sparquelito Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 Addiction. A tough word, and a really tough admission for me. That’s what I am admitting to you here and now. I’m an addict. For some people, it’s pills. For others, booze. Or sex. Or gambling. For me it’s guitars. There, I said it, I am a guitar addict!! I didn’t need to walk into that pawn shop last week. But I did. Like a junkie scratching at his arms and jonesing for a fix, I went in there and perused all the junk and the goodness and the dustiness and the niceness hanging on the walls. Six strings, 12-strings, acoustics, electrics, nice ones, beautiful ones, crappy ones, and everything in between. And then, of all things, a tobacco-burst Stratocaster caught my eye. With an improbably-low price. And bear in mind, I probably have a dozen guitars at home already. I don’t need a Stratocaster, and I certainly don’t need this one. It was a fake Strat. Counterfeit, and a clumsy one at that. (Heck, the price tag even honestly claimed that much. Smart pawnshop owner, keeping things on the up and up.) Not made in the USA or Japan or Mexico or even the new Fender production facility in China. No, this one is a parts-caster, cobbled together from second-rate Indonesian pieces and bits, bolted together, and probably passed-off as the real deal, many times over the past few years. Fake as a hooker’s boobies, and twice as cheap. The only thing genuine on this Strat is the head stock sticker that somebody applied and then clear-coated over. That looks good. That, and the tobacco-burst wood grain. Really pretty. I plugged it in, tested out the pickups and switches and knobs, gave the tired, dead strings a workout, and then bartered the savvy pawnshop owner down from his absurd price all the way down to a hundred bucks out the door. He knew two things, that pawnshop owner; a. This guitar was a Franken-Fender and b. He was dealing with a guitar junkie with a monkey on his back the size of King Kong. So he was kind to me, and played a fair bartering game with me, and even complimented me on what a hard-sell I was! Great fellow, I really liked him. Still, I skulked out the door of that pawn shop in shame. I felt so dirty. So I did what I do. I took the guitar home, broke it apart, polished it, trued it, fixed it, spritzed contact-cleaner into all the critical bits. My wife, understanding soul that she is, assured me that I am okay, and that I should have everything my heart desires. Buoyed on by that, I re-assembled it, restrung it with Super Slinky’s, set the action, set the intonation, waxed it down with carnauba, and stretched-in the strings. Don’t you know, this damned Phender Junkocaster sounds great? (And I’m not saying that to justify my purchase, or to make excuses for my addiction.) It really does have a chime-like tone, and the neck plays like butter. But I still feel dirty. I’m a genuinely bad boy, and a hopeless guitar addict. I probably need a good spanking. (And a new guitar strap. And some new picks. And hey, look at all those new 2016 Gibson models at Guitar Center today!!) Somebody stop me. Stop me before I buy again. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aster1 Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 It happens to the best of us. I just haven't gone to the pawn shops (yet). I've been "on the wagon" for about 1 yr. now. Last was a 60th Anniv. Strat. I may be done, unless I find a Epi Elitist Texan that is. Aster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 Addiction? What addiction? What guitar? Did you inhale her? All kidding aside, you saved that thing from further abuse. That is what counts. Congrats to you, knight in shining armour, granting the timbers once lost to counterfeiters a home! Or something like that. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 Worse things could happen. You could be addicted to, I dunno, The Voice or something equally wretched. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 thankfully there are addicts' excuses for just such situations.. this ones for the kids/grandkids when they are old enough... I'm planning to donate it to the local school after i've played it a while... I can let my mates use it if we have a jam session... Its just for when we go camping... I leave it in open G etc.. oh yes, many excuses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar_randy Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 An addict isn't so bad. I'd rather be called and addict than to be called a ****. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skilsaw Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 Addict? No way. You are a compassionate guitar rescuer who saves wretched instruments, cares for and nurtures them back to health and then loves them. End of story. Well done, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flight959 Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 The boss (wife) started a new rule... one in, one out. If I want a new guitar I have to sell one first. I own three Gibson's two Acoustics and my first ever electric so I would agree that for a non musician thats already a fair allowance. GAS is a terrible thing! Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 One day at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 Lets rent a bus and start a rehab tour, by the time we're half where "There" I bet we'll need another bus. I've got 20 guitars that I call "mine" at the moment... do I NEED 20 guitars,, NOPE! will I sell any due to the absurd nature of having this many, nnnnope! so basically what I'm saying is... "move over rover, you have plenty of company" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 . No addiction. Chronic. A chronic case of GAS. . . :P . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 1445160682[/url]' post='1703668']The boss (wife) started a new rule... one in, one out. If I want a new guitar I have to sell one first. I own three Gibson's two Acoustics and my first ever electric so I would agree that for a non musician thats already a fair allowance. GAS is a terrible thing! Regards Just curious, does that same rule apply to her? Lol If she's like my wife, buy one pair of shoes, One out, one purse, one out, although in my wife's case it should be buy one pair of shoes . Four or five pairs out. Ect. She buys way more then me. By her standard I should own lots of things just to catch up! I need more guitars, guns, a pickup truck, a riding lawn mower, snow blower, ........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 The boss (wife) started a new rule... one in, one out. Just curious, does that same rule apply to her? Lol If she's like my wife, buy one pair of shoes, One out, one purse, one out, although in my wife's case it should be buy one pair of shoes . Four or five pairs out. Ect. She buys way more then me. ... Two words, gentlemen... "Separate Accounts". I have no idea what my wife spends on clothes, hair, nails, makeup, etc. She has no idea what I spend on guitar stuff. We split the house and car bills. I voluntarily pay for groceries and eating out and stuff cuz I make a bit more than she. We both enjoy the autonomy and we have never had one argument about money in 15 years! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skilsaw Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 I need more ...guns, a pickup truck... Nothing says "All American" like guns and a pickup truck. You know you have arrived when you stop at IHOP for a late breakfast and you have a dead moose in the box of your truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 This needs action. You've taken the first important step. We need a mutual support group: Gasoholics Unanimous You have to confess your guilty indulgence. Better still bring it along with you. If that not possible, then bring pictures, sound files etc. Oh... we're already doing that aren't we? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flight959 Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 Just curious, does that same rule apply to her? Lol If she's like my wife, buy one pair of shoes, One out, one purse, one out, although in my wife's case it should be buy one pair of shoes . Four or five pairs out. Ect. She buys way more then me. By her standard I should own lots of things just to catch up! I need more guitars, guns, a pickup truck, a riding lawn mower, snow blower, ........... Not really... she in all fairness doesn't have any expensive hobbies. I have too many. The funny thing is I have one of Pippy's lesters on loan and she hasn't even noticed! Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 1445276704[/url]' post='1704042']Nothing says "All American" like guns and a pickup truck. You know you have arrived when you stop at IHOP for a late breakfast and you have a dead moose in the box of your truck. This is going to sound odd to many, here, but when my wife's uncle died, he left me his entire gun collection. I've always been fascinated with western, some military and modern guns so I figured what the heck. I became a collector and added to them. I sort of feel like Quigly Down Under in reverse. He didn't have much use for a hand gun and I don't have much use for a rifle. Although I have lots of shot guns and rifles in that collection, I added lots of hand guns to it as well as a couple of World War II stuff. Strangely, I really don't shoot, just collect and once in a blue moon I may go to the range and try out a couple of hand guns. I do not hunt, mainly because I'm a wild life artist and rather paint them instead of shoot them. So as many here collect guitars, I have four, I used to collect guns but quit when I retire. What I have now will go to my son one day who some here know him as Omaha. I used to collect chess sets but quit when I had no place to put them. My mother tells me my uncle taught me how to play at 2 yr's old. All I know is I've played the game ever since I could remember and improved my game from reading the Russian chess books. That too I quit as no one will play me since before I retired. I wanted to become a master at it but stopped after beating several chess experts. No one would play me from work. So retired now I want to learn guitar. The thing most frustrating for me are the blues, too many scales to memorize and string bends and solos. Then with arthritis in my small pinky, I can't play some bar chords or the stuff I have to stretch across 4 frets. My fingers are two short and fat. I would love to add two or three more guitars to my rack. I have my eye on a Gibson Supreme Sea Foam Green hollow body. It is gorgeous. Do I need it? Probably not. At my age, my son gets everything anyway. PS. The pickup I need for hauling all my wife's junk and her parents junk away they store in the basement and garage! Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevDavidLee Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 We need a mutual support group... Oh... we're already doing that aren't we? Yes we are. It's this forum :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.