What's your favorite go to guitar that you play all the time???

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harddriver
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What's your favorite go to guitar that you play all the time???

Post by harddriver »

Had this discussion with PLX and thought it might make a good topic.......

After many years and many many guitars mine was and still is my 1983 Kramer Pacer Imperial(Poplar body) (Unfinished Maple neck from the Kramer Factory) that I bought new. I installed a Seymour Duncan Seymourizer II Bridge pickup around 1984 and replaced the neck pickup around 1987/88 EMG passive single coil but ihave been thinking about going back to a Duncan 59 neck. I played the frets flat on this guitar and I finally had it refretted a few years ago because I had to trust the luthier to not mess it up. I also have a number two 1983 Kramer Pacer Imperial that I play alot, it currently has a Mighty Mite 1400 9K bridge pickup and stock Kramer neck pickup in it. 6100 Jumbo frets are my favorite frets. I didn't care for the 6105 frets on the EBMM axis Amber quilt but at the time(2001) when I bought it, it was the closest thing on the market to my 83 Kramer and it was comfortable to play but the 10" radius neck and I didn't get along well over time but I did like the guitar alot and it did see alot of play time for many years.

I also have a W/B Franky that I built in 2008 that I am fond of since it's neck is most similar to my Kramers. I also have a Jake E Lee tribute guitar that I built in 2009 but the neck isn't as comfortable to play but it plays and sounds great.

I have since owned these guitars over the years but the Kramers are where it is at for me personally and all guitar gas has ceased.

In no particular order:

EBMM Axis x 2, Gibson Flying V, Explorer, Dean Import Dimebag, Gibson S335 solid body(my first decent electirc guitar), Gibson Les Paul Custom, Edwards Les Paul lemondrop, USA Dean Baby Z, Fender Strats, J-Frog Superstrat, Charvel San Dimas, EVH RWB striped series, 83 Kramer Carrera, Ibanez RG x 2(when I was in a Petrucci phase) :lol: .

That's pretty much my list over the years and I'm now down to four guitars in rotation with a 5th Kramer KNE poplar body/ Musikraft maple neck/pao ferro fretboard(think NUNO) waiting for paint and assembly.
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Re: What's your favorite go to guitar that you play all the time???

Post by Watson503 »

That's a trip because not only five minutes ago I was just looking at old Kramers and then went over to Sweetwater just to see what new ones they had in stock as I'm toying-around with getting a single-humbucker guitar . I had a Kramer bass I got back in 87 that I loved, another one of those I wish I had never sold.

The past few years my go-to has been my Dean DimeSlime Stealth - I'm down to that and my Soloist but go for the Dean as it has a Floyd on it and the Soloist is string-thru and I like the feel of the neck on the Dean more. I don't really jones for new stuff anymore but lately Ive been thinking of buying something new - last guitar I bought was the Dean about 5 years ago.

I do keep my eyes out for an Ibanez Axstar as that is my all-time favorite guitar I've ever owned but foolishly sold in high school. I'll see them every once in a while but they'll be in too bad a shape or pick-up only somewhere but I'm hoping I'll find one down the road.
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Re: What's your favorite go to guitar that you play all the time???

Post by RockyStar »

I have a good amount of guitars and rotate around often. I do have more PRS than any other brand so I guess my answer would be PRS.
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Re: What's your favorite go to guitar that you play all the time???

Post by lll »

My go-to guitar all depends on what I'm playing and the tone I'm after.

I don't have a ton, but the only guitar type I'm missing is a Tele (of which I am loathe to grab one; still, it has a certain tone).
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Re: What's your favorite go to guitar that you play all the time???

Post by RockyStar »

lll wrote: Wed Aug 10, 2022 7:41 am My go-to guitar all depends on what I'm playing and the tone I'm after.

I don't have a ton, but the only guitar type I'm missing is a Tele (of which I am loathe to grab one; still, it has a certain tone).
I used to despise Tele's and then I played around on them and finally caved in a got one and it is indeed a different guitar (at least for me). Once I got more used to them I really began liking them and regret not giving them a chance sooner. I want to get/build an old looking country vibe type tele but have it be a capable death metal guitar in secret. :lol:
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Re: What's your favorite go to guitar that you play all the time???

Post by PLX »

The main one I play is my USA made Dean ML. I recently replaced the PAF style bridge pickup with the Super 70 clone with Alnico 8 magnet, and that guitar is just perfect !

It's a string-thru body. I replaced the original tune-o-matic style bridge with a Schaller "roller bridge".

Image

It was a drop-in replacement, and I highly recommend it for these guitars. Since they are strung through ferrules in the back of the body, and then the strings come through a metal V-shaped plate on the top. If you do a lot of string bending it's possible for the strings to bind up on a standard type of bridge saddle. The roller bridge saddles are little "wheels" that allow for string movement without binding up.

When you spin these little saddle-wheel you can adjust the individual string spacing as well - which is kind of cool.

It's also got a graphite nut, so it's damn near impossible to knock this guitar out of tune.

The neck has a volute just before the headstock, and I love the way that feels. Deans are notorious for headstock breaks, so the volute make the headstock/neck joint much beefier.

Image
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Re: What's your favorite go to guitar that you play all the time???

Post by RockyStar »

That is a nice bridge! Guitar looks great!!
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Re: What's your favorite go to guitar that you play all the time???

Post by harddriver »

Are the USA Dean ML the same thickness as what the old 80's/90's Dean ML's were? I had a USA Dean baby Z and I can really remember how thick the body was, it was Zebra stripped.

My Dean China import Dime was thinner than say Dimes USA Dean you can see it's thinner and also thinner than the Washburn Dimes. It was one of the nicer imprt Deans but it was still thinner than what a true vintage USA Dean or Washburn was. The body should roughly be close to the same thickness as a Gibson Explorer.

I don't know why they would make the imports thinner but mine definitely was.
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Re: What's your favorite go to guitar that you play all the time???

Post by PLX »

harddriver wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 4:19 pm Are the USA Dean ML the same thickness as what the old 80's/90's Dean ML's were? I had a USA Dean baby Z and I can really remember how thick the body was, it was Zebra stripped.

My Dean China import Dime was thinner than say Dimes USA Dean you can see it's thinner and also thinner than the Washburn Dimes. It was one of the nicer imprt Deans but it was still thinner than what a true vintage USA Dean or Washburn was. The body should roughly be close to the same thickness as a Gibson Explorer.

I don't know why they would make the imports thinner but mine definitely was.
I couldn't say, because I've never seen a vintage Dean.

This one here is exactly 1-1/2" thick.

It's a 3-piece mahogany body with a mahogany top and binding. The neck is a mahogany "set neck" with an ebony fingerboard.

Once I put that Super70 in the bridge position, this guitar just came alive. :D
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Re: What's your favorite go to guitar that you play all the time???

Post by RockyStar »

I love when that happens!
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