Thanks!Originally Posted by piebaldpython
The blue one is in fact named "Ol' Blue," and is an early '70's Ovation Breadwinner. It was my first gigworthy electric guitar and was my main electric all through the '80's:
That said, I don't play it much any more, for a variety of reasons. First, it was the very first large production-run electric guitar with active electronics, which makes it fairly noisy [although the pickups are the same size as HB's, they are in fact "toroidal" (whatever that means!) single-coil pickups], especially with high-volume and distortion engaged. Second, since it's active, it has a couple 9-volts, and I don't wanna lose power in the middle of a gig or have to be replacing them all the time. Third, the controls are very quirky and anti-intuitive. One thing about that is that the toggle positions are not the usual neck, N+B, bridge arrangement; plus, instead of using treble all the way up as one's default and backing off some as necessary, with a Breadwinner you have to essentially do the opposite-- begin with them set all the way to bassy and then bring up treble as necessary. TONS of high end in the tone circuit. Last, the "sunken" bridge design makes string changes a huge PITA. Here's a pic from my first show evah:
The red one is my DeArmond Jet Star, Ruby. The Jet Star model is based on the old '60's Guild Thunderbird (the DeArmond is not only the same shape, but also has the same Thunderbird headstock inlay). Despite being an inexpensive Korean-made guitar, it's one of my faves. One reason being how distinctive it looks, but also I've played it at lots of shows and it's just a sweet guitar. The pickups are DeArmond-branded "GoldTone" humbuckers, which are a PAF-type HB with a little more brightness than most. They are thus a perfect pairing with the slab mahogany body of the Jet Star, since unlike a Les Paul there's no maple cap to brighten the sound. Although the guitar was built in Korea, the pickups were made in the US Fender plant. The overall effect is very Les Paulish, with maybe a smidge of SG.
Oh and here's a list of the what's-what:
Top Row (L-R): MIJ Squier P-bass, USA Peavey Fury 1 bass, Fender '52 RI Telecaster, USA Peavey T-60, my first electric guitar (now a wall ornament painted checkerboard), Brownsville Choirboy, Danelectro Hodad, USA Peavey Predator Strat, Frankentele built by formerly-local DIY luthier Shawn Spencer, 1960 Fender Duo-Sonic, Ovation Breadwinner, Rickenbacker 620
Bottom Row (L-R): Epiphone Thunderbird bass, USA Peavey T-40, Aria MIJ Mosrite bass copy, Fender Jazz bass, Daisy Rock Retro-H 12-string, Gibson Les Paul Studio Doublecut, Fender Telecaster Special, USA Hamer Special, Gibson Les Paul Classic, Gretsch Electromatic Special Jet, Epiphone Casino, Fernandes Ravelle Deluxe, Schecter Tempest Special, DeArmond Jet Star, Epiphone WildKat
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