I find myself at a wierd crossroads in my life. I have always considered myself to be someone who is unafraid to blaze his own trail, make it on their own, and do thier own thing. So what have I done? I have followed three generations of my family into business and now I am working on a hobby that at least two generations have done. So what do I want for you? I want you to do your own thing, and I hope it is one of the previous two.
I had the room next door to your uncle Gabe when he was learning guitar. It was a terrible experience. I know the Stevie Ray Vaughn song "Little Wing" by heart and I never even liked it. I heard Gabe butcher every note, chord, and rythem until it was perfect. According to my memory that took 17 years. Gabe is a badass guitarist. He can play with Jimi, Clapton, Stevie Ray, and all the greats. He can listen to a song once or twice and within a couple tries play it back at least 90% right. Why do I mention this? I bought a guitar.
I went to Bob's Guitars about a month ago. I called Gabe first to see what I needed. He said, "Wait for me. I will come up next weekend!" Not soon enough I said. I had gotten your mom's approval and I wanted to move while the moment was at hand. "I can be there in 2 hours!" Gabe implored. Not soon enough I said. I was in front of the store and couldn't wait that long. So Gabe told me to look for a guitar with good action, a trust rod, solid tuning pegs, and other things I didn't understand. I ventured into the store and told them I wanted a guitar around $300. The long haired guitar guy said, "Cool man, let's check some out." He had been in a skateboarding accident and broken his femur, so he hobbled along with a single crutch explaining body compostion, action, trust rods, and a bunch of things I didn't understand. Then he set up a stool, not the pooping type, and put up about 6 guitars into stands. "Just jam man, see what feels good. Hear how they sound. Find the one that's good for you, man."
I sat down and grabbed the first one and started to jam... by that I mean I played the two chords I remember from when I was 14 and Gabe tried to teach me to play. You can't tell much about a guitar with the G7 and the D major it turns out. So long hair skateboard guy asked if I wanted to jam on them so I could get a feel for the sound. I said, "Yes."
He jammed. I looked at which ones looked cool. I talked myself out of the $700 Martin guitar I wanted because I am afraid of your mom. I bought a $300 Takamene guitar because Gabe said Garth Brooks played one. I like Garth. I told Ash I would spend about $300. It looked cool. It didn't sound "tinny" which Gabe said to make sure of. Perfect. I had a guitar.
I told long hair skateboarding guy I needed a case and some picks. He said, "For sure man." I paid for it, and then I realized that you could sit on a guitar case and thought that maybe I should have gotten a stand instead. I asked if I could exchange them. Long haired skateboarding guy said "For sure, man." He grabbed a stand, told me it was cheaper than the case, and said "Here you go, man". I asked if we needed to do paperwork... and this was the moment that I knew I had just bought a guitar in a guitar shop. He said with a chuckle, "It's close enough for Rock and Roll, right?"
Yes. It is close enough for Rock and Roll. I own a guitar. I am now a musician. I now will be able to blow your mind with music. Except it isn't that easy. We will get into that later, but for right now it's close enough for Rock and Roll, man.
