Raz
Well-known member
Sup y'all...well I just got Dan Erlewine's Guitar Player Repair Guide: How to Set Up, Maintain, and Repair Electrics and Acoustics in the mail and I must say I am excited...while pinching one this morning before work, I took a gander at it and it was at this point that I realized that playing guitar is like a relationship, a marriage if you will. You see, there is so much involved in playing guitar, things that, as a teenager I took for granted, things that I was completely ignorant about...I guess that's why I never got laid 
Anyhoo, back on topic...if one were to produce a chart of the time, energy and money spent on guitar, I'm sure we would all be very amazed at the amount of effort required. First off one needs to learn to play, and to keep learning new things. Then there is the guitar itself, buying one, maintaining it, keeping it clean and set up properly. But that's just half the battle...what about tone...ha! that in itself is a whole new ballgame, and that could take years...I guess when all is said and done, if we were to look back and document all the time we spent on guitar and guitar related issues, it would be clear that it occupies a better part of our lives. So what's my point...well I guess that after I flushed I came to a well thought out conclusion...for most of us, I don't think we will ever draw an income from playing guitar (as much as we may have dreamed), even though we invest so much time, money and energy into it...I mean think about it, people go to school for roughly less time than some of us have been playing, and probably spend less...I would even go as far as saying that the time we spend studying, combined with learning and practise(not to mention forum chat) would put alot of students to shame, and for what...well that's the mystery, the beauty of playing...the undefined reasoning behind all the years, money and energy spent...
Ill leave it up to you to fill in the final phrase, as far as I go I don't need to reason any further...sure there are days that I feel guilty for some of the more excessive purchases...however, those feelings quickly dissipate...once I start the journey, of trills, bends, hammer ons and pull offs, dive bombs and wah stomping, runs and chord progressions of tonal destruction...once that journey starts, then nothing else matters!
On a final note, getting back to Mr. Erlewine's book, if I was to ever teach lessons to a young'in, or even grant my two cents worth of knowledge to anyone who cared, I would recommend learning not only to play, but also to care and maintain one's instrument, right from the start...I can only imagine what benefits would have been instore for me if I was better educated Thanks!
Anyhoo, back on topic...if one were to produce a chart of the time, energy and money spent on guitar, I'm sure we would all be very amazed at the amount of effort required. First off one needs to learn to play, and to keep learning new things. Then there is the guitar itself, buying one, maintaining it, keeping it clean and set up properly. But that's just half the battle...what about tone...ha! that in itself is a whole new ballgame, and that could take years...I guess when all is said and done, if we were to look back and document all the time we spent on guitar and guitar related issues, it would be clear that it occupies a better part of our lives. So what's my point...well I guess that after I flushed I came to a well thought out conclusion...for most of us, I don't think we will ever draw an income from playing guitar (as much as we may have dreamed), even though we invest so much time, money and energy into it...I mean think about it, people go to school for roughly less time than some of us have been playing, and probably spend less...I would even go as far as saying that the time we spend studying, combined with learning and practise(not to mention forum chat) would put alot of students to shame, and for what...well that's the mystery, the beauty of playing...the undefined reasoning behind all the years, money and energy spent...
Ill leave it up to you to fill in the final phrase, as far as I go I don't need to reason any further...sure there are days that I feel guilty for some of the more excessive purchases...however, those feelings quickly dissipate...once I start the journey, of trills, bends, hammer ons and pull offs, dive bombs and wah stomping, runs and chord progressions of tonal destruction...once that journey starts, then nothing else matters!
On a final note, getting back to Mr. Erlewine's book, if I was to ever teach lessons to a young'in, or even grant my two cents worth of knowledge to anyone who cared, I would recommend learning not only to play, but also to care and maintain one's instrument, right from the start...I can only imagine what benefits would have been instore for me if I was better educated
Thanks!
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