valles flying machine

Texas Joe Valles holding his 12 string MoonRay Guitar custom built by Earnie Bailey of Wire Instruments....Seatlle Washington..photo taken Feb 2020 in Austin, Texas

More Guitar Stories for April 1 st and 2 nd 2020 

Hi everybody a little more guitar fun here....

 

see pix below.....enjoy ! 

 

 

When I 1st arrived in Austin Texas to finally lay down roots in June of 2017 a good friend of mine told me that this Ovation Double Neck 12 string 6 string was for sale at a local pawn shop, I jumped at the chance to go look at the guitar. Early in the morning I went to apply at a job in North Austin {didn't get the job btw lol..it sucked} and afterwards I went to South Austin to see this guitar. Well it was in bad shape! Dirty grimy and beat up and the Body was splitting at the seams ! But its saving grace was 2 things..it had very fast and east to play necks and it sounded very good ...even though it had super dirty strings on it......I decided to layaway the guitar and in like 3 weeks I pulled it out of layaway and took it home.....Later on I took it to Robot Monster Guitars in San Antonio and the guys there glued up and repaired the broken seems fixed the pickup system restrung both necks and polished and fine tuned the guitar for me...not bad for a 350 dollar investment...originally the guitar was priced at 550 bux...but nobody wanted a broken guitar and I scored it for 350 and gave it some TLC....The guitar sounds very good im super happy with it....The above picture is from June of 2017 when I 1st put the guitar on layaway...…..THESE GUITARS NEW GO FOR ABOUT 900 BUX ! .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the above pictures are taken from our September 2018 video taping on the local television show Up Late Austin.. at the T.V. Studios of Local Public Television Ch 16 on the East Side of Austin. We had film and dvd copies made of this broadcast and its up on You Tube...I used the double neck on only one song ...Feathers in Her Hair....the song came off very well....just Google the song and it pops up....nice  performance this Ovation Double neck sounds great...and looks great too..!  

 

 

 

 

 


Double Neck Ovation all cleaned up and polished photo above...... Sept 2019.....

 

 

 



Above photo was taken Oct 20th 2019 I believe at Roots Deli in Georgetown Austin...with a guitar I do not own anymore...sadly...it was a great guitar and very easy to play...but I traded it for a Rickenbacker...12 string...that night was my 1st show after my Massive Heart Attack on Oct 7th 2019...I was 4 days in the hospital...and was a little scared I might never play again....notice in less than a month how much weight I had lost...lol...serves me right...

I only did 3 songs that night as it was a open mic of sorts....but it felt good....to get up and play again......and the guitar felt excellent ...this OLP EARNIE BALL 12 STRING..HAS A REALLY NICE CHIMY SOUND BUT ALSO VERY THICK AND COMMANDING DUE TO THE SCALE its very easy to play...
 



Above is a show we played in Nov of 2019 opening for the James Byron Band at a really nice place called The Barn in South Austin. We have very good video of this show and hopefully soon we will put it up on You Tube for all to see...This is the 1 st  of only 2 shows Valles Flying Machine did as a band in 2019...Sam Martinez on Bass Guitar Eloy Valles on Congas and Texas Joe Valles on 12 string guitar....it was a fun show...but I was also very apprehensive due to my recent Heart Attack...that's why I choose to play sitting down..normally I try to stand....but I HAVE TO BE CAREFUL NOW....LOL..

The OLP EARNIE BALL 12 STRING SOUNDED BEAUTIFUL...it did not disappoint. 
 

 


Another full photo shot of the Valles Flying Machine at The Barn Nov 2019.

Above is a recent find that I had seen in a North Austin Pawn shop dating way back in March or April of 2017..it was priced at 600 bux back then....its a Phantom Guitars replica of a Vox Teardrop Bass Guitar from the early 1960s but made here in The U.S.A. I finally got it for like 400 bux out the door with hard case... in August of 2019....I love this bass its going to be recorded on our Mermaid Blues album for sure I love this bass its light and very ringy and tuneful...

I found this Steinberger bass guitar in a pawn shop in West Austin...in like late Fall of 2017....I got it for a great deal....under 300 bux I think....it was originally black....but I took it to my buddy Oscar down in Brownsville Texas and he gave it the Green Metal Flake paint job it has now...I love it ha ha ! New Wave to the Bone ! A total 1980s looking bass guitar it will show up good on a video shoot for sure and I'm sure it will record great also.....

above is a super dream guitar I have in mind to buy soon....I said the same last year haha! It is a Emerald Guitars Harp Guitar...hand made in Ireland....!!!! with Harp Bass ..a Davids Lyre and 12 string guitar  these guitars are made of Carbon Fiber the videos I have seen of these guitars in action make me freak out bad...I love this thing...wow ! 

ABOVE LEFT TO RIGHT 4 OF MY GUITARS THAT I WILL USE LIVE IN AUSTIN. MY 50TH BIRTHDAY HAMER STANDARD EXPLORER MADE IN KOREA.

ROLAND 707 GUITAR HIGHLY MODIFIED WITH DIMARZIO PICKUPS A COFFEE BROWN PAINT JOB AND A BUILT IN PHASER CIRCUIT AND LARGER FRETS.

RED ROLAND 707 IN STOCK CONDITION WITH A REPAIR TO THE SUSTAINBAR AT THE HEADSTOCK.

AN LATE 1980S HIGHLY MODIFIED FENDER SQUIER STRATOCASTER PAINTED PINK WITH FLOWER MOTIF ON PICKGAURD ALSO HAS EMG PICKUPS AND PLANET WAVES 6 INLINE TUNING KEYS.

 


LEFT TO RIGHT MID 1980S RARE COLOR SILVER PEAVEY RAZER GUITAR . A ROLAND G707 GUITAR SYNTH MODIFIED WITH A PHSER CIRCUIT IN A UGLY COFFEE BROWN PAINT JOB, THATS HOW I WAS OFFERED THE GUITAR AND BOUGHT IT. A ROLAND G707 IN ORIGINAL RED COLOR. THE GUITAR IS STOCK EXCEPT FOR A REPAIR ON THE SUSTAINBAR AT THE HEADSTOCK. 




RED ROLAND G 707 GUITAR ONE OF MY MAIN GUITARS SINCE 2015 UP UNTIL AND SO FAR INTO 2020 IN AUSTIN .  


PRACTICING ON MY RED ROLAND 707 IN FEBRUARY OF 2020


JANUARY GIG AT POPPA JACKS IN KYLE,TEXAS USING MY RED ROLAND 707 FOR THE GIG USING A BORROWED ORANGE 2X12 CABS WITH AN AMPEG PF350 AMP. 

 

 

 

 

 

 




RICKENBACKER 370 12 STRING USED ON VALLES FLYING MACHINES 2011 ALBUM WITCH TREE.



ABOVE TEXAS JOE ALWAYS A MARSHALL FAN AND TONE CHASER.

BELOW AND ABOVE TEXAS JOE VALLES AT THE ALAMO CITY GUITAR SHOW FEB 22ND 2020 HOLDING A BEAUTIFUL PHANTOM GUITARS VOX TEARDROP REPLICA 6 STRING GUITAR....AWESOME ! 

 

ABOVE AN OFFICAL VALLES FLYING MACHINE LOGO. 

 

 

 

BACK ! ONLINE ! April 1st 2020 More Guitar Stories to Cure your Covid 19 Blues. 

Hello Everybody ….We are back online...after Large Amounts of Time Having Past...being offline....

Welcome Back....

April 1st 2020 ..Late ....afternoon....in Austin Texas. 

What can we possibly say...so much time has past....we are caught in the Covid 19 Bummer...and ...to maybe ….give a little relief to people or at least...entertain folks for a bit....We will do some story telling on my guitar adventures...seems like the fun thing to do right now....it will be in no particular order.

..just the 1 st 2 guitars we write about will be recent finds....both are fun and interesting guitars.....so here we go...before We start, please keep safe in these trying times....don't risk getting caught up in this deadly virus...and We are gonna try and put out a lot of fun info and stories...in the next couple of days ….to keep people informed on a little bit of Texas Joes recent guitar finds and whats going on with Valles Flying Machine.   

Ok Guitar Lovers here we go...Ok..?

A few weeks ago on February 29th of 2020....I was offered a very kool...flamed Koa Top Super Strat at a very good price. A studio owner was getting rid of a lot of gear and was cleaning out his storage and he offered me this Koa Strat...I jumped on it because it had a lot of very good parts...beautiful Koa Stratocaster style body,Bill Lawrence L250 single coil pickups and a very sweet all Rosewood Neck with vintage Fender feel and headstock route....I fell in love with the guitar....or was it lust ? haha   either way the guitar feels good in my hands responds great...and looks amazing ! 

I have it now with my tech getting a hot rail type humbucking pickup placed in the rear lead position...and cleaning up the wiring....plus having it cleaned up and intonated.

Its a super nice guitar ill probably shoot video with this guitar soon.....here are the recent pictures....enjoy.....

  Up next is a crazy looking guitar many hardcore Valles Flying Machine Fans will identify with Texas Joe. The weird and Wonderful Peavey Razer. An American made guitar from the early 1980s. This particular guitar is in a very rare Silver Color....Peavey did not make many in this color...Red, Blue,Black and White being more prevalent in this series of guitars. 

Texas Joe walked into a pawn shop just a block down the street from his house in Austin to make a payment and as he was walking out decided to walk to the guitar wall just to see what was in the offering. Lo and Behold his eyes BUGGED OUT ! NO FRIKKIN WAY.....! AMAZING...HIS HEART SKIPPED A BEAT! A Frikkin Peavey Razer in a Rare color wow ! Silver his mind was blown! no the scary part ...check the price..! only 299.00 !  wow what a deal....Joe grabbed the guitar he was in luck ! the guitar was in very clean condition.....all the parts were original everything worked on it and all the parts were original Peavey ! What a Find what A blessing !

He walked on over to his favorite pawn shop girl..at this particular pawn shop...and asked her for a price on the guitar...she was very kool and knocked a nice chunk of the price..and to Texas Joe's surprise the guitar came with its original case and a silver Peavey strap...total score !  This all happened on Dec 1st 2019. Texas Joe put the guitar on Layaway...with a lot of excitement and future visions of rocking the stage with this killer sweet guitar.....

Texas Joe took the guitar out of the pawn shop in January of 2020...and here are the pictures....below...1 st picture in Green Shirt is in very early Dec 2019 1st or second week of the month the day he discovered the Peavey Razer in the pawn shop. The other pictures in yellow shirt are of the January 2020 date he picked the guitar up from the pawn shop and a quick photo pose with his favorite pawn shop girl....it was a quick foto opportunity with Texas Joe a very happy camper indeed..... The collection of Peavey Razers is growing....this particular Peavey Razer is very light just a few tiny dings...again all original parts....Texas Joe took the guitar home cleaned it up and restrung it with new strings 9 gauge set...and ran it through his guitar setup...the smile on his face was huge a monster tuneful guitar indeed ! 

and Joe could not be more happy with this raging tone machine ! 

enjoy the photos below...…




 

 

The next guitar I would like to have a chat about is also a recent find....a total surprise find if you will. It is very uncommon to come across this type of guitar in Texas pawn shops...in any degree of regularity....its a rare occurrence to say the least . In all my time of guitar hunting  since I moved to Austin in 2017,I have only seen 3 of this brand of Guitars for sale in pawn shops ….this particular brand you ask...what is it..? 

Rickenbacker ! Yes Rickenbacker Guitars are some of the most iconic and sought after American made guitars that you almost never find in Austin area pawn shops.....and again I have only seen 3, a Beatles 325 in New Braunfels, Texas in a pawn shop and a Model 1997 V63 in rare Turquoise Blue..at the same pawn shop where I found this guitar pictured below. 

Now the Tourquise Blue I put on Layaway and I have pictures also of the guitar but tough times and I could not pay it off and I lost it plus my 260 dollar deposit yikes that hurt....! but revenge is sweet...against the pawn shop Gods and I got my Revenge with this model pictured below 9 months late after the loss of the 1997 model....so here goes the story....read on....haha !

On the last day of November I walked into my local pawn shop to pay on my pawns and layaways...yes Texas Joe struggles and juggles his pawns and layaways..in order to survive in Austin, Texas...haha. but this day was different....always in a rush...I ran into the pawn shop to pay on my pawns...and got that done but as I was walking out ..I turned to the guitar wall and to my amazement...Wow !  No...frikkin Wayyyy...staring me back was a Black Rickenbacker 360 12 string guitar...I could not believe it..... Jetglo is the official Rickenbacker color. 

I walked over to the guitar as it was in a solo guitar show case...and pulled it down....I looked it over I was a little sad as it was really really dirty....I looked for a second to see if it was a fake...Nope...it was not..it was the real deal....just for the rusty strings and dirt and grim ...it was a real Ricky 360 12 string....now I was really nervous...I thought to my self....this guitar is probably over 1500.00 bux...I cant afford that...I told myself....but then I looked at the price tag...wow  way under 1000 bux….I thought well this is manageable....how do I approach this? I asked myself...?

I liked the guitar right away....This guitar is the answer to my 12 string...Live Guitar needs...here in Austin I thought....what do I DO? SO I looked it over and played it for a bit....then I decided to leave the pawn shop and figure out if I could afford this great Ricky 12 string....

I went home and pondered the idea....how do I afford to buy this guitar I was not flush with big bux….!

Then later on that night it hit me...Ill dump some of my guitars that are just ok....about 4 or 5 of them and ill have enough to purchase the Ricky 360 12 string.....yup that's what Ill do. so went to bed all happy with my idea.

Next morning was Dec 1st 2019.... I called the pawn shop up and told the lady that answered the fone...I wanted the Rickenbacker Guitar and I would go in about an hour later and buy it ..well she got excited as they work on small commissions...and she told me she would hold it for me.  

I loaded up my car with the guitars I would sell the pawn shop...and went down there....when I got there to my surprise a guy who looked like Jake Sparrow a total rock and roll pirate was playing my Ricky ! I didn't like the feeling.....I was gonna have this guitar plus I had called beforehand so legally the guitar as mine....ha ha ! I was not gonna let it go..! to some pirate..! ha ha ! 

I told the guy I had the guitar on hold...and the Lady in the pawn shop agreed that's why the guitar had been behind the counter....where he grabbed it from....I was nice to the guy and let him play it...as much as he wanted...but I was firm the guitar was mine! Pirate kept questioning me if I was gonna guy it I said yes for sure....he looked me up and down and would not hand the guitar over....finally after about 20 minutes I put my hands out and said ...Can I have my guitar please..? Looking him straight in the eye....ha ha ...he winced and gave up the guitar I could feel he was pissed off but there was nothing he could do about it....lol...I legally had the right to the guitar...

Anyway....I brought my guitars to sell into the shop...and oddly enough the pawn shop lady gave me a good price for the guitars I wanted to sell and even made 50 bux more then the price of the Ricky 360..! So I made 50 bux more haha ! 

I sold my 4 guitars to the pawn shop and put the money on the Ricky 360...paid it in full thanked the pawn shop lady and ...the whole time Pirate guy was watching me do my deal....I guess he could not believe my way of wheeling and dealing...ha ha ….he walked out just as I was asking the pawn shop lady to take a picture of me with the guitar..before I drove home with my new find....I was super happy with my deal.

I came back home and showed my GIRLFRIEND MY FIND...SHE LOVED IT...Im glad she likes guitars also....ha ha 

the guitar was super dirty.....I immediately took it out of its case and began to clean it up...and to my surprise...it shined up beautifully...just sparkled...and gleamed wow !...all the chrome was brilliant. All the electronics worked...and the finish was so jet shiny black it was like a mirror almost...I restrung the guitar with my light gauge setup of custom strings and started to play it....I loved it ..the sound was beautiful just beautiful ….the only buggy thing was two small scrapes in the back of the body but they are not noticeable ...so I was glad about that...only if you really look you  will know.....This Ricky 360 look almost showfloor condition....and it sounds like magic runs through it ..Im very happy with this guitar....wow !

It took about 2 weeks to finally set the string height the way I like it and it needed a truss rod adjustment but I got it done and it feels like playing on butter wow ! I love the feel and sound of this guitar just amazing....! 

 

See Pictures below

 

 

Above the day I picked the Rickenbacker 360 12 string....from the pawn shop Dec 1st 2019 a little after noon that day...would spend the rest of the day pampering the guitar ha ha ! 

Note see the glass case behind me with an acoustic guitar inside it..? well this Ricky was in the next case over right behind me....lol....

 

 

Above the 1 st gig where I used the Black Ricky 360 12 string..it did not disappoint...! Christmas weekend gig Dec 18th 2019 at a place called Poppa Jacks in Kyle Texas...was a fun gig a lot of people showed up it was a very nice gig full of Holiday Spirit ! 

 

 

Above another picture of my Ricky 12 string ..wonderful guitar....Valles Flying Machine in Full swing...left to right...Eloy Valles on congas...Sam Martinez on Bass Guitar ..Texas Joe Valles on Ricky 12 string...and our sweet friend Jo Anna on vocals a lot of fun that night ! 


Same night I used my Ricky 381...beautiful guitar just right for the Christmas Spirit....

 

 

 

 

 

A History of Texas Joe's Guitars Nov 17th 2016 

Hello back talking about Guitars. How I got them and what's still with me, what's gone...and how they impact my life..in songs and stage.
In no particular order other than the pictures I scrape up....






Above is a Yamaha FG 312 ....MODEL 12 STRING Guitar that really got me in to songwriting....in a huge way....back in 2011...I found this guitar all dirty and grimy in a local pawn shop here in Brownsville Texas for 80 bux ...this guitar has served me very well....indeed....I have not played it in some months....but I'm sure to pull it out soon....for some songwriting. This guitar helped me really focus on 12 string and I feel my songwriting took a huge leap foreword after I acquired this guitar.
just look at our Acoustic sessions album on Bandcamp.com for proof.  This guitar has beautiful tones !! 


Above was a recent gig in Harlingen Texas Fall of 2016....I purchased this guitar..at Hermes Music in Brownsville Texas  in September of 2015 after playing it in the Brownsville  store...what a beautiful sound and feel this Takamine 12 string  Guitar has....just wonderful ! 

I found this Fender Villager 12 string  in  A Pawn shop in Harlingen Texas this past February 2016..on a rainy day....its a good guitar I like the strange hockey stick...headstock... but I really need to work on the height of the strings I'm still battling with that a bit 


 

New Find !! Peavey Razer from early 1980's !  

Above..... Thursday May 12 th, 2016 this  guitar arrived very early at the ranch by U.S. Mail. Finally 
, One of the most rare and desiarable wierd and wild guitars Texas Joe has been wanting since he was 18 years old ! This Peavey Razer built between 1983 to early 1984...(sorry have not zeroed in the exact date with serial number) in Meridian, Mississippi is an excellent well built high quality American Guitar. Razers are very rare and sought after guitars by guitarists who like wild shapes. Texas Joe lucked out on this one. It is in very clean, almost showroom condition. Not bad for a 33 year old guitar ! The guitar was found by a very good buddy of his in Austin Texas at a pawn shop on the East side of the city, for a super great deal we might ad, since these guitars go upwards of 500 to 750 dollars on Ebay,Craigslist and Reverb.com. It is a sleeper of a guitar you either know about it or you dont not much info is available on these guitars. There is a rumour that Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad helped design this guitar for Peavey. This is a great story, hope its true . The guitar sounds amazing it has a huge powerful sound. The neck has a slick Fender feel and is alot of fun to play. The tones are all over the place as the pickups can vary from humbucking to single coil...with the wind of the tone knobs, a very kool feature of early Peavey Guitars, very nice. Texas Joe had only seen one of these guitar before in his life . In 1985 visiting some cousins in Bay City, Texas Joe came across a White Peavey Razer in a Music store there, it was super cool looking and it played great. At the time Joe could not afford one and in the past 33 years has never seen one at a music shop or guitar show always wanting one but never finding one, ever until..his good Austin Guitar Hunting friend found this model back in February 2016 in a pawn shop in Austin. This is a treasure for life. This guitar will appear on the next Valles Flying Machine Concert, but for now VFM is working on its live album.  It is a great looking and sounding guitar. 

ABOVE ....is a photo taken about 2007 with Texas Joe holding a Yamaha SBG 500 Model Guitar....sadly Texas Joe had to sell this guitar in about 2011 and regrets it big time ! Texas Joe found this guitar in a Harlingen, Texas pawn shop all dirty and crusty missing one tone knob and some strings. The guitar got cleaned up polished...and it was a very toneful instrument...beautiful singing sustain....just outta sight ! hard times hit and thinking he would not miss this beautiful tone machine sold it to pay some bills.  He has never found another guitar to replace this one. This guitar hurt  after a while and Texas Joe misses it alot. Hopefully somewhere down the road he will find another one like it..Yamaha has an excellent quality build and the guitars for some reason are very musical. Yamaha Magic we guess. 


Above ....are some pictures of guitars that are also Hits and Misses with Texas Joe. The Yamaha 12 string was bought for 80 bux by Eloy Valles in a Brownsville, Texas pawn shop in summer of 2011 and it has helped Texas Joe write alot of songs for the Valles Flying Machine. It has brought out a whole new beautiful world of acoustic/folk style music for the band and this 12 string Yamaha helped Texas Joe take th band to a whole new level...the guitar was found all dirty and missing strings..but was cleaned up...and when the 1 st set of fresh strings Joe put on it, he could not believe how beautiful the guitar sounded ! it is a total joy to play and is super inspiring to play. alot of if not the whole of the acoustic sessions were done with this guitar. This Yamaha is from the late 1980's or early 1990's it is very well built and has a beautiful tone when strummed...a total keeper guitar. 

The next picture is from summer of 2013 taken in Austin, Texas when Joe was living there...Texas Joe is holding a early 2003 Metalflake Blue Dan Electro 12 string electric guitar. This guitar has also been very influential in the VFM song book as it appears on many You Tube videos the band has made. This guitar was found on Craigslist in San Marcos, Texas. The Dano 12 STRING  was bought from a college student selling it for a buddy of his...who needed cash for school. Texas Joe drove all the way down in heavy traffic from Austin to san marcos to get the guitar and has never regretted the purchase since. The guitars have some trouble with tuning. It has to be very well adjusted but the sound is so magical from the Dano Lipstick Tube pickups..it is super inspiring to play.  a Total Keeper of a guitar. 

The next guitar is a PRS ...EG  import model that Texas Joe purchsed back in winter of 2010.right before Christmas....in a Pawn Shop in Harlingen, Texas it was a very clean guitar and had a great tone and sound..but Texas Joe did not bond with the guitar and sold it to his buddy Jon Douglas  not much later....so for some reason or another the guitar was a Miss.  nothing wrong with the guitar but the magic was not there. 

Texas Joe & Guitars recent and past Enjoy !!!!  








Above is a recent April of 2016  Find in a South Texas Pawn shop, a Peavey Mystic dating from the early 1980's. This Guitar is not common at all maybe less than 300 made from what I can gather. What really freaked me out is supposedly Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad had something to do with this guitars design. This I thought was cool....Ill come back and blog more about this nice guitar. This guitar has a wonderful bright red paint job ,very powerful humbuckers, great feeling neck,a tremolo system. Nice sound .  Notice the cowboy boots in the background...you cant get away from Texas ha ha !!!!  




Above.....Another recent find May 6th 2016 in a pawn shop in Harlingen ,Texas...is this Jackson Randy Rhoads RRTMG Model Guitar..I had seen this guitar hanging in this particular pawn shop for several months and nobody had jumped on it...totally clean guitar...very well made. I believe its a Japanese Made model, these go for anywhere between 450.00 and 999.00 bux online..used to new. I scored this baby for super dang cheap !  Way less than 450.00  bux for sure! its total shred machine compound radius,emg pickups,coil split,ebony neck,jumbo frets,maple sandwich neck,tone pros hard ware and super light...fine fine guitar..!  its a gample when you buy guitars sometime they have total screw ups inside that you can see. It is a gamble buying used guitars, sometimes you get burned sometimes they are amazing...this one is killer. When I 1st saw it several months back it was priced at 699.00 and was dead clean mint but hanging around in the pawn shop it got its sharp points total scrapped up and the paint chipped off in place. This, I can fix. More than likely Im going to paint it another color..Tourquoise Metal Flake or Light Green Metal Flake. In all my years of playing i have always wanted a Jackson Randy Rhoads and I finnally have one...lol..crazy and lucky !  

Above...I found this guitar new Fender Villager 12 string with Fishman Preamp in another pawn shop in Harlingen, Texas back in February of 2016. I waited until March of 2016 and it dropped in price  and I jumped on it. I am always flabbergasted at how many deals I find and of course I loose some ha ha ....but its always crazy when you see amazing guitars like these in pawn shops ,with thousands of guitar players all over South Texas and nobody jumps on these babies...it boogles my mind. Well i went back the price was very low (hell I aint rich! )  and i jumped on it. This Villager has a great electric tone...the bridge needs to be dropped a bit ut the neck feels great like a regular Fender electric guitar ...super comfortable to play for long stretches of time...alot of fun. 

 Above .....Got this  baby in like June or July 2015 This Fender 12 string is from like very late 1970's ..78 or 79....it has a deep boomy sound....I got it under 200 bux...its made in Japan....has a nice sound but needs the strings lowered.....I found this baby in a pawn shop in Brownsville, Texas.   I bought this as a backup to my Yamaha 12 string. 


Above.....This is a guitar called a  Dean Dimebag 333, I found in a Brownsville Pawn Shop called Amigo Pawn..back in May of 2015.I purchased it from a buddy named Benny who used to work there...he gave me a great deal on the guitar....but I didn't bond with this guitar..to damn much weight....was about 10 or 11 pounds....it had a great sound...very powerful  but I just didn't bond with it ..sold it....Fall of 2015.



 Above....Blast from the Past found this Danelectro U56 Lefty reissue in a Pawn shop in Harlingen Texas back in 2011 . I think I payed under 200 bux for it...I loved this thing..I made a video of it on You Tube ..take a look....but tuff times forced me to sell it...I have since, now in 2016 replaced it with another Dano U 56....but seeing this picture...it hurts to have had to sell it..Guitar PlAYERS KNOW WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT HA HA !  

ABOVE....THIS ONE IS PAINFUL...a blast from the past...My Brother Eloy....bought this guitar for me....it was a Historic reissue 59 Gibson Les Paul Custom Shop..cherry sweet sunburst !!!!  ...we found it in a pawn shop in Harlingen Texas back in 2011....for only 500 bux !!!  it was worth wayyyyy...more....but somebody had broken the neck...and repaired it...to me it was not a problem it sounded amazing...I made a you Tube Video ..holding it talking about British Hobgoblin Beer...ha ha ....it was fun...but Yes tuff times in 2012....and stupid decisions on my part got me in a jam...and I had to sell it...to a good friend named Gus...unfortunately Gus sold it to a guy in California and Ill never get it back...bummer...I still owe Eloy on this one...!!!   he always reminds me of this haha !!!   


Above...A recent edition to The Valles Flying Machine arsenal...is this 2009 Rickenbacker 381 V 12 string guitar in Fireglow..with the 12 string micro adjust bridge.....I found this guitar on Craigslist in late November of 2015....and ...followed it and followed it for several weeks ....keeping my eye on this guitar to see if it had sold...it was located in Austin, Texas. I offered the seller a set amount...at 1st he was not sure....so I called him one week later and he agreed...after I had told him who I was....and what my intentions were...he gladly sold it to me. turns out it was one of Jimmy Vaughens most trusted guitar techs !!!  The story goes it was for sale from the estate of a huge guitar collector who had passed away and his widow was unloading all his guitars...I was sad for the man....I told Mark the Tech I would play it gladly in his honour and mention this in concert one day ...in memory of the Man who originally owned it. I have had nothing but good vibes from this guitar and i have already recorded several songs with it...on Valles Flying Machine's new album ..Mermaid Blues. This guitar sounds super duper duper beautiful...and is totally inspiring to play....I got a mother of a deal on this thing....did I mention they retail at 5,409.00 new..?????   wow...!  

ABOVE...BLAST FROM THE PAST....THIS ONE HURTS ALOT...AND I mean alot !!!!   I originally traded a bunch of guitars in 2005 to Jason at Spacetone Music in San Antonio, Texas for this guitar.  this being a reissue Hallmark Swept Wing by Bob Shade.   I loved this guitar alot....alot..alot...but had to sell it.I got in a super disgusting money bind and i had to sell it on Ebay....back in 2012. I was mad at myself for a long time on this one.  I wrote Circle of Sacred Stones on this baby...it had an amazing full spectrum of tones due to the p90 style pickups...and the sparkle green was just eye candy !!!   I love this guitar and I miss it badly....I hope to find another one someday. By the way Jason is a grat guy his store is amazing !