Ever since I was a kid listening to KISS, I wanted to play. I begged my parents to get me one. No doing. My mother was against it.....too loud. So they put me in violin lessons for 3 years. I hated it.

When I was 12, my next door neighbor was throwing all of her son's stuff in the trash (big fight I guessed). Well, about 3 feet into the pile was a Epiphone acoustic guitar. I fell in love with it (so I hid it in the backyard and only played outside at night). After 3 months, I had taught myself to play some chords and your basic licks like smoke on the water, etc. While playing one night sitting in the front yard, my older brother saw what I was doing. He asked if he could see it and decided to go Pete Townshend on it in the middle of the street. That was the end of that.

When I turned 18, I bought a little Harmony strat style electric and soon after got my girlfriend pregnant, got married, had a couple of kids, and had no time to play......plus I hocked it to buy groceries.

Well, 2 divorces later, and my current wife told me that as much as I love music, I should buy a guitar and learn how to play. So I did. 3 1/2 years and 12 guitars later, and here I am. So although I always wanted to play, I guess my wife got me to really play. My kids have really helped me too by sitting and listening while I practiced or asking me to teach them. Life is good.

My Father, " AND DON'T EVER TOUCH IT AGAIN "

I think it was probably Joe Pass, though not sure to be honest, remember seeing him as a kid and was mesmorized, a couple of freinds had guitars and I was always messin about with their's until I got my own

My uncle played R&R in the late 50s/early 60s....the same time other white boys were playing black blues and R&B,then came Buddy Holly and Elvis and they went along those trails also.
They had a combo (band) called the Hustlers,and gave out cards with the band's name and a cartoon picture of a black cat with the motto taken straight from the Palladin TV show..."Have guitar,will travel".
They had good looking girlfriends too,that paid attention to me because I was a kid.

You wanna hear something funny? I begged for a Violin after they said no to a guitar. I thought "well at least it's a stringed instrument, and I could move my way up to a guitar".

I ended up being in the school band with a freaking trumpet!! That lasted about 2-weeks. But it made them even more sure that I wasn't interested in playing an instrument.. It was totally frustrating as a kid.

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HaleAmano- House Of Sharks (Now On iTunes)
http://www.reverbnation.com/haleamano
http://www.haleamano.com

Two guys from Liverpool made me take up guitar.When I saw John and George on the Ed Sullivan show I knew that I had no other choice but to become a musician.John especially impressed me with his stage presence- he looked so confident and looked like he was having the time of his life. One month after I got my first guitar and I haven't put it down since. When I first heard Jimi Hendrix is when I really became obsessive about the guitar and played for 8 hrs plus a day for years.I don't play as much lately due to the problem with my paws but not a day goes by that I don't play for at least an hour.

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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.

now thats what i call "rockin family values" right there.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

I have always been interested in guitar but when I was about 5 years old I saw the Beatles the first time they were on the Ed SUllivan show. After seeing and hearing that I can remember saying to myself, "I want to do that!"

It really was a moment that I remember quite clearly even today.

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I'm with you fellers!
www.thissideup.us

What makes matters worse is my mother asks for me to bring a guitar when I visit. It's like salt in a wound.

The Beatles and The Stones on Ed Sullivan. No lookin back after that.......... Mike

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The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

well it wasn't anybody you'd know. my cousin doug on my dads side and jimmy on my moms side. 2 dudes who took the time to show me a few chords and encourage me to practice. also, my uncles continue to make great music to this very day. those are my heros.

One of my friends from high school got me into picking up a guitar when I was 14. At the time I didn't take it to seriously. I bought an epiphone SG and when I was that age it was a lot of money,and it sat in my room for a couple of years picking it up occasionally, but it irritated the hell out of me trying to play songs that I couldn't manage.
Then I thought screw this if I've got a guitar I may aswell learn to play it properly and got a guitar teacher for a year or so. Since then I have developed an addiction, and the rest is history.

The Beatles . . . and cute girls.

Amen...Nothing could be better!!!

Mr Izzy Stradlin in Guns N' Roses when I was 9 years old in 1991 is who made me want to play. As a kid I'd always loved Jethro Tull, Mike Oldfield, Queen and The Stones simply because they were played through the house. As a kid though they were my parents bands, Guns N' Roses were mine.

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

Who made me decide to pick up the Guitar ?

Thats a long answer for sure.... To start, I guess the main purpose is what Artist inspired me to want to play. Well, in my case, thats SRV. I've been a fan of his music ever since my father introduced me to it when I was very young.

I've been addicted to Waters, Hendrix, Clapton, King, Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery, Robert Johnson, and more.

Goes deeper than just one Artist though... One of the GIANT things that made me pic up guitar is this little guy :



My Yamaha 82-Z Custom. Been playing Sax since I was 5. Finished my Degree in Music. Met an extraordinary group of musicians along the way. I've had the pleasure of playing with Dave Brubeck, Rich Goldstein, Steve Davis, Gary Keller, and a ton of modern-day Jazz Artists that have made a major name for themselves. All of them tell the same story : "Play a Chorded Instrument, even if you play it badly."

So the logical choice was to start learning Guitar. Its been a secret longing of mine forever to be able to play, so I guess the ability to finally afford another instrument is what sent me over the edge.