about jedistar  3/2/2012   Web resources | My dream rig | LiteKamper

Jedistar lives in Aspley on Brisbane's north side, Queensland Australia. The 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 1975 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 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.  Note that in 2010 HC had technical issues which may place these resources at risk. At some stag I'll have to go though and remove all the direct brand links to Harmony Central - what an absolute drag.

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. These are the questions I ask:

1. What year did you start making under this brand name?
2. Where do you make them?
3. How can someone tell the date of manufacture for your guitars.
eg. Written on guitar somewhere, serial number coding system etc

4. Any additional historical information/links/
5. A photo of a date marks/label + headstock with logo would also be appreciated.
This info is useful for those buying second hand instruments.

The vast majority of my emails or form submissions go unanswered.  Interestingly though in December 2010 I received  response to an email request that I had sent in 2008.

 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 .  Also thanks to Hakan Dundar from Turkey and Ben van Dyk from Canada who are major discoverers and contributors of info to jedistar.

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 , Blue Book of Acoustic Guitars , Blue Book of Guitar Amplifiers , all by 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 this set of books. A great coffee table collection.

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. 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

Strobel Rambler 2010

Les Paul Classic Cherry Burst - 2004. Picked up locally from eBay 2010.

Takamine EF441SC - from a local music store Brisbane Australia

Bourgeois Vintage D - a 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 on gbase.

Suzuki Nylon String 1974 (my first)

Noise maker

Orange Tiny Terror + Krank Rev Jr single 12 cab with an Eminence inside. This is a nice small and light cab.

Check out the making of a Matamp cab | See Bernie at Ozguitargear for Matamp in Australia.

PA

2 by JBL G2

DB 110 monitors

Galaxy Audio Hotspots

Mackie 14 channel mixer

Shure SM58

Gone but not forgotten

2001 Custom Classic Strat Daphne Blue from eBay in Louisiana, USA in 2009. Sold on ebay May 2011

Ovation Breadwinner - 1978 purchase from a Brisbane music store.  Sold with Duncan JB's on board, the electronics died long ago.

From top left: BBE Sonic Stomp, Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2Plus, Boss 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

Fender Texas Special Fat Strat 2001, From eBay South Australia . Jedistar parted with this guitar January 2010 - sold on ebay to someone in Rockhampton.  I thought the HB would give it some balls - but it doesn't. Hence the Les Paul.

Vintage 57 Reissue Fender USA Stratocaster Sold 2009  Bought this guitar from Buffalo Bros guitars in California.

Parker Fly USA Black. Bought this guitar on ebay Australia from a professional muso.  Sold 2009 privately on an Australian forum.  Interesting guitar - nice and light for old backs.  Not a fat HB like a Les Paul though.

Paul Reed Smith Singlecut Sold 2009  Purchased on ebay from USA.  This was a Les Paul copy - nice guitar which was exquisitely made - but neck too wide and fat for me.  And not the same balls as my current Les Paul.

Gibson SG Supreme Midnight Blue 2004 Sold 2006  Purchased from Woodwind and Brasswind USA online.  Great sound with 57 humbuckers but the balance of this 24 fret guitar was ridiculous - perhaps the prettiest but worst guitar I have ever owned.  Also had no sustain to mention - what a disappointment.

Fender Telecaster Deluxe 2004 the one with the SCN pups.  Sold 2006. Purchased from Woodwind and Brasswind USA online.  Sounded pretty good but the SCN switch failed - so it was time to go.  Looked uber with the Tele binding on a 3 colour sunburst.

Azumi Japanese guitar - now with my brother.

Gibson SG Deluxe (Bigsby) 1972 - traded 1979

Tempo 335 copy Japan - now with my brother.

Amps

Yamaha TA30

Marshall VS65R

Crate Vintage 50 (2 by 12)  Cream tolex combo

VHT Pittbull 45 Single 12 Green tolex combo

Effects Pedals

Mesa Boogie V Twin

Boss Digital Delay DD6, Chorus CE5

Dunlop 535Q Wah

Boss Distortion OD20

Zoom 505

MXR 10 band EQ

Dunlop Dime Distortion

Ibanez Overdrive