It has been a while since I referenced my guitar hunt. (April 16th in fact - http://a0001718.blogspot.com/2007/04/not-lot-to-report-these-days.html)

Well, I completed the task yesterday. I bought a Takamine EG340SC (http://www.takamine.com/?fa=detail&mid=1978&sid=524).

Just as I was hunting for, it is a middle of the road guitar... not a cheapo, not a really expensive one. I spent months researching, and settled on this one because it had a solid spruce top. If you are not familiar with guitars at all, you need a solid top for good sound quality and durability.. Additionally, I really needed a cutaway, since I play things that are extraordinarily difficult without one. You really have to go all gimpy to play the 19th fret on a guitar with no cutaway. Next, I really did not care if the guitar was only acoustic, or an acoustic/electric, but when I realized the Takamine TP4T electronics featured an on board tuner as well, I was sold.

Musician's Friend (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/) was having a sale on their "scratch and dent" items. Since this guitar will replace my current daily player, I could not think of a reason not to just get a scratch and dent item. It is guaranteed to work just like it did when it was brand new, and I could play it for 45 days then send it back if I was unhappy for any reason for a full refund. The MSRP is $589.00, but Musician's Friend sells them for $399.00. The scratch and dent models were $339.00, and the sale was another 10% on top of that, so I ended up paying $305.00, and shipping was free.

I got the guitar yesterday and inspected it thoroughly. I cannot find anything wrong with the guitar whatsoever. I am not exactly sure why it was a scratch and dent item. I suppose they count it as scratch and dent if the original box it came from the manufacturer in was messed up, or if it was a floor model for any period of time, but I cannot find a single scratch, dent, ding smudge, nick, or crack of any sort anywhere on the guitar.

It is a fantastical guitar. The tone is amazing, and it projects a LOT of sound. The on board tuner could not be any easier to use. You simply push the tuner button and hit a string, and it has a display that tells you to tune up or down till it is the correct note.

Anyhoo, they still have some left, they are just not on sale any more. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up... they are so choice.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Takamine-G-Series-EG340SC-Dreadnought-Cutaway-AcousticElectric-Guitar?sku=512207X

The pictures really do not do the guitar justice, but it is rather difficult to quickly photograph something shiny, with a flash, you'll get the general idea.

Not a lot to report these days...

I really enjoy playing the guitar even though I am really not good at it. I am not even really sure how to find out if I am even half way decent or have any potential to play at all. I do know I thoroughly enjoy it, so ultimately I guess it does not matter if I am any good or not. For the amount of time that I have been playing, I would say I am not very good. In fact, compared to how long I have been playing, I should be fantastic, but instead I probably sux.

I own several guitars:

1 Cadillac Ovation Balladeer Model 1861
1 Translucent Dean Acoustic Bass
1 Sparkle Blue Danelectro Rumor Bass
1 Gibson Epiphone Special Model electric guitar
2 Ensenada Model CG108 Classical guitars

The Ovation is REALLY expensive so I rarely play it, and the rest are basically crap guitars. I don't play the bass much because I do not have a bass amp, and the acoustic bass I never could really get the strings to work well. I play the shit out of my two Ensenadas because they are easy to just pick up and play. I got one of them when my grandfather passed away, and I scour eBay on a monthly basis looking identical guitars, and I found one once, so now I have two of them. I am starting to enjoy electric guitar more and more, but rather than plugging into my amp and messing with all that, I use my Presonus Inspire 1394 to plug my guitar directly into my computer, which opens up a world of endless virtual effect pedals.

Anyhoo, I believe that every guitar player needs a minimum of 6 guitars. You need two toss around guitars, two mid range 300-400$ daily playing guitars, and two top end 1000$+ guitars. I say two because you should have an electric and an acoustic model for each price range. It may sound odd, but there is no rush to get all of these at once... you should collect them slowly over the decades. So, this brings me to the point of today's verbiage.

I need two new guitars. My current electric guitar is breaking down. I bought the absolute cheapest guitar I could at the time, in case I hated playing electric guitar. I have had it for many years, and so now it is time to add a mid-range model to my collection. I am looking for something in the 300-400$ range for this purpose, then I can buy a high end model later on down the road. Also, I need a mid range acoustic guitar. I have my Ensenadas and they are great. They are low end so they can be taken on a journey if necessary, and since my Ovation hardly ever leaves its hard shell case, I need something mid-range to fill the gap between pwnage and teh suck. Again, I would like to stick in the 300-400$ range.

Buying guitars is an odd thing. If you read reviews one person will rave about a certain guitar, and the next guy might say its crap. I have done extensive research, and I have come to the conclusion that the only proper way to buy one, is to go to the store and play them all, then go home and buy them online, unless they are the same price. Guitar Center has finally pulled their head of out their asshole and joined the mid 90s and now sells guitars on their web page, and their prices in the store are identical to the prices at online vendors such as Musician's Friend and American Musical.

I am sure I will report on any purchases I make. Right now I am trying to figure out if I should buy the acoustic or the electric first. I want both at the same time, but that's not a very good financial strategy. I bought some parts to repair my electric guitar, so maybe I will go with the acoustic first, and keep playing my low end electric for now.


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