What up G's: I'm happyorange (Eric B); glad to be here

Happyorange27 · September 14, 2010, 08:01:07 AM

OK poster, I really appreciate it. I'm going to keep reading all your posts before i bug you too much on details because you probably answer the same questions all the time. But i'll be looking for your latest and greatest gear so i can basically start to aim high right off the bat. I'll also want to gather what this guitar and amp make and model might be. It's really hard to consider the plunge. I think I can keep the silver analogman screamer right? It's worthy.
I don't know man. I would really need some convincing that this can be done. I've grown to love my guitar. It plays very well and stays in tune, it's rugged, the neck is smooth, I've upgraded the pups and such...but oh well. The force Luke, the force.
I think I'll make a list of all my gear with approximate selling prices (realistic) and come up with a date to post on ebay, probably in the next month or so. I'd like to take the cash plus any Christmas cash to make the biggest impact. Oh by the way I still have a Takamine acoustic electric and and a very basic Samick acoustic (which i would sell). So in the downtime I would be able to play some guitar.
Let's keep pooling our thoughts here man. If this really happens, you can write a book about it:)

aoguitars · September 14, 2010, 11:00:30 AM

Quote from: Happyorange27 on September 14, 2010, 08:01:07 AM
I don't know man. I would really need some convincing that this can be done. I've grown to love my guitar. It plays very well and stays in tune, it's rugged, the neck is smooth, I've upgraded the pups and such...but oh well.

Eric, if you love that guitar, KEEP IT!! It doesn't matter what it says on the peghead or what anyone else says about it...if it feels good to you, sounds good to you, you're confident in it and you think you look bitchin when you're playing it, by all means don't get rid of it. While what we all do here is dig talking about playing guitar and gear and trading ideas/secrets/whatever, guitars still come down to a completely individual set of decisions. I know with me, if I've put time, money and effort into a guitar, then it has grown some sentimental value and I'll never part with it. I've only let one guitar go, and I've always regretted it. As far as I'm concerned, you can always get effects pedals back--guitars have soul. I say, if you want to try another direction, keep the guitar, sell other stuff/save up, and buy another axe.

Happyorange27 · September 14, 2010, 11:26:12 AM

Andrew, thanks for being the guy on my other shoulder, whispering wisdom as well. I'm not ready to make a complete purge of my gear. I think what will come of all this is that I will indeed sell all the junky stuff for better stuff. I consider myself to have a good ear and playing ablility. Also, I'm not super gullable so I'm not going to do anything rash.

Funny thing about my Wolfgang; they are selling for almost double what I paid for new back in 1999, so gee, they must not be too shitty right:) Van Halen doesn't fuck around with guitars with his name on it and like i said, this thing is super solid. I had it set up in 1999 and it's still good to go. Also it's beautiful and the profile isn't far from Trey's guitar. Anyway, if you are the dude making the AO guitars, they are amazing and i appreciate someone who could potentially give up a customer just to be genuine and share what's important about gear. Much gratitude.

patrickstefanski · September 14, 2010, 12:52:59 PM

Hey Happy Orange,
I do 3D too. We should talk shop talk some time, I would love to see your stuff. Email me if you want. patrickstefanski@gmail.com
(anyone else can email me too, don't feel left out).

Happyorange27 · September 14, 2010, 01:00:56 PM

Sweet Patrick, good to know! Well most of mine is work related so I am not at liberty to share. However, I did start my own guitar in Solidworks, like Trey's but with my own spin. See my ultimate would be for me to design most of the guitar in 3D and then get some realistic feedback with a luthier. They I could export or make prints in any format they wanted in order to make there lives easy. I bet if i did a lot of the design work i could save some cash. They could just set up the wood and let the CNC go to town off the data. If anyone want's to validate my therory here let me know. Could I potentially be saving myself several hundred dollars by doing the design?

YouEnjoyMyReba · September 14, 2010, 01:03:15 PM

welcome happy, i look forward to learning from you as i have learned from many others on this site!

Happyorange27 · September 14, 2010, 01:12:30 PM

Thank YEMReba, I'm loving it here. You guys are so cool. Finally among my kind.

I'm addicted to reading posts after work until i go to bed. I'm trying to catch up.

Happyorange27 · September 14, 2010, 02:27:37 PM

You guys should call this forum PhaceBook (get it?) But the way at my job I sit and listen to streaming Phish on the net all day long and in the car. So nice.

jadirusso · September 14, 2010, 05:05:24 PM

Hi Orange/Eric.. Welcome and I'm sure you'll find and contribute much here.

aoguitars · September 15, 2010, 11:09:03 AM

I am indeed the one building the AO Guitars, and I thank you for your kind words. And I'm not here to trick anyone into buying one of my guitars, or anything, so I don't mind telling you that you don't need a new guitar--however, if you take or learn anything from anything I say on this site, you actually have to buy one as payment

. We're just dudes talking about gear and Phish...I just happen to be a recovering Phish addict and custom guitar builder at the same time.

And I agree, those Wolfgangs are solid guitars. I've only played one or two when they've come into the shop, and they're pretty cool.

Quote from: Happyorange27 on September 14, 2010, 01:00:56 PM
See my ultimate would be for me to design most of the guitar in 3D and then get some realistic feedback with a luthier. They I could export or make prints in any format they wanted in order to make there lives easy. I bet if i did a lot of the design work i could save some cash. They could just set up the wood and let the CNC go to town off the data. If anyone want's to validate my therory here let me know. Could I potentially be saving myself several hundred dollars by doing the design?

And to answer this theory: If you were to go to a small shop like mine (where it's only me, no CNC), I'm not really sure how much you'd actually save. Your AutoCAD/CNC progamming really wouldn't do me any good, besides the fact that I'd have really good drawings of exactly what you want to work from, which is always a huge help...so you'd same money on my drawing/design time. Even still, I'd have to make new templates, machining, etc. for your design, so there really wouldn't much of a savings. If you were to go to a bigger shop--or just one with CNC capabilities--you'd be much further along and would most likely bypass the cost of paying someone else to do the programming. However, finding a guy/shop who's willing to do that kind of completely custom job might prove difficult.

Happyorange27 · September 15, 2010, 01:04:22 PM

Andrew, thanks for being so helpful^^. I get a very good vibe from you. You obviously have a super talent and an eye for wonderful craftsmanship. You also have a level head.

I'm sure it won't be soon but when I do go custom on a guitar, you will be at the top of that list. Keep up the wonderful work. It's probably rewarding to hand of each and every guitar knowing that you are going to make someone super happy. That's just good karma all around.

Oh in the process of my self evaluation of gear, I think I've learned to appreciate what I have. Sheryl Crow said, "it's not having what you want; it's wanting what you've got."