So My Son Wanted a New Guitar...

My youngest son (19) is visiting with us on leave from the Army.  We helped him buy a new car (well new to him, It's a 2005 Toyota Camry) and he and his mother are going to drive it back to Kentucky in a few days.  Yesterday while I was at work he texted me and asked me if I would help him pick out a new guitar (he had been playing an old worn out Ovation Celebrity I have had since the early 1990's).  He wanted another acoustic, but a full-bodied one.  So I sent him some links so he could see prices and not have total sticker shock.
Today we both spent about 2 hours in Guitar Center just playing dozens of acoustic guitars....he really only wanted to spend about $200, but I told him that if he was willing to spend just another hundred he could get a substantially better sounding guitar and I would buy him a hard shell case (for another $100). 
Well I don't know how it happened but a guitar jumped in my lap and decided it wanted to go home with me!  I told my wife that's what she gets from not chaperoning us at the music store.  I haven't touched a guitar in at least 10 years (maybe closer to 12).  This should be interesting.

Very nice!  Congrats to you both!

Gary's new album will be out in 5 months!

alldatndensum wrote:

Gary's new album will be out in 5 months!

  You're too funny.
I'm actually having trouble remembering quite a few of the open chords that used to come to me easy.  I was a little surprised that I actually remembered two of the pentatonic scale patterns (even though I played them like garbage), and I could actually manage to strum the chord progression to "Knockin On Heaven's Door".  It' will be interesting to see how quick it comes back to me, and if I can remember any of the half-a-dozen songs I wrote (mostly in the 90's).  Dang my finger-tips hurt. 

Sore finger tips are part of the bargain.  Keep pushing!

This is cool!

Well that is awesome! And good choice in guitars! I recently bought the same Fender acoustic that you did Gary. Love it. Didn't break the bank and it sounds great!

Guitar Center is my favorite store.

Followed by Cabela's.

Then, dare I say.... Wal-Mart.

Very nice and nice shirt. Need to break out some Junkyard now.

JLE3 wrote:

Well that is awesome! And good choice in guitars! I recently bought the same Fender acoustic that you did Gary. Love it. Didn't break the bank and it sounds great!

Guitar Center is my favorite store.

Followed by Cabela's.

Then, dare I say.... Wal-Mart.

We had a Cabela's near us for about two years until it closed.  We had it, penis's Sporting Goods, and an Academy Sports all together in Mt. Juliet.  There is a huge Bass Pro at Opry Mills in Nashville.

I prefer Academy.  Their prices on firearms and amm just seemed better to me.

Gary will soon be joining Nickelback at their acoustic shows.

JLE3 wrote:

Well that is awesome! And good choice in guitars! I recently bought the same Fender acoustic that you did Gary. Love it. Didn't break the bank and it sounds great!

Guitar Center is my favorite store.

Followed by Cabela's.

Then, dare I say.... Wal-Mart.

I must have played 20 different guitars over an hour-and-a-half but just kept going back to that one and a really good sounding Yamaha.  I was really a toss-up between the two, but I couldn't bring myself to buy a Yamaha no matter how good it sounded.  I wanted something with a nice feel on the neck and a full deep sound (and a cut-away).  I played a Mitchell that was gorgeous and played really well but it was one of those thin body acoustics and it sounded kind of thin (like my old Ovation celebrity did).  In the end I got that great sounding Fender for like $400.  In reality I wanted the Taylor I was fooling around with when I first got there....but it didn't seem very responsible (as an amateur) to blow $1500 on an acoustic guitar....especially since it's unlikely I would ever even record with it or play for much of any audience. 

Black Rider wrote:

Very nice and nice shirt. Need to break out some Junkyard now.

Love me some Junkyard!  

Through The Dark Radio wrote:

Gary will soon be joining Nickelback at their acoustic shows.

Ummm, no....probably not. 

alldatndensum wrote:

JLE3 wrote:

Well that is awesome! And good choice in guitars! I recently bought the same Fender acoustic that you did Gary. Love it. Didn't break the bank and it sounds great!

Guitar Center is my favorite store.

Followed by Cabela's.

Then, dare I say.... Wal-Mart.

We had a Cabela's near us for about two years until it closed.  We had it, penis's Sporting Goods, and an Academy Sports all together I. my. Juliet.  There is a huge Bass Pro at Opry Mills in Nashville.

I prefer Academy.  Their prices on firearms and amm just seemed better to me.

Hee hee "Penis Sporting Goods"  We have D-i-c-k's around here as well, horribly overpriced for sports equipment though.

alldatndensum wrote:

JLE3 wrote:

Well that is awesome! And good choice in guitars! I recently bought the same Fender acoustic that you did Gary. Love it. Didn't break the bank and it sounds great!

Guitar Center is my favorite store.

Followed by Cabela's.

Then, dare I say.... Wal-Mart.

We had a Cabela's near us for about two years until it closed.  We had it, penis's Sporting Goods, and an Academy Sports all together in Mt. Juliet.  There is a huge Bass Pro at Opry Mills in Nashville.

I prefer Academy.  Their prices on firearms and amm just seemed better to me.

Yeah Cabela's prices on firearms are way out of line. but since they have just about everything there it's a good place to check stuff out, see how it feels, etc. Then there is a local gun shop about two miles from my house where he orders whatever I want and it's always at least $50 cheaper than Cabela's. I can usually find ammo reasonably priced at Cabela's though. We have a huge Cabela's about an hour away from me in Hamburg, Pa. it's always a neat little trip going there because they have so much gear there. And there is a military surplus store next to it that I always go to. Last time I was there my daughter begged me to get her a Russian civilian gas mask. LOL... so of course I did

Staybrite wrote:

JLE3 wrote:

Well that is awesome! And good choice in guitars! I recently bought the same Fender acoustic that you did Gary. Love it. Didn't break the bank and it sounds great!

Guitar Center is my favorite store.

Followed by Cabela's.

Then, dare I say.... Wal-Mart.

I must have played 20 different guitars over an hour-and-a-half but just kept going back to that one and a really good sounding Yamaha.  I was really a toss-up between the two, but I couldn't bring myself to buy a Yamaha no matter how good it sounded.  I wanted something with a nice feel on the neck and a full deep sound (and a cut-away).  I played a Mitchell that was gorgeous and played really well but it was one of those thin body acoustics and it sounded kind of thin (like my old Ovation celebrity did).  In the end I got that great sounding Fender for like $400.  In reality I wanted the Taylor I was fooling around with when I first got there....but it didn't seem very responsible (as an amateur) to blow $1500 on an acoustic guitar....especially since it's unlikely I would ever even record with it or play for much of any audience. 

Dude I did the same exact thing. I spent an hour there playing all of their acoustic guitars. There was no way I was buying a Yamaha guitar regardless of how it sounded. I seriously said that to myself. I just think dirt bikes when I hear Yamaha. I don't associate them with great sounding guitars. I kept looking up at the $1,500 guitars on the top shelf thinking my wife would kill me if I brought one of them home. Then I decided on the Fender. It was a good choice.

JLE3 wrote:

Staybrite wrote:

JLE3 wrote:

Well that is awesome! And good choice in guitars! I recently bought the same Fender acoustic that you did Gary. Love it. Didn't break the bank and it sounds great!

Guitar Center is my favorite store.

Followed by Cabela's.

Then, dare I say.... Wal-Mart.

I must have played 20 different guitars over an hour-and-a-half but just kept going back to that one and a really good sounding Yamaha.  I was really a toss-up between the two, but I couldn't bring myself to buy a Yamaha no matter how good it sounded.  I wanted something with a nice feel on the neck and a full deep sound (and a cut-away).  I played a Mitchell that was gorgeous and played really well but it was one of those thin body acoustics and it sounded kind of thin (like my old Ovation celebrity did).  In the end I got that great sounding Fender for like $400.  In reality I wanted the Taylor I was fooling around with when I first got there....but it didn't seem very responsible (as an amateur) to blow $1500 on an acoustic guitar....especially since it's unlikely I would ever even record with it or play for much of any audience. 

Dude I did the same exact thing. I spent an hour there playing all of their acoustic guitars. There was no way I was buying a Yamaha guitar regardless of how it sounded. I seriously said that to myself. I just think dirt bikes when I hear Yamaha. I don't associate them with great sounding guitars. I kept looking up at the $1,500 guitars on the top shelf thinking my wife would kill me if I brought one of them home. Then I decided on the Fender. It was a good choice.

Oh man, small world. 
And Yamaha makes me think of mass-produced motorcycles and keyboards...and $50 Sears catalog acoustic guitars.  I just can't bring myself to equate that name with equality.

Play "Stairway" !!

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

Play "Stairway" !!

Oh man I would probably loose my mind playing that ad nauseam in an attempt to memorize it.
Besides, it's not allowed.