My New Guitar

Well as of tonight I finally have my new guitar. It's a Fender Telecaster(as you can plainly see--didn't have the pic when I wrote this), my first Tele. I've always thought they were cool, not really sure why. Originally I was going to get one from an individual, and they decided to hang on to theirs. That's fine- I think people should hang onto their guitars, and continue playing them. A guitarist I replaced in a band years ago told me his had been sitting in his garage gathering dust since he left the band--a sad state of affairs, but everybody has their own priorities I guess.

Anyway, in the anticipation of buying the guitar, I pretty much had it on the brain and therefore had to have one. So I went down to a local music store and played a Tele they had in stock. Loved the guitar but not the color:a dark, wine-red. Ordered one in "Arctic White", which came in but had problems with the neck(the rosewood strip on the back of the neck was coming loose).

It took over a month for this guitar, what with all the snags from the company, but fortunately they lent me the wine-red Tele to use in all that time. And once this guitar finally came in it was just that much more of a relief.

These things usually work out in the long pull, but still the question remains: Why is everything in life such a fucking hassle? I was thinking earlier today of the line from the movie Roadie(80's I think,starring Meatloaf): "why is my life so much harder'n everybody else's?"

But it's all passed, and I'm enjoying the hell out of my Fender American Standard Telecaster. The Tele is a fairly versatile guitar, great for blues, country, Rhythm & Blues and even jazz. Ted Greene plays one. Joe Pass played one.

And now Sam Crain plays one.

Actually, growing up, I was always more partial to Gibson guitars and Fender basses(spent a lot of time as a bass player, like many guitarists). Strangely enough, found Gibson basses too muddy and Fender guitars too twangy(though I did have a Strat for awhile in there). I may still find too much mud in the Gibson EB-O's and EB-3's, but I've grown to appreciate twang.

So I've been trying out various things on the Tele I used to play: some Hendrix things(particularly Foxy Lady)and a 2-handed thing akin to Van Halen's Eruption. I never was real heavy into the sound of two hands tapping, as it were, but it was and is kind of a cool technique.

Likewise with playing octaves. I love Wes Montgomery's playing, strangely enough except for the octaves thing. His lines were brilliant and his chord solos would just knock you flat on your ass. He was a Mozart, who(unlike Mozart)started playing music relatively late in life--his 20's--but, like Mozart, it was just all there.

But I digress. Which is half the fun of blogging. Enjoying my new guitar. Funny thing, you kinda forget all the hassle in getting there once you've arrived.

Saturday Slump

Too many beers last night after my gig. I feel like 10 pounds of shit in a 5-pound bag. Not a full-fledged hangover(what Johnny Carson would've described as so bad that you wake up to the sound of your next-door neighbor licking a postage stamp)but still kinda there.

Last night was the third week of a 3-week engagement at the Crowne Plaza Hotel playing solo guitar. Tough job, solo guitar. It involves much more concentration, total concentration in fact. No room for lapses or brain-farts. So I've been exhausted every Friday at 9pm. Beer usually helps that state of affairs, but last night seemed to take longer to unwind--hence more beers.

This is supposed to be guitar day, the day I get a new guitar. Fender American Standard Telecaster. Well, the store I'm getting it from opened at 10 this morning and will hopefully have it between now and when they close today at 5. November 11th was the anticipated delivery date, so I'm hoping this will come to pass today. Hangover or not.