Well I went up to the Philly guitar show with two friends and had a really great time. I have to admit this was the first show like this I ever went to and it was just like I imagined. The only bummer was that there really was no deals of any kind, and to tell the truth I really did not see many guitars sold at all.

There was this great booth that had 7 of Les Pauls personal guitars on display with pictures of him playing them with Zack Wylde,Slash and a host of others. And I had to say it was so cool to wrap my hand around the neck of everyone of them, as they had them in a row on stands and you could not take them down so I asked the guy if I could wrap around the necks and he said go a head. I felt the mojo.

Fenders up the ying yang. I have never seen so many pre CBS guitars in a magazine as they had there. There was this one 57 that could probably tell some great stories as the paint was worn off 40% of the guitar, but it looked really great. I guess because it had the real relic vibe. One guy had an 89 Clapton Strat that was pretty under the weather for $1,900 and right next to it he had the same guitar only this one was signed by Clapton for 10 grand! Wow is Erics sig worth that much. He also had a great looking blue Strat signed by SRV and Jeff Beck for $14,000. I was mesmerized by Stevies sig for a few minutes.

I wanted to buy a mint Antigua Strat until I realized it was part of a collection a guy was selling-13 Antigua guitars, for 25K and he would not break up the set. Who in the hell is going to buy 13 Strats,Teles, Gretches and some other company I cant recall all in that color.Weird. This other booth had the Clapton Crash Strat and the Hendrix Monteray Strat that were just beautiful and when I saw they were only 3 grand I knew they were not authentic, then I realized that guy had all copies and I thought of our own Alain who has the real things and they are to beautiful for words. If the Hendrix was a grand cheaper I would of bought it as just that beautiful and they were authentic artist series guitars by Fender just not painted by them.To tell the truth I know there are some places that do great paint work and I am thinking of having my Beck Strat which is my #1 painted like a Monteray or Crash.

All in all it was great to see so many amazing guitars and 90% of them were Fenders, Gibsons and PRS. The show ended at 6pm but by 5 the place was just about cleared out and most dealers looked miserable, as Hardly anything that I noticed was sold. But then again one guy had a used Beck artist series (which I own one of) that he was selling for $1,800 when it goes for $2,000 new and that was pretty much how it was, there just were no bargains everything was priced high.But I will definitly go again next year as it was a blast and guys were wailing all over the place, they had a great Zep cover band playing a whole show, and you could plug in and play guitars you probably are never going to own in your life but for one day. It is a great experience being around so many people that love guitars and who came from all over the country. There were companies there demoing new kinds of tremlo bridges and pedals and a bunch of other cool gear. On a whole mostly everything was based around vintage gear, the one bargain I guess you could say is that you definitly could grab a 70s Strat in the 2 grand + price range as I saw plenty of them. If there is a show in any state you live in grab a few friends and go, you will not regret it.

Miami Mike I just saw on the last post about Philly you said that was your friends Zep band. As you can see I mentioned them above but I wish you would of said something sooner. They were great. They played there asses off and there set list was slammin. The best Zep tribute band I ever heard. The thing that I really dug was the lead singer did not go out of his way to over shriek like guys who want to sound like plant do, he just sang excellent and they were tighter than a crabs $@!.lol The guitarist sounded great - tone wise and just tore it up and the drummer had the power triplets going ala John B. Not to blow smoke up anyones $@!, but you could hear them throughout the whole place and a lot of people were saying how good they were. Now you can tell them they got reviewed on the Fender forum lol and what I said is on point because I said they were good before I knew they were your friends. It would of been rough if I wrote above that there was this awful Zep band then read they were your friends=OUCH Wish you would of went Mike you would of had a blast. Hopefully next one.

Yeah, Paul and jimmy are great guitaists and Andy is somewhat of a musical genius (keyboards, amoung many other instruments). They're a roadband and travel all over the place these days. When you play that often together, it shows how tight you can get! Glad you had a good time at the show and liked "Get The Led Out".

Thanks for the great review on the show too.

_________________
Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

alain would....

Hello Straycat113,

I was there on Saturday for about 10 hrs and had
a great time. I didn't buy any guitars but got a few
christmas presents{for others}. Only 9 more months
to the next Philly show.

The bummer of the day was
my digital camera was damaged{destroyed}.

I did get a few photos, I get posted later.

Cheers.

Sounds like a good time! I wish they would have one close enough to me so I could attend. Mike, your friends got a great review from straycat!

Mr Bill the same thing kind of happened to me. My friend thought he had his camera in his bag but it was on his table when we got back. I wish you would of told me you were going up as it would of been great to have met another forum member.

I had posted before I went if anyone was going. I went because of what you posted about the summer show and how great it was, and I have to agree it is a great experience. But would you agree there really were no great bargains and that it seemed like most of the dealers hardly sold anything. I think the guy in the back with all the books made out great as I bought 3 books from him and he was selling like crazy. Well looking forward to what pics you post and we will hopefully meet at the summer show.

Any pics guys?

CC

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Fender Stratocaster (parts build)
Fender Telecaster 72 Custom RI
Fender Telecoustic Deluxe
Gretsch Electromatic Pro-Jet
Gibson Les Paul Standard Plus
Gibson ES-135
Zenith Type-17
Marshall 70's JMP Superbass 100w
Blackstar HT-5

Hey Straycat113,

I tried to e-mail you but when I clicked on the radio button
it took me to some sort of Yahoo messenger page.

I was wearing a "Mr Bill" nametag, but few of us look at
labels when there are just way too many great guitars.

I would rate this show as a 8 out of 10, something to
be aware of is the majority of pricing is negotiable.
I usually bring a guitar to trade as it gives you a barganing chip.
I had a Les Paul with me and was looking for a Gretch Falcon
white, black or green{Irish} but couldn't come to terms, maybe next time.

A complete $@! took my camera and dropped it by mistake,
he was apologetic and we settled on a $100 wth was fair
considering it was a decade old model I got at a pawn shop for $25.
Gotta have my neighbor extract to photos.

Anyhow it was a good time an sorry I missed you.

Cheers.

Mr Bill I did bring a guitar=Music Man Petrucci that is brand new that I bought NOS off of ebay this year, and the three guys who wanted it in a trade did not have what I was looking for. I was with my friend Mike who owns a guitar store that is three generations old and he kept talking me out of buying.lol I was going to buy the flamed 10 top PRS that the guy in the farthest corner coming down the stairs to the right all the way in the back had for 50% off that was never played and he wanted $2,500. My friend said that it was worth it but hold on. He then calls a friend who works in guitar center who said they had the same guitar -one left in Whale Blue which is a discontinued color that he could get for me for $2,100 so that killed that deal.

Then I waited till the very end as I had seen a Gibson Night Hawk in black in mint condition which I always wanted one of that the guy was selling for $1,250, so I asked him if he was negotiating and he said yes so I said I would give him a grand for it and he comes back with $1,100 my friend shoots me the no look but I wanted it and said do you have the case. Then he tries to tell me the guitar did not come with a case and pulls out a gig bag that looked like they mopped the floor with.lol I told him I know that guitar comes with a case and he gives me the well I can sell you one and that killed the deal for him.

I really thought there would of been a little bit more of a modern variety which is why I brought the Petrucci which is the only ax I own I would part with because I do not like the thin neck, but is the top of the line one with a Piezo but there were only three or four tables that wanted it but offered something similar axes in return which was not what I was looking for. At least I know what to expect next time.

I have to put my email addy up in there glad you reminded me. I hate that we cannot PM on the forum. In fact it is the only forum that you cant do it on.