I’ve had the same frustrating experiences on both eBay and reverb with buyers. Just a few people but enough to make you question whether the aggravation is worth it. And the fees are atrocious but you can charge much more than on Craigslist.
My ac30 is in the shop right now and my other amp lives in the rehearsal space so I finally broke down and bought some custom made presets for my helix thing (hx stomp). Holy moly that thing sounds so good now, I’m seriously interested in going ampless. The cost of the presets was $20 compared...
I do think the Luther Perkins stuff benefits from the long scale. Other than that I think the differences are small. I go back and forth between Gibson and fender scales, I also prefer 24.75 but I think you lose a little bit of the magic on the low strings.
I did the exact same move a couple of weeks ago - went in for a set of strings and walked out with a Taylor solidbody! I didn't forget to buy the strings, though.
Nice guitar, that looks great and with the J45 I'll bet they are a great pair.
The EP boost model on the Helix is pretty great, that's always-on in my new pedal setup, just for a bit of gain. I have a spark mini that is just fine, too.
For me the big two are a tele and something full hollow. After that, it's a collection not a "need", and I'd go for just about anything cool. I did just buy an LP-kinda sorta guitar that I look forward to gigging in a few weeks.
You've got the right plan!
These days there are also "rock band" music schools around. School of Rock is a national chain but in my area I know of at least two others. They bring together a band of folks in similar situations as yourself, a bandleader/teacher and an actual gig.
That said, open...
For reference I paid around $1500 for an Allen Accomplice Jr chassis with the big iron and 6l6 options (made by Mr Allen, new) - way more amp than this, and impeccably sourced parts and hand wiring. Anything more than that price and, to my mind, you are in antique collector territory, not paying...
My favorite delay for just a little thickener is the Way Huge Aqua Puss. I think all of the jacks are on top and it can get pretty messy if you turn up one of the knobs all the way, but it does a little slapback better than anybody. But now I just have a mini pedal, very inexpensive, the J...
I have played exactly two gigs and two open mics since the P*&^&*&$( started up. But I have another one in just a few weeks at a great little bar and playing some originals this time, too. Hoping to get a lot of friends to show up and make some noise!
I hear you about the isolation really...