1. 21 Nov


    Capsule Music, Queen Street West, Toronto.

    • Photo #2 shows an early 80’s, last gasp of CBS management, Fender Performer.  I know I have shown this one before, but it’s so bizarre (and lame!) that I can’t resist showing it again!  :D
    • Photo #3 shows some acoustics on sale at Capsule.  I don’t know enough to tell you what they are, but O can tell you the ES-335 on the right is NOT vintage…it is a recent Custom Shop reissue!
    • Photo#4 - this photo shows three VERY expensive vintage guitars!  On the left is a 1952 Les Paul Gold Top (ONLY $18,500 because it has been modified)
    • Beside the ‘52 LP is a ‘56 Stratocaster, selling for “only” $26,000!
    • Beside the Strat is a 1965 Rickenbacker 450-12.  ONLY $2,300!  Now THAT’s a price almost anyone can afford!  :D
    • Photo 5 shows a Fender MIM Joe Strummer signature Telecaster.  It’s heavily relic’ed, and I actually really like it.  You dond’t see too many of them around (they are no longer in production) but earlier this week I saw another one at L&M Bloor.  Don’t tell Capsule, but the one at L&M is cheaper…  :D
    • Photo 6 shows one of Fender’s 60th Anniversary Telebration limited runs…a Tele with a bamboo top!  When it came out thsi one was selling new for ~$1800.  This is one is only 1 year old and the price is $1300.  THIS is a great example of why advise and encourage anyone who asks me to buy “used” instead of “new”…after only one year this instrument depreciated by 500 dollars (plus the sales tax on that $500!)
     

  2. 5 Nov


    bsvg: 1963 Fender Stratocaster in candy apple red Oh. My. God.  The is what perfection looks like in the guitar world.  I have a Custom Shop Relic in c.a.r. with matching headstock very much like this one…but about 1/20th the price I would imagine!  :D

    bsvg:

    1963 Fender Stratocaster in candy apple red

    Oh. My. God.  The is what perfection looks like in the guitar world.  I have a Custom Shop Relic in c.a.r. with matching headstock very much like this one…but about 1/20th the price I would imagine!  :D

     

  3. 10 Jun



    the-best-of-the-blues-deactivat asked: What would be your dream setup?... Guitar, amp, pedals etc... You can have only one guitar and one amp... It doesn't have to be out of the stuff you own :).

    Such a tough one to answer!  :D

    If I had to keep 1 guitar and 1 amp out of my current collection, I would definitely keep my Blackstar HT1-RH.  It’s small, and yet sounds really warm and sweet.  On the guitar side it’s tougher…but…um…perhaps my black Les Paul Special Double Cut?  It’s reasonably light, aesthetically beautiful and well crafted, and it sounds good playing almost any type of music!  However, if you ask me again in 5 minutes and that choice will probably have changed…  ;D

    If I could choose “any” guitar and amp from history I am thinking I would look for a 1965 (or ‘64) Stratocaster (I love the Fender “transition” logo!) as long as it was under 7 lbs.  Ideally the colour would be Dakota Red…or Shoreline Gold…or Lake Placid Blue…or Sherwood Green…or hell, even a plain old sunburst would do!  :D  Amp-wise, it would have to be a Fender “Blackface” of some kind…a Princeton Reverb would do the trick nicely!

    Thanks for a fun question!  :)

    PS: Here’s a ‘64 Strat I shot at the Guitar Center store in Manhattan last month.  This would do very nicely (assuming I could come up with the 30 grand to buy it that is!)  :D

     

     

  4. 22 Apr


    Saturday guitar shopping today took me (first) to The 12th Fret in Toronto http://www.12fret.com/

    See photo captiosn for a short description of each…but there were two vintage Teles there today (a ‘66 in black) and a 63 in “natural” - i.e. stripped down to the bare wood by some well-meaning but misguided fool!  As a result, they are asking $3500 for the ‘63!  That’s go to be around 17,000 cheaper than a pre-CBS Tele with all its original hardware and finish!  I can pretty much guarantee you will never see another reasonably intact (except for the finish) Tele for this price again!

    Toronto, Canada, April 21, 2012.

    PS: first and last shots were taken at a place called “Evergreen Brickworks” in Toronto’s Don River valley.  I had to kill some time before 12th Fret opened at 11 am!  :D

     

  5. 7 Apr


    In keeping with my recent theme of posting photos of my older, less photographed instruments, here is my 2010 Fender Custom Shop 63 Stratocaster Relic.  My very first (but certainly not my last!) Custom Shop instrument.

    Toronto, Canada, April 7, 2012.

     

  6. 18 Feb


    How about this for some affordable pre-CBS Fender?  It’s a 1955 Fender Stringmaster triple neck steel!  I think the idea was that each neck could be in a different tuning so the layer could switch between them during a show rather than having to pause to change the tuning…

    This instrument is straight out of the Golden Age of Fender!  When it was built in 1955 the Stratocaster had only been out for 1 year (and it still had a single ply, 8 screw pick guard, maple neck and 2 tone sunburst!).  The Les Paul for only 3 years in ‘55 and the “granddaddy” of solid-body electric guitars (the Fender Telecaster/Broadcaster/Nocaster) had only appeared ~5 years earlier! A good portion of Leo Fender’s business before the Tele and Strat had been in amplifiers and lap steels.

    Toronto, Canada, Feb 18, 2012.

     

  7. 2 Nov


    bsvg: Pre-CBS Fender® Stratocaster® - refinished slab-board neck (undated) on refinished ‘63 body, original pickups & 3-way swich, replacement pots & pickguard, brazilian rosewod slab-board on a nicely flamed Maple neck - all in all, a very nice Pre-CBS refinish If I sold off a good chunk of my guitar collection I MIGHT be able to afford this!  :D

    bsvg:

    Pre-CBS Fender® Stratocaster® - refinished slab-board neck (undated) on refinished ‘63 body, original pickups & 3-way swich, replacement pots & pickguard, brazilian rosewod slab-board on a nicely flamed Maple neck - all in all, a very nice Pre-CBS refinish

    If I sold off a good chunk of my guitar collection I MIGHT be able to afford this!  :D

     

  8. 12 Oct


    I was at The 12th Fret in Toronto last weekend and saw these two pre-CBS classics, a 1958 Stratocaster (all original, except of the volume pot and a re-lacquered fingerboard, with OHSC), and a 1964 Jaguar (with a 100% authentic “relic” finish!).

    Oh, if I only had 27 thousands dollars…that lovely ‘58 would be mine.  I suppose I could sell 1/2 of my collection to raise the money…  maybe I will!  :D

    Toronto, October 8, 2011. 

     

  9. 6 Aug


    I was at a store in Toronto today called The 12th Fret and I saw this 1956 Duosonic.  Not exactly original…the finish has been stripped off and for some reason the pickup covers were changed to Stratocaster pickup covers.  But it’s still pretty cool to see ANY 55 year old instrument still in playable condition…they want $1299 CAD for it.  Where else are you going to find a pre-CBS Fender for less?  :D Toronto, August 6, 2011.  http://www.12fret.com/ 

    I was at a store in Toronto today called The 12th Fret and I saw this 1956 Duosonic.  Not exactly original…the finish has been stripped off and for some reason the pickup covers were changed to Stratocaster pickup covers.  But it’s still pretty cool to see ANY 55 year old instrument still in playable condition…they want $1299 CAD for it.  Where else are you going to find a pre-CBS Fender for less?  :D

    Toronto, August 6, 2011.

     http://www.12fret.com/