sage
twerk twerk thall
Sweet baby Jesus, all nestled in his manger, knows I love buying, selling, and trading guitars as much or possibly even more than actually playing guitars. Fortunately, Mrs. Sage is moderately supportive of these efforts.
Last month, I totally lost it. After a few happy years of playing PRS Toreros, I really didn't want to be dealing with the maintenance required of a Floyd. I put them up on the block. One went the first day. One is still up for sale. I also jettisoned a 335 project, a bunch of parts, and a few pedals. I found a lovely, albeit rare, Ibanez RGR621XEBC at the local guitar store and picked that up. Total score. Great guitar. 26.5" scale, ebony board with no marks, really nice pickups, but acquiring a fully redundant backup didn't seem within the realm of possibility without ordering direct from Japan.
Enter Craigslist. I had a wad of cash burning a hole in my pocket and duder posts a Kiesel AM6, ebony board, no markers, silverburst finish (one of my favourite looks)... Only $1000 CAD. Met buddy in a cafe at 8am to make the deal. Never buy a guitar in the morning and take it to work. It just sat there in it's case all day, longing to be tickled.
First impressions: Holy schnapps, that is the best gig bag I've ever seen. I'd be pretty comfortable not acquiring a hard case for this thing. The finish is really nice. I would have made different hardware choices. Like black. The chrome and pearloid stuff is far too blingy for my understated tastes. I may have to order some parts. The guitar feels really comfortable. By comparison, the Ibanez makes me feel like I'm stretching all the time. The Kiesel feels an awful lot like the PRSs it is replacing. The fan is a non-issue, it's so incredibly mild anyway. I haven't played it at full volume through the amp yet, but I'm hoping I really like the pickups as replacing them would be problematic.
So, what happens here? Time will tell whether the Ibanez or the Kiesel ends up being my #1 guitar. Either way, I win. they're both really nice.
Last month, I totally lost it. After a few happy years of playing PRS Toreros, I really didn't want to be dealing with the maintenance required of a Floyd. I put them up on the block. One went the first day. One is still up for sale. I also jettisoned a 335 project, a bunch of parts, and a few pedals. I found a lovely, albeit rare, Ibanez RGR621XEBC at the local guitar store and picked that up. Total score. Great guitar. 26.5" scale, ebony board with no marks, really nice pickups, but acquiring a fully redundant backup didn't seem within the realm of possibility without ordering direct from Japan.
Enter Craigslist. I had a wad of cash burning a hole in my pocket and duder posts a Kiesel AM6, ebony board, no markers, silverburst finish (one of my favourite looks)... Only $1000 CAD. Met buddy in a cafe at 8am to make the deal. Never buy a guitar in the morning and take it to work. It just sat there in it's case all day, longing to be tickled.
First impressions: Holy schnapps, that is the best gig bag I've ever seen. I'd be pretty comfortable not acquiring a hard case for this thing. The finish is really nice. I would have made different hardware choices. Like black. The chrome and pearloid stuff is far too blingy for my understated tastes. I may have to order some parts. The guitar feels really comfortable. By comparison, the Ibanez makes me feel like I'm stretching all the time. The Kiesel feels an awful lot like the PRSs it is replacing. The fan is a non-issue, it's so incredibly mild anyway. I haven't played it at full volume through the amp yet, but I'm hoping I really like the pickups as replacing them would be problematic.
So, what happens here? Time will tell whether the Ibanez or the Kiesel ends up being my #1 guitar. Either way, I win. they're both really nice.
