Welcome back. I provide this update; for as you will see, this season has not been good for my household…there is a continuing spread of GAS from one family member to another.

To recap, it started with an innocent visit to GC with my daughter, and I narrowly escaped further illness with a strong dose of “Taylor GA3-12”. I thought a simple application of “Martin X-Series” would be sufficient, but my wife recommended a more powerful remedy.

http://www.fender.com/community/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=72629&sid=a56e84ad77b2e0b7b9414ab0a36cbaf1


Meanwhile, after a few years of playing piano and listening to me and my daughter play guitar, my son has caught guitar-fever…and has been asking to learn how to play. To make things complicated he’s left-handed, so while living in a home with several guitars, there’s no simple solution short of a trip to the store. Once there, we…yes…again, for better or worse (or richer or poorer!), guitar shopping with my wife, we found the acoustics a bit large for him to manage (he’s 10 years old)…so we moved over to electrics where he felt very comfortable with a Sunburst/Rosewood Squier Strat.

Perhaps it really is the most comfortable guitar? Perhaps he just wanted to have one just like mine? It doesn’t matter…he got the bug…and he’s got the cure:







He’s taken well to fretting strings without unintentionally muting adjacent strings…and can already form a D-chord. The only real challenge is making sure he doesn’t neglect the piano now. And I’m happy since the ‘burst/RW combo has always been a favorite of mine…though I’ll never be able to really play this one.

Meanwhile…

(Flashback sequence…cue the organ, fog machine, soft focus…)

Several years ago at camp, my daughter picked up a mild case of UAS…Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome. She plays many instruments and has always wanted a uke to call her own. This disease has been incubating for a while, and has ‘expressed itself’ from time-to-time…but nothing serious happened to her.

Apparently, my wife was not immune, and started to show significant symptoms while weakened through the Taylor and Squire incidents. Lord help us.

(Clear the fog…back to present day, still at GC…)

We are looking around the store, and notice the wide selection of ukulele’s that are available. We bypass the pretty painted models…and the pineapple-shaped ones…and keep looking for the right one that looks great, sounds great, and is easy to play. To our surprise, the solution was found in the Epiphone formulary in nothing less than Cherry Sunburst with a transducer already installed! Surely a potent measure to take.

My wife, now consumed and feverish with GAS and related afflictions, seeks one more shot of retail therapy to help her through the billing cycle. We make the call…actually, needed to order it online to get the Cherry ‘burst coating…and hope our efforts lead to some recovery and cessation of all the wanton spending we have had to endure.






It’s lots of fun to play, and she’s already worked out a mean rendition of “Smoke on the Water” with some heavy distortion and reverb…it rocks the house!

So…after a fun, exciting, and expensive month, our little music room is getting very full…see below…

Back Row: 2012 Squier Strat, Mustang II, 1975 Stratocaster
Front Row: 2008 Cort Earth 70e, 2012 Taylor GA3-12, 1967 Epiphone Madrid EC-30
Floor: 2012 Epiphone “Les Paul” Ukulele

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1967 Epiphone Madrid EC-30
1975 Fender Stratocaster
1981 Rickenbacker 360
2002 BC Rich Bich
2007 Fender Standard Stratocaster
2012 Taylor GA3-12
2012 Squier Telecaster
2017 Les Paul Kit


"Make every song you sing your favorite tune."

Nice families! (instruments and people)

But, there is no cure, only a lifetime of treatment. Not that anyone has really wanted a cure....

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Loved your post I hope your family has tons of fun with the new music purchases!
I have Grandchildren 6, 4 and 1 1/2 year old currently into coffee cans, pan lids and wooden spoon bands..I am actually looking forward to them getting a bit older and purchasing some real instruments that are a bit more soothing to the ear!

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Mona
"Music is What Feelings Sound like"