Escapism and nostalgia

[ksdaddy]

How many of you:

 

Watch BB King and instantly want a 355 or similar?

See old Beatles footage and want a Rickenbacker, Gretsch, Hofner, etc?

Hear "All Right Now" and lust for an old LP?

Remember a guitar you owned in high school and start searching ebay?

 

I get way too hung up on the identity of a guitar. If I'm in the mood to play surf I'm shopping for an early 60s Fender. If I want to play old Carter Family stuff I search for and old archtop from the 30s. Jimmie Rodgers or Leon Redbone makes me reach for my old parlor guitar. God help me, if I were to get nostalgic for the 80s you could sell me a pink guitar wih black hardware. I've spent way too much money over the years chasing some wooden manifestation of my own escapist fantasies and it's really a big waste of money and time.

 

All my life I've had it deeply ingrained in my brain that if I were to buy a certain model guitar of a certain vintage I would somehow magically 'connect' with a bygone era. It's never happened, it never WILL happen, and yet I do it again and again.

 

If you handed me a blue '66 Fender Mustang and Heathkit amp there's no way I could recapture the atmosphere of my brother cranking out Tommy James' Hanky Panky in the bedroom down the hall in the summer of '68, but that would be what I would attempt.

 

A black LP Custom would not turn me into Peter Frampton in 1976 but I would spend thousands to try.

 

I wish there was a mini-lobotomy I could undergo to erase this madness and just let me play one or two or even FIVE guitars and stop chasing things that aren't there.

 

Just shoot me in the head, somebody.

[Tman]

 

I wish there was a mini-lobotomy I could undergo to erase this madness and just let me play one or two or even FIVE guitars and stop chasing things that aren't there.

 

Just shoot me in the head, somebody.

 

Nah, don't anybody do that. I think it's a natural response, akin to linking certain songs with different good and bad experiences from the past. Just have a glass of chard, crank up a good old song and play with it on your current guitar(s) and pretend! Nothing wrong with that.

 

That being said, I do exactly the same thing.

[Andy R]

How many of you:

 

Watch BB King and instantly want a 355 or similar?

See old Beatles footage and want a Rickenbacker, Gretsch, Hofner, etc?

Hear "All Right Now" and lust for an old LP?

Remember a guitar you owned in high school and start searching ebay?

 

I get way too hung up on the identity of a guitar. If I'm in the mood to play surf I'm shopping for an early 60s Fender. If I want to play old Carter Family stuff I search for and old archtop from the 30s. Jimmie Rodgers or Leon Redbone makes me reach for my old parlor guitar. God help me, if I were to get nostalgic for the 80s you could sell me a pink guitar wih black hardware. I've spent way too much money over the years chasing some wooden manifestation of my own escapist fantasies and it's really a big waste of money and time.

 

All my life I've had it deeply ingrained in my brain that if I were to buy a certain model guitar of a certain vintage I would somehow magically 'connect' with a bygone era. It's never happened, it never WILL happen, and yet I do it again and again.

 

If you handed me a blue '66 Fender Mustang and Heathkit amp there's no way I could recapture the atmosphere of my brother cranking out Tommy James' Hanky Panky in the bedroom down the hall in the summer of '68, but that would be what I would attempt.

 

A black LP Custom would not turn me into Peter Frampton in 1976 but I would spend thousands to try.

 

I wish there was a mini-lobotomy I could undergo to erase this madness and just let me play one or two or even FIVE guitars and stop chasing things that aren't there.

 

Just shoot me in the head, somebody.

 

 

 

Careful with that Pink guitar comment you might get duane upset with you . I can relate to what you're saying I'm either buying back the gear I had to sell from my past or buying gear that I always wanted from my past. It's the guitar players version of a chocolate fix. You crave it you get it then your like hmmm not as good as I expected, buying remorse sets in, dreams crumble etc... then you repeat the process again to make yourself feel better for a while. If it makes you feel better for a while and your not neglecting your other financial responsibilities who cares? If it feels good (even for a while) do it.

[milod]

I guess specific guitars never reeeeeally got into my head. "Types," yes, but...

 

The only time I pretty much was like that was listening to Montoya do flamenco and wishing I had a flamenco guitar. But... what the heck.

 

m

[Murph]

Forums will help you with that problem......

 

Trust me.....

[Thundergod]

There are times I feel just that way, it fades away fast thank God!

[flyingarmadillo]

I guess specific guitars never reeeeeally got into my head. "Types," yes, but...

 

The only time I pretty much was like that was listening to Montoya do flamenco and wishing I had a flamenco guitar. But... what the heck.

 

m

 

 

I'm with you there about types. But, since I already had a Strat 12, I'm still trying to figure out if I bought the Ric 12 string before or after I went to see McGuinn play...

[dem00n]

Yeah i know how that feels...to much.

[milod]

I had a STella 12 I refinished to do Leadbelly/folkie stuff on. Dumped it in a two-guitar swap for a good quality classical. Shoulda kept it and electrified it even though the neck was fairly similar to the proverbial ax handle.

 

I had a Hagstrom solid body 12 but it never really was any sort of attempt to copy McGuin since I'd been playing 12 before I heard of the Byrds.

 

m

[ChanMan]

For me, it's pedals...

 

They keep making new ones, or re-releasing old ones, or putting ones I've never seen on Ebay.... or someone here will get one and do a demo....

 

I've got to get a grip.... :D

[charlie brown]

Forums will help you with that problem......

 

Trust me.....

 

 

LOL...yeah, help you with more GAS! Heck, I got back into playing,

because of nostalgia...missing it, etc. I rarely use, more than a

"Blues Junior," in any of the places I play, now...BUT, I still lust

after a Marshall (1/2 stack, at least), regardless. I'm 1/2 way there,

since getting a very clean (like new) 1960A Slant Cabinet. Just need to

find a ridiculously great deal, on a DSL 100 head, or some such. ;>)

 

Sick, maybe...but true! (Smile) So, you are not alone!!

 

CB

[TommyK]

Okay, K.Daddy.

 

What did you find on the 'Bay?

 

Go on, you can tell us. You are amongst friends.

[Andy R]

LOL...yeah, help you with more GAS! Heck, I got back into playing,

because of nostalgia...missing it, etc. I rarely use, more than a

"Blues Junior," in any of the places I play, now...BUT, I still lust

after a Marshall (1/2 stack, at least), regardless. I'm 1/2 way there,

since getting a very clean (like new) 1960A Slant Cabinet. Just need to

find a ridiculously great deal, on a DSL 100 head, or some such. ;>)

 

Sick, maybe...but true! (Smile) So, you are not alone!!

 

CB

 

 

OH NO!!!!!! Not a DSL Man!!!!!!!! After that 68 Major you had???? No Way! You at least gotta stay in the metal face Super Lead Realm! 50 watt JMP is minimum for you....

 

 

 

[retrosurfer1959]

Don't worry ksdaddy it could be worse you could really lose it and be buying old school busses and fixing run over wood pencils.

 

 

 

I think all us older guys do it and the kiddies will too when they get old enough to wish older simpler times were back and just think how many old guitars you have saved from ending up in dumpsters even some that maybe shouldn't have been saved

[ksdaddy]

Okay, K.Daddy.

 

What did you find on the 'Bay?

 

Go on, you can tell us. You are amongst friends.

 

Oh trust me, you guys would be the first to hear about any new discoveries. There's nothing on the bay I'm overpowered by.

 

I guess it's just all catching up to me that I can't make a guitar be some sort of magical portal to another era. We all dig old guitars and we will never stop lusting for them for whatever reason... it only needs to be justified to our individual nostalgia. I'm at the point where I've amassed too many guitars, sometimes trying to cover every facet of musical style, sometimes just plain hoarding, and more often than not (taxicab confession time)just for bragging rights.

 

Bragging rights cost too much and aren't gratifying.

 

Don't worry ksdaddy it could be worse you could really lose it and be buying old school busses and fixing run over wood pencils.

 

Or restoring an old Mosin-Nagant Bannerman conversion rifle someone found in the woods in similar condition to an anchor recovered from the Titanic. That's a work in progress.

[cookieman15061]

I think in some strange way that buying so many guitars is sort of replacing the thrill of being a working musician.

I really miss being a weekend warrior something terrible and would relish the opportunity to play with a band again.

 

I think that would serve to quiet some of my GAS. For me, the thrill of the hunt, the finding that guitar you've only dreamt about adrenaline is replacing the rush I got from playing live.

 

That and the fact that I can afford many more now than when I was playing consistently, just feeds the beast.

 

Weird but I've thought about this before but never told anyone.

[milod]

KSdaddy...

 

I thought I was the only guy on here who'd know about Bannerman. <grin>

 

What caliber was the Russian piece converted to, or was it?

 

......

 

Cookieman...

 

Yeah, I know what you're saying too. Getting back out to pick a bit is a dream. OTOH, I just had a talk with a friend who makes his living at it.

 

Between the new no-smoking even in saloon law and BMI's attacks around here, it appears the market for live music has dropped by at least 25 percent. I'd guess a bit more. Ditto the state's "lottery" machines. Revenues are down about 25 percent since the no-smoking law, so taxes will go up.

 

The one healthy place for live music is a cigar bar in Deadwood that, with a few other cigar bars, was grandfathered in under the law. They have live blues weekends.

 

m

[charlie brown]

OH NO!!!!!! Not a DSL Man!!!!!!!! After that 68 Major you had???? No Way! You at least gotta stay in the metal face Super Lead Realm! 50 watt JMP is minimum for you....

 

 

Whoa...struck a nerve, did I? Don't like DSL's, huh? LOL Hey, I'd love an old

"Major" head, or even a "Plexi" but they're too much money, used or re-issue, at

this point. When I save a bit more, I'll go looking in earnest. Right now, it's

only in the thinking/wondering about it, stage. ;>)

 

CB

[MrNylon]

Amps have more of a nostalgia drive for me. Have always had the, see what gear someone is using. I spend more time checking out amps than basses. Back then and now.

[ksdaddy]

KSdaddy...

 

I thought I was the only guy on here who'd know about Bannerman. <grin>

 

What caliber was the Russian piece converted to, or was it?

 

It was converted to 30.06 and wouldn't be safe to shoot on any day. It's my understanding the barrels won't take the pressure. This particular one was found... not known where, whether it was on the side of the road, in a barn, cellar, etc. It was one solid block of rust. The bolt was frozen shut, floor plate frozen.... just a big blob of scrap metal. I thought about hanging it on the wall as relic art but the bug got in my pants and I've been spraying it with penetrating oil. I got the bolt out this morning and stripped it. Lord God what a mess. Anybody else would walk away.

 

I will wire wheel the rust off it and polish it as best I can. The stock is chipped, gouged and cracked but I will clean it and oil it. I have no intention of firing it ever ever, but I will fire it remotely Mythbusters style with camcorder running. 30.06 with a 21" barrel, it should give a pretty good flash. Regardless if it blows up or not, I will have it documented on video.

 

I paid the princely sum of $20 for it so no loss and it is a challenge.

 

[charlie brown]

I think in some strange way that buying so many guitars is sort of replacing the thrill of being a working musician.

I really miss being a weekend warrior something terrible and would relish the opportunity to play with a band again.

 

I think that would serve to quiet some of my GAS. For me, the thrill of the hunt, the finding that guitar you've only dreamt about adrenaline is replacing the rush I got from playing live.

 

That and the fact that I can afford many more now than when I was playing consistently, just feeds the beast.

 

Weird but I've thought about this before but never told anyone.

 

Yeah, the more you play out, with rehearsals for that, and such...the less time you have, to

worry about more guitars...at least, that's been my experience. Only when I get bored, restless,

and spend too much time, here, or on the on-line music store websites, do I even think about new

gear. I point of fact, I could do 99% of what I do, musically, with a Telecaster

(or Strat, LP, SG, or 335 egiv), and a Ric-12 string! Two guitars, would cover it! So, why all the rest?

Other than the fact that I just love 'em...I haven't got a clue! ;>)

 

We are a Guitar company's "Wet Dream!"

 

CB

[charlie brown]

[charlie brown]

And no, I'm not about to give up my (already) acquired guitars. LOL

 

CB

[milod]

KS...

 

You might wanna start with something like a light load of a slower powder and a 110 gr bullet if you're gonna play with it. I can't remember exactly how the thing's put together.

 

I do know that some of the rifles of the WWI era had pretty mild steel that then in some instances at least were supposedly case hardened. Lousy things I'd not trust much.

 

m

[ksdaddy]

Oh it shant touch my shoulder when it goes off. I made a wooden jig to hold a rifle/shotgun and it's lashed into place quite securely. I tie a string onto the trigger and stand back several feet. I used it many times when I used to collect old military rifles, most of which had mismatched parts. In lieu of a headspace gauge I'd touch a couple rounds off and if the bolt opened and extracted the shell with no distortion it was good as far as I was concerned. The last time I used it was with an 1890s side by side 12 gauge that I ran a couple #4 Magnums through. Almost blew the jig apart but the shells came out fine. If I ever do use that old shotgun it will be with low brass bridshot so I deem it safe. I'll only put a couple rounds through the Nagant just to say I brought it back to life but it will be a wallhanger after that.