Tonefiend Forum

A lot of people have a dream car that they’d immediately buy if they won the lottery; but I’ve always liked the idea of having several different kinds of cheaper cars: a different one for different activities. Likewise, I think rather than a single perfect guitar, I’d have more fun with a bunch of imperfect ones – the imperfections maybe inspiring different kind of playing. That said, I’m not a professional musician – more of a dabbler – so my requirements are likely different to many here.

The Gibson ES-330 which is like a Epi Casino but built in the custom shop. Full hollow body with a block under the bridge, 2 P90s, trapeze tail piece. These are very light so my back would like it.
https://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/ES/Gibson-Custom/ES-330.aspx

Or a Gibson Les Paul Signature (full hollow body with 2 low impedance pickups) I have an Epi version but the original Gibsons are way out of my price range

https://imageevent.com/nicksguitars/gibsonlespaulsignaturegoldtop73;jsessionid=wj3cilmj92.camel_s?p=0&n=1&m=36&c=4&l=0&w=4&s=0&z=2

I’ve also always had a jones for a Les Paul Black Beauty but they are too heavy for me these days

https://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Les-Paul/Gibson-Custom/50th-Anniversary-1960-Les-Paul-Custom-Black-Beauty.aspx

A classic topic, but difficult to answer as my dream guitar changes slightly every day. For the ‘traditional’ sounds, like a classic LP or tele, I’m more than satisfied to just drop a good set of pickups into one of the many decent knockoffs to had for around $500 or thereabouts. But the sounds that I’m most drawn to seem to be found in unusual bodies/materials.

For example, I really love the sound of a trussart steelcaster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdEFkc7CzEI

or the smokey, almost resonator, grit of the old aluminum wandre’s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slkm8S67mSE

I suppose if I had the cash, I’d just buy them outright and focus on my playing, but I also love the challenge of building of my own. Unfortunately, if you’re only building one or two, the investment in tools and experimentation (mistake) costs could quickly add up to the cost of the original items.

Beyond that, I know that I could find a lot of great tones cheaply by finding forgotten oddities from the 60’s, 70’s etc., but there again, you pretty much have to shop online and you often end up buying a lot that you don’t connect with before finding the elusive fit.

I’m glad to see that there are more people working with steel these days and I’d love to see more people experimenting, but successful makers like Trussart are definitely in the minority of innovators. The fact that so many creative builders using metal, fiberglass, carbon fiber, and other composites either went out of business or just gave them up in favor of wood leads me to believe that there really isn’t much of a market for it and/or not all of them were very good. Still, it keeps me up at night knowing that some of their creations are still floating around somewhere, but even if one showed up on ebay, I would be very hesitant to buy it without playing it first.

So I guess my dream instrument isn’t specific. Rather it would be for someone to assemble all these weird creations in one place so I could play them all and find that tone that my ear is always itching for. I know that there are some good vintage shops out there, but very few seem to cater to what I’m seeking. Someday…

I’m with mwseniff on the Gibson 330. My 335 is close, but with the center block and humbuckers, it loses some of the magic openess and juicy mids offered by a 330. One can dream…

Would have to say the Alex Lifeson 355 would be on that list but not the signature custom shop one. Just a regular off the shelf ES 355 TD(1958?) and yeah it is thin and semi hollow but the varitone is neat. Add the mini switch to go to the bridge pup in series and it is exactly the same as his sig model.Something about ebony fretboards and block inlays makes my hands happy.