Spudman, tell us!

[Robert****]

This is a request for Spudman to tell us more about all those guitars you have. You have quite a few! I've been admiring your signature for some time (I should really get a life I suppose) and I'm wondering which one is your favourite?

I have heard good things about Agile guitars, how's yours?

[Spudman***]

Oh my gosh! Guitar envy. Why I never thought...

If I had to go with just one, which I never would, it would be the Ibanez S470. It just plain sounds great or the Ibanez Rg470. Both are very versatile. They will do Strat quack sounds and full on humbucking shred, or even smooth tone jazz. The S470 has the most groovin soulful tones though. It uses AH pickups versus V7/V8 in the RG. Both have the thicker Wizard II necks with jumbo frets. Nice to play.
Next in line would be the Ibanez SCR220. It has the standard 2 post tremolo, mahogany body and 24 3/4" scale which makes playing it a breeze. It is a discontinued model. The RG and S 470 both have locking tremolo's so I would only be able to play in one tuning.

Bottom line is I could make it with just one Strat or a Peavey Falcon. Probably the Strat though because the Falcons have locking tremolos. That way I can tune differently. With the combination of effects pedals I now have the Strat would work for sure. I can get the thicker almost humbucking sounds with the Tonebone and Bad Monkey.

I wouldn't choose a Les Paul style though. They just aren't as comfortable and are heavy. Not as many tone options either in my opinion.

OK. S470 or one of the Squier Strats.

THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PICK JUST ONE! HOW DARE YOU EVEN ASK. Arrggh! If the house starts burning I already have a plan to get at least 10 to safety so don't even try that question on me.

ps. If you tried my Agile you would go "wow." She plays fine.

[Robert****]

How many strats have you got!?

What are your top 10 guitars? Ahh, just kidding!

[Spudman***]

Top 10: Not in order

Ibanez S470
Ibanez RG470
Ibanez SCR220
Squier Tele Special
Squier Strat Special Edition
Peavey Falcon
Agile LP P90's
Ibanez SA160QM
Rogue PRS copy
Ibanez Roadstar II

Tune in next time for the middle top 10.

[Robert****]

What! Not a '51 in there? Shame!

[Spudman***]

What! Not a '51 in there? Shame!

Middle top 10. I don't get from mine what you get out of yours. You must just have the magic black vibe thing going on. Mine is the vintage pea soup and from what I hear the different colors sound different. That is why it didn't make the top 10. It doesn't sound on par with the top 10.

[duhvoodooman***]

What! Not a '51 in there? Shame!

The only thing I can figure out is that there must be tremendous manufacturing variability in the '51's, and you guys who have 'em and love 'em must have gotten some of the good ones.

When I was shopping for a guitar for my son, GC was running a $99 special on the Squier '51, and I walked into the store absolutely convinced that I would be walking back out with one, based upon all I'd read here. But 10 seconds after picking one up, I knew that wouldn't happen! I won't go into the details here, but trust me when I say that the two '51's I played at GC that day (both had the sunburst finish) wouldn't appeal to any guitarist with a significant amount of experience with good quality instruments. So I have to assume they were inferiorily manufactured. Maybe GC got a great deal on a batch of crappy '51's and that's why they were selling them for $99??? Anyway, I'd love to check out one of the "good" '51's at some point, and see what the model is actually capable of, when done right....

[Bloozcat]

Since GC and Musician's Friend are affiliated, maybe GC gets all of MF's returns. Then GC puts them up as blowouts. It would explain a lot.

I ordered mine sight unseen from MF, and it was as good as I could have expected. Mine is a blond with black pickguard. Luck of the draw, I guess.

[Eric***]

Top 10: Not in order

Ibanez S470
Ibanez RG470
Ibanez SCR220
Squier Tele Special
Squier Strat Special Edition
Peavey Falcon
Agile LP P90's
Ibanez SA160QM
Rogue PRS copy
Ibanez Roadstar II

Tune in next time for the middle top 10.

I just stumbled upon this thread somehow, and have a question about your list. I have seen things like this in the past, where people rank Epiphones or Squiers above their Gibson or Fender counterparts in terms of favorite guitars.

I have never understood that. How can the bargain version of a guitar come out on top when all is said and done? Is there a certain feature in those have (not sure what "Special Edition" entails), or are they somehow just better quality than the big-brother Fenders?

[Spudman***]

A good guitar is just...a good guitar. There are some variables but for the most part it's two pieces of wood and some metal. If a guitar is set up well then what does it matter what model or brand it is? If you pick one up and it speaks to you then you will probably always think that it is a good guitar. That's really all it takes in my book.

New top 10:

Musicman Luke
Epiphone Birdseye LP Limited Edition
Hagstrom Viking Deluxe
Ibanez S 470
Ibanez SCR220
Ibanez SA220
Squier Deluxe Strat
Squire CV50s Strat
Samick AV4
Rogue PRS copy

[Eric***]

A good guitar is just...a good guitar. There are some variables but for the most part it's two pieces of wood and some metal. If a guitar is set up well then what does it matter what model or brand it is? If you pick one up and it speaks to you then you will probably always think that it is a good guitar. That's really all it takes in my book.

I feel you on that, but it doesn't make sense to me that the major manufacturers' cheap models end up being better than the flagship models. I know it's possible because of the metal-and-wood thing that you mention, and that's something that I endorse at every opportunity: you don't need a guitar to be expensive for it to be good.

However, if I was making a signature product -- let's say it's a telephone -- and I also offer a cheaper version using slightly less-expensive plastic, I'm pretty sure I'd like to make sure that the signature one is the best telephone I could make. Not necessarily the fanciest, but the best. Wouldn't it come off as odd if my cheap version was the better telephone?

Perhaps not, but at first glance the idea was always a little funny to me.

[Spudman***]

I think the thing is with guitars they aren't real consistent in quality. Wood varies in density, weight and tone. Assembly and finish quality varies because it's done by different humans. A run of a particular model could have several different people involved in the end product and not always the same people.

So really there are a lot of variables verses a machine made molded plastic object such as a phone. Because of those variables and people being people, someone at a lesser known brand factory may have just gotten a great motivational speech or just had the birth of their first child or something and that day they put their pride into the product. Combine that with a fortuitous combination of great toned woods coming together and voila! you have a great guitar.

That's what I'm always looking for. But just like the fable, you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince.

[MAXIFUNK]

OK Spudman,

If you had to sell five right away which 5 would be the first to go?

[Eric***]

I think the thing is with guitars they aren't real consistent in quality. Wood varies in density, weight and tone. Assembly and finish quality varies because it's done by different humans. A run of a particular model could have several different people involved in the end product and not always the same people.

So really there are a lot of variables verses a machine made molded plastic object such as a phone. Because of those variables and people being people, someone at a lesser known brand factory may have just gotten a great motivational speech or just had the birth of their first child or something and that day they put their pride into the product. Combine that with a fortuitous combination of great toned woods coming together and voila! you have a great guitar.

That's what I'm always looking for. But just like the fable, you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince.

That does make a lot of sense. Thanks.

[Spudman***]

OK Spudman,

If you had to sell five right away which 5 would be the first to go?

None of the ones in my top 10 list.

[kiteman]

Eric, cheap guitars may be made with cheaper wood and hardware but some cuts of wood turned out to be toneful that the guitar has the mojo. Maybe that particular cut of wood has less knots?

I have an Epi tele that turned out to be pretty good but it wasn't at first. The body is multi-plied wood and the neck pocket is poor fitting. The neck and the fretwork is quite good so I sanded the neck pocket to bare wood (paint overspray) and glued the neck. Now I can feel the guitar vibrate and it sounded better that I slapped on GFS Lil Punchers. The sound I got reminded me of Jimmy Page's tele in the early LZ days.

Does it sound as good as my better guitars? No but it's a beast on its own.