xjbebop
Well-known member
Mrs. Bebop had a list of amusing & clever titles and phrases involving “balls”, but I don't want to test the boundaries of inappropriateness on this fine forum...anyway...)
We failed. We –really- tried to resist over-doing it with the GC clearance going on. We looked and walked away. Then we went back, looked, and walked away…. Then we went back….
We had already traded in-traded up for a smokin’ deal on a 10-top Maryland guitar a few weeks ago. But there were all these fabulous Balls waiting for a good home. We went back Sunday afternoon to check on and hopefully order a specific EBMM that only showed 2 left in the system, in other states.
While our friend, who’s now the store manager, was checking on them, one got sold while he was waiting on the phone!
The other store is on the east coast and was closed already, so we had to wait for the next morning to see if it was still available. In the meantime, we were looking real hard at a few of the Balls left in this store. We found one that was already on the loading dock to go to their ‘outlet’ center the next morning! Whew! This was the Silhouette Special that ‘Stratty316’ posted awhile back.
So we inspected and tested it, along with a Y2D Floyd in Solar Flare that we had almost bought some time ago, and an Albert Lee SSS. I had admired the trans blue finish on the AL many times over the last year, but just didn't see a need for another strat-style guitar.
So after spending some time touching these 3 guitars and discussing pros/cons, and working over our salesman for ‘deals we couldn't refuse’, we took the Y2D out of the running and tried to decide between the AL and the Silo. (nothing wrong with the Y2D, but we bought the Dark Lord last year instead of this guitar, and as nice as the Solar Flare is, Mrs. Bebop would really rather have the ‘purple sunset’ finish…)
So finally Mrs. Bebop states “We’ll take them both…” Whoa! I didn't see that coming, but I had to agree that that was the right choice. Took both home, cleaned them up and started test driving…
I was wrong to doubt the AL SSS…. It definitely has it’s own thing going on, and that thing is beautiful! As similar as these two are, they both have distinctive voices. To sum up a quick review, I’ll just say “wow…”, and shut up and post some pics already…
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Fwiw, I can’t help but feel a little guilty about all this greed and excess. However, being collectors, when you get an opportunity to basically get ‘two for the price of one’, and ‘when they’re gone they’re gone’, you have to act or regret missing out.
I sometimes wonder what the folks at EBMM think about all this. I can’t imagine it makes them happy from a business standpoint, aside from getting a lot more of their products out into the hands of more players, and folks who normally just couldn't afford a proper Musicman instrument.
I do know that I’m done buying guitars for quite some time…
Except for the ‘specific’ guitar that started this post. It’s en route to my local store with my name on it. Yay! I’ll keep it a mystery until it’s in my hands in a week or so…
We failed. We –really- tried to resist over-doing it with the GC clearance going on. We looked and walked away. Then we went back, looked, and walked away…. Then we went back….
We had already traded in-traded up for a smokin’ deal on a 10-top Maryland guitar a few weeks ago. But there were all these fabulous Balls waiting for a good home. We went back Sunday afternoon to check on and hopefully order a specific EBMM that only showed 2 left in the system, in other states.
While our friend, who’s now the store manager, was checking on them, one got sold while he was waiting on the phone!
The other store is on the east coast and was closed already, so we had to wait for the next morning to see if it was still available. In the meantime, we were looking real hard at a few of the Balls left in this store. We found one that was already on the loading dock to go to their ‘outlet’ center the next morning! Whew! This was the Silhouette Special that ‘Stratty316’ posted awhile back.
So we inspected and tested it, along with a Y2D Floyd in Solar Flare that we had almost bought some time ago, and an Albert Lee SSS. I had admired the trans blue finish on the AL many times over the last year, but just didn't see a need for another strat-style guitar.
So after spending some time touching these 3 guitars and discussing pros/cons, and working over our salesman for ‘deals we couldn't refuse’, we took the Y2D out of the running and tried to decide between the AL and the Silo. (nothing wrong with the Y2D, but we bought the Dark Lord last year instead of this guitar, and as nice as the Solar Flare is, Mrs. Bebop would really rather have the ‘purple sunset’ finish…)
So finally Mrs. Bebop states “We’ll take them both…” Whoa! I didn't see that coming, but I had to agree that that was the right choice. Took both home, cleaned them up and started test driving…
I was wrong to doubt the AL SSS…. It definitely has it’s own thing going on, and that thing is beautiful! As similar as these two are, they both have distinctive voices. To sum up a quick review, I’ll just say “wow…”, and shut up and post some pics already…
View attachment 25255
View attachment 25256
View attachment 25257
View attachment 25258
View attachment 25259
Fwiw, I can’t help but feel a little guilty about all this greed and excess. However, being collectors, when you get an opportunity to basically get ‘two for the price of one’, and ‘when they’re gone they’re gone’, you have to act or regret missing out.
I sometimes wonder what the folks at EBMM think about all this. I can’t imagine it makes them happy from a business standpoint, aside from getting a lot more of their products out into the hands of more players, and folks who normally just couldn't afford a proper Musicman instrument.
I do know that I’m done buying guitars for quite some time…
Except for the ‘specific’ guitar that started this post. It’s en route to my local store with my name on it. Yay! I’ll keep it a mystery until it’s in my hands in a week or so…
