Another guitar- but still only 2

Well, Carol will call me a guitar whore, again, I suppose, but I bought another guitar on Saturday. The Fender Stratacoustic that I bought a few months back went to my buddy Loc's son, Tom since he wanted to learn to play and I wasn't loving that guitar all that much. But I found another guitar to love last week while out hitting the pawn shops for a 2nd hand tool chest and on Saturday I went back and bought a Ovation Celebrity acoustic/electric.

The guitar looks like its brand new, no scratches, no dings or other wear marks and it came with a solid, sturdy hard case. Its beautiful to look at and sounds very sweet with the exception of the shortcomings of this unqualified operator. But I got a very good deal on the package and all I need to do now is spend the hours learning to play. I did spend a few hours yesterday re-stringing both my guitars and practicing out in the shop which was really pleasurable.

So many new skills to learn...

Guitar shopping!

[Here's the post I have been unsuccesfully trying to get posted from home. Hopefully this will work...]
That was all day Saturday and what fun it was. Of course, it wasn't shopping for another guitar for me but for My Friend Vicki. MFV is the mom to Noah's old girlfriend and an English professor at our local Weber State U, just down the street. We got aquainted through the kids and over the years we have gone hiking and to baseball games together and I helped with some landscaping projects in her yard as well.

And every now & then we get together over coffee just to catch up and visit, which is what we did Friday afternoon. During our chat I disclosed my newfound love of (trying) to make music on my guitar. Turns out Vicki is a guitar player with much better skills than mine and she was excited about my efforts. Heck, she immediately wanted to build a repertoire of songs so we could start performing together at the local coffee houses!

Anyway, we ended up in my backyard with my 2 guitars and she gave a better lesson in an hour than I've received from the lady I was paying since February! We had a great time and she schooled me quite efficiently and thoroughly and we are going to do it again regularly.

Saturday morning she rang me up early and wanted to know if I wanted to go guitar shopping. Seems that the guitar she owns had either grown larger or her arms had grown smaller because it just didn't fit her comfortably as she tried to practice. And she wanted a new guitar... So of course I tagged along, just for fun to see what she might find.

We went to Guitar Center first where she quickly became nearly overwhelmed with the exotic choices in their acoustic room but after a bit found 2 guitars that she couldn't choose between, this Eric Clapton signature Martinand this equally nice Gibson guitar. In the end, the Gibson's color didn't impress her and she didn't like the rather muted sound of the Martin so we left empty handed and headed to the other 2 guitar stores in town.

At Bert Murdock's we found more guitars but a much more reasonable price range, at least for my tastes. And there was an Ibanez there that she loved the sound of and that the store would be willing to discount because of a very small scratch on the front. The linked guitar isn't exactly the model she liked but I can't find a link to the model she seleced with the satin finish and the inlaid wood ivy vine on the neck and mother-of-pearl inlay around the sound hole. She didn't buy it the first time because she wanted lunch and to visit the 3rd store in town, both of which we did- had lunch and visited Music Village. Nothing there really grabbed her and in the mean time that very pretty Ibanez had been soaking into her brain.

We talked. I suggested going back and dickering for a better deal on the Ibanez. The tiny scratch certainly wasn't a show stopper and took the pressure off her for the first, inevitable scratch. She liked the looks and the sound, especially after I had plugged her into a nearby amplifier.

We went back, she dickered, the manager counter-offered and then sold her the guitar, a hard case at the agreed price and a new set of premium strings at half price, then installed the strings as part of a very reasonable deal.

Later we went off to a women's league hockey match where another friend was competing and finally I got home about supper time. What fun!

I didn't buy any new guitars but I have to say that I was tempted to replace my beautiful blue Ibanez that I bought just a few months ago. I saw its twin brother that received an Emerald City paint job that is really a knock out. The picture at the link truly doesn't do the color justice, its just fabulous and I've always loved green colors. I won't be swapping but if the green model would have been on the hook when I was shopping, I'd have it instead of the blue one.

Now I just have to figure out what's wrong with my Blogger connection at home!

Potato chips, guns and guitars-

What do they all have in common? Its simple, one is never enough! That's right, just like Lays potato chips, you can't just have one. And now I have two! I bought a second guitar last week, from a local pawn shop.

Its a looks-like-brand-new, Fender Stratacoustic. It looks just like the one at the link except there's no pick guard. Its an acoustic with electronics built in so it can be used amplified and it has a skinny neck like any Fender electric guitar. It has a small body and a fiberglass, moulded back and its smaller than a typical acoustic guitar. Its lighter than my Ibanez and easier to transport so I think it will be my "go-to-class" guitar and that will help me keep my beautiful blue Ibanez from getting scratched and dinged.

I really like it and I'm splitting my practice between both guitars. The Fender does have a little better tone than my Ibanez when both are unplugged due to the greater body volume and sound hole shapes. But I love them both and I'm really pleased with my new toys and hobby. I can play Yankee Doodle almost without looking at the music and I've learned Love Me Tender and tonight I started working on Amazing Grace.

Chords are still pretty hard...

Thursday Three Time!

It's an "On the Fly" edition this morning--no time yesterday or this morning to do any sort of deep thought or induce any cleverness into the process, so here's you a slapdash, thrown-together-at-the-last-moment set of questions, guaranteed to be neither entertaining nor insightful!
Everyone is free to play along, of course, although you might not want to. But go ahead anyway just to stay in practice.

ANYWAY-

1) What is the last product you recommended to a friend?

In my case, I think the last thing I recommended to a friend wasn't a product but a service; guitar lessons, in this case, to my friend and fellow blogger, Carol. She was looking for a new opportunity for aggravation and so I invited her to join me for group guitar lessons. We did attend last Thursday and since its Thursday again, there's another lesson tonight. I'm afraid I might have steered Carol wrong with this particular music teacher and group though since I wasn't too impressed by the first episode. This instructor teaches kids almost exclusively, and her music room is cramped and overflowing with stands and instruments and sheet music. The chairs are too close together, there's no place for coats or cases and it is generally a mess. One of the kids belongs to the instructor so he knows a little more than the others and he can't be shut up from showing off his knowledge of everything in the room. Another (really) youngster sat there with his guitar on his lap, a blank look on his face and not so much as a single clue why his mother had dragged him into this house. Based upon appearances, there must be a LDS Sunday School merit badge for learning guitar at an early age. I wasn't too impressed with the first lesson but I'm paid up through February so unless it becomes too painful, I'll keep going.

2) What is your favorite section of the grocery store?

The fresh produce section is my favorite section, for the bright colors and textures of the selections. Like Terry, we don't carry home too many of those exotic veggies but they are pretty to look at. I also enjoy reading the information pages about the different fruits and veggies that are available. The base commisary where we shop has an automated cooling spray system that announces its pending wetness with recorded thunder sounds and lightning flashes of stobe lights. It’s a little unnerving the first time it happens, if you aren't aware. Now its just entertaining. I'm pretty certain they should implement recorded animal sounds above the various meat sections as well, just for fun.

3) Joe Biden--lunatic, or idiot?

Yes. Of course here at WE there is another name I apply to people like Joe, its Dumbass!

Another nice weekend-

Sometimes its just really nice to have a weekend without too many tasks and requirements. This weekend was one of those for me. Its been wonderful.

Friday night was a movie date with the spouse, a creepy, suspense drama, Notes on a Scandal. We both really enjoyed this story and if you like drama films, this one is a dandy.

Saturday I got to stay home most of the day except for a few errands for myself. I spent most of the afternoon working on the Suzuki and by supper time it was running! It didn't start up immediately when I hit the button but it didn't smoke any of the wires that had been disconnected over the past few weeks either. I figure that's a success story in itself! Anyway, with some old fuel drained out of the float bowls and a little starter fluid, it was running!

I do still have to take the fuel tank off and drain it to remove some floaties inside that appear to be a previously installed rust prevention coating that is failing and coming loose inside the tank.

Today it was a glorious day for skiing in the mountains and that's what I did with son Kye. It was warm and sunny and the snow, even though its only half as deep as it should be, was soft and fast. Kye took me out through the trees this afternoon and I followed him all day even though I don't normally venture into the trees. But we had a great time on a wonderful winter afternoon.

Supper tonight was sandwiches at Village Inn, kind of early and then back home. I talked to Mom for quite a while, she's doing great and well recovered from her heart surgery. She is getting cardio rehab 3 days per week and walking the outdoor track around the local hockey rink 3 more days each week. Mom's walking 2 miles in 40 minutes each time she goes to the track and feeling very good. She is driving and resuming most of her usual activities around the house. She really sounds very good compared to how sick she was back in October and November.

I also talked to Dad tonight for so long that I worried about my cell phone's battery dieing! It didn't and we had a great chat about everything and nothing at all. Dad's active in his church and serving as a Trustee and what a challenge it is! I'm glad he's able to manage all the folks wanting things done just their way and all the meetings that are required.

Finally tonight I was able to spend at least an hour practicing on my guitar. I can just almost scratch out a song using 2 strings and 6 notes. I still have trouble keeping track of which notes I'm supposed to be playing but my efforts are beginning to sound like a little something.

Now its time for bed and snuggling my Sweetie!

Would it be bad-

if I just wanted to go home and play with my new guitar? I really am distracted by the desire to go home and make some sounds with that thing.

Friend Kenny at Coffee in the Morning and his spousal unit called in apathetic this morning so he could go buy lottery tickets. Can't I skip a day of work to play with my new toy?

I got my birthday present tonight!

Ok, its a few days early for my birthday but I got my present tonight and I am so thrilled. I said for my New Years resolution that this year I wanted to learn to make music and now, I have the tool to do so! It is an Ibanez Artcore, hollow body, electric guitar. Click the "enlarge" button to see the transparent blue sunburst model, that's the one now taking up residence in my family room.

I really like this thing! I bought a Marshall amplifier, some picks and an instruction book to go with my new toy. Tomorrow I make the phone calls to find a live instructor.

Tonight I spent an hour playing with this shiny guitar and my laptop and the DVD of instruction. The guitar sounds great but I have got lots to learn! Because its a hollow body it can be played unplugged just fine and I did that most of the time tonight. I did have to plug in in for a few minutes just to hear what it sounded like and it sounds just fine.

Later I'll take a picture or two but for tonight you will just have to be content with the Guitar Center link pictures. And I'm on my way towards being creative! Lest anyone despair, I'm not giving up on becoming a dulcimer player, I'm just branching into a new direction with the expectation that the skills I learn from guitar lessons will carry over to my laptop instrument!