I...AM...IRON-Y!
Dec. 12th, 2003 05:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
misfoksOK so I'm not sure what the subject really means, but the relevancy will be touched on momentarily. I've not had time to read LJ, so I just caught up on something like a month's worth of entries. Belated congrats to Ursula on her sleuthing (funny, she doesn't look Drewish). No doubt other things of interest I would've commented on has I read things in a more timely manner, but my mind is mush now so I say nothing. Ha! Take that.
Sauntering casually now into the realm of material possessions, I finally got my bass back! OK, I've had it back for a bit now, I've just not been writing entries lately. It's a 3/4 2000 year Wilhelm Eberle, solid spruce carved top, and nicely tweaked out by Hammond Ashley where I'd had my rent-to-own deal going. Lovely aggressive tone which should come to life even more once I get more suitable round-wounds on it.
I'd also been itching to get my fingers wrapped around a guitar's neck again. Sadly, my old Les Paul copy's frets wore down years ago, and given the cost to get it refretted it hardly seemed worth the effort for a bastard guitar like that. So I braved the seasonal crowds, and though I'd found myself rather liking some of the real Gibsons (Les Paul Studio, very tasty) I eventually clawed my way out of Guitar Center with a Gretsch. Korean-made, Les Paul body style, Bigsby tremolo, one of the last remaining stock before Fender bought them out. Enough rockabilly twang to shatter your temples, despite being a solid-body, and actually the sound did have a refreshing effect on my (slowly recuperating) playing style. Not a bad little beast really, and the price wasn't bad, but without intending to flag-wave the fit and finish just isn't quite up to the quality of some of the American counterparts. It plays adequately, I just never really fell in love with it, though I do dig on the sound.
Out of habit and wishful thinking more than anything I checked back periodically online at the models I did rather like in hopes of miraculous price-reductions. And I'll be damned if it didn't happen--earlier this week an online retailer decided to close out their stock of Gibson Toni Iommi Signature SGs, and apparantly immediately sold out of all stock. Dammit! OK, quick aside here. SG isn't really my absolute favorite model, and I wasn't attracted to this one out of some fannish obsession with having Toni's signature crosses on the fretboard or autograph on the headstock. Toni's an awesome guitarist, but I don't want to be him. Anyway it's basically a '61 reissue if I have my info right, which has some nice points to it on its own merits, but with 24 frets and pickups Toni collaborated with Gibson to create. I've played one of these SGs, and they do sound rather nice. But they were sold out no sooner than they'd marked them down, so I grumbled and continued on.
Today my obsessive habit struck again, and for some reason the same retailer showed them as in stock. In stock! I started the check-out procedure and called Guitar Center to confirm their return policy (yes, I can still return the Gretsch). But by the time I'd gotten to the part where I enter my credit card number the item suddenly showed as no longer in stock. I cursed, I railed, I swore vengeance upon the gods who toy so frivilously with my emotions! And I completed the order anyway in case it might reserve me one in the event of more turning up in stock somehow.
Then I called them. Turns out I'd gotten the last one in stock, and once I'd started the order it took the item out of inventory. Bichen. So it looks like once again I'll have spent a bit much this holiday season--but this time I'll be the one getting something rather nice, instead of some cheesy stuffed animal or similar cheap afterthought. Go me! Now I just have to battle festive holiday traffic and crowds back down to return the old to make room for the new. Perhaps someday I'll look into Gretsch to get that sound again, but I'll more likely try for a hollowbody when the time comes.
Whew. Long entry. Probably should've cut-tagged it, but I'll just make all of you suffer through it this time instead.
Sauntering casually now into the realm of material possessions, I finally got my bass back! OK, I've had it back for a bit now, I've just not been writing entries lately. It's a 3/4 2000 year Wilhelm Eberle, solid spruce carved top, and nicely tweaked out by Hammond Ashley where I'd had my rent-to-own deal going. Lovely aggressive tone which should come to life even more once I get more suitable round-wounds on it.
I'd also been itching to get my fingers wrapped around a guitar's neck again. Sadly, my old Les Paul copy's frets wore down years ago, and given the cost to get it refretted it hardly seemed worth the effort for a bastard guitar like that. So I braved the seasonal crowds, and though I'd found myself rather liking some of the real Gibsons (Les Paul Studio, very tasty) I eventually clawed my way out of Guitar Center with a Gretsch. Korean-made, Les Paul body style, Bigsby tremolo, one of the last remaining stock before Fender bought them out. Enough rockabilly twang to shatter your temples, despite being a solid-body, and actually the sound did have a refreshing effect on my (slowly recuperating) playing style. Not a bad little beast really, and the price wasn't bad, but without intending to flag-wave the fit and finish just isn't quite up to the quality of some of the American counterparts. It plays adequately, I just never really fell in love with it, though I do dig on the sound.
Out of habit and wishful thinking more than anything I checked back periodically online at the models I did rather like in hopes of miraculous price-reductions. And I'll be damned if it didn't happen--earlier this week an online retailer decided to close out their stock of Gibson Toni Iommi Signature SGs, and apparantly immediately sold out of all stock. Dammit! OK, quick aside here. SG isn't really my absolute favorite model, and I wasn't attracted to this one out of some fannish obsession with having Toni's signature crosses on the fretboard or autograph on the headstock. Toni's an awesome guitarist, but I don't want to be him. Anyway it's basically a '61 reissue if I have my info right, which has some nice points to it on its own merits, but with 24 frets and pickups Toni collaborated with Gibson to create. I've played one of these SGs, and they do sound rather nice. But they were sold out no sooner than they'd marked them down, so I grumbled and continued on.
Today my obsessive habit struck again, and for some reason the same retailer showed them as in stock. In stock! I started the check-out procedure and called Guitar Center to confirm their return policy (yes, I can still return the Gretsch). But by the time I'd gotten to the part where I enter my credit card number the item suddenly showed as no longer in stock. I cursed, I railed, I swore vengeance upon the gods who toy so frivilously with my emotions! And I completed the order anyway in case it might reserve me one in the event of more turning up in stock somehow.
Then I called them. Turns out I'd gotten the last one in stock, and once I'd started the order it took the item out of inventory. Bichen. So it looks like once again I'll have spent a bit much this holiday season--but this time I'll be the one getting something rather nice, instead of some cheesy stuffed animal or similar cheap afterthought. Go me! Now I just have to battle festive holiday traffic and crowds back down to return the old to make room for the new. Perhaps someday I'll look into Gretsch to get that sound again, but I'll more likely try for a hollowbody when the time comes.
Whew. Long entry. Probably should've cut-tagged it, but I'll just make all of you suffer through it this time instead.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2003-12-12 09:34 pm (UTC)