Tell her she's better off with a husband that has 7 strats and one wife rather than one strat and...

(I'm guessing that's about as far as you'll get before the massive head injury!!)

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

the only problem i see is that coldfront headed your way.
got firewood?

Problem? What problem??

well you know what they say "you can never have to many strats"

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Guitars:
-2008 fender american standard telecaster
-homemade stratocaster (TA guitar)
Amp:
-Fender Deville
effects:
-Boss Md-2
-Vox V847

Captain, as you rightly stated earilier, theres women and women. Cant see this one being a problem to you. Particularly if you pay a bit of attention to dishes and backrubs, which i'm sure she's in no short supply of.

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No no and no

Snuck in a 4-12 Marshall cab last week and when eagle eye spotted it and inquired about it I told her it had been behind the Dual Showman cab all this time. She seemed satisfied as she slammed the door on her way out. Mike

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

Is it okay if you call it collecting? People collect art. Guitars are like art to me. I like collecting them...at least that's what I've been doing to justify my purchases. Strats and Teles are my weakness. There is always a new color or configuration that strikes my fancy. I've only been playing for 2 years, but my "collection" is in the double digits. 95% of them were steals....very good bargains.

So, is it okay if you consider yourself a player/collector and can afford it?

Now all you need is a nice row of matching tele's to round out the collection.

Ya know...that's a very interesting question. I think it's a matter of perspective really. Let's think of it this way...if you walk in to someone's house and they have a number of priceless....or really expensive paintings hanging on the walls...let's say a couple of Picasos (blech), a Da Vinci or two and heck, maybe even some more contemporary such as some Warhols. Such a person would be said to have an "art collection". On the other hand, let's say the person had a bunch of pictures of animals or something from no one who was famous....would the same terminology apply?

I wanted to address this question because not only am I a musician, I'm also a photographer and I do consider myself an "artist". My focus (no pun intended) is primarily animals and wildlife. There have been a couple of local exhibitions of my work as well...mainly at local nature centers (hey...the theme fits). At present, I actually have around 80+ framed prints of my work for sale as well...framed by the artist no less! Of course the big thing here is that...well...I'm no one famous. I've been told my work is good and I like to think that it is but the truth of the matter is that people who buy my work don't buy it because it's a "Walczak", they buy it because my pictures are pretty and more importantly, their affordable! LOL!!! Want a nice picture of an African lion or a Coyote for your den? I sell nice framed 8x10's for around $50 a peace. So the question is...if someone had 10 or 15 "Walczaks" hanging around their house (a frightening thought to have that many of my family hanging around!), would it be considered a "collection" or just someone who has a bunch of nice animal prints? Referring to the art collection scenario above, if instead of "originals", the person had "prints" of Da Vinci pieces, Monet pieces, Picaso, etc., would most people really consider it an art collection or simply "home decor?

I think the real question here is what actually constitutes a collection. Obviously people collect all sorts of stuff...thimbles, dolls, stamps, coins, beer cans, sports cards, antiques, bottle caps, and goodness knows what else. I think that typically the key point here is that "a collection" means that something is collectible and that suggests that it has some value...but then that raises the question, "what is value"?

Thus we get to the crux of the matter. Clearly a person who owns a number of vintage...or at least unusual instruments, such a person would have a guitar collection. But what about those of us with a whole bunch of "firewood"? LOL!!! I have around 25 guitars in my "collection" now and honestly only a few of them are really worth anything. My MIM Strat, my Ovation, my Seagull S-6...all very fine instruments. I'm also sure that my 1937 Kay Jumbo and my 60's something Giannini 3/4 classical probably have some degree of value. But my Lotus or my Memphis let alone some of the Squiers? Hardly "collectible" instruments. My '08 Squier Bullet for example...I'm sure it's more collectible than...oh...I dunno...say, dryer lint? LOL! The truth though is that even in another 40 - 50 she's probably not going to be worth a lot.

The funny thing here is that if I should say, become someone famous...that all changes. Let's say I become a famous photographer even and that some day my name is remembered in the same breath with people like Ansel Adams or Annie Lebovitz (yea right...I wish). After I die, that $100 Squier Bullet could become worth a great deal of money....after all...it was once owned by the famous photographer Jim Walczak! Suddenly an inexpensive beginners instrument is now "collectible". What did Mark Twain's old Martin acoustic go for a few years back at a Christies auction? No...seriously...I lost track...how much did it end up going for? LOL!

Now there is one more facet to this that I'd like to address. There's some folks that if they owned something like a genuine, near mint 1957 Stratocaster...they'd never play it. They'd keep it locked in a hermetically sealed, environmentally controlled display container because they're afraid that it's going to loose some "value" by playing or exposing it to the rigors of every day life. For someone like me however, the moment you do that to a musical instrument it looses ALL it's value. I'm a musician...a guitar player...to me the "value" of ANY instrument is in playing it. That's what a guitar was designed and built for...to make music and anything else comes second. As such, I tend to put considerably more "value" on an inexpensive instrument that may otherwise be quite playable and have a really great sound than I would on a "priceless vintage instrument" that no one is ever allowed to touch. Obviously if you read through these forums there are those who feel the other way...money is the primary consideration with any instrument (at least that's the way some of these people act)...that's just not the way my mind works.

So...am I a "collector" or just a guy who owns a bunch of guitars? I guess in light of my last paragraph there, I would have to consider myself as a collector in addition to being a musician (and a photographer) because of the way I put a value on a guitar and that value isn't always in monetary terms.

A wonderful point to ponder there MissJackson...thank you for bringing it up!

Peace,
Jim

Personally, I'm not really all that fond of Tele's...no offense to anyone here. I'd like to have one or two...in fact I'm in the process of building one. It's an on-going project and I've really been working on it for about a year now. I cut the body from a piece of red oak I had laying out in the garage...I had this nice neck from another older guitar laying around and I wanted to see how the red oak was going to sound. Turns out that the neck I was planning on using wasn't quite a full scale size though and I haven't picked up another proper Tele neck yet to use. I've almost been thinking about re-cutting it for a Strat neck instead since I do have a couple of those laying around, but I'm still not sure yet.

The truth is, my only real interest in a Tele is just as something I can set up specifically for learning slide. I know I don't have to have a Tele for this but it seems fitting....something iconic I guess about that Tele twang for doing slide blues. I'd never really be interested in a row of Teles though the way I have the Strats here.

Peace,
Jim

Lomitis are you the Drummer for the cover band Harper Blue?

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

It's a little discussed topic, but I insist it's real. There is such a thing as that "New Strat Smell"! Maybe that's part of the problem.

Anyone know what I'm talking about?

Yes, I do. I think it's more the case than anything though.

great pics, sir.

mh, from woman side i think i know what she mean...

but if i would have a near free wall in my living room it would looks like on your pic. let them there and wait...

cheers

I used to be! That was the "old" version of the band back between 2000 and 2002. Except for my wife and I, it is basically a different band now, although we're doing pretty much the same material. We kept the name Harper Blue because we already have a banner and about 1000 business cards left! LOL!!! Now I'm back on guitar where I belong...for the moment at least .

I guess you could say that my wife and I are Harper Blue and we change/rotate other members as the need calls for it. For our original studio stuff, it's just my wife and me but for the live stuff obviously we need a "whole band" and as such we've actually had a number of people come and go over the years. That said, if we need a drummer, I play drums...if we need a bass player, then I play bass. I'm happiest when I'm on rhythm guitar and that's where I try to stay but it just doesn't always work out that way. Whatever it takes to make things work for the band.

Just curious...how did you hear about us?

Peace,
Jim