What Music Gear Will You Get in 2020?

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Originally Posted by ch willie

Fender seems more concerned to me with selling entry level guitars. At least, that's where there bread and butter is. Fender prices would go up if they started paying more attention to the details, less to the glam, but we'd get some pretty awesome guitars. There's no reason Fender can't make products at a cheaper price that would rival the better copies of Fenders that are out there.

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So maybe that's not a bad strategy? Most of us here have been playing guitar for years, and we've had guitars come and go through our fingers enough that we find the ones we like. We bond with them because of the way they sound, the weight of the body, the neck dive or lack thereof (:smile:), the neck shape, material, etc. After a while, we're not buying the way we used to. So, who to go after? It seems the newcomer to guitar is the obvious choice. Every year there are newcomers, so why not take advantage of this market space? Then, you have to figure the entry-level player usually can't pay established-player prices. Thus, focus on building a guitar that looks and sounds good, but doesn't break the manufacturing bank. Ta-da: The sub-$1,000 Fender...

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Originally Posted by OldStrummer

So maybe that's not a bad strategy? Most of us here have been playing guitar for years, and we've had guitars come and go through our fingers enough that we find the ones we like. We bond with them because of the way they sound, the weight of the body, the neck dive or lack thereof (:smile:), the neck shape, material, etc. After a while, we're not buying the way we used to. So, who to go after? It seems the newcomer to guitar is the obvious choice. Every year there are newcomers, so why not take advantage of this market space? Then, you have to figure the entry-level player usually can't pay established-player prices. Thus, focus on building a guitar that looks and sounds good, but doesn't break the manufacturing bank. Ta-da: The sub-$1,000 Fender...

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personally I think that selling to millenials as we get older is a good strategy.

lots of people where I work play instruments. our garage is full of fast German cars. the other guitar player I knew from work played a MIJ Ibanez JEM.

dunno personally I think one less dead white dude guitar and one more celebrating a live player that's relevant would do Fender good.

look at some of Suhr's artists; Ateus Masato, Pete Thorn, Ian Thornley, Andy Wood. I guarantee these guys are more relevant to someone my age (30) than making yet another Jimi strat (as much as I love Jimi, the man has been dead for a long time).

I got an Ibanez Artcore Expressionist AF95 Hollowbody Archtop electric in January
A Katana Artist MKII in March when they first came out.
A Fender Rumble 800 bass Head a month ago
A new 2020 Gretsch G5440LS bass most recently

Since the thread has been upped...

It's November and the updates regarding my previous posts here are:

I will indeed get married, next week.

I didn't get a tele...

I did indeed sell my Hot Rod Deluxe and bought a Blues Jr. Ltd. Edition with the Jensen C12N speaker, which was one hell of an upgrade (way better speaker, breaks much sooner, is loud enough for most weekend warrior venues, much less heavy to carry and looks cooler).

Also, I got the best pedals I ever used besides my Proco RAT: the Fulltone Octafuzz and the Ibanez TS808.

Since we're updating this thread, I'll simply say that I met and surpassed my initial post. I bought not one, but two ukuleles, and the RK5 (which I still haven't used. For a guy in the computer biz, I don't know why these things confuse me). In addition to the ASAT I posted about to Sérgio, I bought four more guitars! And we still have nearly two months to go!

I'm not planning anything else at this point. I have to now think about Christmas gifts for my grandkids and family. It's not always about me... :smile:

my, how things have changed since the start of the year. I went from a house to an apartment. Now we might be looking at being in a house again.

I think i only mentioned a specific pedal for my Yamaha electro acoustic. I never did get that pedal. i did get several other pedals.

Then Covid hits.
Guitars:
Steinberger Spirit GT Pro
Squier CV50 Esquire
Squier CV50 Stratcaster
Epiphone Les Paul Custom ebony
Epiphone JB Black Beauty Les Paul Custom

I was not expecting to buy so many guitars.

I've bought a couple necks, pickup rings, poker chip, a set of humbuckers, a Tele bridge pickup, XLR/TRS patch bay, power management rack mount, desktop rack mount, tinted nitrocellulose lacquer spray, polish.

All in all, it's been an interesting year.

I'm pretty embarrassed about the amount of gear I've bought this year.

Hofner 500/1
Ric 330
Epiphone Casino
Martin 12 strng acoustic (MIM, I think)
G&L JB-5, jazz 5 string--should be here this month or in December latest

This year has also been a year of the pedal board. I've gotten a lot of new pedals. My faves of the ones I've bought:

Strymon El Capistan delay
Strymon leslie
TS808

Software for recording--Logic Pro X
Hardware: Apollo Twin interface and processor

And endless little things from a $4 replacement foam for my 4001's mute element to strings to quite a few leather straps.

I'm through with big stuff for a long time.

I’m anticipating only buying a couple of sets of bass strings. Everything else I own pretty much covers what I want to do.

The only thing I've gotten this year, aside from strings and such, is a EH Soul Food pedal.
Sounds great on it's own, or stacked with other ones.
I've had other stuff on my radar, but SWMBO doesn't give much leeway for new gear. Seems to think I have enough already. :wah::wife::confused::bh
I was hoping that a guitar show happenning here would... happen. But due to "all this" it didn't - postponed till next spring. Hoping it'll happen then...

suddenly have a GAS fire for an Epiphone EB-0 bass, short scale bass. damn Google news feeds, they have me pegged pretty well :laughing:

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Originally Posted by DanTheBluesMan

suddenly have a GAS fire for an Epiphone EB-0 bass, short scale bass. damn Google news feeds, they have me pegged pretty well :laughing:

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You want an Epiphone long scale SG type bass? It's right handed--the only thing is that I had a lefty nut put on it--easily changed back to a right handed nut. I love it, but I can't get on with the controls under my arms. I'd even trade it for gear.

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Originally Posted by ch willie

You want an Epiphone long scale SG type bass? It's right handed--the only thing is that I had a lefty nut put on it--easily changed back to a right handed nut. I love it, but I can't get on with the controls under my arms. I'd even trade it for gear.

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I was kind of leaning toward the shorter scale as it might induce me to include more bass in my recordings.

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Originally Posted by DanTheBluesMan

I was kind of leaning toward the shorter scale as it might induce me to include more bass in my recordings.

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I understand completely. I wish this bass were left handed. I’m only recording, not live anymore, I’ll keep it. I love it’s sound.

I find it’s best NOT to predict music purchases too much!

I didn’t end up changing anything on the PRS Singlecut.

I did buy a couple of new interfaces. Keeping the SSL2+, the Mackie is going back.

I haven’t used my mobile recording rig since late February. Still sitting at my guitarist’s rehearsals space.

Bought a few new unplanned things: Sterling by MM Stingray 5; Sennheiser RE-20 mic, Sennheiser HD600 headphones, Arturia MiniBrute 2 synth, Cloudlifter mic pre, acoustic treatment panels for my recording/practicing space. New DSLR and some studio lighting in order to make some videos.

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Originally Posted by dirtdog

...Sennheiser HD600 headphones...

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how do you like those phones? I have a set of Sennheiser HD-59X that were a MassDrop (now just called Mass) special run, and I love them. Wish I had gotten a second pair as a back up/loaner - if I ever have guests again so they can use them.

Dirtdog, do you like your Sterling? They're attractive basses.

I'd like a Sterling 4 string

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Originally Posted by DanTheBluesMan

how do you like those phones? I have a set of Sennheiser HD-59X that were a MassDrop (now just called Mass) special run, and I love them. Wish I had gotten a second pair as a back up/loaner - if I ever have guests again so they can use them.

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I really like them. They are a treat to wear and have a fairly flat response, something I was looking for for mixing. Open back, too. I was using fairly decent A-T M50X headphones. Those are good for listening and tracking, but were not easy to mix with! Only downside is that they high impedance (300 ohm) so if your headphone amp is not in a similar impedance ballpark, they can be hard to drive loud enough.

I've heard of the MassDrop deal. You may have mentioned it here before, in fact. I still have my A-Ts for others to use as they would most likely be tracking, not mixing, with me.

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Originally Posted by ch willie

Dirtdog, do you like your Sterling? They're attractive basses.

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I like it. I needed a fiver for my "metal" recording project. It's easy to play, easy to get a decent tone out of and its dead quiet. Its the first thing I grab when I sit down to record. My MIJ P is great on the stage, but tends towards being noisy in a recording situation.

I had a proper EBMM Stingray (4) back around 2001-2002. Didn't like the neck on that all all. My buddy owns it now and every time I pick that one up to play, I'm reminded why I sold it. The neck on the Sterling, even though it's a 5er seems less bulky than the twenty year old 'Ray.

I got the blue model with the black pick guard - suitably "metal"-ish. Looks good on video!

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Originally Posted by dirtdog

I like it. I needed a fiver for my "metal" recording project. It's easy to play, easy to get a decent tone out of and its dead quiet. Its the first thing I grab when I sit down to record. My MIJ P is great on the stage, but tends towards being noisy in a recording situation.

I had a proper EBMM Stingray (4) back around 2001-2002. Didn't like the neck on that all all. My buddy owns it now and every time I pick that one up to play, I'm reminded why I sold it. The neck on the Sterling, even though it's a 5er seems less bulky than the twenty year old 'Ray.

I got the blue model with the black pick guard - suitably "metal"-ish. Looks good on video!

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Very cool. Looking forward to seeing it.

A really good kazoo.

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Originally Posted by ch willie

Very cool. Looking forward to seeing it.

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Here's a phtot of a vidcap of me playing the Sterling Stingray 5. This is part of the footage from my orginals band recording efforts.

https://i.postimg.cc/43j8brXH/IMG-3384.jpg

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Originally Posted by DanTheBluesMan

I'd like a Sterling 4 string

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I'm gassing for the Daphne Blue short scale model. So beautiful, but I don't really need it. Not like that's ever stopped me!:dude:dude

I don't know who looks cooler, dirtdog, you or the bass! Seriously great looking bass.

Definitely the bass. The lighting and camera angle were kind to me.

What have I bought this year. A used 1995 Digitech RPM1 rack unit that is a Leslie simulator L/R out for the upper horn section and center out for the rotor section. A D Seed II that is a stereo delay. and a KingMaker fuzz that is stereo. I am getting My Wet Dry Wet setup to also sound like a Leslie.