Wow. Whoops. Weird.

[OldStrummer]

I'm pretty sure this has happened to others, but I'm just checking against my own experience to make sure I'm not nuts.

This past weekend, I pulled out "Shimmer," my 2006 CS Robin Trower signature Stratocaster and went to work on a new song I'd been wanting to learn. I had been playing for 15-20 minutes when I glanced over and spied my 2004 MIM 50th Anniversary Strat, which has been my "daily" player for a while now, and said to myself, "What the heck? Let me just try my new chops on the "cheap" guitar.

Zounds! All of a sudden, it felt like everything had fallen into place. The action felt smoother, the sound cleaner (okay, so I was using a pedal...) and I felt amazed and wonderment at the same time. "Shimmer" is the pinnacle of my collection. By all rights, she ought to make everything else pale in comparison. Particularly a MIM Strat that cost about 1/5th the price. But no...

Okay, it could have been the moment, the heat, the phase of the moon -- I don't know -- but after I was done, I was shaking my head for a while. I'm going to repeat the process, maybe play the MIM first and switch to Shimmer, but I want to see if it was a fluke, a moment, or just my imagination.

Does anyone have a name for this? Has it happened to you, and how did you react?

[CoyotesGator]

It's called GBS (Gas Blowback Syndrome).

The only medically recognized cure is a new guitar.

Another to rule them all.

Sorry I couldn't have been more help.

[OldStrummer]

It's called GBS (Gas Blowback Syndrome).

The only medically recognized cure is a new guitar.

Another to rule them all.

Sorry I couldn't have been more help.

Funny, have you been reading my mail? I was just looking at a new Strat.

[DanTheBluesMan]

yer killing me

I need a strat bad

[Cogs]

What the heck? It looks vintage, it looks modern. Beautiful natural woods. What is it?

[HighPlainsDrifter]

What the heck? It looks vintage, it looks modern. Beautiful natural woods. What is it?

It's a Custom Shop Claro Walnut Artisan Stratocaster. The body is roasted butternut w/ claro walnut and the neck is a V-shaped one-piece medium-roasted AAA birds-eye maple.

[ch willie]

OS, you have a good collection of Strats, and I may be alone here, but if I were GASing for another guitbox, I'd branch out and try a whole different brand--maybe a Music Man or a G&L or a Gibson. Of course, my own GAS makes me lust after a Rickenbacker. Blasphemous, I know.

[OldStrummer]

OS, you have a good collection of Strats, and I may be alone here, but if I were GASing for another guitbox, I'd branch out and try a whole different brand--maybe a Music Man or a G&L or a Gibson. Of course, my own GAS makes me lust after a Rickenbacker. Blasphemous, I know.

You're right, @ch willie, and my post about the claro walnut Strat was semi-tongue-in-cheek (it's a lovely guitar). Of late, my eyes have been turned back to the hollowbody/semi-hollowbody electrics: the Gibson ES-335 or Gretsch 6120/6122T. Then again, I'm still getting settled into my new home, so I have other needs on my list...

[redisburning]

It's just habit and instrument specific knowledge.

If you play one guitar nearly exclusively for any real period of time everything else feels weird/different/wrong.

[Cogs]

Those Artisan guitars are insanely beautiful. Unfortunately they are also insanely priced! I would just build one myself

[ch willie]

You're right, @ch willie, and my post about the claro walnut Strat was semi-tongue-in-cheek (it's a lovely guitar). Of late, my eyes have been turned back to the hollowbody/semi-hollowbody electrics: the Gibson ES-335 or Gretsch 6120/6122T. Then again, I'm still getting settled into my new home, so I have other needs on my list...

Ha ha, I'm just trying to live through you by projecting my GAS onto you. Wait a sec: that just sounds wrong...

[Offshore Angler]

Stummer,

Sometimes you just pick the right guitar for the song. There's no one-size-fits-all best guitar, and part of the deal is knowing which one to grab when you need it.

Chuck