Gary
February 11th, 2009, 02:48 PM
Just found you guys last night and "hear" I am.
Some background: I've been playing guitar since I was 10, and now I've reached 55.
I've been more serious the past 11 years and even more serious the past 3 months. Yes I'm a late bloomer, and can finally play Little Wing!
I started my playing on an old Kay jazz box, with lipstick like hum-buckers, my brother set aside after he had his chance with it. I moved on to a who knows what electric. After years of plunking through "Wipe Out", "Gloria" and of course "House of the Rising Sun", I moved into years 19 through 21 with a "Norma hummingbird" acoustic and a '69 Gibson SG custom, (that I paid a whopping $150., and eventually traded for an Ovation Tornado. I really wanted that "!0 Years After" look and sound. Ended up selling the Ovation and giving up the ax for quite a while. Tried to resurrect my interest and purchased a "Sigma" acoustic, which my brother still has after trading to him for "I can't remember what".
Now I'm getting serious: I held a Takamine NP17-C and purchased it new about 10 years ago. It talked to me though it's Kowa/cedar body. I didn't put the thing down for 5 years and started writing songs immediately. From there I borrowed an Ibanez Bass from a friend and found new ways of playing guitar that still amaze me. I purchased an Ibanez 390 bass and a Yamaha Strat like copy to refinish.
I ended up trading the two for an '80's Epiphone Sheridan. Again, I just picked it up and it talked to me. Now I was over talking with this guy and under his couch I see a Fender case. In it was the nastiest Hamer guitar I've seen. It was black with rust and broken strings. I told him I'd buy it for $50., and he jumped at it. I took it home and looked it up on the net. It's a 1983 Hamer Phantom A-5. I stripped the black paint off to it's natural mahogany body and neck. The head stock has a veneer of curly maple, go figure. There was a lot of cleaning to do on the wiring and controls and some static from the pick guard. I had a friend slice a piece of bobinga to cover the pick guard and finished it to look as natural as possible. I made a new truss rod cover with a slice of curly black walnut for the head stock. Then I mounted a nice piece of turquoise to bring attention to the head stock. Fixed the action and thew on some .09 silver bullets. I will always keep this one oiled and in my collection.
This last Christmas I was in the market for something new and thought I was heading for a Les Paul, but after playing several, I leaned toward a Stratocaster. I ended up with an American mahogany HSS, which I am in love with.
I currently play through a Line-6 spider ll 1/12 75 watt amp which I plan to super size at some point. I would like something with 2/12's an at least 120 watts. Though I did play a concert at a 300 seat auditorium with a 30 watt Crate amp - 2 times. Hey, they said I could mic it, the liars. I chose the Line-6 for the weight (42 lbs), effects, speaker size and the $200. price tag when they were getting rid of the old stock.
I just refinished a 1984 Fender Japanese Strat to look like a new relic, and will age beautifully. I will eventually add pictures to this site.
I use a Boss looper, a DigiTech peddle with a whole lot of my own custom sounds and a Roland GR-20 synth for those added fill sounds.
I've done some live recording with a band a couple years ago and got hooked on the studio thing. I like to do guitar clinics to keep pushing me to try new things. I love the free lessons on YOUTUBE! I play my own stuff mainly, a jazzy, bluesy, acidic style with some slapping and popping added in when I find the zone. I used a pick sometimes and most of my fingers all the time. I dream of playing like Tuck, of Tuck and Patty.
If you made it this far, give me a shout. My name is Gary and I live in Colorado.
Some background: I've been playing guitar since I was 10, and now I've reached 55.
I've been more serious the past 11 years and even more serious the past 3 months. Yes I'm a late bloomer, and can finally play Little Wing!
I started my playing on an old Kay jazz box, with lipstick like hum-buckers, my brother set aside after he had his chance with it. I moved on to a who knows what electric. After years of plunking through "Wipe Out", "Gloria" and of course "House of the Rising Sun", I moved into years 19 through 21 with a "Norma hummingbird" acoustic and a '69 Gibson SG custom, (that I paid a whopping $150., and eventually traded for an Ovation Tornado. I really wanted that "!0 Years After" look and sound. Ended up selling the Ovation and giving up the ax for quite a while. Tried to resurrect my interest and purchased a "Sigma" acoustic, which my brother still has after trading to him for "I can't remember what".
Now I'm getting serious: I held a Takamine NP17-C and purchased it new about 10 years ago. It talked to me though it's Kowa/cedar body. I didn't put the thing down for 5 years and started writing songs immediately. From there I borrowed an Ibanez Bass from a friend and found new ways of playing guitar that still amaze me. I purchased an Ibanez 390 bass and a Yamaha Strat like copy to refinish.
I ended up trading the two for an '80's Epiphone Sheridan. Again, I just picked it up and it talked to me. Now I was over talking with this guy and under his couch I see a Fender case. In it was the nastiest Hamer guitar I've seen. It was black with rust and broken strings. I told him I'd buy it for $50., and he jumped at it. I took it home and looked it up on the net. It's a 1983 Hamer Phantom A-5. I stripped the black paint off to it's natural mahogany body and neck. The head stock has a veneer of curly maple, go figure. There was a lot of cleaning to do on the wiring and controls and some static from the pick guard. I had a friend slice a piece of bobinga to cover the pick guard and finished it to look as natural as possible. I made a new truss rod cover with a slice of curly black walnut for the head stock. Then I mounted a nice piece of turquoise to bring attention to the head stock. Fixed the action and thew on some .09 silver bullets. I will always keep this one oiled and in my collection.
This last Christmas I was in the market for something new and thought I was heading for a Les Paul, but after playing several, I leaned toward a Stratocaster. I ended up with an American mahogany HSS, which I am in love with.
I currently play through a Line-6 spider ll 1/12 75 watt amp which I plan to super size at some point. I would like something with 2/12's an at least 120 watts. Though I did play a concert at a 300 seat auditorium with a 30 watt Crate amp - 2 times. Hey, they said I could mic it, the liars. I chose the Line-6 for the weight (42 lbs), effects, speaker size and the $200. price tag when they were getting rid of the old stock.
I just refinished a 1984 Fender Japanese Strat to look like a new relic, and will age beautifully. I will eventually add pictures to this site.
I use a Boss looper, a DigiTech peddle with a whole lot of my own custom sounds and a Roland GR-20 synth for those added fill sounds.
I've done some live recording with a band a couple years ago and got hooked on the studio thing. I like to do guitar clinics to keep pushing me to try new things. I love the free lessons on YOUTUBE! I play my own stuff mainly, a jazzy, bluesy, acidic style with some slapping and popping added in when I find the zone. I used a pick sometimes and most of my fingers all the time. I dream of playing like Tuck, of Tuck and Patty.
If you made it this far, give me a shout. My name is Gary and I live in Colorado.