STUDENT NEWSLETTER 26 June
2007 
I hope this letter finds you all happy, healthy, and in tune.
Thank you all for making this the best spring ever for me. Here we are in The Summertime and the year is almost half over. Won't be long till Christmas!
Check out the Guitar Case Restoration project I just finished.
For a long time I have noticed that a new guitar is not as good as a twenty year old guitar. It takes that long for the wood to dry, season, stabilize, and develop that warm complex tone. That means 1987 or older is the way to go. My guitars made in the 1970s are even more impressive. I have a 1967 Martin that is so loud it drowns out other guitars. One of my oldest guitar is a 1930 Martin that is beat to death, but very loud and high quality tone. When students come in with new inexpensive guitars they ask why their guitar is so difficult to tune and keep in tune. The needle on the tuner wavers back and forth because the wood is not stable. That takes a long time. In the old days Martin and Gibson aged their wood. At one time Martin aged the sound board wood 75 years before making it into a guitar! Needless to say that does not happen today. Cheap guitars are made of new wood. The tree is cut down and shoved into a kiln to be speed dried. Then carved into a cheap guitar. The reason the needle moves around so much on the tuner when you are trying to tune is the wood is still green. The good part about this is the fact that twenty year old guitars cost the same or less than a new one. REMEMBER a guitar is only worth what it is worth used. Used guitars are the only way to go. The magic number for the age of a guitar is twenty five. That is when they become antiques and really go up in value. Twenty five years ago is 1982 believe it or not. If you are only going to invest $500 or less then you might as well go to Guitar Center and get a new guitar. But if you want a REAL guitar get one used. Guitars are made to last forever. There is nothing wrong with a used guitar. It is broken in and plays better than new guitars ever can. Compare new to used and you can hear the difference. You can feel the difference. Big difference.
By far the most popular color for an electric guitar is black. When Henry Ford first started to produce motor cars the only color available was black. On a guitar it makes it look menacing. Dangerous. Real Rock and Roll machine. SCARY BLACK ROCK AND ROLL GUITARS are not for the faint of heart. From Eric Clapton's 'Blackie' that just sold for over a $ million to Slash's stash of black Les Pauls these guitars are obviously more than just a piece of wood with strings. They are magic machines that transcend time and space by taking us back to the sound we have grown up with. Great sounds. Happy sounds. The soundtrack of our life. Long live Rock and Roll.
On the way here is an extremely rare 1970 Gibson ES 150.
These are like the ES 335 but a true hollow body with much deeper sides. LIKE NEW MINT CONDITION! Coming in from Pennsylvania.
I am super fired up about this one folks. Just in from South Carolina is an excellent condition 1978 Gibson SG Deluxe with factory Grover tuners. Beautiful condition. Still bright cherry red! The chrome still gleams! Like new! Under 7 pounds! 100% original including case. Small neck width. Super low action. Set up with 9s. Plays itself.
1978 was a rare year for the SG. Not many were made. Even less with the factory Grover tuners. Very few survive this long looking this good. This color is famous for fading to a dark brown. This one is in excellent plus condition. Plays and sounds PERFECT! Thin small neck is very smooth. Set up with 9s. Magic hands!
Just in from Florida is a 1984 USA Gibson SG Deluxe in custom color Ebony Black with the rare side input. This guitar is a rock beast. Best rock tone guitar I own! FUN! It's feedback is a warm useful sound that I absolutely love. Plays like a Gibson should. By far my favorite rock and roll guitar. Sounds great clean also.
Just in from Pennsylvania is a 100% original 1979 Gibson Les Paul Custom with rare chrome hardware. Under 10 pounds! Natural relic! Tons of soul and vibe. Perfect tone and playability. Fantastic guitar. SOLD to student 25 June 2007.
Fender Custom Shop eat your hearts out. This is a real honestly worn rock, country, blues machine. Just in from Ohio. 100% original. Set up with 10s it plays like butter. Sounds very spanky and twangy. This one has a very special high quality tone.
The search for the perfect tone never ends. But after years of consideration, trial and error this is my rig more or less. It is not easy to find the original vintage stuff anymore, so this is the new equivalent.
Every bit of my new gear comes from MusiciansFriend.com for the past seven years. Best prices, selection, and return policy there is. AND they bring it to your door! If you click thru to MUSICIANS FRIEND .com from this web site to buy something, I get an advertising credit and it does not cost you a penny extra! Musicians Friend is where I get all my new gear. Click on the bar below to go there. If the bar does not appear on your browser go here and click on the MusiciansFriend bar at bottom of that page.
Always Stay Tuned. A lot is going on around here!
Rock On,
Joe "TheGuitarman" Pacciano, C.G.P.
86 43