longcat
New member
hello all. i'm a total n00b. when i say that, i mean a complete n00b...not just to this forum, but to the guitar world in general. this is my story. maybe it's more like a novel. but it includes pix of what will become a new guitar for me, so like me, it has at least a couple redeeming qualities.
i've always wanted to play, since i was a kid. i begged my parents for a guitar starting at the age of 10 after being mesmerized by the video for smashing pumpkins' disarm. they finally obliged at christmas when i was 13 with an uber-cheapie acoustic, a guitar pitch pipe, a pack of picks, and a POS "guitar grade 1" book, and told me if i really had the talent and desire, i could teach myself with those materials. a few months later they gave me a book of siamese dream sheet music and a cheap case (so i wouldn't have to store it in the box) for my birthday. the new book also had tabs, but they were meaningless to me because i had no idea what they were and the POS grade 1 book didn't tell me. back then i had no access to teh interwebz either, and nobody to ask. i labored on my own with these materials for quite a while, without really learning how to play squat because i never could read music without cheating, even back then. i stopped after about four years of on-again-off-again working at it because of school and general frustration. by the time i had easy access to internet in college, it never occurred to me to research stuff online. i still lugged that damn cheapie guitar with me everywhere i went...it lived under my bed in my dorm at college, i took it with me when i moved 1000 miles away for grad school. the cheap case got totally covered in stickers over the years. i always swore i'd learn to play it if it was the last thing i ever did.
well i never did learn to play THAT one. when i met my musician dude early last year, he convinced me i wasn't too old to learn if i wanted to still, so i started trying to noodle on it again with his remote guidance. (there was 400 miles between us at the time.) i still had so. much. trouble. the damn thing wouldn't stay in tune longer than 10 minutes and i couldn't play a single chord cleanly on it. i was starting to tell myself that maybe i'd never learn, that i just wasn't cut out for it. finally, during a visit, my dude took a look at it and said, "well no wonder you're having trouble. the top is warped, the bridge is popping off, and the action is WAY too high." huh? lol. i know what all that means now, but i didn't at the time. i guess that's what happens to a super cheap acoustic over 15 years without any kind of humidity control. he helped me pick out a somewhat cheap yamaha that weekend and it was like night and day, playing the cheapie vs sunny. (that's what i named him. i know it's dumb, but it's what i do. every car i've owned had a name too.) that was over a year ago. now my two-year-old makes noise on the super cheapie, and i'm thinking of turning the cheap case into wall art.
anyway, i've been lurking here for a little while since my dude frequents this place. every thread i read is a learning experience, and i pester him with questions. i know basic terminology and a handful of chords, and i'm still slow and sloppy when i play. but this stuff is fascinating and i love it. i've been "borrowing" my dude's 335 to noodle on a bit, and i guess he got annoyed or something because he decided it's time for me to have my own electric, which i'm ok with because the 335 suits him way better than me. (he's not really annoyed...he actually thinks it's cool. i just like to break his stones since i'm sure he'll read this.) he had me "try on" guitars a week or so ago to see what i find to be comfortable and sourced some parts that'll get a sound similar to some of my favorite music, so i get to help him build my very first strat. on friday he found a metallic blue MIJ body and a MIM 50s reissue neck for me, since fatter necks are more comfortable for my hand/fingers. just today he bought a pre-wired black pearloid pickguard with red/silver/blue lace sensors. these are pix from the auctions, since he just bought everything and they haven't arrived yet.
it'll be fun. i'm pretty handy, so i'm looking forward to building it with him. kinda glad the pickguard is pre-wired though, seeing as i've never even so much as held a soldering iron. my dude knows how to do all that though, so i'm sure i'll learn at some point. and he'll just have to get over the possibility of me painting or putting stickers or decals on the finished product. what can i say? i'm a girl and i like pretty things, especially unique pretty things, and just because it's taken me this long to learn anything musical doesn't mean i don't have any artistic talent at all. don't worry, i'll make it tasteful if i do it. i hope.
anyway, that's my (rather long and wordy) story. i apologize in advance if i sound a bit (or a LOT) like an idiot if/when i chime in around here. maybe someday i'll actually know what i'm talking about for real. (i'm kidding. sort of.)
i've always wanted to play, since i was a kid. i begged my parents for a guitar starting at the age of 10 after being mesmerized by the video for smashing pumpkins' disarm. they finally obliged at christmas when i was 13 with an uber-cheapie acoustic, a guitar pitch pipe, a pack of picks, and a POS "guitar grade 1" book, and told me if i really had the talent and desire, i could teach myself with those materials. a few months later they gave me a book of siamese dream sheet music and a cheap case (so i wouldn't have to store it in the box) for my birthday. the new book also had tabs, but they were meaningless to me because i had no idea what they were and the POS grade 1 book didn't tell me. back then i had no access to teh interwebz either, and nobody to ask. i labored on my own with these materials for quite a while, without really learning how to play squat because i never could read music without cheating, even back then. i stopped after about four years of on-again-off-again working at it because of school and general frustration. by the time i had easy access to internet in college, it never occurred to me to research stuff online. i still lugged that damn cheapie guitar with me everywhere i went...it lived under my bed in my dorm at college, i took it with me when i moved 1000 miles away for grad school. the cheap case got totally covered in stickers over the years. i always swore i'd learn to play it if it was the last thing i ever did.
well i never did learn to play THAT one. when i met my musician dude early last year, he convinced me i wasn't too old to learn if i wanted to still, so i started trying to noodle on it again with his remote guidance. (there was 400 miles between us at the time.) i still had so. much. trouble. the damn thing wouldn't stay in tune longer than 10 minutes and i couldn't play a single chord cleanly on it. i was starting to tell myself that maybe i'd never learn, that i just wasn't cut out for it. finally, during a visit, my dude took a look at it and said, "well no wonder you're having trouble. the top is warped, the bridge is popping off, and the action is WAY too high." huh? lol. i know what all that means now, but i didn't at the time. i guess that's what happens to a super cheap acoustic over 15 years without any kind of humidity control. he helped me pick out a somewhat cheap yamaha that weekend and it was like night and day, playing the cheapie vs sunny. (that's what i named him. i know it's dumb, but it's what i do. every car i've owned had a name too.) that was over a year ago. now my two-year-old makes noise on the super cheapie, and i'm thinking of turning the cheap case into wall art.
anyway, i've been lurking here for a little while since my dude frequents this place. every thread i read is a learning experience, and i pester him with questions. i know basic terminology and a handful of chords, and i'm still slow and sloppy when i play. but this stuff is fascinating and i love it. i've been "borrowing" my dude's 335 to noodle on a bit, and i guess he got annoyed or something because he decided it's time for me to have my own electric, which i'm ok with because the 335 suits him way better than me. (he's not really annoyed...he actually thinks it's cool. i just like to break his stones since i'm sure he'll read this.) he had me "try on" guitars a week or so ago to see what i find to be comfortable and sourced some parts that'll get a sound similar to some of my favorite music, so i get to help him build my very first strat. on friday he found a metallic blue MIJ body and a MIM 50s reissue neck for me, since fatter necks are more comfortable for my hand/fingers. just today he bought a pre-wired black pearloid pickguard with red/silver/blue lace sensors. these are pix from the auctions, since he just bought everything and they haven't arrived yet.
it'll be fun. i'm pretty handy, so i'm looking forward to building it with him. kinda glad the pickguard is pre-wired though, seeing as i've never even so much as held a soldering iron. my dude knows how to do all that though, so i'm sure i'll learn at some point. and he'll just have to get over the possibility of me painting or putting stickers or decals on the finished product. what can i say? i'm a girl and i like pretty things, especially unique pretty things, and just because it's taken me this long to learn anything musical doesn't mean i don't have any artistic talent at all. don't worry, i'll make it tasteful if i do it. i hope.
anyway, that's my (rather long and wordy) story. i apologize in advance if i sound a bit (or a LOT) like an idiot if/when i chime in around here. maybe someday i'll actually know what i'm talking about for real. (i'm kidding. sort of.)
