May Birthdays 
Hi All
I'm still a newbie here on these forums (and, to be honest, I am pretty shitty as a guitarist but I work hard at it and see myself getting a lot better already); I had a few posts earlier regarding the Chandler Taboo Tiki. To make a long story short, I played guitar in the 90s in a punk band--had a BC Rich Strat copy with Floyd Rose (which I hated eventually), then got a Warmoth Tele-style double humbucker straight-hardware guitar, eventually had to leave to move to Australia, sold all my gear and restarted here. My first guitar when I moved to Australia was a Chandler Metro. I bought it in 1999, heavily discounted as people only want Fenders and Gibsons (if you're a retailed over here that's about right).
Recently, I really got back into playing, and with that, purchasing a few (too many, if my wife found out the real truth) guitars. I haven't really bought these for investment though I could think of worse things to throw money into (like cars).
I am only going to list the 'surfy-ish' ones thus far and post some pics.
-- Japanese 80s Mosrite copy (Kurokumo)--bought by a Japanese guitarist who moved here to Melbourne (I saw him play in the late 90s on it)--and up for sale recently for about $900--so I got it! Tuners were really terrible, so I replaced them with decent lockable ones. Stays in tune fairly well.
-- Chandler Taboo Tiki--I ordered it straight from Chandler. It was the last one they had. I really like it--great variety of sounds, pickups are great, plays great, locking tuners. Solid, not light but not like my Les Paul. Very versatile.
-- DiPinto Mach IV Baritone. Ordered this guitar this year when I was travelling back home to Toronto. Chris got it to me right on time. It plays well (Allparts neck) but I had to change the tuners to something more solid (locking Grovers iirc); I also changed the pickup switches to all black buttons as the other ones didn't match the look in my mind. Pickups were rewound to be a bit hotter and fuller sounding (sounded pretty weak and dull when I got them). Since it was an Allparts neck, Chris had mounted a DiPinto logo under a bit of clear plexiglas or something. It looked like a photocopy, so I had Bender (play on Fender mixed with my last name) engraved into the plastic in a Fender style.
-- Okay not really surfy in sound but it looks a bit surfy perhaps? This is my Framus Hollywood Custom. A beautifully built guitar from their custom shop guys, made in Germany, with two beautifully FAT Seymour Duncan P90s. Neck is Ovangkol. Body mahogany. I believe Framus has released the Strato as a Strato Deluxe, which is a cool looking guitar that looks like it might be useful in a surf context. (See 2:48 onwards here Framus Youtube Video)
Why am I posting these? On the one hand, just to share; on the other hand, I am interested in some of your experiences especially with Japanese Mosrite copies, longevity of your DiPintos etc. I am pretty happy with my collection at the moment.
Cheers
Bender
Last edited: Nov 09, 2013 19:04:24
