Yes, I have been lazier than a sloth and have increased the amount of lard growing in me that my ten stubby fingers can't even type organized thought - but this post ends that. The first time I picked up a guitar has turned into a fading memory. That specific moment has eluded me but as far as I can remember, I was still uncircumcised when I played my first chord pattern (it was a mere D-A-G-A; one of the easiest to memorize). Its kinda sad that I actually forgot the brand of my first guitar (all that I remember is that it was made in Japan and Ibanez oversaw it's quality control)... it was a classical instrument given to me by the former King of the House.
"Sweetpea" as I used to call it, was a wedding gift for my Dad which makes it a year older than me. It had a hard case, a patterned strap, and sounded really great. It served me for many years until its demise sometime back sometime between 2008 and 2009. Interesting fact: I've never owned a brand-new guitar. All of my guitars, up to now, are second-hand.
Meet "Apple" (she was named after her brand "Applause" by Ovation). A former colleague sold her to me for almost half the price back in 2008. She was a little over 1 year-old when the former owner decided to sell her to pay up for a loan (the money was used to purchase a new electric guitar... forgot the brand). It was during around that time when another colleague was selling a Yamaha acoustic guitar (didn't get that 'cause the offer was a little steep for a second-hand guitar). I'm proud to say that Apple has been with me for a few years now and saw me through a few minor gigs.
I've been playing the guitar for more than 2 decades now and it never occurred to me to own an electric guitar. I can play decently but I've always been fascinated with people who can scale and shred (John Frusciante, John Mayer, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Satriani - damn, that's a lot of J's). Hence, that became my frustration which led to the decision to not buy an electric guitar... until recently.
A month ago, Dennis (my doctor and best friend) told me that her sister's 18th birthday is coming up and that we were going to play - full band. I believe this is the reason why the sudden the sudden urge and obsession to own a Fender Stratocaster (yes, I want a sunburst or arctic white one). I couldn't stop thinking and talking about it for days... a guy from our IT department (who currently owns a second-hand, classic Fender Telecaster) even scouted second hand ones for me... I just didn't have cash :-(
However, the beautiful and smart Gagamgirl was kind enough to lend me (not cash, hehehe) her brother's old guitar. Ladies and Gentlemen, meet "The Squatcaster" \m/
I'm not sure which local guitar company made this (I'm thinking Fernando) but this guitar is a treasure! The Squatcaster (short for Squatter Caster) maybe a relic but it has a solid body and awesome pick-ups. Just like the electric guitars made back in the early 90s, its also heavily built. What's so special about it is that 3 people learned how to play the guitar using with it - and, The Squatcaster has become a "first guitar" (yep, this is her brother's first), the second time around (this is my first electric guitar). I didn't waste time and headed straight to a music shop to have it fixed. It cost me around 2.5K to have the tuning pegs, strings, and 5-way switch replaced (plus cleaning and labor). I've used it for practice a couple of times now and it sounds amazing! I'm really grateful that Gagamgirl let me borrow SC... for now, I'll hone my skills and be worthy of owning an original Strat.
I guess that owning a vintage, Stratocaster can wait... money will be set aside for that as it'll be an heirloom piece.
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