Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Went to the Guitar Store yesterday

This is not a New Gear Day post. OK, I got a few patch cables so I can get all my pedals in a row, but how do you crow about getting 2 six-inch cables?

But I did pick up and try a few things.

First was a Squier Classic Vibe Tele Custom. That's Classic in the mid-60s sense, which is a double-bound Tele with a rosewood fretboard. I love that look, although I'd like a blue double-bound over a sunburst, but for that price (~$350), I'd accept membership in OTIS (Order of The Immacculate Sunburst).

I tried it through a FM DSP 212. Yeah, solid state. Yeah, digital signal processing. But it sounded reasonably good, and it's a 212 for about $300, too. Channel-switching between two very-configurable channels? I think I'm putting that on my Christmas list.

I looked around the acoustic room, and I plugged a black top-bound Fender Telecoustic into a Peavey acoustic amp, and I was really surprised by how good it sounded. Really! I'm not just saying that because it's a Tele! It was just a little more than the "tuned snare" that an acoustic in an electric band is, but it was good. And, while I'm belaboring this point, the on-the-top preamps these days have built-in tuners! When did that happen? And can I get one put in my A/E? Please?

And finally, I picked up an instrument that costs more than everything else in this post combined, a Martin Sustainable Wood Dreadnought. It's ~$1500 before factoring in the electronics I'd need, but really, it was a fine instrument. Easily half the weight of my Dread, and it sounded so sweet. And really, it's weird, but consistantly, the best Martins I pick up at guitar shops are the SWDGTs. I guess I just really love cherry, which is what the backs and sides are.

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