New guitar story

Music and I!:

Anyone that has known me for a while could tell you I have an unbelievable love for music, and that I’ve been trying to get into all styles of music to get some sort of knowledge or experience from it. I like some styles more than others obviously and then again some styles I don’t like at all, but the attempt to like it was always there. I like to go through everything about the way the music I’m listening to was made, from the thoughts in mind of the guitarist to the back story of the song. My favorite types of music in no particular order would be Rock of all kinds especially alternative and 90’s, Soul, Funk, Blues, Outlaw Country and “Wedding Music” Country (Conway Twitty, George Jones, etc.), Classical and Rap. Music I absolutely can’t stand, it would have to be stuff like Electro music, Dubstep, Screamo, and that nasally sounding Country music and New age/Pop Country.  It’s not that I haven’t tried to get into these styles, because a lot of people have tried to get me into it and I have tried to get into it myself, it’s just no way shape or form something I care too listen too or get into.

Now with all this being said, this isn’t about music and what I care for or what I think of certain types of music. No this is about my everlasting story of what guitar am I going to buy, and how I got to that choice in making my final decision. As people know who have been talking to me for the last couple months I’ve been eyeing out a new guitar, since my old knock off Les Paul broke. It’s not the type of broke that can’t be fixed, it’s actually a relevantly easy fix, I just don’t know if I want to do it, and I feel as though it’s time to get a new one because I want just a better-quality guitar. Other than that, Les Paul, I have two other guitars and a ukulele. The two other guitars consist of a Gretsch G5120 hollow body electric 

 and an Epi acoustic, the Epi has also seen better days and I’ve been spotting out a new acoustic while in my searches for a new electric as well. Which I’ll briefly touch on later.

When it comes to guitar, I must have picked up my first guitar by the age of five if not before, but I never started taking guitar lessons until grade two or so. I use to like to just strum the guitar I guess and pretend I was Waylon Jennings doing the Dukes of Hazzard Theme song with the cowboy boots and hat on. I never owned an actual real full sized guitar till grade two on my birthday when I got an Epi acoustic guitar that was almost, if not the same height I was.   Shortly after that, once I become big enough to actually play that guitar I signed up for guitar lessons.  We all know how that goes it was the beginner stuff, rhythm, strumming, reading tab, reading notes, basic songs and chords. Then came along the Metallica book, oh how much I hated that damn book as the years went by.  It was actually two of them put together it was pretty well one big book of all of Metallica’s well known songs such as One, Seek & Destroy, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Master of Puppets and so many more. It started off well, and finally I got away from that boring beginners stuff that burned the fun out of guitar and on to something I actually liked to do or so I thought. I learned pretty well the whole book expect for a few solos, this was probably by grade four or five now. I chilled playing the metal for a bit, playing songs in the same genre as Metallica for the following year or so, I don’t really remember how long exactly. But then the long hair faze I got into started. I started listening to actual rock bands again, going back into my deeply rooted love for rock and all its different sides. Returning to listening and trying to play bands such as Guns N’ Roses, Steve Miller Band, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam and CCR. I started trying to distance myself from metal cause by that point I was sick of it. Around this time, I acquired two Red Hot Chili Peppers books and a couple Gun N’ Roses books.  Everything else I had music note wise was from the world-wide web. Also at this time I acquired a nice cheap Univax knock off Les Paul and amp (too which only broke this year for its first time). Now if I was only too get taught the stuff I wanted to be taught. It seemed harder than expected, after months of arguing that I’m done with metal and getting non-stop taught it, I quit and said to hell with those guitar lessons.  From there on, I pretty well forgot most of the metal I had known (I still can play it I just have to remember the notes again).  I then started self-teaching myself the stuff I wanted to learn, which is all the stuff I know now pretty well. That went on for years, then grade 10 came and I joined music class in high school. The class entailed that you play an instrument learning songs for 10 class days then reciting them in front of the class. Then the other half was theories etc.  It was During this time around Christmas, that my Nan bought me a wicked Gretsch G5120 with a Fender Mustand II amp to go along with it. After that year, I started exploring into rap and all of that fun stuff, leaving guitar and rock for a bit.  About a couple months before I started post-secondary, I got back into playing.  For months, I had in mind of getting a new guitar, but I didn’t know what one I would like to get. Shortly after my decision was made, a part of the head stock broke on the Les Paul, it was time to get a new guitar.

Out with the new and in with the new!:

The start of my search was on, I wanted a new guitar and I was committed to getting one. The money was starting to get saved up, but mean while I still had not the clue of what I wanted. I started it looking into Les Paul’s but the love I once had for them wasn’t enough to justify saving up over 2,500 for ones that I liked so they were out of the picture. I stayed looking into Gibson’s (not SG’s in all honesty I don’t like them), looking into their ES series. But that wasn’t what I wanted either I already had a hollow body Gretsch that was fine, so those guitars where off the list as well.  Finally, I came across a Firebird and played one, I thought to myself I have a contender for a reasonable price.

Next thing I started looking into was a few Fenders and I wasn’t really looking for a Stratocaster.  I don’t know why; it was just not what I wanted at this time. Next up was the Mustang series, but the short neck of the guitar just wasn’t what I wanted either. Next thing was the Jazz master I liked this one a bit, but there was just something about it again I didn’t like. So, that was off the list. Which left me between the Telecaster which I had been seriously thinking about buying and the Fender Jaguar special HH series which again I was seriously thinking about buying. So here I am at an impasse.  After playing both guitars, I liked both the same. I like the versatility of the Jaguar and Its feel, but I also like the classic style of the telecaster as well as its feel. So, after all this looking I was now stuck for weeks on which one I was going to get the Tele or the Jag.

 I looked at a few Ibanez’s and other brands but none of them got to my list. Until a completely new epitome happened to me in the shape of a solid body Gretsch. Up to that point, I forgot that Gretsch had the pro jet series. Though the pro jets are chamber, they don’t have the “F” holes in them, making them what I would qualify as not a complete hollow body guitar. This chamber gives the guitar its own distinct sound and it kind of even has a sort of Les Paul look to it, and after owning one Gretsch for a while and loving it I definitely had to give it a try. So, I finally saw one and gave it a try and it just felt right and I instantly fell in love with it. That familiar feeling of playing a gretsch on a solid type body had me sold right away plus I could get it gold-top, which is my favorite color scheme on everything. To top all of it off, the guitar is only about 700 compared to the other guitars I was thinking of buying which cost around 1500. This budget opened up some more room for another acoustic guitar that I wanted to get which is a 12&6 string Gretsch Rancher White Falcon, but I won’t be getting that until around my birthday in May. So, after all that being said, my decision was made on an electric guitar, it’s going to be a Gretsch Pro Jet Electromatic Gold-Top.

 I’m getting it without a second question about it. Now, it’s just to complete the saving process which is almost done.  So, it looks like just before Christmas I get to buy myself a guitar which is going to be rad!  Anyways, this is my decision.  The guitar I’m about to buy and my past with playing guitars.  Thanks for reading!