I had the fortune to acquire a gold plated Gibson ES-175 this week that a friend was selling at a fantastic price. I have hankered for one of these for years, going down the road of the ES-137 which looks very much like the 175 but has a centre block and a fixed bridge, similar to a 335 and consequently sounding nothing like the 175, so I sold it.
That was just over a year ago and because of the price (£3000) it remained elusive so I went for the Vintage equivalent model, the VSA 575 which is actually more like the L5. As good as it is I couldn't resist the 'real deal' at £1250, so I guess I have a Vintage for sale.
It doesn't end there, I went into Richtone Music today to buy a Vox VT-80 and whilst there notice a Brian May Red Special. This is one that Brian himself has been involved with and I tried it out whilst trying the amp I was buying. Well I can only say that it sounds amazing, not only for the Queen type sounds but everything else too. The switching is great, with individual switches to activate each of the three pickups, plus thre 'out of phase' switches that give some fabulous tones. So guess what . . . GAS set in and I put a deposit on it to be collected this weekend. How I'm gonna explain it to my other half God only knows, it's not like it's a Strat that I can claim to have hade for ages, if you get my drift.
I've picked up some great guitars lately, all different sounding and quality stuff, the G & L was a revelation as was the PRS Custom 24.
I'd be interested to hear similar stories from members here, in the hope that I'm not on my own.