BeerBorg

I have played guitar off and on since 1965. I have lost a lot of my ability over the past 4 decades because in the winter my fingers would crack open from being exposed to the weather at work. This year, after retiring, I never had that problem and have been playing faithfully on my acoustic guitar. I do a lot of finger picking, I like to play songs like Classical Gas, Stairway to Heaven, House of the Rising Sun, etc. But once in a while I like to play some upbeat "Johnny Be Good" type of music. I don't know any but I improvise as I go. The trouble is on my acoustic guitar the strings are really difficult to bend. I have been wanting an electric guitar for some time because the finger action would make it possible to practice in the winter, and I could play some of the early rock stuff once in a while, as well as start learning some blues. But I haven't wanted to spend the money on a guitar and amp. Suddenly I had an epiphany. Why not buy used? So I posted on a buy sell and trade page on facebook that is exclusive to the shop where I worked. BAM within minutes one guy had a Les Paul and small amp he would sell me for $160, and another had a Stratocaster and Roland Cube 30X he would sell me for $350. The Stratocaster he bought new and almost never used, the amp was still in the box. I don't know about the Les Paul. That guy bought it used for $200 a few months ago. The guy with the strat is going to drop it by here today when he gets off work and let me try it out for a week or two. I am also going to look at the Les Paul. I am surprised the Les Paul would go that cheap. They used to be a really high end guitar. I looked them up on Musicians friend and it appears they are made by Epiphone instead of Gibson now. They list for around $800 and there is one on sale for $300 right now.

Anyway I am kind of excited.

You sound pretty amped about this! Good for you, able to get back into something your job pretty much took away.

Used can be a good deal...

On the Les Paul, I have a Gibson Studio and the sell new for $800-1000 depending.

I have played a few of the Epi versions and they can be hit or miss but some are very good!

Same with the Fenders... I had a Mexican Strat, and an American Strat at one time and didn't care for either... I ended up get ting rid of both and found a Squire Strat that had some of the newer Fender Strat features and it just flat out played better than either of my Fender Strats...

Maybe I just got luck but I love it!

That's the thing though, each one has its own personality!

Full disclosure though... I prefer Gibson / Epiphone for electrics... Especially my Casino...

For amps, I have a few but my go to for home practice are a Roland Micro Cube and an Epiphone Valve Jr.

I have a Crate Palomino but almost never use it as the other two are just cooler and more convenient!

Glad you're able to play again!

BigPapaG wrote:Used can be a good deal...

On the Les Paul, I have a Gibson Studio and the sell new for $800-1000 depending.

I have played a few of the Epi versions and they can be hit or miss but some are very good!

Same with the Fenders... I had a Mexican Strat, and an American Strat at one time and didn't care for either... I ended up get ting rid of both and found a Squire Strat that had some of the newer Fender Strat features and it just flat out played better than either of my Fender Strats...

Maybe I just got luck but I love it!

That's the thing though, each one has its own personality!

Full disclosure though... I prefer Gibson / Epiphone for electrics... Especially my Casino...

For amps, I have a few but my go to for home practice are a Roland Micro Cube and an Epiphone Valve Jr.

I have a Crate Palomino but almost never use it as the other two are just cooler and more convenient!

Glad you're able to play again!

Thankyou for your input. This is the kind of stuff I want to hear. The guy with the Les Paul wants the other guy's telecaster but is letting me have first dibs because I made the post. If I like the Les Paul better I am sure I can work out some kind of trade. I do want the Roland amp after reading up on it. The guy with the Les Paul didn't tell me what kind of amp he has.

I started playing guitar about a year or so after you. I was in a band for 19 years and still play every Wednesday night at my friends house. I have a 75 Strat, a 2006 PRS, 3 acoustics (well my son took that) and a cheap banjo and a mandolin. The banjo and Mandy I suck at but talk about hurting your fingers.....the mandolin sure does.

But, they don't make guitars like they use too unless you shell out the big bucks. You can find deals so good for you Roger that you're jacked about it. Find a friend or friends to play with and it gets to be more fun. I'm not very good but who cares if it's fun?


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Yeah, I'm not very good either... But my son plays too so we jam sometimes...

That's cool and his Mom thinks it's the shizzle...

I have an A style mando that I tune up and try to play around with in December...

Seems to work for a lot of Holiday tunes... Then it gets put away again... Tough on the wrists as well as the fingers Paul.

Roger, get them both then you can take what you want and then be the trader!

You can always use them for a while and trade / sell for something else.

I never really learned music though in grammar school I played the coronet (trumpet) and could read a little but I learned guitar (as did the twin who now plays drum in our Wed nite fun nite) learned guitar because of the 1964 Beatles show on Ed Sullivan! We were only 6 years old and really didn't start until we were 9 but we had our brooms out pretending to be the Beatles. Ahhhhhh, life was good then, right? Records......STEREO. What else could you ask for then?
So now it's playing by ear and just wanting it enough to learn though I do play simpler now.

Roger, if you want to learn some songs very easy, check out out Justin's sights. Subscribe to his channel and view his website and he's got hundreds, if not more, songs that he shares how to play from beginner to advanced. Saves me lots of time learning new songs.
http://www.justinguitar.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/JustinSandercoe

Thankyou for the links. I am bookmarking them now

That's cool Roger that you are playing the guitar again. I know there are a lot of us on this forum that play and have them. I also had thought about working on my playing again, but for now I've been finding other things that I am much better at that need doing first Wow I'd love a strat and a LP is nice to play. I have a 1969 Fender Coronado II Antigua that I've owned since new and have been thinking of selling it, but then I think why and one of these days I'll play it again.........

I learned sometime back if you have an instrument you love, never, EVER, EVER, MFing EVER, sell it. Even if it collects dust for years. I let an Alvarez go years ago and later really regretted it. I still do. Musical instruments are like friends.

The guy dropped the stuff off. I played on that guitar for over an hour. I had to tune a couple of the strings a number of times. He said he got the guitar about 8 years ago and didn't play it more than a dozen times. Would that just be a case of needing new strings? Or is there an adjustment I can make on a tuning peg?

That justinsguitar site is great. I spent a long time running scales with a metrinome. My timing really needed a lot of work. I guess that is what happens when I play alone all of the time.

Gymrat wrote:The guy dropped the stuff off. I played on that guitar for over an hour. I had to tune a couple of the strings a number of times. He said he got the guitar about 8 years ago and didn't play it more than a dozen times. Would that just be a case of needing new strings? Or is there an adjustment I can make on a tuning peg?

That justinsguitar site is great. I spent a long time running scales with a metrinome. My timing really needed a lot of work. I guess that is what happens when I play alone all of the time.

The strat or the lp?

Was that the strat or the LP... a couple things you might think about if it set for that long without the strings backed off it could pull the neck a little and strings do get bad with age. We need pics. I like guitar pics.
Edit; me and bigpapa posted about the same time asking about the same question....

This is the strat

I don't know if this will show up because it is linked to a facebook page.