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Tone2TheBone
December 5th, 2006, 09:10 AM
Anyone ever bought one?

740

My youngest daughter has been bugging me for a guitar. She's 8 years old and wants to rock. I was going to get her a small student acoustic but I think an electric with very light gauge strings would probably be better for her. Especially with the smaller width neck on those mini Squiers. Its probably the perfect scale for her too I was checking one out last week at GC. It would rock for her plugged into the battery powered Marshall half stack...

741

aeolian
December 5th, 2006, 09:57 AM
I have played one of those at GC and thought it played pretty well. I have a mini Strat, but what I have is a Jay Turser Jay Jr.

http://home.comcast.net/~kitn13/photos/mini.jpg

I bought it for the same reason you are looking at buying one: for my children to learn on. I got mine used for $50. When I first got it the neck was pitched forward so the action was pretty bad. I shimmed the neck with a thin pick and now the action is perfect. In fact it plays so good that I pick it up often to play on it. I set the intonation on it and it's holding well, and the tuners stay in tune very well. I have 10-46 strings on it, the neck is straight and it is really easy to play.

Mine only has one humbucker and the sound is OK; definitely good enough to learn on it. This thing also has a headphone jack on the pickguard (the cable jack is on the lower edge). Supposedly if I put a 9 volt battery in the back I can play this guitar through headphones. I never tried it so I don't know whether that works or not. For $50 bucks I'm very happy with mine, the only thing is I don't know whether they still sell these or not.

aeolian

Tone2TheBone
December 5th, 2006, 10:07 AM
Hey thats pretty cool. And it's maple necked. Nice. There's a shop in town that sells new Jay Turser guitars I wonder if they still make small scale ones.....hmmmm

Ok the question is...are your kids playing the guitar?

aeolian
December 5th, 2006, 10:24 AM
I always feel like a kid when I play guitar!

My 12-year old daughter learned 3 chords a few months ago, but she has not picked up the guitar since then. My 10-year old son has so far shown no interest in playing. Sigh....

aeolian

Tone2TheBone
December 5th, 2006, 10:37 AM
I always feel like a kid when I play guitar!

My 12-year old daughter learned 3 chords a few months ago, but she has not picked up the guitar since then. My 10-year old son has so far shown no interest in playing. Sigh....

aeolian

Yeah the cool thing about it is that YOU can pick it up anytime you want! 743

When I gave my oldest one of my acoustic guitars 2 years ago I had hoped that it would "take". It hasn't. Now the teenager really wants to learn piano instead so we'll see how that goes. I think she'd be better at piano though. She's a great singer. Anyway when I gave my guitar to my oldest daughter the youngest was all..."hey dad I want a guitar too when are you gonna give me a guitar". Since then she hasn't stopped bugging me for one. She's around me constantly when I play so I really think she would be the next guitar slinger in the house...seriously. She has a great sense of melody and sings little ditties constantly...either from hearing me playing or listening to my songs in the car or from movies, games etc. If ONE of my kids turns out to be a guitar player I will be very pleased. Someone's got to inherit my cool stuff!

aeolian
December 5th, 2006, 10:50 AM
Someone's got to inherit my cool stuff!

My wife and kids have no idea what my guitars and amps are worth. My recurring mightmare is that when I die my wife will just take all my stuff to Goodwill and say "Here's my late husband's stuff. You can have it."

I have a 1975 Strat hardtail that I got used (3 weeks used) back in 1975 that I see now sell for over $2000 on eBay. If I don't do a good job explaining about my stuff, someone will get a good deal when I'm gone.

aeolian

Tone2TheBone
December 5th, 2006, 11:29 AM
My wife and kids have no idea what my guitars and amps are worth. My recurring mightmare is that when I die my wife will just take all my stuff to Goodwill and say "Here's my late husband's stuff. You can have it."

I have a 1975 Strat hardtail that I got used (3 weeks used) back in 1975 that I see now sell for over $2000 on eBay. If I don't do a good job explaining about my stuff, someone will get a good deal when I'm gone.

aeolian


Yup. Exactly. I couldn't have explained this better myself. Here's hoping we can pass this down and that our equipment will be PLAYED too. Thanks for your posts!

Tim
December 5th, 2006, 12:40 PM
Hey Tone – I bought my Grandson one for Christmas last year. There is a secret to playing those little axes. When I got it home the first thing I did was to put on new strings and set up the intonation. I could never get intonation correct. It was all over the place. I could not get it to play a good “C” chord and switch to an “F” chord.

After returning to the store, the manager picked it up and played one hell of a heavy metal tune. I asked him to turn of the distortion which was probably hiding the off tune notes. To my surprised he played a very nice clean song. When I asked what the secret was, he told me the Squire Strats come with large frets for little fingers. Grown-up tend to push the strings all the way to the fret board. Once I applied an easier pressure, I played as good as the manager.

aeolian
December 5th, 2006, 01:50 PM
Tim, the Jay Jr. I have does not have the light-touch problem. I play it exactly like I play all my other electrics except that it is a short scale.

aeolian

Tone2TheBone
December 5th, 2006, 01:54 PM
Hmmm thats interesting. I didn't notice any difference in the frets when I picked one up? Glad you guys mentioned that thank you!

SuperSwede
December 6th, 2006, 12:52 PM
Yup. Exactly. I couldn't have explained this better myself. Here's hoping we can pass this down and that our equipment will be PLAYED too. Thanks for your posts!

I´m going to take at least one guitar with me... Hey what if that old theory that the vikings had was true, that you could take some stuff with you to Valhalla.

Tone2TheBone
December 6th, 2006, 02:13 PM
I´m going to take at least one guitar with me... Hey what if that old theory that the vikings had was true, that you could take some stuff with you to Valhalla.


Yeah but which one do you take? I think.....I would take my Tele....but then I'd miss the Strat....and the Les Paul. I would think Valhalla would have an assortment of guitars just begging to be played. :)

sunvalleylaw
December 6th, 2006, 02:31 PM
I´m going to take at least one guitar with me... Hey what if that old theory that the vikings had was true, that you could take some stuff with you to Valhalla.


As U2 says, all that you can't leave behind. :)

Tone2TheBone
December 6th, 2006, 02:38 PM
This begs the question....was #1, First Wife buried with Stevie? I say no. I say Jimmie has it.

Anywho I tried to get my daughter to fret some strings on my Strat last night and she's still not strong enough to really fret them so I'll probably hold off till maybe next year to get something for her.

warren0728
December 6th, 2006, 02:39 PM
This begs the question....was #1, First Wife buried with Stevie? I say no. I say Jimmie has it.
i agree....i thinnk Jimmie has it....one of stevie's guitars is hanging up at the Hard Rock Cafe in Orlando....

ww

Tone2TheBone
December 6th, 2006, 02:43 PM
i agree....i thinnk Jimmie has it....one of stevie's guitars is hanging up at the Hard Rock Cafe in Orlando....

ww


Which one Warren? The Lenny guitar?

warren0728
December 6th, 2006, 03:59 PM
Actually it was a guitar he played at Alpine Valley...the last guitar he ever played. Just talked to the guys at hard rock and the guitar is going to another one of their restaurants....they move stuff around alot.

here is a pic...

Tone2TheBone
December 6th, 2006, 04:02 PM
Is there any footage of that last show at youtube? (does a seatch)

Why would he be playing another Strat that isn't as closely associated with him like that?

warren0728
December 6th, 2006, 04:12 PM
Is there any footage of that last show at youtube? (does a seatch)

Why would he be playing another Strat that isn't as closely associated with him like that?

i don't think there is....i was surprised when the guys at Hard Rock told me that. They are going to call me back with more info.

Along time ago before they built the new hard rock the had one of stevies guitars above a doorway and it was a burst with the SRV pickguard with the paint all worn off. I am going to find out more about that one too....i touched it a couple of times as i was walking through the doorway....i might have a picture of it but i'm not sure....we are talking over 10 years ago....

ww

Tone2TheBone
December 6th, 2006, 04:27 PM
From my memory of a photo of Stevie onstage with Eric, Buddy and Jimmie he was playing #1 on the last jam that they did during the Alpine Valley gig. I just did a google search and the photo I remembered did show Stevie playing #1 (the beat up '62 Strat with the SRV stickers on the pickguard - his main guitar).

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What I'm wondering is why HRC hung that Strat you posted above? I see that it's signed...I can't make out the signatures though. Was it just a promo guitar that everyone signed during that gig and Hard Rock just hung it up?

warren0728
December 6th, 2006, 05:07 PM
What I'm wondering is why HRC hung that Strat you posted above? I see that it's signed...I can't make out the signatures though. Was it just a promo guitar that everyone signed during that gig and Hard Rock just hung it up?

i was told that he played it....i didn't talk to the head guy in charge of memorabilia because he was off today but i am going to talk to him tomorrow. He is a really nice guy.....we started talking while i was checking things out on my birthday and he gave me a behind the scenes tour....i even got to sit on john lennon's couch!!

Hopefully he will shed some light on the guitar.

ww

r_a_smith3530
December 7th, 2006, 12:29 AM
I was at that show, and I do remember that Stevie was playing #1. I also remember that some of the guys would swap off guitars for different songs, but I can't remember if Stevie did so or not. It was a long night. The concert was over six hours long, and I remember it being very muggy out. You could cut the air with a knife.

As for the original subject, Samick (by Greg Bennett) also makes a mini strat style guitar. They also make a mini bass to go with it! I didn't play the little strat, but I did pluck a couple strings on the bass. Actually thought about buying one as a travel instrument, but I wondered if the speaker on my Pignose would hold up to low octave abuse.

duhvoodooman
December 7th, 2006, 05:32 AM
My musician friend at work used to work for a major record distributor here in upstate NY and met SRV when he was in town on a promotional visit. He told me that Stevie often traveled with a whole bunch of cheap, brand new Strats that he would briefly play (literally for a few seconds) and then sign with a Sharpie and give away as part of his endorsement deal with Fender. Looks to me like that one at Hard Rock may be one of those. It's certainly not one of his "personal" Strats!

warren0728
December 7th, 2006, 05:40 AM
sounds like that is the deal....the one they used to have was the real deal...it was in a room called the cloud club or cloud room....and the room was decorated only with memorabilia from artists who had died.

I'm gonna call the guy who gave me the tour today (he was off yesterday) to get the real scoop and to find out what happened to the guitar they used to have that was definitely one of his players....

ww

Tone2TheBone
December 7th, 2006, 08:50 AM
Yeah I figured it was some kind of promotional deal or something with that other geetar. Thanks DVM.

I have a Greg Bennett/Samick acoustic guitar and lemme tell you R A...it is one beautiful sounding and playing instrument. I wouldn't hesitate a bit to have one of their mini guitars. *eyes pop out* :eek: ....HEY you're right I could use it as a travel guitar too!

Warren - you got some sweet hookups. Knowing Mr. Paul...chillin' with the Hard Rock Cafe' doods....getting to sit on John's couch. :DR

warren0728
December 7th, 2006, 09:36 AM
Warren - you got some sweet hookups. Knowing Mr. Paul...chillin' with the Hard Rock Cafe' doods....getting to sit on John's couch. :DR

just lucky...in the right place at the right time....here are me and the kids sitting on lennon's couch in the "Lennon Room" at HRC. It is a private room used for entertaining the artists that play at HRL. The couch is usually roped off but the guy moved the ropes so we could sit on it. The photo above the couch is a pic of john on the couch! It was a very cool room with several of his drawings, furniture, clothes, etc.

ww

Tone2TheBone
December 7th, 2006, 09:44 AM
That's some kind of luck man. Great photo. It belongs in one of those new fangled digital frames. :)

sunvalleylaw
December 7th, 2006, 09:54 AM
Nice looking family Warren!! Good on'ya!

duhvoodooman
December 7th, 2006, 12:19 PM
From all that I've read (and that's quite a bit), SRV's brother Jimmie has possession of all of his stuff--guitars, amps, pedals, etc.--and has it locked up in a vault in an undisclosed bank in the Dallas TX area. Stevie didn't have a vast collection of guitars that he used regularly, unlike some big-name guitarists. Other than a custom Hamiltone Lurktamer that he used occasionally, they were pretty much all Strats of one sort or another, though not all genuine Fender-made. The white one he called "Charlie" after Charlie Wirz, the music store owner who gave it to him, is a case in point--it's a "parts-o-caster" that Charlie built and used Danelectro lipstick tube pickups in, giving it a very distinctive tone that can be heard on tunes like "Life Without You" (which is dedicated to Charlie, who'd passed away by that time).

I am quite certain that the only "true" SRV Strat that's been sold was the orange-brown one called "Lenny" that Jimmie donated to an auction in support of Eric Clapton's Crossroads addiction treatment center in Antigua. The guitar was auctioned in June 2004 for $623,500, the 2nd highest price ever paid for a Stratocaster at that time.

HERE (http://www.jcdisciples.org/musicians/srv/guitar/index.html) is a good webpage with a whole bunch of information on Stevie's guitars. The "Number One" link there, in particular, is loaded with interesting stuff!

P.S. Nice photo there, Warren!

Tone2TheBone
December 7th, 2006, 01:14 PM
Excellent info Voodoo. I really like that Hamiltone.

marnold
December 7th, 2006, 02:59 PM
Cool link. I didn't know about "Yellow" until I bought the Montreux DVDs.