Mai-Guitar

First Blog

I figured I'd give you some background to start. Some of this is on Jemsite , but I thought I'd put it here too.

I started getting the bug to refinish guitars sometime in 2004. Originally I went to the local store to buy a beat up used guitar. Bad move! I ended up buying a 50th anniversary Strat. I do love that one. Not exactly a shredder, but pretty cool. I read how SRV used super heavy strings. I set that one up with 11s. It is tough on the fingers, but it really has a great sound. There is one position on the S-1 Switch (one from the top, with the button pushed) that really sounds like Stevie. I really miss him. I saw him live at least 5 times. One time was at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor. My daughter goes to Michigan now. Wow, time flies!

I bought a few test guitars on eBay to try, Sometime after that I started talking to an old friend from school. He was buying used guitars on eBay too. He told me about the Ibanez RGs. I bought a used one that ended up getting refinished into a LNG. I really got excited about the locking trem. It was always a hassle to go to a music store looking for a Floyd Rose Guitar and hearing how they don't really have any, and how nobody really uses them, and how they are so much work, and blah, blah, blah ... I think I have 90 percent of my guitars with either an Edge or a Floyd. A double locking system is the hot rod of guitars. At some point later on I traded emails with Floyd Rose himself! Wow!

Then I moved on to the siwrls. I put in a bid on an original JEM77 Green Multi Color (GMC) for $1175. At the time that would have been as much as the Strat, which was my most expensive guitar. I was outbid by a hair, so I missed it. Gosh, those are worth a LOT now. But that got me interested in the swirl paint. I started buying bodies from Pearle. I think I bought 15 or so total from him. I finished some to sell. Then I kept some that I still have today.

I get a lot of cool emails too. Someone sent me a good overall discussion of guitars. Check out this link. There is a good discussion of wood types.

I'll tell you how I got into dipping guitars next time ... stay tuned ...