Los Angeles
Senior Member
Went to the musician's district just south of Pigalle, and most of the stores just sold new US-made items at the requisite import markup. Once the Parisian brick-and-mortar store markup was added on top of that, and my head did some Euro-to-dollar math, I needed to stop and take a breath every once in a while.
Anyway, after hitting nearly every guitar shop in the area, I found what I think was the best among the bunch, a place called Le Guitarium, one of the only spots that actually featured vintage instruments. Inside, hidden away in the corner, was a beautiful blonde 1981 X-175. Perfect year for me and a great opportunity to feel a touch of home. I didn't get a photo of it as my french is terrible and my understanding of manners around the area was that whipping out your phone every two minutes is not appreciated. The good news is that they have photos of it on their website.
There were a couple of knocks in the finish, particularly one right in the middle of the back of the neck. Most of my own guitars have pockmarked necks, so this didn't bother me.
The setup was also not my preference. I like low action on the treble strings, gradually going higher towards the low strings. This guitar was set up so that all strings were at the same height, making the high strings a little high for my taste. Also, I think the pickups should be brought down a touch and more attention should be paid to adjusting the poles to better compensate for the jump in signal between the wound strings and the unwound. But I'm really picky. The fact that they pickups were close to the strings, gave me a really hot signal, and I had fun with that, so it all worked out. I like a bit of liquor in my punch bowl, anyway.
Once I got used to the feel of it, and after dropping the bottom two strings to D and G, I let her rip. GOOD TIMES!
And one of the best parts of the experience was the opportunity to play though something you can't get here: a Pigalle Amplifier. Wish I could have ordered the little combo amp right then and there, but that's a post for another time.
Anyway, here's the guitar on their website, though they did quote a price for me a few hundred less: http://www.leguitarium.fr/produit/guild-x-175-de-1981/
Anyway, after hitting nearly every guitar shop in the area, I found what I think was the best among the bunch, a place called Le Guitarium, one of the only spots that actually featured vintage instruments. Inside, hidden away in the corner, was a beautiful blonde 1981 X-175. Perfect year for me and a great opportunity to feel a touch of home. I didn't get a photo of it as my french is terrible and my understanding of manners around the area was that whipping out your phone every two minutes is not appreciated. The good news is that they have photos of it on their website.
There were a couple of knocks in the finish, particularly one right in the middle of the back of the neck. Most of my own guitars have pockmarked necks, so this didn't bother me.
The setup was also not my preference. I like low action on the treble strings, gradually going higher towards the low strings. This guitar was set up so that all strings were at the same height, making the high strings a little high for my taste. Also, I think the pickups should be brought down a touch and more attention should be paid to adjusting the poles to better compensate for the jump in signal between the wound strings and the unwound. But I'm really picky. The fact that they pickups were close to the strings, gave me a really hot signal, and I had fun with that, so it all worked out. I like a bit of liquor in my punch bowl, anyway.
Once I got used to the feel of it, and after dropping the bottom two strings to D and G, I let her rip. GOOD TIMES!
And one of the best parts of the experience was the opportunity to play though something you can't get here: a Pigalle Amplifier. Wish I could have ordered the little combo amp right then and there, but that's a post for another time.
Anyway, here's the guitar on their website, though they did quote a price for me a few hundred less: http://www.leguitarium.fr/produit/guild-x-175-de-1981/
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