Post by Tony Ravenscroft on Aug 23, 2018 16:13:59 GMT -6
b&m -- brick-and-mortar, meaning a "real-world" store with people in it rather than online-only. Also implies an actual store, rather than someone selling stuff from their garage
boltie -- "bolt-on": the guitar's neck is connected to the body with long screws
big-box -- large real-world store, usually Walmart, but can also mean Costco, Target, Sears, etc.
bucker -- humbucking pickup (see below)
center-to-center -- standard means of spacing guitar strings, where the space is set from the center of one string to the center of the next. Common because it's easier to make mass-produced nuts & bridges for this spacing. As strings get thicker, this system breaks down, something readily noticeable on basses, especially those with more than four strings; graduated spacing (closer to edge-to-edge measurement) is preferable.
course -- a grouping of strings. A 12-string guitar has six courses, & a standard eight-string mandolin four, where an eight-string guitar is eight one-string courses. Some instruments such as lutes (or Hamer basses) can have three strings in a course.
CSB -- cherry sunburst finish, usually running from bright yellow at the center to deep red at the edges
dogear -- type of P-90 pickup, referring to the triangular mounting tab on either end of the cover
double-locker -- string-control system that clamps the strings at both the nut & the bridge
F-spaced -- Gibson's humbucking pickups were made for a guitar with its strings closer together than that of, say, a Fender. As a result, home modders who tried to put a standard Gibson-width HB at the bridge of their Strat soon found that the pickup's poles didn't align with all the strings. Many players say it makes no difference, others note a distinct muting of one or both E strings due to the misalignment. The term is generally credited to DiMarzio Inc.; others have their own terms, such as the Seymour Duncan "Trembucker" format. With Fender increasingly using the narrow spacing in various models, this whole thing is becoming bollixed.
floating trem -- usually refers to the Fender "Synchronized Tremolo" as created for the Stratocaster (and since become a de facto standard) rather than Fender's "Floating Tremolo" (as used in the Jazzmaster and others).
GC -- Guitar Center, generally a good place to spot unusual &/or Frugal used gear.
guts -- the electrical components & wiring in an electric or acoustic-electric instrument.
hardtail -- string ends are mounted through a fixed bridge plate, as classic Fender; often confused with stoptail
HB -- humbucking pickup
humbucker -- the now-standard "hum-cancelling" two-coil pickup. So named for its ability to defeat electromagnetic interference by putting one coil's input 180 degrees out-of-phase and in series with the other, which cancels any signal received simultaneously at both coils yet lets pass almost all of the random portion of the input -- in this case, musical notes. This is also known as "common-mode rejection." Invention is generally credited to Seth Lover of Gibson in 1955, though Ray Butts (later of Gretsch) independently did similar work (and in fact received his patent before Lover). Electro-Voice grasped the concept as early as 1934, and Rickenbacker was first to market in late 1953 (but dropped it in 1954).
in the wild -- actually seen in person or on the market, rather than just ads or promo photos or other corporate propaganda.
m&p -- mom-and-pop: a small store (or local chain), as opposed to a major national chain
mains noise -- a steady hum or buzz produced from AC lines, and picked up by the guitar and/or its audio chain. Irritating by itself, but can cause unpleasant resonances with played notes.
MF -- Musician's Friend, good source for decent prices on supplies & current new gear. The website is also full of great info on discontinued items if you do some digging with Google.
MGR -- Music-Go-Round, generally a good place to spot unusual &/or inexpensive used gear.
MI_ -- "Made In" somewhere: Mexico (MIM), Japan (MIJ), Korea (MIK), Indonesia (MII), Vietnam (MIV). United States is just USA; we don't do this for stuff made in Germany, Italy, England, etc.
MSRP -- manufacturer's suggested retail price, a.k.a. "list price."
NIB -- "new, in-box". Once, meant items like floor-display or salesman sample units. Nowadays often means "I used this for years, treated it badly, it doesn't work anymore BUT the box turned up in the basement so give me lots of cash." Implies (without actually promising) that it is NOS (see below), has never been put on display, much less sold, (ideally) opened only for inspection or for taking marketing photos, & even then only touched by qualified personnel. Be cautious.
nitro -- refers to a particular guitar finish, known for being very thin, somewhat fragile, and requiring use of chemicals now considered risky to the environment and to the health of workers. Not actually better than any other very thin finish, but often slung around to jack up the asking price.
NOS -- "new old stock": the item has never been sold at retail, so is rightly considered to be new, but any number of situations might have occurred that make it dated (the hardware has changed, the color is no longer available). Properly, should NOT include floor-display models, even though that category can range from 99%+ to 60% depending upon how much it's been handled, played, bashed around, etc.
one-piece neck -- almost-meaningless term, so read closer when it occurs and you may figure out what's actually being indicated. Once described a type of Fender neck assembly where the fretboard and neck were a single piece of maple, back-routed to install the truss rod (hence the contrasting "skunk stripe" plug). That method is now rare, so the term has migrated to indicating that the neck is not made from two (or more) long billets. However, even if a single uniform piece extends from the body pocket to the headstock, the head might be a separate piece, grafted on (like almost any acoustic guitar) to "rake" the head to an angle and eliminate the need for string trees -- this is how Gbson makes their necks. That head might be made up of four (or more) pieces of wood, but bean-counters (pronounced "wankers") will argue that this is the HEAD, not the NECK, and therefore the instrument does indeed have a one-piece neck. Using the term to indicate quality (another wankerism) is suspect, as fine guitars often have necks made from three, five, or seven pieces, which all but eliminates risk of twist & warp, but also can improve tone by ensuring consistent inch-by-inch density through the neck's entire length.
OOP -- out of production. Could mean anything from "the newer models look different" to "the company went belly-up."
open box / opened box -- a vague term; might have been a display piece, or a return (restock), or a survivor of a damaged crate. Generally intended to mean that it may not be 100% factory perfect and is possibly missing any tags or manuals or small parts; really, it tends to mean that the seller is too busy to waste time checking it out and is washing his hands of it.
plywood -- layers of wood veneer glued together to make a thick wood-like composite material. For industrial purposes, this creates a piece-to-piece consistency that is impossible with natural wood, as well as stronger, and much more stable against changes in humidity and temperature. With quality materials and construction, plywood construction of acoustical musical instruments can be superior to random pieces of wood (e.g., no hidden sap runs or "punk" regions). Plywood tends to be denser than cured natural wood, though not so dense as formed composites such as Masonite. Due to the adhesive used to bind the veneer layers, tonal characteristics may be similar to sappy wood. The term "plywood" DOES NOT refer to guitar bodies (or necks) constructed from multiple pieces of wood (e.g., the Gibson "Les Paul").
provenance -- (1) where it comes from, e.g. MIJ, USA, MIK; (2) history of ownership, usually meaning proof of previous ownership, as when a guitar is advertised as having belonged to some famous person.
rat fur -- the fuzzy carpety material (almost always black) stuck to the outside of bass speaker cabinets, supposedly to reduce awkward high-end transients from the vibrating plywood. In truth, much better than vinyl at hiding dings.
rat trap -- spring-loaded side-mount handle on some large pieces of equipment such as speaker cabinets.
scale length -- distance from the nut to the bridge (center of an "average" point where a string breaks over). Often a thumbnail measurement; for instance, the so-called 24.75" scale employed for most Gibson electrics hasn't actually been used in years, & can be 24-9/16" or 24-5/8" depending on year built & model.
single / singles -- almost always a Stratocaster-style single-coil pickup, though there are dozens of other single-coil shapes around. Crisper high-end tonality & sharper attack than an HB.
slug -- (1) the piece of metal sticking out of a pickup coil; (2) the adjustable bridge-piece over which a string runs in an electric guitar.
soapbar -- type of P-90 pickup, referring to the shape of the round-edged rectangular cover
SRP -- suggested retail price, or "list price."
STB -- strings-through-body, like a Tele or hardtail Strat
stoptail -- string ends are mounted through a "stop bar" suspended tailpiece, as classic solid-body Gibson (LP/SG); often confused with hardtail
STB -- "string-through-body," an unfortunate label mostly used by Fjestad's Blue Book of Guitar Values
street price -- what the new item was (or is) generally selling for, as opposed to MSRP
The Usual Suspects -- because when referring to sources for used gear I really get tired of typing out "Reverb and Music-Go-Round and Guitar Center and Sam Ash etc." in every entry.
Tolex -- brand name for a vinyl-faced canvas upholstery material used to provide a durable covering for luggage & books, then adopted by Fender for their amplifier cabinets & guitar cases. Usually black, the vinyl generally had a leather-like "pebbled" texture. No actual Tolex has been manufactured since 2002; the term "tolex" now is all but generic & can mean rather cheap (& easily damaged) textured vinyl.
TOM -- a Tune-O-Matic bridge or one based on that designs, as used in Gibson-style electric guitars. The entire bar adjusts for height as a unit, while each course has a screw-adjusted slug for intonation.
towel bar -- inset side-mount handle on some large pieces of equipment such as speaker cabinets; also referred to as a "wrist-breaker"
tremolo -- a rhythmic variation of volume; often misused to refer to a guitar's vibrato mechanism, which varies tone rather than volume
TSB -- tobacco sunburst finish, usually running from a warm yellowish-brown at the center to black at the edges
Usual Suspects, The -- the first places to search for good used low-buck gear, particularly online: Guitar Center, Music-Go-Round, Reverb.com, Sam Ash. (The Daddy's Junky Music chain folded in 2011, alas.) Many retailers have "used" sections but these tend to be open-box, floor models, returns, and high-end trades, rather than gear that's actually been put to work.
value -- what you can get for an item, in a given situation, at a certain moment in time. The " actual value" of a given guitar (for instance) depends on how much of a hurry you're in to sell it, what shape it's in, & what the demand is like. Meanwhile, "book value" is an educated guess at what the price should be under ideal circumstances.
Wilkie -- Wilkinson; refers to some guitar or part related somehow to designer/engineer Trevor Wilkinson (Fender, Switch Music, Italia, Encore, Vintage, Fret King...).
boltie -- "bolt-on": the guitar's neck is connected to the body with long screws
big-box -- large real-world store, usually Walmart, but can also mean Costco, Target, Sears, etc.
bucker -- humbucking pickup (see below)
center-to-center -- standard means of spacing guitar strings, where the space is set from the center of one string to the center of the next. Common because it's easier to make mass-produced nuts & bridges for this spacing. As strings get thicker, this system breaks down, something readily noticeable on basses, especially those with more than four strings; graduated spacing (closer to edge-to-edge measurement) is preferable.
course -- a grouping of strings. A 12-string guitar has six courses, & a standard eight-string mandolin four, where an eight-string guitar is eight one-string courses. Some instruments such as lutes (or Hamer basses) can have three strings in a course.
CSB -- cherry sunburst finish, usually running from bright yellow at the center to deep red at the edges
dogear -- type of P-90 pickup, referring to the triangular mounting tab on either end of the cover
double-locker -- string-control system that clamps the strings at both the nut & the bridge
F-spaced -- Gibson's humbucking pickups were made for a guitar with its strings closer together than that of, say, a Fender. As a result, home modders who tried to put a standard Gibson-width HB at the bridge of their Strat soon found that the pickup's poles didn't align with all the strings. Many players say it makes no difference, others note a distinct muting of one or both E strings due to the misalignment. The term is generally credited to DiMarzio Inc.; others have their own terms, such as the Seymour Duncan "Trembucker" format. With Fender increasingly using the narrow spacing in various models, this whole thing is becoming bollixed.
floating trem -- usually refers to the Fender "Synchronized Tremolo" as created for the Stratocaster (and since become a de facto standard) rather than Fender's "Floating Tremolo" (as used in the Jazzmaster and others).
GC -- Guitar Center, generally a good place to spot unusual &/or Frugal used gear.
guts -- the electrical components & wiring in an electric or acoustic-electric instrument.
hardtail -- string ends are mounted through a fixed bridge plate, as classic Fender; often confused with stoptail
HB -- humbucking pickup
humbucker -- the now-standard "hum-cancelling" two-coil pickup. So named for its ability to defeat electromagnetic interference by putting one coil's input 180 degrees out-of-phase and in series with the other, which cancels any signal received simultaneously at both coils yet lets pass almost all of the random portion of the input -- in this case, musical notes. This is also known as "common-mode rejection." Invention is generally credited to Seth Lover of Gibson in 1955, though Ray Butts (later of Gretsch) independently did similar work (and in fact received his patent before Lover). Electro-Voice grasped the concept as early as 1934, and Rickenbacker was first to market in late 1953 (but dropped it in 1954).
in the wild -- actually seen in person or on the market, rather than just ads or promo photos or other corporate propaganda.
m&p -- mom-and-pop: a small store (or local chain), as opposed to a major national chain
mains noise -- a steady hum or buzz produced from AC lines, and picked up by the guitar and/or its audio chain. Irritating by itself, but can cause unpleasant resonances with played notes.
MF -- Musician's Friend, good source for decent prices on supplies & current new gear. The website is also full of great info on discontinued items if you do some digging with Google.
MGR -- Music-Go-Round, generally a good place to spot unusual &/or inexpensive used gear.
MI_ -- "Made In" somewhere: Mexico (MIM), Japan (MIJ), Korea (MIK), Indonesia (MII), Vietnam (MIV). United States is just USA; we don't do this for stuff made in Germany, Italy, England, etc.
MSRP -- manufacturer's suggested retail price, a.k.a. "list price."
NIB -- "new, in-box". Once, meant items like floor-display or salesman sample units. Nowadays often means "I used this for years, treated it badly, it doesn't work anymore BUT the box turned up in the basement so give me lots of cash." Implies (without actually promising) that it is NOS (see below), has never been put on display, much less sold, (ideally) opened only for inspection or for taking marketing photos, & even then only touched by qualified personnel. Be cautious.
nitro -- refers to a particular guitar finish, known for being very thin, somewhat fragile, and requiring use of chemicals now considered risky to the environment and to the health of workers. Not actually better than any other very thin finish, but often slung around to jack up the asking price.
NOS -- "new old stock": the item has never been sold at retail, so is rightly considered to be new, but any number of situations might have occurred that make it dated (the hardware has changed, the color is no longer available). Properly, should NOT include floor-display models, even though that category can range from 99%+ to 60% depending upon how much it's been handled, played, bashed around, etc.
one-piece neck -- almost-meaningless term, so read closer when it occurs and you may figure out what's actually being indicated. Once described a type of Fender neck assembly where the fretboard and neck were a single piece of maple, back-routed to install the truss rod (hence the contrasting "skunk stripe" plug). That method is now rare, so the term has migrated to indicating that the neck is not made from two (or more) long billets. However, even if a single uniform piece extends from the body pocket to the headstock, the head might be a separate piece, grafted on (like almost any acoustic guitar) to "rake" the head to an angle and eliminate the need for string trees -- this is how Gbson makes their necks. That head might be made up of four (or more) pieces of wood, but bean-counters (pronounced "wankers") will argue that this is the HEAD, not the NECK, and therefore the instrument does indeed have a one-piece neck. Using the term to indicate quality (another wankerism) is suspect, as fine guitars often have necks made from three, five, or seven pieces, which all but eliminates risk of twist & warp, but also can improve tone by ensuring consistent inch-by-inch density through the neck's entire length.
OOP -- out of production. Could mean anything from "the newer models look different" to "the company went belly-up."
open box / opened box -- a vague term; might have been a display piece, or a return (restock), or a survivor of a damaged crate. Generally intended to mean that it may not be 100% factory perfect and is possibly missing any tags or manuals or small parts; really, it tends to mean that the seller is too busy to waste time checking it out and is washing his hands of it.
plywood -- layers of wood veneer glued together to make a thick wood-like composite material. For industrial purposes, this creates a piece-to-piece consistency that is impossible with natural wood, as well as stronger, and much more stable against changes in humidity and temperature. With quality materials and construction, plywood construction of acoustical musical instruments can be superior to random pieces of wood (e.g., no hidden sap runs or "punk" regions). Plywood tends to be denser than cured natural wood, though not so dense as formed composites such as Masonite. Due to the adhesive used to bind the veneer layers, tonal characteristics may be similar to sappy wood. The term "plywood" DOES NOT refer to guitar bodies (or necks) constructed from multiple pieces of wood (e.g., the Gibson "Les Paul").
provenance -- (1) where it comes from, e.g. MIJ, USA, MIK; (2) history of ownership, usually meaning proof of previous ownership, as when a guitar is advertised as having belonged to some famous person.
rat fur -- the fuzzy carpety material (almost always black) stuck to the outside of bass speaker cabinets, supposedly to reduce awkward high-end transients from the vibrating plywood. In truth, much better than vinyl at hiding dings.
rat trap -- spring-loaded side-mount handle on some large pieces of equipment such as speaker cabinets.
scale length -- distance from the nut to the bridge (center of an "average" point where a string breaks over). Often a thumbnail measurement; for instance, the so-called 24.75" scale employed for most Gibson electrics hasn't actually been used in years, & can be 24-9/16" or 24-5/8" depending on year built & model.
single / singles -- almost always a Stratocaster-style single-coil pickup, though there are dozens of other single-coil shapes around. Crisper high-end tonality & sharper attack than an HB.
slug -- (1) the piece of metal sticking out of a pickup coil; (2) the adjustable bridge-piece over which a string runs in an electric guitar.
soapbar -- type of P-90 pickup, referring to the shape of the round-edged rectangular cover
SRP -- suggested retail price, or "list price."
STB -- strings-through-body, like a Tele or hardtail Strat
stoptail -- string ends are mounted through a "stop bar" suspended tailpiece, as classic solid-body Gibson (LP/SG); often confused with hardtail
STB -- "string-through-body," an unfortunate label mostly used by Fjestad's Blue Book of Guitar Values
street price -- what the new item was (or is) generally selling for, as opposed to MSRP
The Usual Suspects -- because when referring to sources for used gear I really get tired of typing out "Reverb and Music-Go-Round and Guitar Center and Sam Ash etc." in every entry.
Tolex -- brand name for a vinyl-faced canvas upholstery material used to provide a durable covering for luggage & books, then adopted by Fender for their amplifier cabinets & guitar cases. Usually black, the vinyl generally had a leather-like "pebbled" texture. No actual Tolex has been manufactured since 2002; the term "tolex" now is all but generic & can mean rather cheap (& easily damaged) textured vinyl.
TOM -- a Tune-O-Matic bridge or one based on that designs, as used in Gibson-style electric guitars. The entire bar adjusts for height as a unit, while each course has a screw-adjusted slug for intonation.
towel bar -- inset side-mount handle on some large pieces of equipment such as speaker cabinets; also referred to as a "wrist-breaker"
tremolo -- a rhythmic variation of volume; often misused to refer to a guitar's vibrato mechanism, which varies tone rather than volume
TSB -- tobacco sunburst finish, usually running from a warm yellowish-brown at the center to black at the edges
Usual Suspects, The -- the first places to search for good used low-buck gear, particularly online: Guitar Center, Music-Go-Round, Reverb.com, Sam Ash. (The Daddy's Junky Music chain folded in 2011, alas.) Many retailers have "used" sections but these tend to be open-box, floor models, returns, and high-end trades, rather than gear that's actually been put to work.
value -- what you can get for an item, in a given situation, at a certain moment in time. The " actual value" of a given guitar (for instance) depends on how much of a hurry you're in to sell it, what shape it's in, & what the demand is like. Meanwhile, "book value" is an educated guess at what the price should be under ideal circumstances.
Wilkie -- Wilkinson; refers to some guitar or part related somehow to designer/engineer Trevor Wilkinson (Fender, Switch Music, Italia, Encore, Vintage, Fret King...).