I've been really lucky and very unlucky in my career as a player but I have to say my finest moment was my first solo gig in Hells Kitchen, NYC when I was 20 years young. I remember afterwards at around 4am walking across to Times Square and sitting on the ground near the ticket stand (under the Chrysler front thing) with a six pack of Heineken and being very proud of myself. Best moment ever.

Lets hear you guys!

CC

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Fender Stratocaster (parts build)
Fender Telecaster 72 Custom RI
Fender Telecoustic Deluxe
Gretsch Electromatic Pro-Jet
Gibson Les Paul Standard Plus
Gibson ES-135
Zenith Type-17
Marshall 70's JMP Superbass 100w
Blackstar HT-5

Teaching my 8 year old Autistic son his first notes on the guitar he received for his birthday.

Wow, thats so cool. Passing music into anothers life, especially a loved one is what its all about.

CC

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Fender Stratocaster (parts build)
Fender Telecaster 72 Custom RI
Fender Telecoustic Deluxe
Gretsch Electromatic Pro-Jet
Gibson Les Paul Standard Plus
Gibson ES-135
Zenith Type-17
Marshall 70's JMP Superbass 100w
Blackstar HT-5

For me it was either when I played in public for the first time last weekend, during the day went to the beach and was just sitting out there playing for a few hours. Just minding my own business enjoying a nice day and playing guitar with my hound dog by my side. Before I knew it I had like 10-15 people standing and sitting around me listening singing and grooving along. My own audience. Then, the best part was later that night. On the way home from the beach I stopped at a friends house to "party" and there were a lot of people there. After getting "warmed up" they were all egging me on to play guitar, so I broke out my acoustic and started playing. Maybe about 50 people there in all and all of them sitting and listening to me...which ended up in the football game starting and the dudes going to watch that while nearly ALL of the 30 or so women in attendance sat and listened to me play for about an hour and a half. Needless to say my buddies didn't like this part too much! But hey I am a beginner so it was nice just to have people interested in listening to my music, singing along, and looking out in the "crowd" and seeing mammaries everywhere was quite nice.

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I got a black cat bone, I got a mojo too.

Whenever I make and play music, I'm the luckiest man on earth! No matter if I play my piano or my strat! I just adore and enjoy playing! And it doesn't matter to me if I'm alone or if there is anybody with me. It feels the same! Beautiful!

Very cool. Yep my 1st magazine appearance means lots to me, Metal Hammer in 98. I was 16 years old!

CC

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Fender Stratocaster (parts build)
Fender Telecaster 72 Custom RI
Fender Telecoustic Deluxe
Gretsch Electromatic Pro-Jet
Gibson Les Paul Standard Plus
Gibson ES-135
Zenith Type-17
Marshall 70's JMP Superbass 100w
Blackstar HT-5

Wow, tough question. I've had a lot of memorable moments, but the *most* memorable...hmm....

It would be a toss up between sharing the stage with John Lyon (aka Southside Johnny) and the Asbury Jukes or with Bill Levise (aka Mitch Ryder) and the Detroit Wheels.

I posted about the Detroit Wheels shows a year or so ago and how Bill and his guitarist, Jim McCarty, were really down to earth and cool to hang with between shows.

Jim is still out there on the road these days with his own band.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Hello Celtic Cyclonus,

Strummin tunes with my son,
I'm glad he's readopted the guitar.

Cheers.

Many years ago my 3pce. group played a seedy waterfront bar where the stage was surrounded with heavy metal pipe instead of chicken wire as when a fight broke out people not bottles got thrown.On a dark and stormy night the bar was filled with Portugese fisherman who had come into port to flee the storm.When I pulled my Strat a numberyofthem came up to admire it,I learned through the broken English of some that a lot of them were classicaly trained players and fans of Segovia and Romero.We played to warm reception all night,in the last set we went into Jimi's Red House and I pulled out all the stops as they say and did my best ever lead break.When we finished the classically trained players all stood and applauded giving me greatest musical thrill,to know that I crossed musical and cultural boundries and touched uther musicians wil always be a cherished memor4y.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Simple one for me. I had been learning the guitar for all of 3 months when I won a day a Rock and Roll Fantasy camp. Got to spend the day leavning from a variety of music professionals.

Then got to go on stage that night at the Wild Horse Saloon in Nashville with Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple) and Chris Slade (AC/DC).

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Ignorance IS bliss - and I am the happiest person here!

Dad wanted to hear me on the guitar. Since I'm a beginner, and he likes Christmas tunes, I learned Jingle Bells really quick. I played it for him by his hospital bed. He smiled.

I tried playing chords, but he just said, "Jingle Bells."

Considering all he's going through, that made it all worthwhile for me. So that's my best moment as a guitar player.

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"While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

My dad said, "I'm going to miss you."
I said, "Well, now that I broke that sight off your rifle..." (Emo Philips)

Jay I remember a similar experience in a guitar shop. This shop had a particularly obnoxious attendant who if you asked to try any gear out. Would fire it up and play some nonsensical malmsteen 23finger tapped musical nonsense riff. All whilst keeping a aloof or disdain filled expression on his face. It was always the same riff for about a year and a half. You could see it was all he practiced. Well I went there to get my Jackson RR3, he plays this riff with his pooped my pants expression on his face and hands me the guitar. I blistered out the first 2 solos of angel of death perfectly, without even looking at the guitar. Then I played him the rundown off the megadeth track wake up dead. He's never played a guitar infront of me since.

My personal favourite memory was meeting up with the guy who started me playing after seven years. The guy showed me G,D,A,E open and the 3 main barre chord shapes. He was a great player, godlike to me as a newb. He'd been playing thirty odd years when I started. Anyhow we had a jam some seven years later. Were jamming away then decide to have a smoke he says my playings really come on quick in seven years can I give him some lessons. A compliment on my playing, theres nothing I could teach him. It really meant a lot to me though.

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No no and no

My proudest moment was in Germany 1989. Being an American teenager in a foreign land with my guitar was the best time of my life. Every weekend my German friends invited me to play in a local bars, parties and other events. They made me take a shoe off each time so they could put money in it and I never paid to drink. I alway's had my acoustic everywhere I went and was blown away by the fact that everybody within two towns would either wave or honk their horn when they saw me. It felt great. They did take away my guitar at my going away party and said I could get it when I returned. Great people.

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American HSS Mahogany Special Stratocaster-Limited Edition 2008
American HSS Special Stratocaster (Black) 2010

Playing warped 06 at Langley Speedway.

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