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Whats the worse piece of Garbage you ever owned ?


Tony Burns

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The lowest of low line hamony stella's rat

 

 

Just for the record, the old Harmony Stellas can be terrific for delta-style blues, slide and for playing old tunes from the '30s. They have a unique tone that I quite enjoy. They are as cheaply made as humanly possible and the necks usually are warped, but when you find one that is in good shape, they can be a real pleasure, piece of garbage or not.

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When I was going to college out in L.A. I didn't bring my guitar. My roomates and I decided to go down to a seedy area and each bought a guitar from a vendor for 15 bucks each. I was injured later that day when one of the tuning machines literally exploded off of the headstock.

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an old silvertone acoustic (I have no clue on the model). My sister got it for Christmas in 1964... I got it in Febuary 1965 for free. You gotta love her resolve. It had zero projection and the worst boxy tone in the world. It was made from only the finest plywood known to man (even the neck was ply). I played that thing until the frets were worn even with the fingerboard.

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I inherited a Sears Silvertone guitar from my dad and that was a "wall hanger" quality guitar, meaning that it was only good for hanging on the wall as a decoration. It was pretty much unplayable, but I did try for a while.

 

I finally decided to get serious and started shopping for a new, quality guitar. I played the famous Yamaha FG-335 ($150) and could immediately hear and feel that this was a special guitar. At the time I had some good money flowing in, so I told the salesman: "I want this model of guitar, but give me the fancy version, with the gold tuning keys and the mother of pearl inlays." So he ordered me a Yamaha FG-375S ($450). That features the fancy stuff I mentioned, plus a solid top (the -335 is laminate top and sides). I made the mistake of buying the guitar on special order, without having a chance to play it. When it came in, it was a bitter disappointment. It was difficult to play and did not sound very good, though it did look fancy. I lived with it for several unhappy years and finally accidentally left it outside my car overnight and it was stolen, and I was happy about that. I replaced it with a $15 garage sale nylon string Alvarez and was much happier.

 

I've always wondered if I had checked the FG-375S into a guitar tech and had the neck, nut, and bridge tuned up carefully if it maybe would had given me the same joy that the FG-335 gave me in the shop. I'll never know.

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Good thread to revive. :)

 

My nephew won a guitar at some Vegas carnival game. It was basically a toy, but it had six strings. I tried to tune it for him. Uke-style friction pegs. It couldn't hold a tune for more than a nanosecond, the nut was off-center, and intonation was a mile off.

 

He had high hopes for it, but they were pretty much dashed.

 

So I ended up loaning him a real guitar and now he's taking lessons. Glad I had spares. :)

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The worst piece of garbage I ever owned? My first husband, of course. :lol:

 

Joking aside.....

 

Gotta be an old Kay 12-er - my first 12-er ever. That git weighed a ton and simply could NOT be tuned. Thanking my lucky stars that it didn't sour me permanently on 12-ers - just on funky, heavy old Kay 12-ers...LOL

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Well, "Zombie Thread" or not, I was glad to see this one.

 

Like many others, my worst P.O.S. guitar was the very first one I ever had. I got it for Christmas of 1959 about a month after my 17th birthday. I found out that "dear old Dad" had paid a whopping $14 for it. I can't remember the name on it. Not even sure it even HAD a name. I DO remember those strings on it though, and the 1/2" high action. A virtually unplayable box with the cheapest set of strings known to man. It had a floating bridge on it that was damned near an inch high!! A friend of mine, a future mechanical engineer btw, suggested I sand that bridge down to about half its height. Bingo! It worked. I could actually play it after doing that. The intonation was way off, of course, since I had no idea of where that bridge needed to be.......didn't even know it made a difference back then.

 

I don't remember what happened to it. I think I traded it, and some money, for a little better guitar about six months later. Not really sure now. First guitar or not, it was definitely not one I would've kept for long.

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Some starter acoustic pack I got from target years ago, can't remember the name but it had the picture of the guy from Maroon 5 on the box. It was my first guitar so I figured I just had to suck it up and build em calluses, but the action was insanely high... I was agonizing each time I played it. I took it to a friend who helped me realize how crappy it was, so I put it back inside the box and sold it to some poor soul on craigslist.

 

Never again.

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If the action is high, and the neck isn't bent too badly, lower the action, adjust the truss rod and tune it to "low B" so the strings are almost "slack". Maybe it wont stay in it's case after you do that or maybe you already did. I can dig what you're saying though:)

 

I love my Stella 12 string.

stella-1.jpg

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I love those things


PB1200082.jpg

 

Bottom row, second from the right........cut my teeth on one just like it back in the late 50s. Belonged to the brother of my best friend. I think they were about $25 brand new back then. Wasn't all that bad, really. Tom Dooley, Greenback Dollar, Folsom Prison Blues, Don't Take Your Guns To Town, Son, Where Have All The Flowers Gone, etc. etc.......Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah....the memories.

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IMG_0324.jpg

 

Top row, right was my guitar from 1962 (I started lessons when I was 9) Those are the older Harmony made ones. I remember putting black nylon strings when I got it so my little fingers wouldn't get too sore and playing a few simple tunes with my teacher, Mrs. Klickstein. She was very, very good.

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My first guitar ever was an electric - a Teisco del Ray. Total POS. I ended up giving it away after doing some "experiments" first. I thought I could wind my own pickups and make it sound better. It turns out that I couldn't make it sound better by doing this but at least, with this guitar, they didn't sound any worse.

 

And the amp that I bought (used) from the same local shuckster blew up within 24 hours and he wouldn't make it good. Ended up playing the guitar through a Sears 8-track tape player/recorder, by putting it into record mode, and using an adapter from Radio Shack to plug the guitar into the mic input.

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