Jan202010
Guitar Shopping
Filed under Music,stuff by Kim at 3:36 pm on Jan 20 2010
This is my guitar. I bought it 8 years ago at Chuck Levin’s with a plan to get Alex to teach me to play. He learned quickly that I was a terrible student at things that require the kind of patience instruments do; so the guitar has lain dormant for the most part until late last year I decided it was time to try again.
It’s a Jay Turser JT-301. Most people say, “a what?” when I mention it. Obviously, it looks a great deal like a Fender Strat. I don’t even know how to express the kind of pickups it has although if the design has not changed much, then according to the Jay Turser website it has a “humbucking pickup at bridge position, coil tap switch”. Okay, sure. It sounded good to me at the time and was very affordable!
(I thought of trying to record myself playing it, so you could hear how it sounds, but it was 11:30PM and I was tired and couldn’t imagine how to record it authentically and with any quality. Suggestions for that for the future are welcome.)
Lately though I’ve been regretting my stylistic choice. I really like the look of the Gibson SG style guitar, and many musicians whose sound I enjoy use one. Turser makes a copy of that too. So yesterday I drove out to Olney to the Rocketeria because it was the one place that seemed to stock them and have a website I could peruse.
While the head guy there was super helpful and cordial, once we got the JT-50 hooked up and I started to play it, a deep sense of dissatisfaction set in. It didn’t feel as easy to play and it didn’t sound half as good as the Turser I already own. I am not experienced enough to know if this has anything to do with the super slinkys I put on my guitar or the other kind of pickups they have on the JT-50 or if Turser guitars have just gone downhill in quality since I bought mine. I was hoping for love at first sight but what I got was a bad blind date.
Of course, my guitar teacher reminds me regularly that he got his Squier Telecaster for $115 bucks at the Atomic and it sounds terrific (how?) and is a dream to play. Every time I go there I try out things that sound like two Yorkshire terriers having a fight in a dryer. Not to mention I have never been too hot on the look of the Tele.
Of course then I saw this baby, and I think it’s very pretty. Did I mention I’m finally selling one of my drum kits (assuming our plumbing doesn’t explode again like it did last weekend when I was planning to sell) and will have supposed extra cash for potential aesthetic guitar replacement? I might just go see if I can play that.
Oh and in terms of pie-in-the-sky fangirl things, there’s that classic Les Paul Gold Top that Steve Hackett plays. Obviously, I could not get one just like Mr. Hackett plays (think more money than my car cost). Jay Turser does make a fake of that too, though. But will that also sound displeasing? And where on earth could I find one to try out? Even the Epiphone version costs $500. But but but! Then I could sit around and play Hairless Heart over and over really badly.
Maybe I should just sell my drum kit and keep the profit for future lean times and continue to use my thoroughly decent guitar that I already have and find comfortable to play, and stop being so goddamn vain.
What do you think I should do?
1 mpomyon 20 Jan 2010 at 3:54 pm
Guitar Center appears to have Epiphone SG’s in a range from $170 to $650, with the main differences being aesthetic. I know about the SG crush, and it’s really hard to shake. Not saying that a purchase is the “right” thing to do, but guitars last a looooong time.
I think a Jay Turser you get today will be nowhere as fine an instrument as the one you got 8 years ago. Their stuff is too cheap now, and I’m not surprised about the reaction you had to playing the JT-50.
Good luck with the search.
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Kim Reply:
January 20th, 2010 at 10:40 pm
I was hoping you might answer!
And I am really disappointed about the Turser guitars.
I will be going to GC soon not to buy, but to try and try again. Also to the many excellent used gear places we have in MD.
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2 Jennaon 20 Jan 2010 at 4:00 pm
I’m rather fond of my Gibson Epiphone Les Paul. I got it used and it has all of the same pick ups and the like. That being said, my fav part about this guitar is that it has a very DEEP heavy sound to it that I love. It’s because that’s the kind of music I resonate with too.
Also, stylistically, when I think ‘rock n roll’, I think Gibson.
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Kim Reply:
January 20th, 2010 at 10:53 pm
Indeed, I bet we are looking for different sounds – I am looking for something that really sings, is really lyrical and light. So I can pretend I might ever play something like this.
I’m sure I’ll learn a bit more which guitars do that better than others but then there is also all that pedal mess. Mayyyyybe I should be workin’ my fingers a little more first.
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Kim Reply:
January 22nd, 2010 at 11:20 pm
BTW having how watched a million videos I think I may be the Les Paul Standard kind of girl. OY VEY. So heavy.
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3 Jenon 20 Jan 2010 at 4:04 pm
“Every time I go there I try out things that sound like two Yorkshire terriers having a fight in a dryer.”
Kim, I love you. =D
I give you permission to get a new guitar but only if you start having jam sessions again. I was just thinking the other day about how those kinda stopped by the time I was playing guitar…
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Kim Reply:
January 20th, 2010 at 10:54 pm
Yeah, man, and I have folks that would love to. Sigh. Right now it all seems too much to think about! I don’t feel like a leader!
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4 Eddie Welkeron 20 Jan 2010 at 4:07 pm
I know virtually nothing about electric guitars (acoustic are another matter), but this kinda reminds me of the photography phrase… the best camera is the one you have with you. So I think if you’re gonna sell the drum kit anyway, it sounds reasonable to keep the current guitar at least until you decide you want to upgrade down the road.
I used to work next to Atomic, and knew the guys fairly well. When I talked to them they always stressed that I should ask them if I was ever interested… b/c sometimes their inventory was very hit or miss.
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Kim Reply:
January 20th, 2010 at 10:55 pm
Did you work at the CD Depot or something? Or after they moved up to Beltsville? I really like the guys at Atomic, and they have helped Girls Rock DC soooo much.
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5 Emilyon 20 Jan 2010 at 4:14 pm
Is there anyone on Earth who doesn’t want a Gibson SG? And if there is, what is wrong with that person? Can they get immediate help? I occasionally go to the Gibson site just to droool. And we’re not even going to start with a Les Paul Gold Top. That thing is worth more than my truck.
I have real on-again off-again adventures with copies and knockoffs. Sometimes I can find something that is pretty close to the original but most of the time the knock-off just sucks. I have never found an SG copy that I have liked in any way. I’m not super familiar with the Jay Turner series so all I can say is do what you did — go to the guitar store, plug it in, see if you’re in the least bit happy with the instrument before you buy.
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Kim Reply:
January 20th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Yeah, I think at this point I’m more in love with the idea of getting something than actually needing to get something. Ah, the consumption urge.
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6 Brion 20 Jan 2010 at 4:54 pm
I rock an Epiphone Les Paul knockoff and spend my time drooling over the SG. It’s like sex in guitar form. If you can swing the Epiphone SG knockoff I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Good quality and sound for the price. Will last forEVer. The Guitar Center in Towson recently carried them for $250-ish but you could probably get it for less at musiciansfriend.com.
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Kim Reply:
January 20th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
Thanks for stopping by, and for the guitar thoughts – I am so going to hit the Glen Burnie GC and just annoy their salespeople by playing 17 things and not buying any.
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7 kyle cassidyon 20 Jan 2010 at 6:41 pm
i’ve got the epiphone les paul but i never play it because it weighs sixty pounds. i have an 80’s vintage Warlock that is SO VERY METAL nobody ever need play anything else.
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Kim Reply:
January 20th, 2010 at 11:11 pm
Oh! This is something I also want to avoid, the 60lb guitar. A friend had a telecaster that she was going to lend to rock camp but it was too heavy for any of the campers to reasonably use. I need something that will allow me to do my moves, do my dance moves.
Now, thinking about it, it would be funny to play some sweet, sweet melodies on a Warlock.
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