Kris Carlson's Weblog

Jeff Beck

The Legend makes his instrument sing. Nadia - North Sea Jazz Festival 2006

last.fm

It seems I tend to lag on some things.  I was browsing tonight and found a pretty cool site: last.fm .   At least it seems cool so far.  What I actually found was a website that had a plugin on it with a feed from last.fm.  Now that was cool.  So I checked it out, and registered.  Their license basically says they will track you movements, download you iTunes playlist and such, and sell that information.  Or something like that.  Whatever, I just won't be installing their software on my main computer, or one I care about them spying on.  They have a special word for it, scrobbled.  Trying to make up a cool word for selling your musical activities they can monitor.  We'll see.  If I don't like it or catch them taking more than they said they would, I'll be blogging it.

Elixir on Les Paul

Before you start reading, if you don't see 2 Amazon links, one to a set of Elixir guitar strings and one to a Steve Morse DVD, then reload this page. I guess I have to learn more about how to make those links work the way I would like them to. On to the post... I just put some new strings on my Gibson Les Paul Special. I got a Thank You in the mail from Guitar Center for a free set of strings with a $15.00 or more purchase. So I bought a Steve Morse DVD, and let Don in Flint pick out a set of strings for me. I told him I had a Gibson Les Paul and he picked out Elixir Nanoweb's for it. The DVD was good but too short and no music or tabs. After I watched the DVD I changed the strings on my Les Paul and tuned it up. New strings always sound nice. Conequently, I really can't tell yet if I like these strings enough to use them again. It's the first new set since I bought the guitar. I liked the strings that came on it. I'll have to find out what they were. Also, I got a chance to oil the neck. I used lemon oil after reading that Paul Reed Smith recomends lemon oil. I used it sparingly, but not too sparingly, just enough to freshen up the wood and make it look nice. And it sure does. The neck looks, and feels, so much better with a cleaning and a coat of oil. Rock On!

50th Anniversary American Deluxe Stratocaster

And the winner is..., The 2004 American Deluxe Stratocaster, 50th Anniversary Edition.  Nobody, I mean nobody, stocked the Gibson Smartwood Les Paul.  However I did get to play a solid mahogany Les Paul Studio Limited Edition.  It was really a nice looking guitar.  It didn't have any stain on it, just the dark tone of the mahogany.  I haven't seen anything like it online either.  The closest I can find is Les Paul Vintage Mahogany.  Anyway, I didn't like the feel of the neck.  Aside from it being too fat for an electric, it was "sticky" from the wood not being finished.  The fretboard kind of dragged too.  I know that can be remedied, but I didn't want to fuss with the axe.  And since I didn't like the feel of the fat neck, I passed on it.

Then I did some more research on the Smartwood.  I even found 2 on ebay and actually bid on one of them.  The winning bid was  $785  for a brand new Smartwood Les Paul.  In the last second I could have bid $795, but I decided to pass on it. 

The next week on February 2, 2005, a friend of mine and I decided to take a ride to Motorcity Guitar in Waterford, MI.  They have a great selection of guitars.  I was looking for the 50th Anniversary American Deluxe Stratocaster.  They had one!  Sweet!  In fact they had 7; and I could have tried them all if I wanted.  The first thing I noticed was that the hardware was not the highest quality of metal.  We used to call this "pot metal" when I was learning to fix cars and weld.  But I'm starting to think it's not pot metal but something a little better.  It just has the same dull porous look to it as pot metal.  It's such a beautiful guitar that I overlooked the ominous porosity of some of the hardware.  I played the one they had hanging and it played like a classic strat.  I love the feel of a strat.  A quote from Eric Johnson from the 2004 Fender catalog: "Once you start playing one, It's hard to play anything else."  Another quote from John Mayer: "The thing that blows me away about the Stratocaster is how right they got it in 1954.  There have only been three or four truly progressive changes.  But as an invention, an idea, it's almost perfect..."

This baby played sweet right from the get go.  And it's nowhere near as expensive as the Custom Shop Limited Edition 1954 Stratocaster.  It has the look and feel of a 1954 strat with some modern features.  Needless to say, I checked out 5 of the 7 guitars Motorcity Guitar had in stock.  They all were great, and it was hard to choose which one to take.  Any one of them would have been fine.  After I got it home I did some fine adjustments on the action and intonation.  It didn't need much, I could have left it at factory, but I like low action.  I am very pleased that I decided to get this one.  It plays beautifully, sounds great, and looks really good. 

I would not have ordered one online though.  I decided on that after playing footsy with zZounds and American Musical Supply.  I also read the comments about them and Musicians Friend at ResellerRatings.com.  So ordering was out of the question.  I didn't want to take a chance I would get a less than pristine guitar.  My patience payed off.  This guitar feels like it was made for my hands.  If you're thinking of buying one, they probably still have a few in stock at Motorcity.  Fender quit producing them in November, 2004.  I can't see this guitar doing anything but increasing in value.  But I really don't care too much about that.  I bought it to play, and it plays like a Strat!

SmartWood Les Paul Studio

Oh, the agony.  I'm looking at this really cool looking SmartWood Les Paul Studio, and I just can't find anyone that has one I can play and check out before I buy.  It's not a high-end Les Paul or a Custom Shop axe.  It's just an inexpensive Les Paul that nobody seems to want to stock.    Same problem with the Swamp Ash Les Paul Studio.  The guy I talked to at Guitar Center said he saw one of these come into their Southfield store and it never made it to the showroom.  Some employee snagged it.  When I spoke to a salesman (and 2 and 3) at Guitar Center they told me both guitars would have to be special ordered.  And get this, each salesman has given me a different price, none of which has been as low as the online price until I mention it.  Then I get a, "yeah, I can do that".

I've been researching this one only for a week now, but I feel like I'm running out of time, if I want a new one.  Based on my research so far, these guitars I've been looking at are not going to be produced for long; and I've sort of started looking a bit late.

Also on my list of possibles is the American Deluxe 50th Anniversary Stratocaster.  Today I was told by a Guitar Center Salesman about how this one would be hard to get because Fender quit manufacturing them in November, 2004.  It is currently in stock at Musicians Friend, and I could order one right now.  I've never bought a guitar this way, and I don't feel comfortable doing so.  But it seems the only way I will be able to get one of these 3 beauties, is to order, either online or from a shop.  I can't stand Guitar Center for high-end shit.  You never know if they are really giving you a good price on the piece (unless you've researched it).  For example, I was quoted $1076 for the SmartWood today; and that was without the SmartWood case as advertised at Gibson and everywhere I looked.  When I asked about the case, he quoted me $1160 with the SmartWood case (which is specialy made for this axe).  Then I told him I'd seen it elsewhere for $1080 with the case, and I got a "yeah, I can do that".  That's just a lotta crap.  I will continue my research on these 3 lovelys until I am satisfied I have done a thorough job.  For right now I'm not happy with what I have uncovered about purchasing methods for these guitars.

By the way, I have sent some email to SameDayMusic and zZounds regarding some prices I found at shopping.com for the SmartWood.  If you click on the link to each website you are taken to a SmartWood, but with a price $250 dollars higher.  The reply I got from both companies was that the price I saw was for a "blemished" guitar.  That being the case, then why didn't the add at shopping.com mention something about the blemish?  Even if it is an old ad, if it were blemished, the ad should have mentioned something.  So basically I feel like I can't trust these 2 online retailers.  And they are the only ones I found so far that have a SmartWood (or so they say).  Plus each of these 2 have several negative reviews from people who have had bad experiences purchasing from them.  Oh, the agony.  Maybe I'll look at Amazon next.