Yamaha Weddington Watch, Nov. 2008
Weddington prices appear to have taken a noticeable hit since last month
Three Yamaha Weddingtons were on the eBay auction block this month and judging by the winning bids, prices on Weddingtons has taken a turn for the worse since last month.
Even more painfull to see, this black Classic went for $721. That’s just sad, especially since a similar one sold for $827 last month. If I hadn’t just bought a PRS Cu22 Soapie, this one might have been on it’s way to me. Yeah, I know, I keep saying that.
Here’s a rare bird… a 12-string Gibson ES-345
A friend asked if I would come over and give her an idea of the value of some of her late husband’s musical instruments. She said he was in a band back in the ‘60s, then just stopped playing and put his instruments away in a closet. How many times have you hear the same kinds of stories… a widow selling the guitars her husband had kept under the bed for decades, and they turn out to be Nocasters or ‘59 ‘Bursts. No Nocasters or ‘59 ‘Bursts here, but a damn cool find, and a great story all the same.
I knew ahead of time that he had a Jaguar as I had seen pictures of him and his band. It turned out to be 1964 (pre-CBS), and in really good condition but refinished to a clear natural color sometime in the ‘60. Still, it was in great condition and even close to being in tune after about 40 years!
I also knew he had encouraged her to play and given her an acoustic back in the day. It was a 1968 Martin D-18. She never learned to play, so it sat in the case for nearly 40 years. Wow. Just… wow. It needs a minor setup, but this is one good-sounding acoustic! Now I “get” what the Martin thing is all about, even if I don’t find it in their new instruments.
The other guitar was a Gibson, but she didn’t remember what kind. A Les Paul, perhaps??? No, something stranger by far—a 1965 12-string Gibson ES-345. Yes, you read that right—a 12-string ES-345 TD. Not a 6 string. Not a ES-335. A 12-string ES-345. Gibson also played around with stereo output on some of the ES-345, called the “TD,” and I think this is one of them. The sticker inside the case was difficult to read and I didn’t try to plug it in, so I can’t be sure. I’ve been looking all over Google for such a guitar and can’t find a thing about them. My friend said her husband had the guitar custom made for him which helps explain why I can’t find any info about these guitars.
In addition to the guitars, he had a blackface Fender Twin Reverb in damn-near mint condition, and a matching Fender 6G15 stand-alone reverb unit (also in damn-near mint condition). Then there was a Gibson Maestro Fuzz Tone FZ-1A and Uniwah UW-2, both still in their original boxes. The Uniwah still had the original batteries!!!
I’m working on tracking down information her. Prices, too, as she’s expressed an interest in selling everything but she’s in no particular hurry. Most of it is easy, but the 12-string ES-345 is turning out to be somewhat unique. I’ll take some pictures next time I see her, and post them here.
Yamaha Weddington Watch, Oct. 2008
Yamaha Weddingtons bought and sold in recent months
I realize I haven’t put much effort into tracking Yamaha Weddington sales on eBay recently. I’m not sure why this is, but I suspect I’m content with the red Custom I picked up this past summer. I’m really happy with this guitar and less inclined to look for others. (Not that I would be distraught if another Weddington—perhaps a Classic os Special—darkened my door.)
Still, I do watch the auctions and thought I would mention some that changed hands recently.
Death of a 5AR4
The Ceriatone DC-30 gets a new rectifier
I fired up my trusty Ceriatone DC-30 after dinner on Sunday, hoping to get a bit of practicing in while my wife was giving the kids a bath. Powered up okay—heaters all aglow—but when I toggled from standby to play nothing happened. Silence. The relatively new Sovtec 5AR4 rectifier tube had gasped its last breath. Instead of just buying another 5AR4, which I did, I also picked up a plug-in Sovtec “SSR” solid-state rectifier. According to Tube Depot, the SSR should increase the plate voltage by 10-20%. What’s that… something like 30-60v in the DC-30.
My initial impressions are favorable. The amp sounds like it did before, though a bit more steely which is fine by me. I wouldn’t say the difference is huge, at least not to me, but I’m really enjoying the amp a little more now. I can use my PRS Cu22 Soapbar in the EF86 channel, set the channel volume at about 11:00 and then use the guitar’s volume to control the amount of gain and distortion—leave the volume at about 6-7 and it’s a good, overdriven sound; roll back a bit and it cleans up; roll the volume up to 8 and it starts to crunch up and distort nicely; dimed, it screams. Cool. This is why I haven’t bought a new amp.
PRS Custom 22 Soapbar Photos
Pictures of the 2001 PRS Custom 22 Soapbar I bought earlier this week
I received the 2001 PRS Custom 22 Soapbar on Wednesday, but didn’t have time to take pictures until this morning. They’re not great—purple is even harder to photograph than red—but they give a good idea what it looks like.
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It’s in great shape overall—no major dings, dents or scratches even after seven years of use. The only thing that keeps it from being nearly mint are the holes drilled in the headstock when a previous owner replaced the original Phase I tuners with locking Sperzel tuners. A subsequent owner then installed the original Phase I tuners, so there are some additional mounting holes. This isn’t a big concern for me, but it may be an issue to a diehard collector.
I tried to get some playing time in this week despit all the things going on around me. I think I need to spend more time dialing in my Ceriatone Matchless DC30 clone in to suit the new guitar. I’m already pretty close on the 12AX7 channel, but not on the EF86 channel. It sounds like someone throws a heavy, wet blanket over the amp whenever I start to roll off the volume and the “in-between” positions (2&4 on the switch) sound too muddy. I’ll try to tweak the amp to see if I can work around these issues without changing the guitar. If not, I may look into aftermarket pickups and better volume and tone pots.