I was just sitting in the garden reading a techniques article, and I muttered: "I need a muckabout guitar", or something closely related. To try out the examples. Indoors, I grab a Tele which is my favourite, but I'm not going to prop that up in the mud.
I've got a fairly rough Yamaha RGX A2 in storage somewhere and I need to dig that out.
The dials light up so it looks quite funky. It's the kind of thing that got thrown in the back of the car without a case for occasional jams. (Ideally I'd like a Pignose for this kind of thing; always fancied one of those.) Anyone relate to this?
Last edited by BJG145 on Tue Feb 23, 2021 4:10 pm, edited 6 times in total.
I have a kit-built Tele with a built in amp that does this job nicely. One of my projects this year or next will be to strip it all down and finish/re-build it properly because there's actually quite a nice guitar hiding in there.
My 'muck about guitar' is my Emerald X7 it goes almost everywhere I go. A bit of mud would not harm it and it would just hose off without damage* It's pretty indestructible in normal usage. My my muck about electric is also my main electric, a Bitsa Strat with P90's I built for not much over £120 with a Boss Micro Cube but I usually muck about on electric in the studio.
* Obviously avoiding the preamp, jack socket and battery compartment would be wise...
I have a 'playing out' guitar rather than a muckabout guitar. Comes from when I was little my mum always used to tell me to change into my playing out pants before going in the garden.
My current playing out guitar is a gold leaf plated Duesenberg and I have the butler polish it between chords.
All mine are muck about really, but the most chuck about is a Little Martin LX1 that I got from cash converters for £50, I think they thought it was a child’s guitar....
I always get annoyed by any cables in the garden. I bought a taylor gs mini as a sofa guitar and that and a relatively low end tanglewood both come outside with me for a noodle now and again.
We are getting our garden remodelled and when we have a summer house with power my strat will live there...
Last edited by al_diablo on Tue Feb 23, 2021 10:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Taylor big baby, I came from a Classical/Spanish acoustic guitar route which meant I could do bar chords with relative ease, whenever I tried that on a jumbo style steel strung guitar I struggled, my fingers needed the ‘bite force’ equivalent to a pit bull, then I bought the Taylor and the action is as near to that of a Spanish as is possible.
It is a great Swiss Army knife of guitars, I can manage some of the left hand finger contorting stretches that are relatively easier on the Spanish guitar, but also do the atypical jingly jangly sound of the steel strung acoustic, ok not the full bodied chugger of a jumbo, but an acceptable compromise.
The physical size of the Taylor makes it an ideal noodler, being able to loaf about on the sofa and play every part of the guitar with ease and not constricted by the size of a jumbo, just right size for sofa noodling or going al fresco as it is an easily portable size.
It used to be my Kay acoustic. My grandfather bought it for me when I was about 7 years old. It has a smallish body and has been to many a party in my youth and has received much abuse. But it’s almost 60 years old and has settled in to sound nicely balanced and wonderful and I’m afraid to take it anywhere!
I have a beater Martin MMV. I bought it as a present to myself for graduating college at the tender age of 41. It's basically a poor man's D-28.
This particular guitar is quite promiscuous and has been played by pretty much everyone I know, drunk or sober. She's a good old friend that one. Early on, about 6 months after I got it, the finish blistered up in a few places, not harmful and though I was surprised by a defect from Martin, it freed me from having to be precious about cosmetics. I've done nothing about in 15 years and it hasn't changed at all since then.
Sam Spoons wrote:My 'muck about guitar' is my Emerald X7 it goes almost everywhere I go. A bit of mud would not harm it and it would just hose off without damage* It's pretty indestructible in normal usage. My my muck about electric is also my main electric, a Bitsa Strat with P90's I built for not much over £120 with a Boss Micro Cube but I usually muck about on electric in the studio.
* Obviously avoiding the preamp, jack socket and battery compartment would be wise...
Very envious, an Emerald X10 with MIDI is on my absolute bucket list. Stunning guitars.
My knock about is my Tanglewood Roadster. Lovely little thing, full scale length and cedar wood body/neck.
Sam Spoons wrote:My 'muck about guitar' is my Emerald X7 it goes almost everywhere I go. A bit of mud would not harm it and it would just hose off without damage* It's pretty indestructible in normal usage. My my muck about electric is also my main electric, a Bitsa Strat with P90's I built for not much over £120 with a Boss Micro Cube but I usually muck about on electric in the studio.
* Obviously avoiding the preamp, jack socket and battery compartment would be wise...
Very envious, an Emerald X10 with MIDI is on my absolute bucket list. Stunning guitars
Yes very happy with the X7, until recently I've only been playing the X7 and my Selmer style gypsy jazz box. In the last few weeks I've started playing my Brian Eastwood (which was my goto from 1981 until I bought the X7 in, IIRC, 2017) again.
Funnily enough my other current favourite is a cheap Aria TA that I've fitted with flats. I've a Blackstar BEAM in the living room which is a great little home amp.
I have another Brian Eastwood, an ES175/L5 jazz box which has flats fitted. I love having all these different flavours available, they don't just sound different but they make you play differently too.
I can't think of a guitar I regret selling and none of the eight I have now are up for sale. The only one that might be up for change would be my Mountain D45 copy, I would move that on for a Collings D2H if one turned up at a relatively sensible price.
Sam Spoons wrote:I can't think of a guitar I regret selling and none of the eight I have now are up for sale. The only one that might be up for change would be my Mountain D45 copy, I would move that on for a Collings D2H if one turned up at a relatively sensible price.
"Collings" and "sensible price" have nothing to do with each other.
But extra points for the "relatively"
Beautiful instruments tho.
Last edited by CS70 on Sat Feb 27, 2021 3:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I've got an old Blade Delta (Tele style) that I got for cheap which was my go-to guitar for things like pub jam sessions (remember those?!) where I could worry a little less about taking my eye off of it or leaving it out on a stand with clumsy people around, so I'd probably count that.
I'm one step away from having the sofa and letting my acoustics sleep in my bed, no "muckabout" guitar there, yet...
Sam Spoons wrote:I can't think of a guitar I regret selling and none of the eight I have now are up for sale. The only one that might be up for change would be my Mountain D45 copy, I would move that on for a Collings D2H if one turned up at a relatively sensible price.
"Collings" and "sensible price" have nothing to do with each other.
But extra points for the "relatively"
Beautiful instruments tho.
I played a D2H in a shop a few years ago, £3600 was the price but it had stuck so was, eventually reduced to £2400. Unfortunately, by the time I had made up my mind to, at least seriously consider, buying it it had been sold It was the best sounding acoustic I have ever played...
Sam Spoons wrote:I played a D2H in a shop a few years ago, £3600 was the price but it had stuck so was, eventually reduced to £2400. Unfortunately, by the time I had made up my mind to, at least seriously consider, buying it it had been sold It was the best sounding acoustic I have ever played...
I feel you.. had a similar experience once, tried (what I think it was) a OM-28 Marquis and it was amazing and on sale... but not exactly cheap. I'd just bought my SJ Jumbo (which is the other guitar I love the most, but it tends to produce shoulder dislocations ) so I thought "I'll wait..". Went back two weeks later and of course it had been sold. Regret to this day.
Last edited by CS70 on Sat Feb 27, 2021 4:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Dynamic Mike wrote:
If I could get back just one guitar I've sold, that would be it.
I traded a Martin Backpacker for mine, a local shop used to do random trades if the owner liked the idea enough. The Aria was brand new too and I'd wanted a 335/semi acoustic fo a while.
Lovely guitar to play but I'd always felt the sound was maybe 85% of what it could be. Toyed with the idea of pickup swaps (decided against it when I discovered how fiddly 335 type guitars are to wire) then last year during furlough decided to try some flats.
Bought a D'addario set and just like that the missing piece of the tone slotted in place.
Now it's amazing, through that little Blackstar BEAM with a clean sound and some reverb/trem. Makes hours vanish.
Hewesy wrote: The Aria was brand new too and I'd wanted a 335/semi acoustic fo a while.
Lovely guitar to play but I'd always felt the sound was maybe 85% of what it could be. Toyed with the idea of pickup swaps (decided against it when I discovered how fiddly 335 type guitars are to wire) then last year during furlough decided to try some flats.
Nothing beats them at that price point. The PUP's are always going to be the weak link, but the playability is superb. Mine was a wine red (maroon) finish with gold hardware which was starting to tarnish a bit. Didn't know they still made them & just found one online for £349. Or put that another way an eighth of the price of my Duesenberg... Hmm. May have found my new muckabout
It was the best sounding acoustic I have ever played...
