What is Ash (punky)?

[VulfgangPfuck]

Re: What is Ash (punky)?

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Swamp ash kicks ass. I had a '63 Strat in the early '90s that was Swamp Ash...light as a feather and had tone like nothing I have ever experienced...ever.

Mike

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Mike...do you realize how much those are worth now?!...what happened to it? You can't touch a '63 Strat for under 4k nowadays! '63-'64 are also my favorite years for Strats. Green guards baby!!!!! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[shreddermon]

Re: What is Ash (punky)?

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Ok, That's nice. Have a pic of the front I could see?

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Sure. Here 'ya go. Obviously, it's got a quilted maple top, though, so not much help on the ash issue. And the other custom is a graphic, so that's no help at all. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[MBreinin]

Re: What is Ash (punky)?

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Swamp ash kicks ass. I had a '63 Strat in the early '90s that was Swamp Ash...light as a feather and had tone like nothing I have ever experienced...ever.

Mike

[/ QUOTE ]

Mike...do you realize how much those are worth now?!...what happened to it? You can't touch a '63 Strat for under 4k nowadays! '63-'64 are also my favorite years for Strats. Green guards baby!!!!! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

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You really want to hear the sad tale of the '63 Strat?

OK, I will fill you in.

I used to collect vintage stuff. If it wasn't an old Fender or Gibson, I usually didn't touch it. I had plenty of good stuff. I can remember the '71 Strat I had, black, all original...I picked that up for the overpriced sum of $795 back in 1989. Carved it up for hums, stripped it and painted it...had it refretted with jumbos...yeah, it was just an old Strat.

But I digress...the '63 Swamp Ash Mary Kay tale.

I traded a custom shop Ibanez with a quilted top and trans fuscia finish (that I had dropped $1700 on two months earlier) plus $500 for the '63. When I tell you that I have never, and I mean NEVER played a guitar that could compare to the '63, I am grossly understating how amazing that guitar was. It weighed, maybe, 7 pounds. It was like a feather. And, it would make even a hack sound like SRV. Just huge...it was a faded/yellowed Mary Kay...green guard, big slab neck..I mean it was just amazing. I think I actually soiled myself the first time I plugged it in and played. It was as if Yahweh himself had delivered that guitar to my hands....... [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Well, I have several hobbies, you see. And cars are my first love. I had found a '70 Cutlass W31 ragtop down here and I had to have it. So, I had to sell the '63, along with a '65 parts Mutt Tele and my JCM900 combo...I had to have the Olds. I had the '63 in the paper for 2k (this was the days before the internet!! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]), and had some interested parties...but I didn't want the Cutlass to slip away. So, I called my "buddy" Gil Southworth (who I had bought several guitars from) and described him the guitar. We agreed to $1850. He gets the guitar, after I Fed-Ex'd it to him for the sum of $100, and starts hemming and hawing over the pickguard and shit (and that guard was smoking...perfect, original and as green as 30 day old Wonderbread). He knows that I am at school, have invested $100 to get it there and need the money. He also is going to make ME pay for the return shipping if I won't take $1500 for it. So, you know what I did...I took it up the ass.

Yes, I know what they are going for now. Yes, I regret it. However, my life has not exactly been a smooth cruise for the last decade and a half, so I am sure that it would have been sold at some point. Just a guitar man, just a guitar.

I also had a Silverburst LP Custom. You see what those ugly ass things are fetching? $3k!!!!! I had a LP Special, TV..the real deal, a late '60s Black Beauty. Man, I have owned 30-40 good guitars. Of course, I had no bills back then, no obligations!!! You see what I am playing now? A Predator that I picked up for $172.50 (which has more mojo than 95% of the guiatars that I have ever owned) and a DK2. Times have certainly a-changed, my friend.

Mike

[Flatpicker]

Re: What is Ash (punky)?

What color is that burst?
It has no red and looks awesome.

[shreddermon]

Re: What is Ash (punky)?

Amber sunburst.

[hunter1970]

Re: What is Ash (punky)?

Sorry to hear about your "63",What ever happened to the cutlass?

[MBreinin]

Re: What is Ash (punky)?

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Sorry to hear about your "63",What ever happened to the cutlass?

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Oh, I sold that too. I moved to Miami after school and had to commute to work. Despite the fact that it was a killer car for a warm climate, it was brutal to commute in, sans A/C. I did use some of the money from the Cutlass to buy one of the first SRV series Strats that came out in '92. Nice player, my '63 murdered it though. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] I also bought a $500 Renault Alliance that had ice cold A/C and got about 80,000 MPG...with a top speed of 85 mph. Now, THAT was a commuter!!!! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Mike

[eaeolian]

Re: What is Ash (punky)?

I have a Zion that's swamp ash. It sounds awesome - swamp ash has a very distinctive tone that's, well, "funky".

[VulfgangPfuck]

Re: What is Ash (punky)?

Mike,

I hear ya....I used to collect 60's Gibson Firebirds. There are a few of us out there, that are total (and I mean TOTAL) Firebird maniacs. Custom colors....etc...
And I've bought a few from Gil in the past (I know Gil well!) That was when I was making $80,000 a year and had an insane collection....those days are loooooooooooooooooooong gone. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[Thoraby]

Re: What is Ash (punky)?

What is it that makes those old strats sound so heavenly?