Posted on 05/04/2007 4:13:21 PM PDT by Bean Counter
My wife made a mistake. For my birthday in February, she bought me a calendar from the Fender Custom Shop. I hung it on the wall directly behind my desk, right in my range of vision, and I have been gazing longingly ever since at beautiful guitars. My longing stayed within reason until I turned the page to April, and saw the Engraved Thinline Telecaster in flame maple. The clumsy copy below the calendar proper says "both nice to look at and a dream to play."
"A dream to play" has been ringing in my head ever since, the way a phrase from ad copy will do. And two weeks ago, I drove to the nearest Guitar Center and sat down and started playing electric guitars for the first time in 30 years.
Beautiful Telecaster notwithstanding, I played only Stratocasters on that first visit. I have always been a Strat man. Here is a picture of a very nice one, from the current Fender website.
MY PARENTS BOUGHT ME MY FIRST STRATOCASTER when I was in junior high school, in about 1961. Those of you who know the marque will share my chagrin that I do not still have that model, now known as a "vintage" Stratocaster, and much desired. It had belonged to a country western musician, whose big belt buckles had torn up the sunburst finish on the back. I got a Fender Concert Amp with it, and instantly became a popular guy with the two other serious guitar players in my school, Roger Johnson and Bob Cohen. They used to invite me to play with them, mainly so they could use my amp, which was bigger and better than the ones they had.
**SCHNIPP**
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
Enjoy...
Grass is greener. Always wanted a Telecaster but have a Strat instead. Oh well. It’s still great.
ping
Ended up with a Strat. Tried every last one the music shop had. Must have been 50 of them hanging on display. This one is very, very hot. Most of them were kind of dull sounding.
My husband is a guitar addict.
Our bedroom is literally full of guitars, you trip over them on the way to the bathroom. He is a big fan of the Strat - doesn't care for the Telecaster. Has a 61 Strat and a new one that actually plays better. He could blow all the windows out of the house and make the dogs howl with the Fender CyberTwin amp he's got, though he's usually more restrained.
But he also plays classical guitar and bluegrass . . . and he's really rather good. We play trios with my daughter on violin (I play the harpsichord).
He doesn't say a word about my horse or my dogs (or my harpsichord, which is a devil to maintain), so I don't complain about the guitars!
“Engraved Thinline Telecaster...”
“Beautiful Telecaster notwithstanding, I played only Stratocasters on that first visit. I have always been a Strat man. Here is a picture of a very nice one, from the current Fender website.”
Can anyone post the pics?
Purty Tele
FUN!
I agree....but.....get rid of those calendars. I have some of hot rods and I really want to get back into them again. Calendars do something to you.....dangerous things.
Red with black pick-guard. Action is so nice I press my Palm Pilot screen harder than the neck. And it’s a Mexican one.
Gibson SG is next on the list, if ever. Don’t have much time to play around, unfortunately.
I’m a Gibson crack-ho myself, but I likes me a Tele and Strat too. And a 335 or 355 or two or fifty.
Even recently grabbed a 12-string Strat but it sounds like crap due to the stock cheesy pickups. I knew that going in though, and it’s not a problem because I wind my own pickups...MWA-HA-HA...
am not a musician - but a music lover. This was a great article about American ingenuity and creativity (Fender and Les Paul).
I am always AMAZED at these freeper guitar posts. There are always hundreds of posts to these. I wasn’t away freepers love guitars so much. I love it, cuz I love guitars too!
Have an acoustic, but gearing to buy my first electric. Thinking, Gibson SG, Les Paul, Stat. Eventually I know I’ll get all three.
You'll understand why in just a few seconds!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.