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Guitar stores to visit before you die
Jedistar's interest in
guitars started at the age of 15 back in the 1970s - that was a long time
ago. Starting with a Suzuki nylon string guitar which he still owns
(back repair with gaffer tape), the first electric was a red Tempo Gibson
335 copy and a Yamaha TA30 solid state amp. In 1976 he became the
proud owner of a 73ish SG with tremelo. That guitar was swapped for an
Ovation Breadwinner in 1979 (yeah I know!).
The 80s and 90s were guitar free but early this century the Breadwinner
emerged from under the bed. Other guitars followed (Telecaster Deluxe,
57 RI Fender Stratocaster, SG Supreme,
PRS Singlecut, Parker Fly, 2 more strats and a progression of amps and pedals.
I have not had a large amp collection with only the following since 2000 -
Marshall Valvestate 65 single 12 combo, Crate Vintage 50 2 by 12 combo, VHT
Pittbull single 12 combo, and my current amps per picture below.
The idea of a web site emerged while holidaying on the Gold Coast
(Australia) in January 2007. The basic idea started with what
questions does a guitarist ask when they find a guitar in a second hand
shop? I settled on...What is it and when/where was it made? What is
it worth?
There are quite a few resources to help value
a guitar or musical instrument.
The best place to help identify a guitar is
obviously a brand name/mark. With this information you
can then go to the web to find out more. Jedistar gathers links to resources
which will help identify your instrument including brand specific forums.
If you do not have a brand name then I recommend the Vintaxe
forum as your starting point. This site
in particular has a number of members who are very knowledgeable about a
range of older and more uncommon brands. I have
published a simple guide to
guitar dating.
I started in January 2007 with a few pages of
links, aggregating existing resources. Over the next
few months I collected links to amps, effects and drums also.
It was simply a matter of Googling and then publishing links that I felt
were useful. I then started aggregating other information - especially
links to Harmony Central user
reviews - which often contain useful identification and dating info. HC is probably the best single
general guitar resource on the web.
Later I started emailing
makers for info. I have sent literally over a thousand emails
and received responses about 30% of the time.
I also seek help on forums and occasionally
luthiers and others kindly make contact and
help me fill in the gaps with a great link, images
or other info. I am particularly grateful to the on-line shops that have
given me permission to use their images especially
Guitar Salon International,
Classic Guitars International,
Kent Guitar Classics,
Trilogy Guitars,
Retrofret,
Guitar Centre Australia,
Vintage Cowboy Guitars,
Bruunari,
Wutzdog Guitars Germany .
I reference the
following texts (warning all are guaranteed to cause G.A.S.):
Gruhn's Guide to Vintage Guitars : An Identification Guide for American Fretted Instruments (2nd Ed)
, George Gruhn and Walter Carter 1999.
Jedistar Review - While only focussing on a limited number of
classic American makes this is an amazing historical document and a must
have for the collector of the classic American guitar. Note much of
the information on many web sites has been cut directly from this book
(usually without attribution).
Blue Book of Electric Guitars
, Zachary R Fjestad
Blue Book of Acoustic Guitars
, Zachary R Fjestad
Blue Book of Guitar Amplifiers
, Zachary R Fjestad
Jedistar
Review -
The Blue Book collection is
simply the most comprehensive guide to guitars and valuations on the planet.
If money is no object then definitely invest in these books.
2010 Official Vintage Guitar Magazine Price Guide
, Alan Greenwood and Gil Hembree.
Jedistar
Review - If you are
thinking of buying just one book on old guitars then
this is definitely the one that I recommend. It covers an enormous number of brands and includes
separate sections for guitars, amps, basses and also effects. Everyone
interested in the history of guitars should get this book! Seriously...
I have aggregated a collection of books for easier
access at the Jedistar
Amazon Book Shop
This is a part time hobby -
albeit becoming an obsession. My current scope has grown a little.
The plan is to document every guitar maker with at least some basic history,
link to current site if available and links to other resources. You can help !
please
email catalog scans, luthier links, bios, photos of date marks,
headstock logos, brand labels,
buy a jedistar t-shirt
or
Jedistar current gear
A Les Paul Custom is in the planning phase - stay tuned....
2001
Custom Classic Strat Daphne Blue from eBay in Louisiana, USA. This is my
favourite guitar since I sold my PRS Singlecut.
Takamine EF441SC - from a local music store Brisbane Australia
Ovation Breadwinner - 1978 purchase from a Brisbane music store.
It currently has Duncan JB's on board, the electronics died long ago.
Bourgeois Vintage D 2007 purchase from an Australian
International airline pilot who picked it up in Hawaii.
Hohner G3T Steinberger copy - flew in from a shop in USA. I
think I found it a gbase.
My two channel amplifier rig:
Clean side =
THD Univalve with a KT77 in the power section and Matamp Retro picture frame 2
by 12 with Celestion Vintage 30s.
Dirty side = Orange Tiny Terror + Matamp single 12 with Celestion G12T75 and
Krank Rev Jr single 12 cab with an Eminence inside.
Check out the making of a Matamp cab
See Bernie at Ozguitargear
for Matamp in Australia.
Current pedal board:
From top left: BBE Sonic Stomp, Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2Plus, Boos TU2, TRex
Tremster, Lehle Dual - used to run separate or combined dry/effect signal from
Electroharmonix micro POG, MXR Dynacomp, MXR Carbon Copy, Seymour Duncan Pickup
Booster.
others not in use at present:
Visual Sound Jekyl and Hyde, MXR Classic Distortion, Electroharmonix Boost LPB-1
Gone but not forgotten
Fender Texas Special Fat strat 2001, From eBay South Australia . Jedistar parted with this guitar January 2010.
Vintage 57 Reissue Fender Stratocaster Sold 2009
PRS Singlecut Sold 2009
What some people have said
about jedistar
"After 4 hours looking, I'm
impressed........... I don't get impressed easily." [D.J, Ashland,
Kentucky Feb 2010]
Hi and thanks for
this site. What an awesome undertaking." [JS, Luthier October 2009]
"Ignore the strange name! Click through and you'll
find information about guitar manufacturers, including classical, on this
encyclopedic Australian website, from vintage to current." [D, UK guitar
teacher, Jan 2009]
"cool site man, I'd be honored to be on there" [T,
US Luthier Jan 2009]
"That's a great website you've got going there.
Very interesting." [KL, Australian luthier Nov 2008]
"wow, what an ambitious project." [US
guitar
historian Nov 2008]
"Wow - it's a huge collection- very nice work you
have done." [JL, US luthier Nov 2008]
"your site ...looks very comprehensive and useful"
[J, UK Luthier Nov 2008]
"You do the world a
great service" [DM, US Luthier Nov 2008]
"Just had a look at your website. Awesome work
man!" [Forum, Oct 2008]
"Good work fella... Starting to really take
shape..."[Forum, Oct 2008]
"Great site! " [Forum, Oct 2008]
"We liked your site and put a reciprocal link on our
site as well." [Forum Admin, 2007]
"I'd like you to work on that red star on your site. It looks cheesy!
" [Forum 2007]
"That's a bloody big list ya got there!" [Forum 2007]
"That's nice dear" [My mother, 2007]
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