The first guitar I ever played

[progrmr]

Yep - just a youngin' - probably 8 years old. My grandfather ("Pop") taught me to play Red River Valley one afternoon. Poor guy, he was definitely patient. And even though he rarely played, learning that song sparked a love for the guitar that I still enjoy.

Pop died in 2009 and I was given his guitar - haven't done much with it. Cleaned the neck, polished the body a bit although the paint is cracking all over the place. Polished the frets and just restrung it yesterday. I was going to put it in a display case and hang it on the wall, but I figure Pop would prefer that it be played while it can.

Harmony Monterey, year unknown, archtop acoustic. I've been working on some finger picking but I think it's a bit too quiet. I'll probably work on an acoustic this weekend. Plus the tuning keys on this old guitar barely turn anymore lol! Not to mention the action is sky high and there's no truss rod in this baby.

Here's some pics:

[Beerman***]

That's cool. I woke up one Christmas morning when I was about the same age and got a Sear's electric guitar. Not even sure what they called it then but I knew it wasn't the best but neither was I. Had that thing for a few years before I could prove that I was worthy of the parents spending money on another one.

[otaypanky***]

Cool! Nice memories go along with that Harmony too, eh?

My 'first' had a crank and mouse ears, (think Mickey).
Next came this Gene Autry model made by Emenee.
Then for my 10th birthday I got a few lessons on a Stella acoustic that my folks rented for me.
Thanks mom and dad

[oldguy]

Nice stories and pics. The Harmony and Emenee are both great. Thanks for sharing those with us.

[Brian Krashpad]

I still have the first acoustic I played. My dads no-name MIJ, that he picked up there while in the Navy. My dad brought home instruments and said that any kid that learned how to play them could have them. He had a Mel Bay guitar book, and that was all I needed.

The six-string below:

[Spudman***]

Man, that Harmony has history written all over it. I often wonder if those old guitars were easily playable or not. I know the modern equipment has really spoiled me. Maybe that is why nobody was shredding a long time ago.

[pictoratus]

When I was about 10, I got a guitar like this for my birthday that year.



This isn't the guitar I got but looks just like it. It came from Western Auto and was made in Japan by Kay, I believe. It came with a little practice amp.

I never did too much with it and when I got serious about playing I switched to bass. Funny thing is, my first bass was made by Kay also.

[sunvalleylaw]

Cool vintage gits, guys! That red Kay is kinda cool looking!

[progrmr]

Yea that Kay definitely needs to be in my stable

[ZMAN]

Mine was a Yamaha G50 Classical guitar with nylon strings. My dad was a drummer and wanted to start learning guitar. He signed up for lessons and the guitar was part of the deal. He never went past 3 lessons but kept the guitar. It was hard to play but got me a start on pickin! My first electric was a Saturn in bright green burst. It was shaped like a fiddle bass. My wife got it for me at Eatons department store. It was horrible. I immediately went out and bought a knock off SG by a new company no one had heard of then. A Spanish sounding name, Ibanez. This was 1968. On second thought I think it was more like 1970. The Sg was one of the lawsuit copies and had a bolt on neck. I wish I still had it. I sold it and bought a Gibson SG.