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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 2:16 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:02 pm
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So, she's angry because I've taken her over to the guitar center. Play everyday on a Squire that's nearing ten years old and can't bar without buzzing and has a three foot action, almost. Well, she's good and upset about it, with the prego hormones kicking her temperamental temperament up a notch. Still, I've got to get a new guitar. It'll do for a decade, but it's got to be good. She only wants to look at beddie byes for the new baby she's expecting, but I've got to have a guitar, too. Guitar center you said here and so I'm hot to check it out. Looking at the Jimmy Vaughn, she hates it. Can't cross that rubicon. Then the Deluxe Players with the gold and the oversized "C" but too bulky. An ash guitar center special that I thought was a light ash sounded good, but had been through the mill. Suddenly, my intensely cranky spouse drops the attitude and delivers a deep red wine satin finished with rosewood Highway One. I try out a few chords, spotting my two-year-old carrying drum sticks towards a mammoth drum kit out of the corner of my eye. The rosewood and deeper toned alnico neck+mid pickups let out a throaty jaguar tone when I play some dminor and aminor chords and arpeggios. Hmm . . . "This guitar is beautiful" she says, suddenly happy. "Mmm sounds best" says my piano snob spouse. Bang crash from the drums while my two-year-old goes to work on them. Try out a little pentatonic blues in c, copping riffs from BB. "Ooo I like it," I agree with her, "Too expensive though" - I point at the tag. "On sale. Today's the last day, just" and she flips the tag over. My eyes bug out like Jim Carrey in the Mask.

Wine and roses beckoning, my prego spouse is smiling for the first time since we got to the guitar center - "similar color to my piano." They polish it up, serve it up in a hard case at no extra charge because it's off the floor, and we're ready to go. Except for one thing.

"Hey, um, anyone seen a little two-year-old guy run by here?"

The mellow big blonde man behind the counter says, "Was he carrying some drum sticks? He went into the drum room."

There's the little dude, sitting in a drummers chair, age two, banging out a beat on a full Roland set. The little guy sounded good.

"Time to go."

He sets the drum sticks very carefully into one of the big drums, just like he saw the big people do.

Last night I'm playing a blues in "d" quick change through my cheap little amp. "Mmm," she says, "sounds beautiful."


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Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 3:17 pm
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Joined: Sat Jul 14, 2007 6:46 pm
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First ever post here also, been lurking for a while. Nothing too exciting about my Strat story, but I get a kick thinking about it.
I picked up a cheap Yamaha acoustic pack from Guitar Center about a year and a half ago, just for something to do to occupy my time after Hurricane Katrina hit (No TV, barely any electricity, I needed something to do). Anyway, I started getting more into it the last few months, and decided that I'd like to go electric. I looked through the GC/MF site, and decided that I'd go for a Squier and a cheap amp. Got the approval from the wife, and as I was headed out the door, she asked "How much do you think you'll spend?" I said, "Shouldn't be more than about $250 for everything, maybe $300. It's not like I'll be buying a Fender!"
Popped into the GC just up the street from the house. Kind of a small store. I asked where the sub $200 guitars were, specifically the Squiers. They gave me a vague wave to the "cheap guitar" area, and pointed out the area where they had the used/last year model guitars hanging. Couldn't find what I was looking for in the cheap guitar area, but saw a couple of Squiers on the used rack. Asked about them, the guy says that they're 3/4 size models, but hey, we have this Strat up here and it's only $242. I did a lot of internal debating about doing it, and how upset the wife would be, but I just couldn't pass up a Strat at about 1/2 price.
Anyway, the wife wasn't upset at all with the higher price tag, and I haven't gone a day without playing it. I'm an absolute beginner, but I do love playing my Strat. Plus, it led me to these forums, which have already given me a wealth of info. Sorry for the long post, but I've been wanting to tell the story, and I just don't know many people that would appreciate it.


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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 4:39 pm
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Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2007 12:15 pm
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Location: Lawrenceburg, KY
First off I play left handed and finding a good guitar is not easy. When I was 18 (about 18 years ago) I walk into one of the local pawn shops kind of just digging around to see if they had anything that I could maybe string left-handed. They actually had a left handed guitar! It had about an inch of dust on it and they were complaining it had been hanging for a while because it was a lefty. It resembled a Gibson SG but had never heard of the name before but it played great. They let me put in lawaway at $200.00. I got it home and started calling around to see what I had and it is a black 1974 Guild S-100! I've also been told that this was the last year they had made an S-100 lefty! I don't know if that's exactly true but I'd sure like to have another. Of course I still have the guitar but I put a lot of miles on it over the years. It's seen a lot of shows (dives)! I'll take it out to a show maybe about three or four times a year and I take much better care of it now then I did when I was younger.


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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 10:47 am
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The way I ended up with my strat is a bit different, I'm a new player and always wanted to get a Strat, a friend of mine that is a very good player went with me to look at Strats at our local GC, we got in there and he played a MIM strat that was decent and relatively inexpensive, he then played a 2002 Sunburts American Strat and I could immediately tell the difference, anyway he was going to buy the American and I figured to start with the Mexi wouldn't be a bad way to go, he then had a change of heart and passed on the American so I jumped on it, bit more money but worth it to me.
After playing it for a few weeks I decided to strobe it but couldn't seem to find the truss rod, told my guys at GC about it and they told me to bring it in, when I did everyone of the techs looked at it and couldn't find it either, well as you can imagine I was relatively bummed and troubled about that but they stepped up and let me have credit on it and told me they would make me a good deal on another guitar, I got kind of lucky because they had someone just bring in a 2005 American Deluxe Strat, carmel with rosewood fretboard, granted not a sunburst but a gorgeous guitar, still had the plastic on the pickguard. Well I had to come up with a few more $s but the thing is awesome. It'll be one I keep no matter what.


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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 1:33 pm
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Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2007 11:28 am
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In 1988, I had my eye on a brand new Telecaster and I was saving my pennies to the point of suviving on jelly beans and kool-aid. I would go down to the shop and drool over it until they would kick me out. One day, I'm standing there staring longingly at my future axe, when this guy walks in with a gig bag and goes to the back of the shop. The owner comes out of the back and greets him with a handshake and a smile and says "so you finally got time to bring it in,huh?" The guy opens the gig bag and pulls out a plain jane cream colored Tele, maple neck, white pick guard in excellent condition. Not exactly what I'm looking for, but still interesting. Anyway, the guy hands the Tele over to the shop owner who takes it into the back. He comes back out, goes to the wall and takes down the most gruesome flourescent teal Peavy I've ever seen. (no real problems with Peavey guitars, I just thought this one was butt ugly). The guy is looking at this thing like it's the holy grail as he puts it lovingly in the gig bag, shakes the owners hand again and leaves. To make a long story a little shorter, I I got the owner to sell me that Tele (it's a 1978) for $100. A little later I bought ahrd case for it that cost me $110! I dropped some Seymour Duncans in it and a new switch and just fell in love with it. Some say it's worth $800-$1000 today, but I'll never sell it. I love it too much and it's also a reminder of the only time I ever came out on top in any deal I've ever made.


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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 3:40 pm
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Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2007 9:04 am
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Location: Pacific NW
I had been wanting a strat for a long time. I have an Ibanez artist that I bought back in high school that has great tone, but I didn't have that Strat sound or feel. I played some AM Dlux strats, but couldn't justify the price, so I just put the idea to rest. Fast forward six months...I'm in Vegas cleaning up big time at the Hold'em table...I purchased my strat the next day. Nothing like buying your guitar with money you won at a card game. That's Rock & Roll!!!


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