That way it really would be "your" guitar. Right now it isn't.

_________________
Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Dude.....your still young and under the influence of family around you. At this age its time to start taking control of your life and realize what YOU want. .......So, you want a cool guitar?.....find a way to get one. Start saving and earning your money. Buy and sell music equipment or what ever to work towaards buying one for yourself. This is an awesome time to start showing yourself first that you are capable of setting a goal and accomplishing it. Youll send a HUGE message to your parents and everyone around you that youre SERIOUS about yourself and life. Youll start to repect yourself and earn the respect of family and friends. GET BUSY DUDE. USE THIS and get your frickin guitar or....whatever you want in life. OK!!?? brother.

Agree with the sentiments expressed in the posts above. The title of the thread is a little misleading...it isn't "your" 66 strat to which your are saying goodbye.

Look at it this way, you are 19 or 20 and you got to play a 66 strat for a spell. I'm almost twice your age, have been playing since before you were born and I haven't even sniffed a 66 strat!

+1



Count me confused also. Is he really your uncle, or do you just call him "uncle"??? He says he wants to give the guitar to one of his nephews....well you're a nephew, right?

Maybe after explaining to your parents and your uncle that the guitar is worth a small fortune, he will reconsider giving it to a 10 year old nephew that will most likely damage the guitar while treating it like a Guitar Hero controller! There goes the vintage value down the drain. At least you would play it and cherish it forever. I would advise walking your uncle and parents through the process of getting the guitar appraised http://www.gruhn.com/appraise.html It sounds like they both are clueless to the magnitude of this instrument in terms of monetary value and how much it means to you (But don't beg for it. If it's meant to be, you'll get the guitar. If not, you have one heckuva story and memories).

I don't mean to pry into your family life, but maybe your mom has a grudge against your uncle. Is he your mom's brother? To put things in monetary perspective, you getting this guitar would be like him giving you a nice new car. That might make your parents feel uncomfortable. Good luck, I'm rooting for ya.

_________________
Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

I'm just posting to emphasize to get the guitar appraised before jumping to conclusions. Maybe you uncle refinished it and replaced the pickups or hardware years ago. Maybe he once had it routed for a humbucker. Who knows??? All of this affects the value. The guitar might play great for you, but (hypothetically speaking) would a $5,000 reduction in value due to modifications or non-original parts decrease your lust for this guitar?

Do you have any pics of the guitar you can post?

_________________
Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

You gigged that guitar? Are you crazy?!

Give that guitar back asap. You might even get it back one day. But for now, it isn't yours.

To everyone telling the OP to just give up the guitar without any gathering of the facts: Put yourself in the OP's shoes for a moment at the family dinner table for Thanksgiving.....
OP: "Hey Uncle, what ever happened to that sweet '68 Strat you lent me that I bonded with and made awesome music with that will change rock & roll forever?"
Uncle: "Oh I gave it to your little cousin 9 year old Johnny."
OP: "Hey Johnny. How do you like the vintage Strat that Uncle gave you?"
Johnny: "That old guitar smelled funny and the yucky paint was chipping off. Daddy sold it on craigslist for $25. I want a shiny new Jonas Brothers guitar from Wal-Mart for Christmas. Please pass the mashed potatoes".
OP:

New thread prediction in a few weeks from a brand new member here: "Holy Crap I just scored a '68 Strat off CL for only $25!!!"

_________________
Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

I was joking around earlier of course,but I'm like metropolis...I don't understand why your uncle can't see that you love the guitar,and will cherish and play it,and won't just go ahead and give it to you.

1) Above tell the uncle the value of the guitar, and the importance of condition. That guitar should only be played by guitar players capable of treating it properly.

2) Offer to buy it with the promise you will keep it forever (the "keep it forever" part will convey how much you care about it). For example, give him $150/month for the next 60 months (five years). That is $9K and at least reasonable.

_________________
Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

you had 5 months with a 60s strat that probably would have never been yours. Count yourself lucky most people will never get to spend that amount of time with a guitar as great as that.


Count yourself lucky

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner.

This is a very sensible suggestion.

Have it appraised with you and your uncle present. Come to an agreement on the value of the guitar. Then start paying for it. I don't see how your parents wouldn't find this a good option. FYI though, if you're 19, you're legally a grown man. So the matter really should just be between you and your uncle.

_________________

He is my great uncle (brother of my grandfather). The young nephew he's gonna give the guitar is the son of his daughter. And no, my mom has nothing agaisnt my uncle, at least that I know of, I think my mom is scared I'll mistreat the guitar or something and she just doesn't like the fact that I play.

And to answer the above poster about the way I treat my gear, no ofense taken, but I'm a total pain in the $@! when it comes to my gear, I don't let anyone touch it, I sleep with the my uncle's guitar everynight locked in my bedroom, the times I gigged with it I always carried it in it's case, and the case was in my hand, no matter how awkward the situation, I had always the case in my hand, truste me, I'm totally aware of this thing's value, and I treat it more than accordingly.

And yes, it's only my parents who have a problem with me having the guitar.

By the way I want to thank everyone for their words, I'm really surprised with the community, and you have helped me a great deal, thanks for the jokes too, they help (dinner table one was great lol).

I know I may sound like an $@!&#*%, beong young with a great guitar, but I know what this is worth, I know how lucky I've been, and the fact that my uncle is considering giving the guitar (actually it's a 67, I researched a bit more, pretty sure it is 67) to this nephew reveals that he has no idea of its real value. If some of you might be jealous (sorry for using this expression, really sorry) of me for having played this guitar, imagine how jealous you would be of a 10yo who's playing Seven Nation Army on his newly-refinished into blue urethane coating 67 strat, with the tremolo replaced for a floyd rose

I will follow your advices and will be talking to him, explaining the value of this guitar, both monetarily and in terms of what it means to me, because it really does mean A LOT. I'll go to him ready to lose it, but I think I will offer him *my* highway one strat if he really wants to give his nephew a guitar. This guitar deserves to be played, and I know I'm serious about music and will cherish and play it for the rest of my days, I'm studying architecture in university and I care more about music and my band than making terrain models...

And yes I have some pictures, let me see how can I post them...





P.S. If you really want to know if I'm "worthy" of this, I can post pictures of my rig, I'm sure it's not too disappointing.

Will be back with updates when I talk to him if anyone's interested

Once again, thank you all from the bottom of my heart

Ok, maybe I should just leave some links here for the pictures, they're ruining the whole page, sorry for that...

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/9913/l1080495.jpg

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/9913/l1080498.jpg

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/9913/l1080500.jpg

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/9913/l1080502.jpg

A while back I talked with him on the phone about the possibility of buying it from him, and he said that he didn't have nephews, he'd *give* me guitar, but because he has nephews and one of them wants to learn guitar, he's giving it to him (though I think I heard the kid quit the guitar classes to focus on school lol), so I think buying is out of the picture, though I might suggest him that again, when he realizes the guitar's value...

Thanks for updating. Really nice guitar. I can see why you are in love with it.

But it sounds like you're going to try to convince your great uncle (thanks for clearing that up) to give it to you in exchange for a Hwy 1 he can give to his immediate nephew.

Wouldn't it just be easier, and more fair, to have the guitar appraised and offer to buy it from your uncle? I realize you're a student, but maybe you can work out a payment plan. You can even draw up a hand written agreement on the duration and amount of the payments. This would be as good as any document drawn up at a bank.

I don't know all of the family dynamics involved here. But if you really want the guitar, I think you should be willing to pay for it. I think knowing you paid for it would also increase your enjoyment of it.

_________________