Use some imagination please

OK, this blog is going to be a rant. One of my "friends" on facebook posted a picture of a Gibson Les Paul that was being constructed by a fellow builder. Now of course this was not a Gibson Les Paul but it might as well been, It was EXACTLY the same with EXACTLY the same wood combination. Why do builders do this? And for the love of god, why do people get excited about it. Would these same people who are owing and awing do the same if Gibson released pics of their cookie cutter guitars? Oh wait, they just might. Oh look ANOTHER flamed maple Les Paul, Oh my god, ANOTHER goldtop. Oh, Oh, you gotta see this.....a BLACK Les Paul with CREAM BINDING......Oh my god, I think I just pee'd myself.




So my question is, why do custom builders build the exact same knockoffs?  Custom should be just that...CUSTOM.  I have no problem with being INSPIRED by the Les Paul and building a guitar similar in style.  But building the damn same guitar to the same specs and putting your name on it is just stupid.  If Gibson has it down pat and all we do is copy their design, then why the hell are we building guitars?  We might as well go work for Gibson or Fender and get paid vacations and a dental plan. I just don't see the point of building the exact same thing and everyone going gaga about it.



Now, one of my models DO use a standard shape of a strat. However the similarities end there. I DON'T use VINTAGE single coil pickups for that VINTAGE sound. Why would I?  Buy a strat if you want a strat. I don't build strats, if I did I would go work for Fender.....See how easy this is. So back to my AS10 (better than a strat) guitar. I use 2 humbuckers. Hums are the best. You can do ANYTHING with them. You can make it behave just like a single coil pickup with the flick of a switch. You can also get that single coil sound while still cancelling 60 cycle hum (it's called parallel mode) or a number of other sounds. With a 3-way mini switch (which I offer, stock on the higher end models) you can get 15.....yah, that's right.....15 different tones. I also offer the AS30 which has a Les Paul look to it but has flattened sides and does not offer the standard control layout of the Paul, and why should it?  Again, if you want a Paul, go pay outrageous amounts of money for a cookie cutter guitar……just like the one your friend has.



Wood? Let’s talk about that for a minute. There are TONS of different woods out there and you know what......MOST OF THEM SOUND AWSOME in an electric guitar. You don't need to go with Mahogany for the body and flamed or quilted maple for the top. My god there are woods that look amazing and sound amazing....like Bubinga. Yeah, you can use that on electric guitars....IT'S NOT JUST FOR BASSES ANYMORE!!!!  I don't know why the regular guitar player is so locked into a narrow minded belief of what a guitar should be that they can't see the awesome options open to them.



And one more thing. I work at a very small music store 2 days a week just to get out of the shop. If I hear another person complain about the weight of an electric guitar I think I'm gonna kill myself.  People, Wood has weight, get over it. At the store we have a bunch of Strat CLONES.....blah, blah, blah (more copy cat companies) and I get people in their 20's to 40's complaining all the time that it's too heavy and their neck and shoulders hurt if they play it for to long. Gezz buddy, buy a wider strap/padded strap...or build some damn muscle.  problem solved.  And if the aforementioned is buying one for his/her kid....well forget it.  "Oh, Billy won't be able to lift that and play it for very long"  Well holy crap, maybe Billy should step away from the video games for awhile and run around outside and build some muscle. Unbelievable!!  Are we becoming a society of weaklings?  I mean hell, if the damn guitar is not made out of Basswood (or plywood for that matter), then it's too heavy?  Give me a break!  As I said before...wood has weight.  Now, there are ways to use quality wood and reduce the weight (chambering), but most people want light, and cheap, and chambering a piece of wood is not cheap.  I’ll tell you a little side story about how weak we have gotten. At the store we had an old Roland keyboard come in. You know, wood ends, clunky sliders, large knobs, etc. Well it was on the show floor, and the guy (I’d say is his late 20’s early 30’s wanted to plug it in just to confirm it worked. Fair enough….I carry it to the back of the store and we plug it into an amp. Yup, works fine so I carry it back up to the front of the store. He then inquires about a pedal for it. I have one but since the keyboard is very old I say lets try it to confirm. I carry it to the back of the store again.  We try the pedal, it does not work.  No problem, He thinks he may have one at home that works.  I carry it back to the front again.  He pays for it and goes to pick it up and all I can hear is him bitching about how heavy it is and how he is ever going to get it to his car which is parked right around the corner.  I’m thinking to myself you have got to be kidding me.  I just moved this thing around the store for you with NO PROBLEM what so ever, what kind of little girl are you, you pussy.  If I was him, I would have been SO EMBARASSED that someone almost twice his age had no problem lifting and moving this keyboard, while he could not.  Finally, his buddy had to come and help him carry it out. I mean, how sad is that. 



So to finish……..builders, try something new. Players, embrace the new ideas, you will be amazed at what can come of it.  And to the 20 to 40 year olds, guitars have SOME weight to them, it won't kill ya so stop your crying.  And if you have kids.......do some parenting and kick their butts outside to run around and play so they have enough strength to stand up and play the electric guitar.



THAT IS ALL