swampyankee
Wholenote
Fakin' it 'til I'm makin' it since 1956
Posts: 713
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Post by swampyankee on Feb 10, 2020 10:51:52 GMT -5
I still have my first guitar - a Regal R200 I got for my birthday in '67. It kicked around the family a while, doing duty as first guitar to a couple nephews before it landed back in my lap probably 15 years ago, complete with original bag. I leave it laying around for the g-kids to play when they visit.
Over the weekend one of the kids was playing it - or playing with it... - so I tuned it up and played a few bars. The thing stills sound as good as it ever did, although it could use a fresh set of strings.
Curious about the intonation with its "floating" bridge, I Googled the scale length to see just how far off it was (24-1/4" BTW). I was surprised to find them fetching as much as $250 (and as little as $65), and lauded as a great-sounding parlor guitar, mostly for playing delta blues and slide. I even found a site that talked about it compared to its Stella counterpart - the Regal considered better-sounding due to its mahogany construction as opposed to maple. The thing is solid laminate as far as I know.
I'm going to have to treat the little guy with more respect!
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Post by Lefty Rev on Feb 10, 2020 13:32:05 GMT -5
Good story. Some of our old, cheap guitars have great memories in them. Are they worth much? Probably not. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I keep my first true left-handed guitar (a '78/'79 all-laminate Ibanez acoustic A300 "L") for sentimental reasons mostly. I set it up recently, intonated the saddle like a Martin, and I keep a fresh set of strings on it (1-2 x per year) just because.
Learned a LOT of songs on that guitar, and used in through several bands/worship teams before I got my first nice all solid wood lefty (a '92 Larrivee OM-05, which I also still have and love, 27 years later). So the Ibanez will probably be around till the end, since no one would pay me what it's worth "to me"...
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Post by BluzLvr on Feb 10, 2020 17:25:50 GMT -5
Yeah, I've got a Korean made Sigma made in the 80's, I'm told. I pulled that bad boy out of a storage shed that had laid in there for at least 5 years with no case. It wasn't mine, but the guy who owned had the storage shed gave it to me for helping him break in, as he had lost his key. That nasty thing took me a week or so to bring back to life. But I play it almost every day, because it sits out on a stand and I can pick it up and go to town. No worries of the dry air hurting it like my other, more expensive guitars. Oh... and it sounds great. I can't believe the way it vibrates against my chest when I play it. So much for the solid wood vs laminates argument.
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swampyankee
Wholenote
Fakin' it 'til I'm makin' it since 1956
Posts: 713
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Post by swampyankee on Feb 10, 2020 18:22:20 GMT -5
Good story. Some of our old, cheap guitars have great memories in them. Are they worth much? Probably not. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I keep my first true left-handed guitar (a '78/'79 all-laminate Ibanez acoustic A300 "L") for sentimental reasons mostly. I set it up recently, intonated the saddle like a Martin, and I keep a fresh set of strings on it (1-2 x per year) just because. Learned a LOT of songs on that guitar, and used in through several bands/worship teams before I got my first nice all solid wood lefty (a '92 Larrivee OM-05, which I also still have and love, 27 years later). So the Ibanez will probably be around till the end, since no one would pay me what it's worth "to me"... Right. I have a few guitars I consider not worth selling so I just keep them. Although I only played the Regal until I could prove to my dad that I was committed and got my first electric, I learned alot of tunes, chords, and scales under the tutelage of Mr. Richardson. First String Waltz, Little Brown Jug, and other hits from the Mel Bay book on that Regal. |
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Post by hushnel on Feb 11, 2020 13:08:08 GMT -5
I still have my first, the Framus Atlantik was a Christmas gift in 1965. I cleaned it and set it up when I moved up to the farm. It still works great, has a good sound. I’ve taken it to rehearsal a few times and it goes over well.  |
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Post by Lefty Rev on Feb 11, 2020 13:42:04 GMT -5
A friend of mine in high school had a Framus 335 copy - I got to use it in our band for awhile (we were living in Madrid, Spain at the time - dads in the USAF).
It was a wonderful guitar, wish I could have kept it!
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