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As most of you probably know from this thread, I'm in the process of refinishing one of my guitars, the Variax. Thing is, I'm not happy with the way the finish is coming out. There were a few flaws in the color coat that I thought were handled, but the clear coat has made them stand out like a sore thumb. (To me at least. Most people would probably never notice them.) The problems can be fixed, but not before Tuesday and Friday of next week, when I have gigs to play.
I do have another guitar here in Albuquerque with me, but they guys I'm playing with do about half their songs tuned to regular pitch, and the other half tuned lower, with the guitar in E flat. With the Variax guitar, changing the tuning is as easy as flipping a switch. Anyway, today I went to a local music store that sells a lot of used gear, with the intent to pick up an inexpensive guitar so I could have two guitars on stage...one in E and the other in E flat. I had an old tube amp that I no longer need or use, so I figured I'd see if I could do some horsetrading with this shop.
Long story short, this ended up following me home. with zero dollars spent out of my paycheck to get it:
Notice how it has no visible pickups? Yep, it's another Variax. And it's not red...bonus! Not a lot of them around on the used market, so I was very pleasantly surprised to find this one on the shelf. It's a couple of models higher than my other one...the old one is a Variax 300, this is the 700. It has nicer wood, better hardware, and a nicer finish. Plays and sounds better, too. So now I don't need to make room for two guitars on stage...this one has me covered. And when I get the refinishing job in the other one done, I'll have a spare. Or something else to use for horsetrading down the road.
I do have another guitar here in Albuquerque with me, but they guys I'm playing with do about half their songs tuned to regular pitch, and the other half tuned lower, with the guitar in E flat. With the Variax guitar, changing the tuning is as easy as flipping a switch. Anyway, today I went to a local music store that sells a lot of used gear, with the intent to pick up an inexpensive guitar so I could have two guitars on stage...one in E and the other in E flat. I had an old tube amp that I no longer need or use, so I figured I'd see if I could do some horsetrading with this shop.
Long story short, this ended up following me home. with zero dollars spent out of my paycheck to get it:
Notice how it has no visible pickups? Yep, it's another Variax. And it's not red...bonus! Not a lot of them around on the used market, so I was very pleasantly surprised to find this one on the shelf. It's a couple of models higher than my other one...the old one is a Variax 300, this is the 700. It has nicer wood, better hardware, and a nicer finish. Plays and sounds better, too. So now I don't need to make room for two guitars on stage...this one has me covered. And when I get the refinishing job in the other one done, I'll have a spare. Or something else to use for horsetrading down the road.