bonzoboy Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 This morning I took almost all of the money that I was saving to buy myself a Rickenbacker and went to Reid Music to buy either a good guitar or amp for my cousin's incredibly talented grandson.He's the 11 year old that played in front of a crowd of seasoned musicians with a cheap,beat-up,old acoustic guitar and with less than two years playing under his belt, made jaws drop. I made my mind up then and there that I was going to do something to nurture and encourage him to play and practice even more.Anyway I was having a very hard time trying to decide between a beautiful Butterscotch Infinity Tele or a great little Vox VT-20 Valvetronix amp.The amp has 33 models and 22 very realistic effects too.The amp also has a 12AX7 tube in the power amp section as opposed to the pre-amp section of most other amps,which is responsible for giving it an even more tube-like tone that is much more realistic than almost all other hybrid amps.Anyway I ended up buying both as I figured that would set him up for several years of playing and at 20W the amp would even be OK for his first small gigs.I used only a 5W Paul amp when I started gigging until I had saved up enough to buy a 20W no-name piggy back amp with 2-12s that looked like it was probably made by Silvertone.I look at this as money well spent as with the condition I have in my hands and arms I probably wouldn't be able to play the Rick anyway as this seems to be degenerative.I figuresd that I'd nourish this little guy's God-given talent,and let him carry on the family tradition of guitar playing as he is now the 4th generation of guitarists in the family.I could never find someone as talented and with such an intensity for learning and love of the guitar as this little guy has so I am going to do everything that I possibly can to nurture his talent and help it grow.I hope that he's as gravitated to Jimi Hendrix as the rest of us are as my nephew and a couple of my cousins are Hendrix freaks and one actually does a lot of Hendrix covers in his sets,much like I did. Whenever my nephew plays people always shout out for him to play Hendrix as he does killer covers of his songs too,so I hope that that love of Jimi's music and playing is in his blood too.Some day soon I'm going to pick up some Hendrix CDs and DVDs for him just to see if it can create some kind of spark in him,somehow I think that it will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Namvet Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 I applaud your noble gesture. +1 from me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quapman Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 +1 from me too. Fund gutted for a very worthy cause. I'm sure he will never forget your generous and inspiring gift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderchild Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 What a fantastic legacy to leave . Bonzo, what you have done for that young man goes beyond my meager words. I'm sure the gift will be cherished for years to come. It sounds like your treatments are falling short of expectations, that hurts my heart, but I will continue to pray for you. God bless you for your heart. TC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinh Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Good on yer man. I've given away some decent instrument to nephews, friends kids, etc, and seldom regretted it. I still remember staring in to the window of the local music store at age 15, when a Les Paul cost $450, and I was making about $2 a day at my Saturday Job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinh Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 OOOPS Double post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 I love this story. Nicely done Bonzo, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincentw Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 I thought you had meant to say: Gutted Rickenbacher Find. Good for you!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 How about some pics and a video clip... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Really good...I hope we can hear/see some of his playing, though maybe not yet...from what you've written so far I'm sure we will. So...cousin's grandson...that means you're a great uncle?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellion102792 Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Awesome, bet he'll go on to do big things +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonzoboy Posted August 26, 2012 Author Share Posted August 26, 2012 This afternoon I brought his new Butterscotch Tele and Vox VT-20 to his home and he didn't know what to say,all he could keep saying was thankyou as he really doesn't know me and the first time he met me was at the family reunion about a month ago.He told his mom that "It's just like Christmas." I know I made the right decision in getting him the amp and guitar as I know that he'll never quit playing because he has the same intensity and dedication that I had/have for it.He was somewhat daunted by the amp because the Valvetronix series of amps are so versatile and loaded with features that the owner's manual is more like a novel.Once that you get used to the programming of the amp-especially with the optional foot controller-you can replicate the tone of many popular amps and popular hit songs and store them in the memory banks for easy retrieval.I took some pix but since my computer skills are the poops I'll have to wait for my computer savy buddy to come by and post them.I wish that I lived nearer to him than a 1 1/2 hour drive away because then I could give him some instruction other than what he's getting from his lessons. BTW his teacher teaches him and his older brother but charges a lot more to teach him because he's a lefty-that's the first that I've heard of such a thing and I think that it's pretty ridulous and that he's just chistling money from the young guy's mother.If his teacher has trouble showing him because he's a southpaw,he shouldn't be giving lessons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanH Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 A fantastic gesture indeed! Great stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CowboyBillyBob1 Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 This afternoon I brought his new Butterscotch Tele and Vox VT-20 to his home and he didn't know what to say,all he could keep saying was thankyou as he really doesn't know me and the first time he met me was at the family reunion about a month ago.He told his mom that "It's just like Christmas." I know I made the right decision in getting him the amp and guitar as I know that he'll never quit playing because he has the same intensity and dedication that I had/have for it.He was somewhat daunted by the amp because the Valvetronix series of amps are so versatile and loaded with features that the owner's manual is more like a novel.Once that you get used to the programming of the amp-especially with the optional foot controller-you can replicate the tone of many popular amps and popular hit songs and store them in the memory banks for easy retrieval.I took some pix but since my computer skills are the poops I'll have to wait for my computer savy buddy to come by and post them.I wish that I lived nearer to him than a 1 1/2 hour drive away because then I could give him some instruction other than what he's getting from his lessons. BTW his teacher teaches him and his older brother but charges a lot more to teach him because he's a lefty-that's the first that I've heard of such a thing and I think that it's pretty ridulous and that he's just chistling money from the young guy's mother.If his teacher has trouble showing him because he's a southpaw,he shouldn't be giving lessons. What a fantastic and generous gesture on your part! It really touches my heart. I have taught friends how to play and one in particular was left handed and it was not any more difficult to teach him than anyone else. In fact he got so good he started showing me stuff. His teacher is a parasite as far as I am concerned. In any case Kudo's to you. Karma has a way of working and good things will happen to you as a result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rabs Vista Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 Wow. You have a lucky nephew! I hope some good karma comes back your way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonzoboy Posted August 26, 2012 Author Share Posted August 26, 2012 I'm going to look further into who this unscrupulous teacher is-he operates out of a music dealer so I believe that most likely he's charging more unbeknownst to the dealer and pocketing the difference to sweeten his pot no doubt.Anyway I'm going to get to the bottom of this because they charged an astronomical amount for a lefty Jay Turser POS Strat copy when I got the Fender Infinity Tele for almost $100 less.I guess she figured that since the lefty guitar costs more,then lessons for a lefty cost more.Shysters like that need to be identified and publicly humiliated.I'm going to steer her to Reid music because these guys are no doubt better teachers than this hack anyway.I wish I lived handier to him because I'd give him lessons and wouldn't charge him a cent-after all that's what family is for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdntac Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 It's certainly rewarding doing something like that. In the spring of 2009 I met a young girl in my wife's music class who, for whatever reason, developed a bond with me (I will go into my wife's class and help her when she does guitar the last few months of school). She was a talented, very keen young girl who was showing some great potential. I spoke to her mother one day and she was having some concerns about how she was going to do in grade 9 with her grades. So we came up with a solution: I'd give her a guitar lesson once a month provided that she maintain a certain average in school amongst other things (she could lose a lesson for getting a detention, failing a test, etc but could also earn extra lessons by doing great in school). She's never lost a lesson but has earned extras. This has been working fantastically since Sept 2009. She's now approaching 17 and has become the closest thing to a daughter I'll ever have. Sometime in the spring of 2010, instead of doing a lesson that month, my wife and I took her to a nearby guitar shop where she could try many different guitars --- something she had never done before. She was trying to save $$ to buy her own instead of using her brother's acoustic but didn't know what she wanted. She settled on a Fender Sonoram (slim neck which fit her hand well) and started saving money. I waited a few weeks and went back to the store and purchased it for her. I made her pay about 1/3 of it and my wife and I paid for the rest. I think it's the best $$ we've ever spent. She is always participating in school functions --- playing her guitar and singing at assemblies or parent events. I was even able to get her to go on a televised talent show. She didn't win but it was a great experience for her. She was somewhat shy and lacked some confidence a few years ago but now she's come out of her shell and the mother attributes it to the guitar. So yes, helping kids by simply giving them a guitar sure can do wonders. Rewarding for both parties.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Californiaman Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 That's great! Get that boy playing and keep him playing. Hope to see some video soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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