? We acquired it s/h late '05 / early '06 from the original owner who claimed then to have had it for over two years. Then again he also claimed it was in mint condition!! Virtually unused since we bought it, except for restoring it to somewhere very near where we expected it to be when we bought it.
Specification: Laminated Flamed AAA Maple Body, 3 piece Maple Neck, Rosewood Fretboard, 25.5" scale, Block inlays, Flower inlay thing on headstock, 3 P-90 pickups (middle reverse polarity), Individual pickup volume knobs, 1 tone knob, Floating bridge (Rosewood base W/Metal Bridge, Frequensator tail piece, Oversized F-holes, 3 ply binding on body, Jumbo frets, Grover tuners.
Condition: C/C+ = Just about above average for year (see rating system).
Two or three small dings on side (see pic) probably from a mic stand scrape. A couple of these have just about gone through the lacquer and scraped the wood slightly (not structurally or anything nasty, and something you see all the time on older and ex-display guitars). I have levelled, smoothed out and buffed the worst one (I haven't tried to hide them, although they could easily be re-finished). The binding at the 18th fret also has a wee knock.
Some scuffs and playwear consistent with me not owning it from the outset (some folks!!). One of the dogear pickup covers was replaced with a stock Gibson part (the original had been screwed too tight at some point, these things happen!). The pickguard had a wee knock as as well so was replaced at the same time by a custom cut replica made from a superior material. Frets barely touched. It looks wonderful, and the quality of the maple is second to none. For the most part an easy B, but for the points mentioned. Needs love and affection for a decade and it will be a proper 'B' again! However, it must be stressed, you will have seen worse on new shop soiled instruments.
This is not one of your shoddy copies but a real quality pro guitar with a 60 year pedigree that's had a hard start in life before twangCORP rescued it. A classic Gibson design, licensed to Epiphone that had a UK retail of £800. It will last forever, and sound superb for its whole life. Try auctioning your Granny for a Gibson ES-5 and only then will you appreciate that this is an absolute steal.
For More info and pics contact us.
For glowing independent reviews go to Harmony Central.
UPCOMING LISTINGS - contact us for details.
27/11/08 19:06 Filed in: guitar
sales
Guitars coming up for
sale in the next few weeks include the following:
- Yamaha AES 800B (Bigsby) (DiMarzio). MIT. c1999. Condition: B/B+. £325.
- Tokai Les Paul (factory 'Tigsby' Vibrato). Black, Original Case. MIK. c2004. Condition: B/B+ £250.
- Eastwoood 'Vox Teardrop'. 3pu. Bigsby. Discontinued + Rare Indeed. c2003. Condition: B (COOL!) £350 ono.
- DeArmond M-75 (Black). Case. MIK. USA Goldtones.MIK. c2000. Condition: B/B+ £325.
- DeArmond M-75T (Black). Case. MIK. USA DeA 2K pickups. Condition: B/B+ £350.
- DeArmond Starfire Special (Red) (Digsby). gb. MIK. USA DeA 2K pickups. Condition: B £400.
- Aria FA71 full body jazzer with floating PU, Venetian cutaway. MIK. Solid spruce! The biz. £325.