The Electric Guitars of Jackpot! Recording Studio

Why they were chosen, where they came from, and more! -by Larry Crane

As soon as I opened Jackpot! I brought all the instruments I had at home down for clients to use. Since then the collection has grown a lot. I’m going to do a series of posts about many of these instruments.

With guitars that are left here to be used at the studio, there’s one basic rule: They must cost $500 or less. Why? Well, people drop stuff. They re-string with weird gauges and destroy the nuts. They spill drinks on them. hey don’t own them, so these guitars get treated roughly. The idea is that all the guitars we have available are useable and sound fine, but you’re not going to find some rare, custom build or high-priced models here – it would be too heartbreaking. I always say, “If a musician really needs a certain instrument, it’s likely they will bring it.” These instruments are workhorses, and they do get used!

(All of our stringed instruments are maintained and repaired by East Side Guitar Repair.)

Ibanez Artcore hollow-body electric guitar

Several times I had musicians ask if I had a hollow-body electric guitar. For many years I didn’t. I kept an eye out, and while at a MusicPortland meeting at the excellent guitar shop Strum PDX, I spied a nice-looking Ibanez hanging on the rack. It was quite affordable, so I grabbed it that night and met the nice owners. I’ve used it on a few sessions, and the tone is perfect when that’s what you need. Ibanez guitars will come up a lot when we discuss acoustic guitars at Jackpot!, as they are pretty well made and sound good. And they’re affordable!

Rogue electric sitar guitar

Rogue is a cheap line of (Chinese-made?) guitars made for the Musicians Friend mail-order company. For a moment this sitar guitar was in the catalog, and was pretty cheap, so I bought one. I heard that soon after they were sued by whomever owned the Coral sitar guitar brand and they had to stop making them. I swear this guitar has only been on a few tracks, but when this ‘60s-era sound is what you want nothing else will do! I love the sound, and always think of Yes’ “Close to the Edge” as an example of using it well.

Danelectro baritone guitar

Is it a guitar? Is it a bass? It’s a baritone guitar! Only a handful of actual notes lower than a normally tuned guitar, these notably have a whole different tone, with a deeper resonance and bite from the “lipstick” pickups. Super handy for doubling up electric bass parts, playing a low guitar lick, doubling up electric guitar parts or adding harmonies, and so much more. This baritone has been on a lot of sessions at Jackpot!, and I always enjoy using instruments that “get out of the way” of standard guitars and such.

Squire by Fender fake Telecaster

As it says on the guitar body, this $150 guitar was set up by East Side Guitar Repair for Nashville/angel/high-strung tuning. That means all the strings are light gauge, giving the guitar a bright, ringing tone even when full chords. This setup is more commonly done with acoustic guitars (see Tom Petty’s “Free Falling”) but I always suspected an electric one would be cool, and it totally is amazing. Bought at Hank’s Music Exchange when they were on Hawthorne Blvd.

G&L Ascari GT-90 electric guitar

This is a unique little gem. I was about to record/produce an album for the group bed., and their guitarist only brought (owned?) one guitar, and they were of a slight build to boot. We walked down to Trade Up Music on Division Street, just blocks from Jackpot!, picked this guitar out, and I bought it. It’s fun to play, and has a nice, solid tone. I think it’s basically the only guitar on the bed. album!

Fender Stratocaster (’90s?)

I walked into Trade Up Music on Division Street one day, and ran into the owner, Dave Bosch. Dave had been in Hammerbox, a Seattle band that my group Vomit Launch had opened for way back. I told Dave I needed a decently-priced electric guitar for the studio, and looks didn’t matter. His eye lit up, and he pulled this Strat off the rack. $500. I swear an idiot attempted to “distress” the guitar with a ball peen hammer or something; it looks like shit. But man, it’s a typical Strat sound and has ended up on MANY albums for decades.