JB Fan Safari thread (Page 2 of 2)

Konkman wrote:

I will participate and Share a couple gear safari stories.

I have been playing guitar since I was a kid.  I started taking lessons when I was 8 years old and have never stopped playing.  I am 42 years old now.  When I was 10 years old I had an uncle who would go to estate sales all the time and buy tons of stuff.  One weekend he invited me and my Dad to go along with him to a sale.  At this point I had been playing guitar for a couple years but was still very young and still very green.  While at this estate sale we came across an old beat-up black guitar.  It was priced at $100.  I didn’t recognize the brand ( my knowledge at that time basically consisted of fender and Gibson).  In any case, my uncle decided I needed to have this guitar.  He bought a ton of stuff and as a result was ultimately able to negotiate the price down to $50 on the guitar.  I took it home and tried to play it.  It wouldn’t stay in tune at all and I basically deemed it a piece of crap.  It mostly just sat tucked away in my closet for years.  It was many years later that I pulled it out, did some research, and realized it is a 1965 Gretsch Country Gentleman.  The guitar was in really bad shape.  The neck was ruined and some other issues.  I have since had the guitar restored and I still play it to this day.  It’s my only vintage guitar I own and holds a very special place for me because of the connection to my uncle.

My second story is around a Paul Reed Smith Artist package Singlecut guitar I own.  For many years I had lusted after a PRS singlecut and had not been able to afford one.  As many of you know Gibson ended up suing PRS regarding the singlecut model saying it too closely resembled the Les Paul.  I had spent many hours at my local guitar shop playing the singlecuts and the owner knew I wanted one badly.  When the lawsuit was announced PRS had to stop all production on these guitars.  The shop owner called to let me know what was going on and indicated if I really wanted one I needed to move quick as it didn’t look good for them to be able to keep producing them and what he had in stock was all he was going to be able to get.  So, I sold a bunch of gear scrounged up all the money I could, and the shop owner was gracious enough to work with me to give me a great deal because he knew how badly I wanted one.  The day came for me to go buy the guitar.  They had 5 Artist Package Singlecuts in stock.  All incredibly nice.  Same guitar obviously but slightly different weights and finishes.  I literally spent about 2 hours playing them all and trying to narrow it down to the one I wanted to buy.  I finally decided on the one I wanted to purchase.  The owner in jest asked me if I was sure.  I said…I think so but you better get these others out of here before I start playing them all again.  He took the other guitars away and indicated he was going to go get the paperwork started.  He told me to go through the case and make sure all the case candy was in there that the guitar is supposed to come with including the hang tag from PRS.  This is the tag they include with each guitar that has all the basic info about the guitar.  I pull out the tag and am reading through and stop completely stunned.  The Guitar had been completed on my birthday of that year.  I was literally floored.  The owner didn’t believe me.  I had to show him my driver’s license to prove it.  We both stood there in silence for a couple minutes and he finally said….”that guitar chose you…it is absolutely meant to be yours”.  Still gives me chills just thinking back to it.  It’s still my #1 guitar and there is just something incredibly special about the connection I have with that instrument.

Wow what a story. That guitar was destined to be yours. Thanks so much for sharing cheers Ron

I'd like to share my one and only 'safari' story.  I live in nowhere Ohio and don't travel much so a couple years ago when I decided to try the guitar again after a couple decades I only had a few choices.  GC, Sam Ash and Music-go-round.  I had a standard Les Paul at one time and went looking in the major retailers for a replacement. I wasn't in the least impressed at what I could get for less than a gazillion dollars so I stopped in the Music-go-round to see what was what.   I didn't see anything in a Les Paul but there was this odd looking guitar from a company I wasn't familiar with.  It was an electric but with this huge pickguard made to look like it was a dobro or something.  I asked to try it out and was impressed with the myriad of tones you could get out of it.  While very interested I thought it was a little expensive for what to me was an unknown brand and I didn't really think it looked like a $650 dollar used guitar (it was in perfect condition except the volume knob was a little crackly).  The sales folks didn't know what model it was and it wasn't marked on the guitar.  I went home to do a little research.  I quickly found that $650 seemed to be underpriced based on what I saw on ebay etc. and there weren't many of them around.  I did go and buy it and haven't regretted it in the least.  But more important to me was something else I discovered while doing the research.  Another name I had been seeing repeatedly, but didn't know, showed up playing that same odd looking guitar.  I had seen the name in reference to guitar strings, Gibson and Epiphone guitars and some pedals but figured since I didn't know the name he must have been in band playing a genre I wasn't into and didn't think much about it.  Seeing it again I was like ok who the heck is this guy Joe Bonamassa.  I clicked the link to a You Tube video of him playing a Chandler Lectraslide, for those who havn't already guessed the guitar make and model, at the Rockpalast.  I was absolutely stunned.  I loved it and haven't stopped being amazed since.