Susan's Place Transgender Resources

... to try and increase your passability?

I started smoking again, because it makes my voice raspier and makes it easier for me to pass (I know, terrible, but it stops me from looking like I'm 14).
I'm glad I have mild facial acne, because it makes my skin look rougher.
I'm going full-force with my ASL certification, so if I never get a passable voice, I can just sign for the rest of my life (and hope I'm never in public without my fiancee).


Yeah, nobody use ideas posted on this thread. It's a warning, not a list of suggestions.

mascara'd sideburns.  Big fail.

Started smoking to change my voice.

Used eyeliner smudged into the skin to make a "5-o-clock shadow" appearance. This actually does work for pictures and quick glances...but unless its REALLY REALLY light, it just looks like you smudged dirt on your face. I've also used foundation to even out my skin tone and make my lips less noticeably girly...so I'm sure I've come off as some painted queerboy to someone somewhere.

I've also done the eyeliner'd sideburns, trying to get ANY hair to look more noticeable.


I swear to god, I've worn more makeup as a man than I ever did trying to be girly.

Smoking, drinking whisky

which I have now become partial to

I can't think of anything else

glueing hair to my face count?

I've debating trimming my eyelashes, but decided against it

Binding with duct tape.  Seriously, do not do it.  It is really dangerous.

...Oh... I thought this was going to be about something else.


I tried to make my eyebrows thicker with eyebrow liner, but that just made me look stupid.

I've also used marker on my face to make facial hair, but just for fun.

That's about it.

Quote from: chrissyboy on November 03, 2009, 04:20:10 PM
I've worn more makeup as a man than I ever did trying to be girly.

Ditto

Hmm, can't think of anything overtly stupid. But I just don't pass so there it is.

I cut my own hair because I was broke and couldn't pass with it long :laugh:

I used to have a fauxhawk. I think every FTM has to have one early on... it's a right of passage  ;).

Quote from: Tristan H. on November 03, 2009, 11:48:20 PM
I've also used marker on my face to make facial hair, but just for fun.

Heh, I remember that photo (I think...). That actually came out really well for what it was.

Quote from: Teknoir on November 04, 2009, 03:27:12 AM
I cut my own hair because I was broke and couldn't pass with it long :laugh:

I used to have a fauxhawk. I think every FTM has to have one early on... it's a right of passage  ;).

Heh, I remember that photo (I think...). That actually came out really well for what it was.

(claims title as "Only FTM who never had a faux-hawk")


Add another tally for the "duct-taped my chest" lot. I still think it works in an emergency binding situation as long as you drink water and bring a pair of scissors to cut yourself out of it.

Quote from: Teknoir on November 04, 2009, 03:27:12 AM
I cut my own hair because I was broke and couldn't pass with it long :laugh:

I used to have a fauxhawk. I think every FTM has to have one early on... it's a right of passage  ;).

I also cut my own hair a couple times. Looked like I lost a fight with a weed whacker.

And I never had a fauxhawk. In fact, it was part because I started equating FTMs with fauxhawks, lol...

I did laser hair removal for two years..and didnt tell my mom to make it stop earlier. Well actually, two years ago I told her I didnt want to do it because I felt like I was a boy and she said I wasnt because I was too sensitive. Thus, I was ignorant and continued laser. Big mistake.

Cut my own hair down to 0.5" long with a pair of childrens' scissors.  Looked OK-ish until it started to grow out.  Uneven as the aftermath of an earthquake...

Quote from: petzjazz on November 04, 2009, 02:17:10 PM
(claims title as "Only FTM who never had a faux-hawk")


Add another tally for the "duct-taped my chest" lot. I still think it works in an emergency binding situation as long as you drink water and bring a pair of scissors to cut yourself out of it.

I should have specified "Binding with duct tape" and then doing phys ed.  That was an interesting trip to the ER.

Quote from: Teknoir on November 04, 2009, 03:27:12 AM
I cut my own hair because I was broke and couldn't pass with it long :laugh:

I used to have a fauxhawk. I think every FTM has to have one early on... it's a right of passage  ;).

Heh, I remember that photo (I think...). That actually came out really well for what it was.

I do not think cutting your hair yourself is stupid.  I have been doing my own for about 2 years and I do not think I look all that bad, do I?

Quote from: noxdraconis on November 04, 2009, 05:22:57 PM
I do not think cutting your hair yourself is stupid.  I have been doing my own for about 2 years and I do not think I look all that bad, do I?

It is stupid if you suck at it, know you suck at it, and you still do it :laugh:

Some people (like yourself) do it well. I am not one of them.

Quote from: chrissyboy on November 04, 2009, 02:41:48 PM
In fact, it was part because I started equating FTMs with fauxhawks, lol...

It's how to spot an FTM pro-tip number something-or-other....   ;)

Some guys rock it but it's just too often the first men's haircut.

I've seen tons of bio-guys with faux hawks. It's becoming just as common as the 'bleach your hair' fad back in the early 2000's.

Man, I hated that fad. At least faux hawks have more variety.

i had a fauzhawk.  it helps some people pass better by giving the illusion of a longer, and by comparison, less round face.

I don't think I've done anything terribly stupid..

closest thing to "stupid" is silence...

I sometimes force my voice low and sound fake.
I "usually" swallow my own laughter and don't allow it out because it's too girly, and then I sound "stupid".
I often just nod and don't speak my mind cause.. well.. the voice..

I've stopped singing for the most part... :/ I "love" singing too... I never sing outside the house anymore, and even rarely 'round the house..

Gosh, I feel remarkably intelligent now.  And I claim stake as another who has never had a faux-hawk (does not look good with curly hair, and I suck at straightening it).

before i knew what trans was when i was little and nobody was home i would wet my face and put ashes from the fireplace on my face to make a goatee. and god this is embarrassing i would also stuff my pants with a hotdog when i was like 8 or 9 hehe.

Smoking to change my voice and maybe give me bad skin.
Not really washing my face in hope of getting spots and rougher skin.

I also have done the fauxhawk thing.

Quote from: CodyJess on November 03, 2009, 01:39:34 PM
I started smoking again, because it makes my voice raspier and makes it easier for me to pass (I know, terrible, but it stops me from looking like I'm 14).
I'm glad I have mild facial acne, because it makes my skin look rougher.

Both of these.

I also have started talking a lot less than I used to, because I recently heard a recording of my voice and was horrified by how girly I sounded. X_x
Bound with sports tape so I could wear an open shirt (strips pulling them to the side but nothing in the very front) and then being impatient to take the tape off. I now have a scar from that. (complements the SI scars...except not. >< )

This got longer than I expected it to  :laugh:

I'll chalk myself up for binding with duct tape and cutting my own hair. Only recently did I actually manage to scrounge up the $20 to get that disaster fixed...

Fauxhawk, Whats that? I obviously never had one since my hair has been long enough to sit on since 7th grade.

Quote from: CodyJess on November 06, 2009, 01:44:42 PM
This got longer than I expected it to  :laugh:

that's what he said!

I've done the whole mascara'd on sideburns lol! And had a fauxhawk! And lowered my voice, so I sound like a butch lesbian with a rather bad cold  ;)

I asked a few of my friends to use male pronouns when we're in our own little group... Didn't cause a problem until we decided to visit a hot spring. Since I still hadn't bought a binder, I was using packing tape over a sports bra (so no skin ripped), which gave me a crackly, bulgy barrel chest when my shirt got wet.  :-X We had to share the hot tub-sized spring with a handful of strangers, who got confused-as-hell looks on their mugs when my two friends kept referring to me as "he." Hahahaha... I stayed low in the water and tried not to talk to much, so as not to give myself away. Didn't work anyhow. Nobody asked what the deal was, though.  ;D

-Needlessly picked on other guys for being feminine as a way of overcompensating for my penislessness. (You don't have to be a jerk to assert yourself as a man.)

In a way, though, it seems that pointing out the stereotypically 'feminine' habits of other guys sometimes opens people's eyes a wee bit. All my life I've been called a '->-bleeped-<-got' and a 'pussy' for having certain habits and mannerisms that are femme, but the truth of the matter is, most of the 'straight' cismales I've befriended are just as 'girly' as I am, in one way or another, just scrutinized less for not having as many 'girl' appearance-markers.

-Acted like an ->-bleeped-<-/been a creep at times around chicks because it's the 'guy' thing to do. (It's fun, but really? Come on. What are you, 15?)

-Don't talk about my feelings, (hurr, ah um a mahyon, we don't talk about our feelings! Mahyon is legion!) because I'm afraid it'll stamp me as a whiny sensitive 'my feelings this my feelings that' Girl Type. Suffer in silence instead.

-Tried to get away with binding with medical tape EVERY DAY constantly so I could wear open face shirts. Have scars up my lower back/chest because of this.

-Forced myself while working even though I knew my body couldn't take it, because I didn't want to be seen as a 'weakling' (it's not manly to admit you have pain, hurr), ended up with a knee injury.

Quote from: Alistair on November 06, 2009, 02:41:14 PM
Faux Hawk:

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi19.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fb198%2FChaosisReal%2Fblake_fauxhawk_side.jpg&hash=674c12f6586013bf8773cee0346da3dad99ae796)

Yep, like that. There are different styles too.

<--- like my avatar.

Quote from: Cairus on November 06, 2009, 08:10:11 PM
-Needlessly picked on other guys for being feminine as a way of overcompensating for my penislessness. (You don't have to be a jerk to assert yourself as a man.)

In a way, though, it seems that pointing out the stereotypically 'feminine' habits of other guys sometimes opens people's eyes a wee bit. All my life I've been called a '->-bleeped-<-got' and a 'pussy' for having certain habits and mannerisms that are femme, but the truth of the matter is, most of the 'straight' cismales I've befriended are just as 'girly' as I am, in one way or another, just scrutinized less for not having as many 'girl' appearance-markers.

-Acted like an ->-bleeped-<-/been a creep at times around chicks because it's the 'guy' thing to do. (It's fun, but really? Come on. What are you, 15?)

-Forced myself while working even though I knew my body couldn't take it, because I didn't want to be seen as a 'weakling' (it's not manly to admit you have pain, hurr), ended up with a knee injury.

I've also done these.

Quote from: Cairus on November 06, 2009, 08:10:11 PM
-Needlessly picked on other guys for being feminine as a way of overcompensating for my penislessness. (You don't have to be a jerk to assert yourself as a man.)

In a way, though, it seems that pointing out the stereotypically 'feminine' habits of other guys sometimes opens people's eyes a wee bit. All my life I've been called a '->-bleeped-<-got' and a 'pussy' for having certain habits and mannerisms that are femme, but the truth of the matter is, most of the 'straight' cismales I've befriended are just as 'girly' as I am, in one way or another, just scrutinized less for not having as many 'girl' appearance-markers.

-Acted like an ->-bleeped-<-/been a creep at times around chicks because it's the 'guy' thing to do. (It's fun, but really? Come on. What are you, 15?)

-Don't talk about my feelings, (hurr, ah um a mahyon, we don't talk about our feelings! Mahyon is legion!) because I'm afraid it'll stamp me as a whiny sensitive 'my feelings this my feelings that' Girl Type. Suffer in silence instead.

-Tried to get away with binding with medical tape EVERY DAY constantly so I could wear open face shirts. Have scars up my lower back/chest because of this.

-Forced myself while working even though I knew my body couldn't take it, because I didn't want to be seen as a 'weakling' (it's not manly to admit you have pain, hurr), ended up with a knee injury.

Biomales do most of these things too (I live amongst teenage boys; they are sad creatures)

Quote from: austin86 on November 05, 2009, 03:18:51 PM
before i knew what trans was when i was little and nobody was home i would wet my face and put ashes from the fireplace on my face to make a goatee. and god this is embarrassing i would also stuff my pants with a hotdog when i was like 8 or 9 hehe.

As a kid before bed I would stuff my underwear with toilet paper so I had a bulge ;)  Oh and I've never had a fauxhawk lol  Most of the 'stupid' stuff I've done was in private so no one else knew but me. I play MMO's and hate using voice chat because everyone will assume I'm female and then I gotta correct them x.x

Quote from: Mr. Fox on November 07, 2009, 11:49:35 AM
Biomales do most of these things too (I live amongst teenage boys; they are sad creatures)

Yes, but they do it to 'pass' as well; in a way, not too much differently from how we do. Despite the fact that they're cisgendered, they still do those things to 'be one of `the guys' and to avoid demerits on 'manliness points' with other dudes and chicks. Granted, there's probably less chance of a cis guy to be 'ma'amed' over these things, but the fear of being seen as 'unmanly' by peers is pretty similar. Guys pick on each other the same way for being unmanly. I've even seen it very subtly done here in this forum, even, amongst ftms. Very subtle pissing games/'guess what, I'm manlier than you' plays.

Cis dudes will go so far as to (subtly, but across the board) change a myriad of small things about themselves, or coat themselves in self denial about things so as not to be unmanly. I've seen it in plenty of cisgendered dudes. Pretending not to like things they do like, because it's 'unmanly' and vice versa. Trying to stifle giggling or wild gesticulating because it 'un-mans' them and keeps them from passing as a 'normal' guy. We tend to go a little further(physical stuff, like the smoking and binding with duct tape as mentioned above), but I'm pretty damn sure if ayour average cisfellow woke up one morning and sounded like a little girl or had big boobs he'd probably try to do something about it to 'pass' as 'normal', too, until he figured out 'what was going on' or woke up again and discovered it all to have been a dream.

Quote from: Cairus on November 07, 2009, 01:17:50 PM
Yes, but they do it to 'pass' as well; in a way, not too much differently from how we do. Despite the fact that they're cisgendered, they still do those things to 'be one of `the guys' and to avoid demerits on 'manliness points' with other dudes and chicks. Granted, there's probably less chance of a cis guy to be 'ma'amed' over these things, but the fear of being seen as 'unmanly' by peers is pretty similar. Guys pick on each other the same way for being unmanly. I've even seen it very subtly done here in this forum, even, amongst ftms. Very subtle pissing games/'guess what, I'm manlier than you' plays.

Cis dudes will go so far as to (subtly, but across the board) change a myriad of small things about themselves, or coat themselves in self denial about things so as not to be unmanly. I've seen it in plenty of cisgendered dudes. Pretending not to like things they do like, because it's 'unmanly' and vice versa. Trying to stifle giggling or wild gesticulating because it 'un-mans' them and keeps them from passing as a 'normal' guy. We tend to go a little further(physical stuff, like the smoking and binding with duct tape as mentioned above), but I'm pretty damn sure if ayour average cisfellow woke up one morning and sounded like a little girl or had big boobs he'd probably try to do something about it to 'pass' as 'normal', too, until he figured out 'what was going on' or woke up again and discovered it all to have been a dream.

Absolutely.

It's usually during the teenage and early twenties, a lot of guys try really hard to fit in. They'll say things they don't necessarily mean, but do it anyway because he thinks it makes him look like a man. It's a rite of passage in a way. And I can see it definitely happen with FTMs. Some say when an FTM gets on T, he might start acting like a typical jerkish guy. It's not the hormone, it's just him trying to find his way in the male world.

Except, I'm pretty sure I'm aggressive because I'm upset over my situation. I don't think it's about asserting myself as much as it is me being tired of being misunderstood or being in my current situation. We'll see what happens when T comes around.

Quote from: Tristan H. on November 07, 2009, 03:48:14 PM
myself as much as it is me being tired of being misunderstood or being in my current situation. We'll see what happens when T comes around.

I'm not on T yet but I totally understand that statement!  I think it's one of the reasons I'm kinda tough to get to know. I have a lot of anger issues towards myself.

Quote from: Kurzar on November 07, 2009, 03:55:58 PM
I'm not on T yet but I totally understand that statement!  I think it's one of the reasons I'm kinda tough to get to know. I have a lot of anger issues towards myself.

Exactly.

I guess we'll both have to wait and see.

I tried cutting my hair myself again..I really dont learn.

Quote from: Cairus on November 06, 2009, 08:10:11 PM
-Forced myself while working even though I knew my body couldn't take it, because I didn't want to be seen as a 'weakling' (it's not manly to admit you have pain, hurr),...

Yeah, I did that, and still do.
It's not just the whole.. girl bits thing that I push to overcompensate for.. but the damned fibromyalgia!
As a result, I'm pretty much worn out all the time.

I am a well knowned drag king in my area and most of us have done many dumbthings to try to pass. Look at my pick all the facial hair is fake and glued on with hair glue by Got 2 be. The fake hair is made of chopped up weave. Hhmm duct taping my chest with the duct tape right one my skin but cover te nips with a paper towel or band aid. The duc taping thing I do often if I need to pass 100 %. Its painful and I have bruises to prove it. Hmm. Rolled up socks an stuffed them in my pants. Acting like I was deaf so I didnt have to speak because I have an extremely girly voice.

Quote from: Mr. Fox on November 05, 2009, 02:56:30 PM
and I suck at straightening it

Straightening? Foreign concept. I've never been able to figure out how the people who do that don't burn their heads

Quote from: Cairus on November 06, 2009, 08:10:11 PM
-Forced myself while working even though I knew my body couldn't take it, because I didn't want to be seen as a 'weakling' (it's not manly to admit you have pain, hurr), ended up with a knee injury.

Did that today, actually.
Nearly passed out on the concrete/tile floor... I'm a smart one sometimes.

This isn't a stupid strategy to try to pass, but it's a stupid thing to do:

I tend to shut myself up and avoid being around other people as much as possible, and when I do I wear headphones - sometimes with no music player attached - so I can ignore people and not have to say anything, since any hopes I have of passing are instantly dashed when I say anything. You can't pass if there's no one else to see you, but you can't be outed, either.

But, that's also because of social anxiety issues...  :-\

And, I guess this isn't a stupid thing to do, per say, but...

I make myself wake up two hours before anyone else on my floor in the residence hall so that I can use the shower without being seen going in or out. This way I can use the men's room. :sigh: three more days and I'll be home for winter break, so I won't have to worry about sneaking around just to take a damn piss or waking up before the sun just to shower.

Quote from: AndrewMarten on November 21, 2009, 07:41:38 PM
I tend to shut myself up and avoid being around other people as much as possible

^ This. I have no friends, I don't go anywhere, I don't do anything.

It sucks, but it's better than being treated like a girl.

Stupid things:

smoking

binding with any kind of bandages (cause it only works for about 15 minutes in my case, haha)

drinking bio guys under the table

Maybe stupid? :

I've been shaving my female facial hair on a daily basis since the onset of puberty.  This is because when you shave hair, it grows back thicker.  If I stopped shaving, I'd have a nice manly mustache even though I haven't started T or anything.  I was always hoping this would help me pass some day.  Not sure if it's cunning or stupid. 

Is that a Les Paul Black Beauty Custom?

Yes, but it's a 2009 Epiphone one.  Still my favorite guitar of my collection.   :)

Looks like a nice one  :)

Ha... all the comments on faux-hawks make me giggle because my mom attended the trans-whatever conference in philly over the summer (I could not attend because I did not find out about it early enough to take off work) and she texted me when she got there and said "Promise me you'll never get a mohawk" 

Seems a lot of people think faux hawks up their manliness [my mom wouldn't know specifically a difference between a mohawk and a fauxhawk its all the same to her and not many people have actually mohawks so I'm assuming thats what she meant]

anyway.

I can't think of too many stupid things I've done in this whole process. 
I suppose I did used to wear sweatshirts ALL the time summer or not... but I never found it hot or uncomfortable in any way so its not like I was suffering or anything. 
I also suppose that wearing my binder to exercise outside in the middle of the summer probably wasn't the best of ideas, but I never passed out or anything.  [and damn did it make yoga all the more trippy later on when I took the binder off... talk about oxygen highs hah.]

I've always been mad androgenous, and have never gone through a phase where my gender was not brought into question by strangers (or in which strangers have at least 50% of the time assumed I was male.)  I think this prevented me from taking all too extreme of measures until I got older and it started becoming more and more obvious I wasn't really 13 despite how much I looked like a 13 year old boy.  Luckily by the time I got to that point I had my lovely gf[at the time]/best friend[still]  to help me along a bit and find rational/healthy ways to deal with these things [from binding to coming out ect.... I'd be lost without her...]
But I digress...

Trans- what ever?

Quote from: Virginia Marie on November 22, 2009, 12:37:47 AM
Trans- what ever?

I'm not sure the full name of the conference.

Quote from: GnomeKid on November 22, 2009, 12:34:02 AM
Ha... all the comments on faux-hawks make me giggle because my mom attended the trans-whatever conference in philly over the summer (I could not attend because I did not find out about it early enough to take off work) and she texted me when she got there and said "Promise me you'll never get a mohawk" 

Seems a lot of people think faux hawks up their manliness [my mom wouldn't know specifically a difference between a mohawk and a fauxhawk its all the same to her and not many people have actually mohawks so I'm assuming thats what she meant]

Haha. I was in Toronto last month and I had never seen so many faux hawks... I mean I was just walking down the street, so most of them were bio guys. It just seems to be the 'in' thing, hah, even though it's been around since the 80's it's gotten really popular it seems.

Haha, I went the anti-fauxhawk route once I they started coming into style.  I gave myself a real mohawk, but always wore it down.  I wanted to show people what a real mohawk looked like for the sake of comparison.

Hope that doesn't sound snobby.  I'm just into the history of music and music-related fashion and I like to educate people.

Didn't know fauxhawks had become popular again.  And I happen to have long hair again.  Hmmm . . . .  :icon_idea:

I had  a REAL multicolored mohawk back in the day. Sorry all you wanna be punk u do's, Gothlings and other critters. You all been seen before. Crusty sea creatures are hangin' on your ears.

But hey, ya never know, someone may come up with something new and interesting

So keep rockin' it out, even if it's classical stuff.

Don't give up

Quote from: Alistair on November 22, 2009, 02:25:42 AM
And that's one of the reasons why I love being a skinhead (non-racist). There is no need to worry about a hairstyle because I have almost no hair in the first place.  :)

I've reached a similar point after playfully going back and and forth between hairstyles for years.  Except that I have wild long hair instead of no hair. 

Are you a SHARP sort of skin, or old school / traditional, or something else?  Just curious, since I've known plenty of non-racist skins throughout the years.

Quote from: Alexmakenoise on November 22, 2009, 04:28:31 AM
I've reached a similar point after playfully going back and and forth between hairstyles for years.  Except that I have wild long hair instead of no hair. 

Are you a SHARP sort of skin, or old school / traditional, or something else?  Just curious, since I've known plenty of non-racist skins throughout the years.

It says "Traditional Skinhead" right under his avatar picture.

Quote from: Alexmakenoise on November 22, 2009, 04:28:31 AM
I've reached a similar point after playfully going back and and forth between hairstyles for years.  Except that I have wild long hair instead of no hair.

Define "long"... Can't really tell by your avatar what you mean by that
"long' to some people is 'short' to others.

then again, i have skewed ideas of "long", since I was the kid who had hair down to their butt (and I was blond *shudder*)

I've had a faux hawk and a real hawk a couple of times. Actual mohawks are such a pain in the ass, they look ridiculous when you wear them down and it's so much effort to make them stick up.

Quote from: Alexmakenoise on November 21, 2009, 11:06:25 PMYes, but it's a 2009 Epiphone one. Still my favorite guitar of my collection. :)

What other ones do you have? Also, I'm curious what brand strings you use.

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Post Merge: November 22, 2009, 03:50:06 PM

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Quote from: GnomeKid on November 22, 2009, 12:34:02 AMI also suppose that wearing my binder to exercise outside in the middle of the summer probably wasn't the best of ideas, but I never passed out or anything.  [and damn did it make yoga all the more trippy later on when I took the binder off... talk about oxygen highs hah.]

Many top runners and cyclists do something sort of like this. Instead of wearing a binder they train in very high elevation places which have less oxygen. Then, when they race in a lower elevation they get the oxygen boosts.

Quote from: Jeatyn on November 22, 2009, 09:32:05 AM
I've had a faux hawk and a real hawk a couple of times. Actual mohawks are such a pain in the ass, they look ridiculous when you wear them down and it's so much effort to make them stick up.

That's the reason why i'll never get one, just too much effort for a lazy person like me. They look cool though  :P

Quote from: Radar on November 22, 2009, 03:44:01 PM
What other ones do you have? Also, I'm curious what brand strings you use.

Guitars:

Takamine classical (nylon string, my first guitar)

Peavey Predator (heavily collaged by now, got it in high school)

Squire P-Bass

Gibson SG (This one's been through a lot.  First, the neck broke off.  But it was a clean break, and a luthier reattached it perfectly.  Then it was painted by a locally well-known mural artist and tattooist.  Then a 1957 PAF Humbucker was added to it.  Then I put a Bigsby tremolo on it.)

Grestch Synchromatic (about as old as my mom, same model was called a Ranchero during some years)

Mosrite Bluesbender

Harmony acoustic Martin-copy (made in China circa 1990 after the original company shut down and sold their name to a succession of Asian companies)

Epiphone Les Paul Custom Black Beauty


Strings:

I like to use really nice strings (Martin or something like that) for my Gretsch.

Otherwise, I go for whatever's reliable in terms of quality but not expensive.  Like Boomers. 

With electric guitars, I'd rather restring the whole instrument every time I break a string or change the tuning than buy expensive strings.  My opinion is that this makes a bigger difference in the guitar's durability in the long run, and makes it stay in tune consistently.  So I have a lot of cheap electric guitar strings lying around.

I've only restrung my bass once because I don't play it that much.  I used Fender strings.

With the Harmony and the Takamine, I just get whatever I can afford at the time.  Those guitars are worth next to nothing and will never sound great, no matter what strings I put on them, so it doesn't matter.

Like I said, I don't care that much about brands of strings.  I'm a lot more focused on what I do with the strings in order to make sure the guitar stays in tune and to do everything possible to prevent the neck from warping over time.

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Post Merge: November 22, 2009, 08:45:21 PM

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Quote from: SilverFang on November 22, 2009, 06:12:15 AM
It says "Traditional Skinhead" right under his avatar picture.

Oops.  Then that to my list of "stupid things I've done".

A vintage Gretsch Synchromatic, 'tis to lust for.  The old archtops have a tonal quality that can't be touched.  Part of that is the wood, and it's getting real hard to find good wood anymore, but the varnish and finishes gave them a different quality over time, kind of like the legendary mess up with the forerunners to the Telecaster.

For stings I use whatever the star's guitar tech's been given that he doesn't want to actually use.  I got a stack of them at work.

Stupid thing I just did... I was trimming my hair, and the clippers somehow shifted from lvl 3 to lvl 1...ended up having to shave the sides to lvl 1 and thetop to lvl 3... I look like my ex bf who's in the Guard.  ::)

Quote from: Nathan. on November 22, 2009, 06:46:48 PM
That's the reason why i'll never get one, just too much effort for a lazy person like me. They look cool though  :P

All you have to do is thin out the top a bit, which is easy, and you just get that done when you cut it. You wont have a hard time then.

Quote from: tekla on November 22, 2009, 09:23:44 PM
A vintage Gretsch Synchromatic, 'tis to lust for.  The old archtops have a tonal quality that can't be touched.  Part of that is the wood, and it's getting real hard to find good wood anymore, but the varnish and finishes gave them a different quality over time, kind of like the legendary mess up with the forerunners to the Telecaster.

Yes!  The wood that was once used to make guitars, and the tone it can create, is why I chose to go with a vintage acoustic guitar.  I was going to get a Harmony archtop from the 50's, but someone beat me to the one I wanted. 

Then the Gretsch showed up and I kind of splurged on it.  Beautiful, unique tone (the body is so wide, I have to use a case designed for a acoustic bass) even though I keep having to work hard to keep it playable.  Gotta love the triangular sound hole.

It's a flat-top.  The "Ranchero" type model.  But they called them Synchromatics in the late 40's.  My model was only made for 2 years.  Collectible because it's rare and has that beautiful tone, but the construction doesn't really measure up to most other Gretsches.  They made this type of "Synchromatic" during a time when the company was in a state of transition.  I think the quality of most Gretsch guitars suffered a little bit during that period.  But, yum, vintage wood sound . . .

QuoteFor stings I use whatever the star's guitar tech's been given that he doesn't want to actually use.  I got a stack of them at work.

Oooh, free strings from work.  Nice!

What kind(s) of guitar(s) do you play?

The stupidest thing I have done to date is thinking that I could use nair on my face, I had red angry skin that itched like crazy for about a week after that little experiment.

Dye'd my facial and my chest hair just before meeting some friends and it had stained my face and chest black!!!!  :o

I smoke but I have been smoking years prior to T.

Jay

Quote from: Washu Chan on November 23, 2009, 12:52:11 AM
The stupidest thing I have done to date is thinking that I could use nair on my face, I had red angry skin that itched like crazy for about a week after that little experiment.

This is only hearsay from some of my female friends, but isn't there a product that's made for your face?

They do actually have nair for face...as well as bleach for facial hair to make it light and less noticeable.