I really like the Back from the Grave compilations, as well as Uptight Tonight.  For Australian Garage the 'It's a Kave In' comp is great.

indeed...even after all these years they are still the best...especially the last one

Gary Patrick Norris said:

back from the grave is the best, imo. solid through each of the 8 volumes. hard to do.

back from the grave is the best, imo. solid through each of the 8 volumes. hard to do.

Its pretty interesting that we all seem to be essentially on the same page. 

But then again we don't flock to Garage Punk to discuss getting that ubiquitous "Nickelback" or the hipster equivalent "Arcade Fire" sound.

As for modding,  I have on more than a few occasions dropped GFS "Dream 90's" and "mean 90's" into SG and les Paul type copies for friends  (this is a humbucker sized P90) to make them sound and interact with the amp more like Les Paul juniors.   In all cases I felt a pang of pain as I gave them back to the owners as I had improved them 10000%.

This is not a flippant plug for GFS pickups,  I really do think they are good value for the money.  with the P90's you get that single coil sound but with a little extra boost and they really well potted thus avoiding the nastier and unwanted feedback problems.

I also am currently re-wiring and experimenting with a 3 pickup SG to give me a more Ric type sound. (believe it or not). 

My strat is completely stock and is perfect. l.uck of the draw?  (volume pot location excepted due to my playing style)

a good fender jaguar would be on my wishlist. 

As for guitars online.  There is always the problem of neck confort that is a gamble.  What would be great would be local guitar swap meets or guitar clubs to swap guitars and ideas without the snobbery or bull.  One mans lemon is another mans goldmine.

Great topic!

Cheers!

RE"I bet Link Wray would look cool rocking an Ibanez."

Link Wray would look cool playing even a Peavey!

I think it's all up to the person playing the guitar. I bet Link Wray would look cool rocking an Ibanez.

If a strat is good enough for Mick Collins it's good enough for me. But...you have to use the pickup everyone refuses to use...I'm sure you'll figure that one out.

haha great topic! Should be over in the Bands and Musicians group though.

I've got a '94 Japanese Fender Strat. 62 reissue something. Gutted the pickups out, dropped some decent ones in, gave it a setup and fucking rock n roll she goes!

I love it, it does everything I need it to. Every other guitar I look at is just a cheap whore as far as I'm concerned!

Good question and plenty of great answers.
Speaking of Danelectro: they might not be as rock solid as some guitars, but for the money they are great and super cool with a very unique tone. I have had many different types. The Hodad pictured is actually one of the best ones they ever created in both quality, classy-ness, and practicality/functionality.
Any guitar can be totally cool. I agree that you can make any guitar look cooler by modding it however you like.
I am not a huge Strat fan, but there is no denying that it is a versatile, classic, and high-quality guitar (although most are way over-priced).
I agree that buying a solid low-end guitar and modding it, changing it's appearance, and making it look unique in your own way is a surefire and cheap way to make your guitar look cool.
Rondo and Xaviere (guitarfetish.com) make super cool guitars that are very crazy-inexpensive. But, yes, definately spend some money to get them up to road-warrior ability: re-set up, good strings, double-check electronics and hardware, etc. You could buy a very cool Xaviere guitar for just over a hundred dollars, but may have to spend $50-$100 just to get it tweeked, but it will be worth it. Try to find a friend that knows how to do setups (unless you already know how; if you don't know how you should start learning) and have them show you how it is done and maybe they'll do it for you for a good price.
Good luck.
KK

Isn't it cool enough just to be in a band and play on stage? You know there are people in the audience who are envious that you are up there and they are not. Now that's cool...

I love garage, but my guitars are a Gibson LP Junior VOS and a MIM Fender tele. I love 'em.

Strays are totally cool. Richard Lloyd, lenny Kaye, Mick Collins, built to spill, Dick Dale, Wayne kramer, etc etc

That being said, I'm biased cause I have 6 strats. But I have a bunch of other guitars since i suffer from bad GAS. Among them is a danelectro innuendo, which is a cool guitar in some ways, but playability could be better.

Speaking of playability, I just bought a used agile al-2000 a couple of days ago and it is fucking sick. Really unbelievable guitar for the price. I can't recommend them highly enough. They start at $225 from rondo music. Rondo also has plenty of other great guitars at super low prices. Check them out.

the road to hell is lined with used mosrites! thanks a lot for the info. :+)

Phil holloway said:

If the stratocaster had been an unpopular design that got discontinued back in the early 60's would it look "rad" today?

The eternal question,

I have a beaten up and abused standard Fender strat  that does things no other guitar will really do tone-wise.  Plus it more or less nails the widest range of tones with simple selection and tweaking.  provided I don't use the tremolo arm it keeps in tune very very well under heavy use.

However for rocking out I really have a problem with the placement of the volume knob.  If your banging out chords in a certain "garagy" and 'punk" styles  its too easy to knock the volume pot down to zero.  Has anyone else had this problem?

So I  basically never use it for heavy hard jamming or performance.  Great to record with though.  Its hard to beat a good strat.  that's why I leave it alone and don't try and move or disconnect the volume pot.  I am superstitiously worried I will take the mojo out of it.

 

Its good to remember that many people played wacky retro guitars because that was all they could afford or find and where able to get the unique sound they wanted out of it.  At the time nobody had any idea these guitars would become trendy and collectable due to the fact many could barely could stay in tune for five minutes.

Sadly the days of $25 mojo garage sale scores seems over.

For most of the early cheapo guitars I find that the necks are an inferior mahogany that is too finicky to weather and temperature changes.  You can spend a week fine tuning one to work amazingly and keep in tune but it will simply not last past a 3 degree change in temperature or humidity.  Plus usually the body is made of inferior tone woods......like Masonite and plywood.

Ultimately if your not looking vintage but want something unique (not yet hip) anyone can find a bargain.  Some pretty rad "crap" guitars flood in from Asia and quickly go second hand that you can modify as you wish knowing its never going to be collectable. So you can go nuts. 

Plus the hardware and tuning is more stable.

 

Personally I prefer guitars that are already damaged when I get them.  Less precious, don't worry too much about theft

Even buying new I always would get a 'B" or blemished stock.

 

my favorite "new" cheapo's?

http://www.ampeg.com/products/daplexi/amg100/index.html

discontinued, but I got the swamp ash blonde for $260 ......amazing guitar and unbelievably the body is one-piece swamp ash !  unreal

and the 1997 version of the Fernandes Vertigo or in Japan the Burny H65.

(here is one that went for a whole 76 dollars on ebay recently. )

http://cgi.ebay.com/FERNANDES-ELECTRIC-GUITAR-CHECK-OU-PICS-/170662...

It was Too "ahead" of its time and failed miserably so sadly Fernandes took the design in a more "metal" direction.

as you can see from the price the original "retro" design is still not appreciated. (good for anyone who does appreciate it though!)

bought mine new (Blemished stock or factory B stock) in the 90's for $250 directly from Fernandes in California and it is still my main squeeze with no upgrades.  Tuning is very stable with a chunky neck which I prefer.  I have had 7 different guitars but have always come home to this one since.

I think it would look pretty great with a Bigsby on it.  Too bad the company never tried it.

 

anyway, that's my two cents.  If the strat works for you why forsake it for a cheap hussy.

 

 

Yep, this.

John Carlucci said:

Don't refinish it. Don't try to fix it. Leave it be. To do so will drastically reduce the guitar's value. Checking on old guitars is a normal part of the guitar's aging process. It has to do with the wood expanding as another poster already mentioned.

It's one way of proving a guitar is original & not a re-issue. Seriously If you want a pristine. clean guitar go buy a new one & leave this in it's original condition. Trust me on this. Ask any quality vintage music store & the will tell you the same thing.

Don't refinish it. Don't try to fix it. Leave it be. To do so will drastically reduce the guitar's value. Checking on old guitars is a normal part of the guitar's aging process. It has to do with the wood expanding as another poster already mentioned.

It's one way of proving a guitar is original & not a re-issue. Seriously If you want a pristine. clean guitar go buy a new one & leave this in it's original condition. Trust me on this. Ask any quality vintage music store & the will tell you the same thing.

Nice, I think when I have a bit of time I'm going to have to build one of those.  Thanks for the link!

Man, I wish I had any skill or talent with electronics. I'd like to try to build a nice little Supro Thunderbolt clone, but I might end up electrocuting myself to death if I do, haha.

I used to have a vinyl copy of "Sucking in the 70s."  I have fond memories of that album.

Phil holloway said:

I actually really like Sucking in the 70's

.......

go figure!

 

Although many people will throw some hate my way I always considered the Rolling Stones to be a really good R&B cover band that could write awesome songs.

The whole "constant craving" thing is pretty much par for the course.

Personally I believe Kieth is holding a bit back on the Satisfaction thing.  If it was an acoustic into a tape machine He probably had the microphone taped right on the guitar near the bridge.

  By  coincidence I did a similar thing when I was 12.  My parents bought me a crappy steel string acoustic guitar AND one of those childrens circuit boards kits that allowed you to learn and build electronics.  From it a built the most basic solid state amplifier from the instructions (obviously no limiter) and  used the microphone/speaker diaphragm part it came with as an "electric guitar" pickup.

At the time I thought it sounded pretty rad.  however my family was not so impressed.

I totally forgot about it until I read the book and thought...of course!!!

 

I actually really like Sucking in the 70's

.......

go figure!

Although many people will throw some hate my way I always considered the Rolling Stones to be a really good R&B cover band that could write awesome songs.

The whole "constant craving" thing is pretty much par for the course.

Personally I believe Kieth is holding a bit back on the Satisfaction thing.  If it was an acoustic into a tape machine He probably had the microphone taped right on the guitar near the bridge.

  By  coincidence I did a similar thing when I was 12.  My parents bought me a crappy steel string acoustic guitar AND one of those childrens circuit boards kits that allowed you to learn and build electronics.  From it a built the most basic solid state amplifier from the instructions (obviously no limiter) and  used the microphone/speaker diaphragm part it came with as an "electric guitar" pickup.

At the time I thought it sounded pretty rad.  however my family was not so impressed.

I totally forgot about it until I read the book and thought...of course!!!

Excellent! Thanks for the link. I've always been a big Pussy Galore fan.

Super thanks Dead Boy !!!

Dead Boy said:

There're MP3's of 'em at:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/05/the-other-exile-...

I haven't checked out them, but at least the first track is available.  I'm not a "Exile" worshiper...

First one that springs to mind is Sleater-Kinney. They fucking rocked. L7 was super bad ass. Currently, I'd say Girl In A Coma.

The Pandoras

The 5,6,7,8's

Gore Gore Girls

I used a Cort Jim Triggs II (with TV Jones Classic pickups) for years and loved it.  I'm too cheap right now for the fret job it needs and just got a Reverend Pete Anderson (p-90's).  Awesome guitar with grit when the bass roll-off knob is turned up.  Highly recommended!!  Strangely, the Cort had awesome useable feedback whereas my Reverend's feedback is high-pitched, shrill and unmusical.  A very versatile guitar, though.

http://www.wildwoodguitars.com/electrics/reverend/12305/12305.php

The Sonics version is unhinged but The Kingsmen version grooves (and still sounds like it's about to go off the rails).

Just heard this for the first time and love it:

High School Caesar - Reggie Perkins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPnhSao60D4

Man Or Astro-Man!!!