My First custom made Amplifier. A Weber "Larossa", built by Jamie Thompson.
My First custom made guitar. Dave Pushic Custom. The top is Purpleheart, the sides and back are various types of Maple. The fretboard is Pau Ferro. All gold plated hardware, and no plastic anywhere on the guitar.
Joyce and Lee. My duo from 1972. I am holding the Gibson SG I spoke of below.When I was a kid, I had to play the guitar. I started out by playing a badminton racket until I got my first guitar. It was a $5.00 import from Japan, which meant it was junk. But, it was a guitar and I couldn't let go of it. I got a set of light gauge strings on it so I could play chords. The action wasn't adjustable and the neck was warped and I didn't know how to fix that.
Every week, I would learn something new and practice until the callus' on my fingers were like rocks.
I finally saved enough money to get a real electric guitar.
It was a sweet Daphne Blue Fender Mustang. It really was a great guitar for the price. But, I didn't have an amplifier, so the only place I could play it and hear it was in my bedroom where it was quiet.
My father took an old TV apart, and built me an amplifier using the TV's 12 inch speaker, and the super small tube amplifier and mounted it into a box for me. It sounded terrible, but it was an amplifier.
Over the years, I got newer and better sounding amplifiers to improve my sound. The guitar I owned was amazing, and I played it until the frets wore out. I didn't know I could have had them replaced, so I sold it and bought another guitar. This one was another classic, a 1971 Gibson SG deluxe. I had this one modified, and also played it to death. When I sold it, it had a cracked neck, and looked like a truck ran over it from use, not abuse.
The amplifiers I had were all very loud, if nothing else. Their tone ranged from really bad to beautiful, but I never studied them or learned how to make them sound great. I just plugged into them, and played as loud as I needed.
The years went by, and I arrived at a point where I wanted to recapture some of the glory of the past. So, I started out by purchasing things I once had, or getting some of the classic guitars and amplifiers of that time. But, I found out that it wasn't what I wanted. I also found out that it wasn't the instrument, but the musician playing the instrument that makes the sound.
This applies to many different parts of my life.
It's not the instrument, it's the musician.
I now have some of the finest tools ever invented by man.
But, it's up to me to make them work.
Next thought:
I think I've written about this before, but I needed to get it out of me head, so please forgive me for repeating myself.
In the past 5 years, I've lost many people who were close to me. My Father, My Brother in Law, My Wife, My favorite pets (4 cats and 2 dogs), and my big belly. Yes, my belly had a life of it's own.
The only one I don't miss is the belly.
Life is good!
