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i find i need to be impulsive at times or else I would just not bother in the end. I'm getting to a point though where I'm content with most of my gear for now but that's not going to always be that way. I'm going to have to sell some stuff soon before I make anymore purchases though.

One item on my wishlist though is a Thinline Tele.

I'm fairly happy with the two CVs I have (50s strat, 60s tele), and the Dano 12 string although I'd like something a little more crazy to have some fun with. Maybe one of those new Framus Hollywood SC's or a custom job thing. Other than that I'm really really really hankering for an AC30. I'm considering selling up a lot of my gear to do it.

If I were to get what I wanted it'd be a vintage Strat, Tele and Ric 12 but it's just crazy thinking about it. It's getting to the point now where sinking money into a good amp seems it should be more important than the guitar.

I'm very happy with my guitars and amps, which are:

2 x Japanese Jazzmaster - 1 with dual humbuckers
US Standard Strat
1969 Carlsbro 50 Top
1975 Fender Bassman 50

I have been thinking about selling the 50 Top, as I don't use it much, to buy something smaller but not sure if i'd get what i'd want for it - £400+

Pedal wise, people may not believe me but i'm now pretty happy with what I have. However to make my pedalboard complete i'm looking to get an IC Muff(with mids knob)/Rat (with switchable Turbo Rat mode) dual pedal made - this is to replace my Coopersonic Valveslapper which sounds great but is a pain in the bum to carry around a seperate (and heavy) power supply when I have a spare DC jack on my dasiy chain.

I went from a 100$ solid state no name amp to a '65 Twin Reverb reissue a few years ago.

Pretty big jump...

I think that's about the extent of my ballsy gear-purchasing moves.

- Steve

Seems like I'll swing for a new amp next. Id love a Morgan 30/800, ac30 based with a jcm800 gain stage. Probably too expensive but I can see a ac15 happening. Seeing as how I would settle due to expense I say I wouldn't go too far for a purchase.
I'm content with my gear and the sound I'm gettin from it, might change some pickups though...

I have wanted a wurlitzer 200 for a long time but I haven't been able to find one for less than $1200 so I bought a Rhodes 73 for $500 and I am extremely happy with it.

I think it depends for me.

With my acoustic, I played a ton of acoustics, and of all the different brands and different models, and in different price ranges, the Taylor 414ce that I ended up getting was the one that felt perfect, so I saved up a bit more and bought it over the other cheaper models, that I would have eventually wanted to upgrade from if I bought. I've had that guitar for 7 years now and I haven't bought another acoustic since then so I think I made the right choice.

With electric guitars, I think I'm a little less picky as long as something plays, sounds and feels good. When I bought my '72 tele deluxe reissue, I tried the Squier version and really wanted to like it because it was $400 cheaper, but I just didn't like it at all. It didn't feel good at all compared to the Fender, for that matter I've never even played another of the Fender models that I like as much as the one I got. This was years ago, before Squier really improved the quality of the vintage modifieds, and before they released the classic vibe. These days, after playing many many classic vibes and being impressed by all of them, I would take one of those over the more expensive Fender versions any day!

With amps, I've always had a revolving door with my electric guitar amps. The only one that has stuck with me so far is my '77 twin reverb. I usually cheap out and get something that gets close to the sound I want for a lower price, which is why I bought the Peavey Triple XXX 112 instead of a Marshall JCM2000 or Mesa rectifier because it got close enough to those amps soundwise. I eventually wasn't entirely pleased with it, and I had that and my twin for a while, so I sold the Peavey, and haven't replaced it with another amp with an overdrive channel. If I do, I'm going to save up and go all out and get one of my ideal amps which would be an Orange AD30, Vox AC30, or Dr. Z Remedy, and a good 2x12 cab.

With my bass amp, I got kind of lucky, I got a decent deal on my older USA made Ampeg SVT 2 Pro head, which it was between one of those or an SVT classic for my dream amp, so I lucked out finding a used one at a low price. My amp before that was a Peavey Nitrobass head and peavey 4x10 cab that I had since high school since that was the most I could afford back then, it worked for me in my high school bands, and random short lived bands I played with during college. When I started playing with my first real, serious band I upgraded to the Ampeg, played it through the Peavey Cab for a few months while I saved up a little extra to buy a better cab. I went into guitar center with all intentions of buying an Ampeg 6x10, but they had the Mesa Powerhouse 1000 sitting right next to it. So I A/B'd them and the Mesa sounded 10,000 times better to me and it was about $75 cheaper! So basically, when I was ready to upgrade from the Peavey I went all out and got a setup that I will probably never get rid of.

Also with my Rickenbacker 4003 bass, there were copies floating around on craigslist at the time I was looking. Some of them looked close to the real thing, but none of them felt or sounded right at all. And since copies of Rickenbackers are so rare, even the crappy ones go for a ridiculously high price. The crappy copies were going for about $600 which seems normal after looking at a bunch on ebay and talkbass classifieds. The copies that actually feel and sound decent are more expensive and too close in price to the real thing, so I went all out and got the real thing.

I think I have had something of all possibilities.

- I wanted it and got it: The Duo II I bought from Pat.
- I wanted a Tweed Deluxe and ended up with a cheaper clone
- I wanted a Fender Reverb Unit and found one at a good price
- I've had it forever and would rather put a lot of money into it whenever dissatisfied than let it go: My Twin Reverb and my jap Jazzmaster

If one has the means, and want to get something, go for it. It's never a convenient time to spend money really, but I have had no regrets really. I used to be rather cheap when it came to buying gear. Free, cheap or go without when it came to pedals. Always wanted a Jaguar, first I got a Jag-Stang, now I'm modding that to my current tastes. Got a Jap Jag a few years later, loved it. Upgraded to Antiquity pups maybe a year or two later. I was amazed how much better it sounded to say the least. I was very happy with my Marshall solid state amps, but then I found a Fender Hot Rod Deville 410 for super cheap, and bought that. The only complaint I had about that amp was, I'd play say a harmonic and while the sound would decay, it would never fully decay. Sold it to a friend, as well as my Marshalls and picked up two Silverface Super Reverbs for cheap. Since then, I've gone a bit nuts, researched a bunch of gear and would say I've pretty much got my dream set up, minus 2 reverb pedals, and some dirts.

I have definitely gone for it in the past and I have not had any real regrets. My Taylor 614ce is still my dream guitar and my most expensive, but I never once regretted dropping the Benjamins on it. My second plung for my Taylor 315ce was okay, though I eventually sold it. My third plung for the PRS McCarty and My Marshall JTM 30-12 I don't regret, because it got me my amp and eventually my AVRI Jaguar came from selling it.

I still am looking forward to building/buying a Jazzmaster and a Jag-stang, but I am very pleased with my current lineup.

Don't be afraid of dropping the big money as long as you can afford it and you've done your homework. I don't forsee dropping any big bills on gear until my kids are both out of private school.

All I needs is fender cleanz.

holyCATS1415 wrote:a Rhodes 73 for $500

by today's exchange rate, i paid 801.278 USD for mine in 1997, and it was on the cheap side of the market then- they go for easily double that here now, and that's for beat up examples. how the hell did you get one for $500? if that's the going rate there i'm taking out a bank loan and filling a shipping container with them asap.