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| This is an original USA Steinberger GM7TA. In case you're not familiar with this model, it has a 24-fret Steinberger blend (graphite) neck, a mahogany body with a maple top and a contoured heel (contrary to what the catalog at the time stated; these were claimed to have maple bodies), active electronics (two EMG 89's and an EMG SA) with bass and treble control and a "coil-tap" switch, and perhaps most importantly, what may be considered to be the holy grail of tremolo bridges, a Steinberger TransTrem. The TransTrem allows instant transposition of the entire instrument so that the E strings would be either B, C, D, E, F, or G. When set up properly, entire chords stay in relative tune while employing the vibrato bar. This instrument plays and sounds like a dream. I first played the instrument in Thoroughbred Music (now sold out to Sam Ash) in Tampa, Florida. Obviously I desired the guitar, but being a stupid kid, I didn't have the $1700 to buy it. Fate stepped in several years later when I was in Baltimore, and my best friend was working at Thoroughbred as they were liquidating just before selling out to Sam Ash. This time, I did have the $400 to which the guitar had been marked down. Now who's laughing, Thoroughbred? | This is a 1991 Ibanez RG-550 in Desert Sun Yellow, dolled up to look like an Ibanez Jem of the same color. Actually, under the hood, it's slightly better than a Jem, because as I was putting in the new electronics (two DiMarzio PAF Pro's and a DiMarzio HS-2), I had the brilliant idea of replacing the original potentiometers with push-pull pots that allowed me to wire both PAF Pro's for series/parallel switching. Net effect on tone: nearly zero. But there's some effect, and it's cool to have the option. I initially paid $139(!) for the guitar in a pawn shop here in Baltimore. My best friend had been wanting one of these in this color for some time, and we were together when I bought the guitar. I mainly bought it because he hesitated, and since I was flush with cash at the time, it was worth the $139 to know that I had robbed him of his dream guitar, especially at such a sweet price. It has turned out to be a great axe, well worth the purchase price in its own right. My best friend went on to spend $300-$400 on one of these on ebay. This guitar has a 24-fret Ibanez Wizard neck with a maple fingerboard, a basswood body with a contoured heel, an Ibanez Edge double-locking tremolo, and of course pickups as mentioned above. It plays very well, sounds ok, and you can pull the pitch up a fifth or more with the vibrato bar. | This is a "Duck" replica assembled from parts. The neck is from a 1974 Fender Stratocaster, and it's been refretted with jumbo frets and then scalloped. It has cheap tuners that I'll replace sooner or later. I paid $350 for the neck in an ebay auction, and it was well worth every penny. The headstock logo is even identical to the Duck's. The body is from an early 80's Squier Stratocaster, and while the contours are the correct smooth, deep, and round contours, the body is made of basswood, so I'll have to replace it with an alder or ash body some time. The pickups are a DiMarzio YJM and two DiMarzio HS-3's. It has a Fender vintage style tremolo bridge from a '62 Reissue Stratocaster. Obviously the neck plays like a dream, and the pickups are quite good and completely noiseless, but I really do have to replace the tuners and the body before this becomes a favorite axe of mine. |