Used Guitar...or, Not-used

[rrose070]

Since it's a birthday surprise. We had bought one before, but the friend we entrusted it with *lost* it...so, what I need is the name and address where I can find a decently priced (meaning: we only need it to work for 3 months, maybe longer but mai pen rai)...guitar, but additional complications exist: he is cursed with perfect pitch, and I need to be able to relay the location to a songteaw driver. I'm in the CM University/Lanna Muay Thai Boxing Centre area. OOps his alarm is going off and he's waking up!!!

[Crow Boy]

Anyone who knows anything about guitars will tell you that they are inherently out of pitch because of the frettings system. Some luthiers over the years have made guitars with microtonal frets ie staggered across the board but that is by the by. Secondly people with perfect pitch are extremely rare but people with relative pitch are fairly common. Most musicians will be able to tell whether a note is flat or sharp simply by experience. However to tell you that the note is a Fsharp but 10 Hz below correct pitch is extremely rare and that is perfect pitch.

Ok that covered. There a plenty of 'cheap copy' guitars waiting for new homes around the N/E corner of the outer moat road. Get a decent set of strings on them and they are frequently not too bad. Other option is the Department store special at Carre Four etc. Then you may like to try around the music stores and find a second hand or copy guitar for your friend. They would also be able to explain to the driver where to deliver.

CCB

[meadish_sweetball]

Electric or acoustic? If acoustic, Western (steel string) or Spanish/Classical (nylon string)?

If you are not capable of judging the quality of a guitar yourself, you might be better off giving him the money to buy one himself instead - that way you won't give him something he won't be happy with... or you'll need somebody in the know to come with you to the shops.

The cheapest guitars available in public stores are probably the ones Crowboy recommended, the shops along the Northern outer side of the moat (East of Chang Phueak market).

There are also a number of other music stores.

Straight off the cuff, I can think of these locations:

On the western end of Sri Donchai Rd. , not far from the South East corner of the moat.

On the inner side of the moat, some 200 meters West of Chang Phueak Gate.

On Charoen Prathet Rd. across to the right from the Chedi hotel.

Music Solution, on the Superhighway opposite Lanna Hospital.

On the third floor of Central Airport Plaza close to the escalators in the Eastern part of the building (same section as the department store, NOT the section with the large fish tank).

[rrose070]

Golly...I know he uses acoustic, and I'm 99 percent sure his strings are metal. Any name/address suggestions? If I just give him the $ he's sure to say "I'll buy it, you don't have to do that," etc...Anyone know Tony from the Chiang Mai Thai house? he was the former guitar's guardian and may have a better grasp of its stats...I'm a total ignoramous (ignoranous was tempting, but I'm too much a lady)...

[FolkGuitar]

Golly...I know he uses acoustic, and I'm 99 percent sure his strings are metal. Any name/address suggestions? If I just give him the $ he's sure to say "I'll buy it, you don't have to do that," etc...Anyone know Tony from the Chiang Mai Thai house? he was the former guitar's guardian and may have a better grasp of its stats...I'm a total ignoramous (ignoranous was tempting, but I'm too much a lady)...

I have a Washburn D11-TR dreadnought with a hardshell case I'd sell off cheaply. It's a nice guitar but it doesn't have quite the sound that I prefer. He might..... If you want details, msg me.

[cm das]

I picked up a steel string Future acoustic guitar from one of the shops along the north side of the moat, close to Sri Phum corner. It was 4 years ago & I paid 1500 Baht. I just played it tonight & it still sounds pretty good.

[rrose070]

That's a great price!

I'm so excited.

I'm so excited!

You see, I gave him a fawncy key ring, which broke the very first night he used it, and lost the keys to our brand new moto at the Suan Sanuk.

Then, I got him his favorite shoes, after checking the size on the bottom of another pair of his shoes...at Wararot (no returns)...and they're too small.

So far my gifts have been well-intended flops.

I can't go wrong with a guitar though!

[Crow Boy]

So far my gifts have been well-intended flops.

I can't go wrong with a guitar though!

Believe me that guitars are one of the most subjective items in the known universe. Two guitars from the same manufacturer will sound different or at least the player will think they sound different. All players have preferences and predjudices about brands and styles. I personally hate maple neck guitars and have two of them that sound great but I don't feel comfortable playing. With acoustic guitars just tiny things make great differences. I know you have good intentions but I think you may save a repeat performance of a "well intended flop" by taking your friend on a "look and play" trip to find the right guitar.

If your friend just wants a campfire guitar then ok go for it but if he wants something that looks, feels, and sounds good to him - he will need to choose it.

CB

[rrose070]

Ya, I hate to admit it - I so hoped to perfectly intuit the proper fit for him, but I know nothing on the subject, and he's a fussy fella (not as a whole, but simply has high standards). Maybe just a birthday card with a pick in it, with the promise of a guitar shopping spree. Thanks tho for the replies, this site has been invaluable to me numerous times. Sorry TA22, I wanted to go to Tusker's tonight, but my honey's already snoring like it was a contest. Pooh. Hope to go Sunday. CONGRATS 2U, TA22!

[Dustoff]

Perhaps a CD/DVD or two by a few of his favorite classic guitar players? It's pretty hard to go wrong with Stevie Ray Vaughn, Hendrix, Clapton, Mason Williams, Steve Vai, Randy Rhoad, Joe Satriani, Eddie Van Halen, Ritchie Blackmore Kyle...

Otherwise, since your knowledge of guitars seems to match your taste in keyrings and shoes, just take him to a few inexpensive shops and don't be afraid to state the limits of your finances?

Hugs to you both...

Edited November 9, 2007 by Dustoff

[pumpuiman]

I have been at the receiving end of low quality musical instrument gifts (I play a few) and it can be very frustrating. Poorly made instruments are no fun to play....period.

If your beau has any interest at all in guitar....he will know in a heartbeat the difference between copy and quality.

The above mentioned "WASHBURN" is a quality instrument, and may be worth looking in to.

Good luck.

Eric

[rrose070]

Oh, he will know the difference. Silly me! Thanks guys for stopping me. I do tend to hurl myself recklessly into whatever it is that excites me. Trouble is, we only need one for the next few months, and have no place to store it when we leave for 6 months. But it's still a brilliant idea, so I'll find a cute way of presenting the gift I'm going to let him pick out. NOT with a ocupon though! Once I gave him a birthday card full of coupons for an expensive framing service, because we had picked up 3 very nice prints, and he misunderstood and thought that was the gift, the coupons, and didn't get until later that I was offering to buy the frames! It's funny now but at the time he was bummed