My Guitars

Ok, so you're thinking "who cares about your guitars...". Hahaha. After all, these are not $25,000 vintage guitars or even $3,000 Martins...But, I am excited about my last two guitar purchases, because I think I got really good value for the money, and because the Washburn is the best guitar I have every owned. So, I wanted to tell YOU about it! Because if you are like me, and you try to research before you buy a new guitar, you value opinions...in the picture below to the left is a Washburn J28SCEDL with Buzz Feiten tuning. It is just a dream to play and looks awesome. It gets pretty high marks and compliments in buyer reviews on MUSICIANSFRIEND.com. I paid about $750 for it. It has built in electronics also. To the right in the same picture is an Avante AV-2 baritone guitar. It naturally tunes to B standard, and I bought it because B or C standard is where I tune to anyway for my voice. But, sometimes that is a little awkward on a normal 6 string, so I thought I would try this baritone. It was only $399 at MUSICYO.com. I searched and searched for baritones and this was the only one I could find even close to this price range. It got a good review from a guitar mag, and I will say it really booms, is well constructed and thought out, and it was well worth the money. I modified the Avante to add a MINI-FLEX Guitar Microphone System from STEWART-MACDONALD. Mini-flex's are really cool, I used one also on the Guild that you will see in the next picture. It's a self-contained internal microphone that only requires you drill a hole in the jack-pin/strap-pin area to screw it in. Anyway, here is a pic of the two guitars (Washburn and Avante): 

I did buy both the Washburn and the Avante online, and while I highly recommend either guitar, and either company I bought these from, especially considering the price value, the purchases were not completely without incident. The pick guard was falling off the Washburn when I got it. I tried to clamp if for awhile to see if it would stick, but the problem must have been the glue. Happily, I took it to a Washburn dealer and they had a local luthier fix it, no problem, no hassle. I did not mind the the slight inconvenience, because again, I got a great deal buying it online and Washburn stood by the product. 

Also, in regards to the Washburn J28SCEDL, if you want Buzz Feiton tuning (a major reason I choose this guitar), I would ask if it is still made with this tuning before buying. It looked to me like (I am writing this in OCTOBER of 2005) they dropped that feature from this particular guitar, judging from the Washburn web site. But, I could be mistaken...

If you read about the materials on the Avante, and actually see one, it's a great looking and well constructed guitar. You may have to invest some time or a little bit of money in setting it up properly when you get it however, from my experience. Which, really can apply to any guitar you buy. It's not really that big a deal if you know how to do it, or a big deal to pay a little for a local luthier to do it for you. Mine came shipped with two shims under the saddle (and why I don't know, because that made the action way to high), and one shim didn't even go the entire length of the saddle. So that really killed the sound, and I wondered why it sounded so bad when I first got it. Especially in light of the good review and what it said about the sound. Well, I took out the shims, and - voila, not only was the string action perfect, but the good sound I was expecting was restored...also, when I took it to a local luthier (I was going to have him drill the hole for the mini-flex, but I got brave and did it myself), he recommended I send it back because the neck was a little underset. I did some measurements and decided to keep it. But, I did mention this to MusicYo, and they immediately sent me another (that wasn't really what I was asking to be done in the e-mail, but I did appreciate it!). And they paid to send it back after I decided to keep the original. So, MusicYo did me right, thank you! I love this guitar and I am glad I bought it. The strings never seem to break on it either...

Also, a little background on the Avante...I believe from my web research that the Avante used to be a rather high-end guitar made in Japan by Yamaha. They made a 6 string and a baritone model, but it appears it was discontinued. Gibson seems to have resurrected the baritone model and design, probably with some less expensive materials and manufacturing, and that is the Avante I bought...

Here is a picture of a couple other guitars I own. Several pieces from "Fantasy Of 1811" started out on the classical to the left. It's a Guild Madera that I bought at a guitar show for like $135 bucks. I had an electronic under saddle pickup installed. To the right is a Guild D25SB. When I do play out, which isn't very often, this is the guitar I have been using. It's got mahogany back and sides, so a loud, deep sound, and I had a mini-flex installed in it also. I use bluegrass medium strings, and tune down to C standard. Don't look too close at the D25, as I tried to fix the bindings that were coming unglued, and while they are definitely not going anywhere now, I really messed up the finish.

I also own a Fender Squire Telecaster, which my sister gave me after winning a radio contest. It's a surprisingly nice guitar, plays well, sounds awesome, and none of the intonation problems usually associated with less expensive electrics. 

So, that's the story of my guitars. Again, while they certainly aren't show guitars, I am very fortunate I have been able to afford to spend money on these.