Breedlove AN 250/CR Nylon to Steel Conversion

eBay customized finger style acoustic guitar

I'm unplugging for a moment here to help a friend sell his guitar. This cedar top, concert size Breedlove started out as a nylon string, but now accommodates steel strings too. The bridge was replaced, plus a JLD truss system was installed underneath. The JLD unit is a cantilevered truss apparatus which removes the string tension from the top-- and is standard on Breedlove's steel string models. The tuner post shafts were upgraded to steel as well, and the neck already had a truss rod. In fact, this neck has very little flex compared to some standard steel string flat tops. When you de-tune with steel strings on this guitar, the other strings hold their pitch very well.

The neck width at the nut is 1 7/8", so we're talkin' whole lotta neck, but the action and relief with steel is actually low and comfortable once you get used to the nut width-- and no string buzz. My favorite thing about this guitar is its crazy midrange punch. Concert size cedar top steel string acoustics are known for a pronounced midrange and this one is a killer, especially as it is braced for nylon. The bottom is tight without being boomy or muddy, and the high end isn't airy & glassy. A good finger style responsive guitar that you can dig into hard-- also good for bottleneck slide. We put EXP acoustic light steel strings on it.

If you want to stick with nylon, just be sure to buy a ball end type nylon string set.

This guitar is currently listed at eBay by user jaimemay. The listing page provides full specs, details and more pics.

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Strats With Issues #2 - Natural Ash ,Too AMAZING to Play

eBay Seller: robszat
Item # 180372743474


Nice lookin' ash body. That's a Duncan rails in the bridge position. Might be a great find. Not too crazy, but the following from the seller's description got me going a bit:

"...it sounds and plays amazing... I have owned this guitar for about 8 years and the only reason I'm selling it is in the last three years I've only played it about ten times..."

I dunno about you but if I had something that sounds and plays AMAZING it would be very difficult to restrain myself from picking it up more than 10 times in 3 years. And to imagine owning it 8 years and STILL considering it sounds and plays amazing. Maybe this guitar is simply so amazing that it makes the owner feel guilty and unworthy for touching it. Maybe he has it in a display case on the wall and watches it in the evenings instead of television. Maybe his wife or girlfriend doesn't allow him to play it. He could be in therapy and advised to just let it go. I can imagine many possible scenarios.

Hopefully the next owner can deal with it. Would somebody buy this Strat and help the poor bastard find some sort of closure. Amazing.

I also thought of this heartwarming quote from The Man Book
by Otto DeFay:

"Show me a beautiful woman with a boyfriend, and I'll show you a guy who's already tired of f#*@%ng her."

Now, isn't that special.

more Strats With Issues

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A Strat for Friday #130 - Custom Shop Competition Stripe

Food & Beverage Suggestion:
(Lunch)
Shrimp Tempura
Starbucks Green Tea Frappuccino

Here's one of those NAMM '07 Limited racing stripe units. This seller actually has a red one too. We're looking at the teal green with cream color stripe. These are also referred to as 60's Closet Classics from Fender Custom Shop. It's in brand new condition and comes with case, COA and all the candy.

In these photos at least, the teal green looks very similar to the sage green. The sage goes very well with a brass pickguard. Check out Friday Strat #113 I actually checked out #113 first hand as it was listed by a local retailer at the time. Of course the color looked different in person, but the brass and sage was even better.

Meet the parents:

strummer1960 (1336)
99.6% Positive feedback

Item condition: New
Time left: Jun 29, 200904:44:50 PM PDT

Item number: 220440274148

Item location: South Saint Paul, MN, United States
Ships to: United States

more Friday Strats

Fresh Custom Shop Listings

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Laurie Morvan, Certified Blues Strat-o-Sister

I just ran across a great article about Laurie Morvan, and I'm thinkin', "oh yeah, she's one of my Strat-o-Sisters. But somehow, even though I knew about Laurie, I'd neglected to blog her and add her to our directory. Sorry Laurie!!!

Thanks to the recent piece at Recordnet.com, I'm correcting this oversight at this moment.

Laurie has a very cool personal story, and the article also emphasizes the growing guitar gal phenonmenon we've been tracking for a couple years here at Stratoblogster. So be sure to visit the above link and read it!

Here's one of my favorite quotes:

"...After graduating - and earning her airplane pilot's license - she plugged in, working to earn enough money for a Gibson Les Paul.

Then "I tried the Stratocaster," Morvan said. " 'Oh, my god,' I said. 'This is it.' I've been a Strat girl ever since..."

A "Strat Girl" indeed-- and a Strat girl all the way, cuz I don't see her playing anything else!


Discover more about Laurie Morvan at these links:

www.modernguitars.com (interview link)
myspace.com/lauriemorvanband
www.lauriemorvan.com

Strat-o-Sisters Directory

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Strats With Issues #1 - '72 With Bill Lawrence Blades

Click top 2 images for larger views.

Obviously a '72 from the bullet truss rod, skunk stripe, 3-bolt and fat headstock. Must be Olympic white because at this age, oly gets pretty damn creamy for sure. Judging from the butt, somebody used a dog chain for a strap. Yeah, she's a '72 with issues. A 37 year old with some rear end finish damage isn't uncommon, but still I'm thinkin' dog chain. My '72 Tele is pretty banged up, but not at the bottom strap button area. Gotta be a dog chain. Definitely dog chain. Must I go Rain Man here?!

Seller is eBay Store Musicians-BEST-Friend - A clever name with an equally clever 97.8% rating. Not necessarily an evil & nefarious rating, but perhaps NOT our "best friend" either.

Mr. Best-Friend refers to it as "a workhorse guitar" that "plays like a dream". Both friendly descriptions. He also goes on to indicate the following important item:

"The original pickups do come with this auction only one of the three work the other two will need to be rewound."

So, did the dog chew up two of those original pickups?

The seller is located in Palm Desert, CA. Isn't that where Michael Vick is incarcerated?

"Hey, while we're waiting for our golf tee time let's play 'fetch the Strat' with my pit bull!"

Why can't they teach pickup rewinding in the joint? There's a lot of call for this skill on the outside! Something to fall back on if you get sacked by a 350 lb. linebacker and PETA member.

more Strats With Issues (DIRECTORY)

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Strats With Issues - Directory

Funny and strange guitar listings at eBay

Here's a series about Strats people are listing that just don't seem quite right. Either it's something said in the description that makes you wanna read between the lines, or it's a mod that you wonder about-- "Why would they do that?"

But this isn't a freak show folks. Guitarz blog features the more blatant oddities. Like if you've ever been to a 24 hour supermarket at 2:38 AM, only to discover that besides yourself, the only other person in the produce section is a woman with no face. Literally, no face-- it's missing. We're not going there ok.

This series is more like the middle aged divorced person meeting other people their age. You just know there are issues. It's something that they said or a personality quirk that sends your mind into overtime. These are the Strat stories we'll be featuring here in our continuing series. They will be actual listings; actual case histories folks, so be very very careful in the dangerous kitchen, and do not blame Stratoblogster if you are smitten and later burned.

"The earth is bi-polar." Steven Wright

CASE FILE DIRECTORY:

Strats With Issues #1 - '72 With Bill Lawrence's
#2 - Natural Ash, Too Amazing to Play
#3 - Honolulu Baby!
#4 - MIK Custom Set Neck Strat - "A perfect guitar..."
#5 - EJ Neck Grain Fetish Quickie...
#6 - Trading "LUST" for EMG's
#7 - Masterbuilt Green Endless Pinstripes
#8 - Purple Sparkle Hendrix Voodoo Strat -"Defiantly Starkle"
#9 - 1983 Fender Strat Elite, the CBS Frankenstrat

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Strat Style Guitar Cufflinks from Kenneth Cole

"RIFF" by Kenneth Cole

If you do the old school of dapper Bluesman suave-ity, these Strat-o-Riffic cufflinks might be just the accessory which dots the i's and crosses the t's in the beingness of your universe. Great with that herringbone suit!

Myself, I don't wear the cufflinks, but each to his own yknow. I do have an appreciation of these things...

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Peter Gusmano's GUITAR FOR A CURE Fights ALS

(photo: http://guitarforacure.com)

Peter Gusmano (pictured right) is the man behind Guitarforacure.com , an effort to treat and discover a cure for ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease, which claimed the life of his mother and affects many people including guitarist Jason Becker. Gusmano's efforts support Project ALS.

Visit Gusmano's site for details about "A Flickering Light", a serious guitar CD release with some big Favored Nations talent onboard, the proceeds of which go to Project ALS. The Nash guitar pictured with Peter will be up for auction soon. Details on the auction schedule are forthcoming and will be made available at Guitarforacure.com, so stay tuned!

Also check the blog:
http://guitarforacure.com/blog/

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Blues Harp Pedalboard Demo

Here's a fun clip I found at Live Texas Music , a blog run by a 7th generation Texan, which means he probably also knows the correct way to smoke a brisket.


Top pedal suppliers:

Fat Tone Guitars
TunnelVisionMusic
Guitar Gear Stores (pedal merchant directory)

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Fuchs Overdrive Supreme, Fender Deluxe Mod Combo Listing

eBay Andy Fuchs boutique guitar amp auctions

This one is very interesting, and could be sweet, but do your diligence, make a few calls and ask the seller whatever questions you may have.

Seller: billi3964 (ebay currently not displaying a rating or rank... First time listing I guess.)

Item # 220438281711

End time: Jun-26-09 11:35:15 PDT
Shipping: US $70.00
US Postal Service Parcel Post®
Service to United States
Ships to: United States
Item location: Shelby, AL, United States

Fresh Boutique Amp Listings

also recommended: Super Clean 80's Music Man 112RD 50W Combo at Guitar Adoptions.

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Happy Birthday Mr. Jeff Beck Sir!!!

"Here's the deal. Today's my friend Jeff's birthday. If anyone starts any crap about his age, things are gonna be ugly!

Ever notice how you come across somebody once in awhile you shouldn't have f@*%ed with? That's JEFF.

Get me another beer, Dragon Lady!"

Walt Kowalski

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What's All This About Satch Switching to Menthol?!

"What?"

"No, Miss Litella. Not 'menthol'. It's 'Marshall'. Satch is switching to Marshall."





"Ohh... NEVER MIND."

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Satriani's Peavey vs Marshall Story Confusion

or.... "Joe Satriani Switches to Menthol"

Ya got me... (?)

Above is Video #2 of 4 from Youtube user gearshow from a recent 2009 trade show in Frankfurt. Go to the link and watch all 4. If you've been scratchin' yer head today this stuff will have you scratchin' more, unless you're an avid viewer of the FOX series "Lie to Me"-- and have that body lingo stuff down.

In spite of the recent online buzz (rumors?) about Satriani switching to Marshall, ya gotta marvel at how he goes on and on and on and on and on about how great his Peavey JSX stuff is. Especially the newest model and how well it works out for the Chickenfoot sound. What could possibly have happened? Is that EVH thing contagious? Did Joe catch some old bug by accidentally sipping from Sammy or Mike's soda can?

I really don't have a clue about what's goin on, but it's interesting, sort of.

We'll all just have to stay tuned...

If artist/endorsement/industry gossip isn't your cup of meat, I'm with ya. But I've been bored lately.

BTW, here's a parallel vid from MusicRadar

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Doug Rappoport's Engl Amp Demo on Charvel Strat

This vid was just uploaded to YT in late May, but it's from Jan '09 Winter NAMM where Doug was working at the ENGL booth. Here he's demoing the 100W Invader model. ENGL currently makes signature amps for Steve Morse & Ritchie Blackmore, so they're deep in the purple zone.

Doug's green Charvel Strat is sounding pretty good here. Check out the slide type licks he does toward the end with the trem, similar to Frank Marino. He's an old LP & SG player but has been using this S-Type more recently. Doug Rappoport is Edgar Winter's guitar player. Be sure to see Edgar if he comes to your area. It's a great show with a killer guitar player!!!

www.dougrappoport.com
www.myspace.com/dougrappoport
http://edgarwinter.com (Tour Schedule)

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Roy Blankenship's Leeds Carry On 21 Watt Amp

I was just watching Premier Guitar's demo vids & tour of Texas based Blankenship Amps. Their 21W Leeds Carry On is a little monster! Blankenship recently partnered up with Diamond Amplification to help enhance production and take a load off of Roy B., who had been running a one man show.

Then I found the above unit for auction at the Naperville Music eBay Store. This config also includes a separate Blankenship 1-12 cab with a Celestion Blue Alnico speaker. The seller is 100% ranked.

Auction Time:
Jun-27-09 10:41:45 PDT

Besides the Blankenship link above, check out the demo vids below from different sources:

Premier Guitar
RACKDOCTOR
Tone Merchants

Fresh Boutique Amp Listings

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Tennis Diva Serena Williams Collects Stratocasters

(photo: www.tennis.com)

"I have five guitars, all Strats – I love Strats," Williams said. "I have one in baby blue, two blacks, one red, one wood-coloured."

www.independent.co.uk
(from story in above link)








more Strat-o-Sisters

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1988 Yellow USA Strat

Rare Yellow Stratocaster

I'm always on the lookout for yellow Strats because yellow is a rare stock color from Fender. Otherwise, I'm not bananas about 'em, but somebody out there might be.

Strats are entitled to join the ranks which include: Lemons, Bananas, Daffodils, Baby Ducks, Baby Chicks, Mustard, Taxi Cabs, School Buses, Dandelions, Sulfur, Century 21 and the Golden Arches.

Here's a very clean low mileage unit from '88. Nice listing with plenty of pics, good info and a 100% rated seller. He does get a little carried away on how this era of Strat was the greatest. Regardless of that, this one looks pretty straight... and it's yellow. Real yellow!

Meet the parents:

Seller: shooter_pete (622 Feedback score)
Feedback: 100 % Positive
Member: since Nov-25-99 in United States

Fresh Strat Listings

Current Items - Top Dealers

Yellow Strats @eBay

Not many but keep checking!

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BEST OF... A Strat for Friday #26 - From April 2007

This gem is featured at Flickr by a talented luthier/photographer in Flickr's guitar photo community. Click the image to check out more of his work.

Here's the specs:

Body: Maple with lacewood veneer cap
Pickguard: Burled maple
Neck/Fretboard: Padauk* (notice matching knobs)
Bridge: Wilkinson
Pickups: EMG-- appear painted to match padauk neck

Custom matching strap. The headstock is standard shape but the same deep red padauk wood. If any Strat ever looked like Texas, it would be this one.

*Paduak is an exotic hardwood primarily found in Central and West Africa. CLICK HERE for more info.

NOTE: The builder/owner recently stopped by to inform me this guitar is for sale. Contact him at: kbass9@att.net

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Electric Guitar Trends Blog

Freddy from Electric Guitar Trends stopped by recently. EGT provides data on gear popularity from week to week per some of the major retailers. The blog theme is trends. It's interesting info to scan over, so go check it out.

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Stratoblogster at Jemsite & Sittin' In With the Blues

Jemsite Blog interviewed me recently and actually posted it. Then Ava is talking about what a great guitar player I'm supposed to be, although I've never really posted my playing-- I just talk sh*#. Get over to Jemsite Blog, not for my interview-- just check 'em out in general because it's a cool guitar blog that's been around for awhile. Does this mean that Steve Vai is gonna read about me?!! Arrrggghhh!!!

So the above clip is yours truly on June 7th with the Tele Thinline, jamming at a Grad party for my son's senior class (and their parents!). The band is Dikki Du & The Zydeco Krewe all the way from Louisiana. These cats can cook, but they did a slow Blues so I could keep up. Plus, I was hitting the adult beverage service, so have a little mercy on my clams here. The crayfish were pinchin' pretty hard that night. Actually I got to sit in for some fast Zydeco stuff too, which is a blast. If you like Blues with lots of syncopation, Zydeco is the best bang for your jammin' buck!

Yeah, the Strat is still in the shop-- getting a refret and was waiting other parts as well. Gettin' an Earvana nut and a KGC brass trem block installed. I'll be talking about that stuff in the future.

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Fender Aerodyne Japan Crafted Maple Top Strat

eBay AU listing auction

Check this out! We're not supposed to get these in the US, but this minty like new is listed by an Aussie private seller willing to ship to US.

AAA maple top on basswood, cream binding, Jeff Beck style Hot Noiseless pickups and relief style neck heel like the EJ Strats. Hardshell case included.

Meet the parents:

Seller: guitarnb(409 Feedback score)
Feedback: 100 % Positive
Member: since Dec-20-01 in Australia

Item # 120431918124

End time: Jun-18-09 05:13:58 PDT
Shipping: Service to United States

(more services)
Ships to: Australia, N. and S. America, United Kingdom, Germany, New Zealand
Item location: Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Super Strat Listings

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Tom Anderson Classic Lavender w/Kahler

guitar auction super-strat eBay

Been gettin' bored around here lately, so here's something different.

Yes, a lavender Tom Anderson! Some cat in Fort Worth is selling this because his attorney wife is ordering him to. I dunno... the listing write-up is pretty wild stuff, but the right details & COA from Anderson are all there too. This was a custom order. The finish is thin nitro, Kahler is sunken and the pickups & electronics are pretty cool too-- from the factory (Switcheroo!).

Meet the parents:

cisco_kid_99 (119)
100% Positive feedback

Item # 230349288628

Time left: 4 days 23 hours (Jun 21, 200902:12:42 PM PDT)

item location: Fort Worth, TX, United States
Ships to: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany
Payments: PayPal

Super Strat Listings

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83-84 Two Knob Strat Retrospective by Cloudy

Here's a guest post by Cloudy of www.cloudyproject.com who was kind enough to stop by and introduce himself. Check out his cool site and artsy Texas vibe guitar videos. Meanwhile enjoy the above video and the story of Fender's brief and misunderstood Two Knob, Top Load Strat series from the early 80's:

"In the early eighties, Fender noticed the market share that Japanese guitar manufacturers had developed, and decided to reduce Stratocaster manufacturing costs by reducing the number of body routs from three to one. The pocket for the input jack was cut, with the jack being placed on the pickguard where the 2nd tone control normally went (and the pickguard has an extra screw near the jack, added to keep the guard from pulling up when the plug was removed). A new tremolo was designed (called the “Freeflyte”) that was a “top loader”, meaning the strings no longer ran through the body, thus eliminating the large rout on the back of the guitar. Contrary to popular belief, it’s still a three-spring design - the springs are under the pickguard and appear to be the same length as other Strat trem springs.

The only variants of the “two-knobs” were the “Elite” which featured active electronics, and the “Bowling Ball” strats. which were the same two-knob USA guitars with a marbled paint finish.

Fender purists hated the changes - to many it seemed like a massive sacrilege to mess with Leo Fender’s classic design, which had not seen significant changes since its introduction in 1954 - and by 1986 the “American Standard” was developed, based on the lessons learned from the well-regarded reissue Strats of the early 80’s. These new Standards were much like sixties strats, but introduced the 2-point floating tremolo as opposed to the “six screw” vintage-style trem - a decision that still divides Strat fans.

However, the 83 & 84 “two knob” models were actually very good guitars, with high quality necks, bodies, and setup - they were, after all, hand-made guitars from American workers, using premium woods and undergoing more rigorous inspection. The body of this one is the heaviest strat I’ve played (it’s still no Les Paul though), and the heavier body is mentioned by many owners of this era Strat. The extra weight may account for the noticeably fatter sound and really nice low-end “thump” this guitar has. It’s the best player I’ve ever owned as well. The tone? Very Fender-ish, but the top-loader trem design doesn’t seem to deliver as much “spring” sound. This model came stock with a graphite nut and graphite string tees as well; currently it has a stacked humbucker in the bridge position - but I still have the original pickup.

On close inspection, these really are well-made guitars - the neck-to-pocket joint is a tight fit, the fretwork is impeccable with nicely rolled edges, and the tuners are high-quality. I adjusted the bridge twenty five years ago and haven’t touched it since. After something like 500 gigs with this guitar, the frets show noticeable wear, but nothing that affects tone or playability.

Still under-rated by collectors, they are quality guitars, and mine seems to support the belief that good guitars just get better with age - it really sounds and plays great after a quarter century.

(this video was shot using a Sure Sm57 on a Peavey Classic 30 Amp, and plugging the mic directly into the XLR input of the DVX video camera - not the best way to record an amp, but not bad)."

www.cloudyproject.com
www.youtube.com/user/cloudyproject

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Pickup Building More Art than Science?

Slider's Vintage Classics guitar pickup guru

PHOTO: "Real 53 year old 1/1956 Dated "NOS" Heavy Formvar."

I'm not talking about hack science either. I'm talking about folks who understand electronics and electromagnetic phenomena enough to know that good pickups can't be stamped out of a cookie cutter. The true consistency lies in being able to make pickups that sound GOOD, instead of some mediocre standard of being identical. This is where the art part comes in.

A regular reader recently sent me a copy of the Jan. 2009 ToneQuest Report, specifically referring me to Aussie pickup guru Rod McQueen of Slider's Vintage Classics, featured in a TQR article along with Lindy Fralin and a few other pickup wiz cats.

The way these guys describe magnet material, inductance & resistance characteristics and the history of this stuff with regard to pickup building, helped me finally realize that it isn't about trying to duplicate some standard pickup template, because that actually can't be done. Instead, by knowing their craft and materials, good pickup builders attempt to consistently wind coils for the right balance of warmth & clarity and level of power.

Mass produced pickups are pretty much consistently average with only occasional & inadvertent better or worse results. This also helps explain the multitude of models offered by the big D's which focus on certain niche sounds instead of offering a full palette with a few models, which only hand building can accomplish. It's kind of like the old time family MD who treated every ailment before medicine specialized to where you have to see six doctors and hope the fools are able to coordinate with one another on your case.

So I guess we're talking about the healing ART of tone.

If you hadn't heard of Rod McQueen- "Slider"- of Slider's Vintage Classics, he's one of those old doctors when it comes to pickups. ToneQuest Report approved. That oughta tell ya something.

LINKS:

www.myspace.com/slidersvintagepickups (audio samples)
www.myspace.com/dangranero (more audio by Slider's pickup user)

Watch Tommy Katona using Slider's pickups at Youtube.

Purchase Slider's here:

sliderspickups

(keep trying or contact if nothing listed, he's tryin' to keep up!)

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Fuzz: The Sound that Revolutionized the World

guitar pedal movie film dv

This film looks like fun. Featuring EHX founder Mike Matthews, Billy Gibbons and a host of other builders, players and pedal geeks.

Get your GAS on with this one kids! Discover why you can't get no satisfaction.

Fuzz: The Sound That Changed the World (DVD at Amazon)

Top Pedal Stores Online:

FAT TONE GUITARS
TunnelVision Music
Guitar Gear Stores (directory portal)

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A Strat for Friday #129 - Custom Shop Daphne Blue Nitro

Fender eBay No Reserve Auction

Food & Beverage Suggestion:
Fish Tacos
Cerveza Pacifico
Lemon bars

A very nice clean listing here kids! Custom Shop, mint condition with thin-skin nitro and some nice lookin' maple. All case candy is in perfect order along with COA. The listing specs and features are well detailed & perfectly itemized too. All in all, the ideal eBay listing-- except, I just wish there were more pics. This is a NO RESERVE too, so join the fun, cuz it's gonna move no matter what!

Meet the parents:

Seller: joetarta1952 (83 Feedback score)
Feedback: 100 % Positive
Member: since May-24-04 in United States

Item # 260425106270

End time: Jun-15-09 05:30:48 PDT
Shipping: US $55.00
Standard Flat Rate Shipping Service
Service to United States
Ships to: United States
Item location: Lake Charles, LA, United States

more Friday Strats

Fender Custom Shop Listings

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