A Moment Of Clarity

Doctor J

I've just finished reading One Train Later by Andy Summers of The Police. Great book and I'd highly recommend it whether you dig the band or not.

One passage in particular is worth highlighting, as I read this I thought to myself "This guy knows exactly what it's all about!" and I think every guitarist here will be able to relate to this

Andy Summers wrote:

Guitars begin as trees, float down rivers, get hauled into lumberyards, are sawed into planks, and then are dried, cured and left to age. They arrive in the player’s hand still with the memory of a tree, atoms and molecules reforming to become a guitar. A history begins; fate is determined; events take shape; someone builds his life around a specific guitar; luck changes, move forward, or runs out.

The guitar is an instrument that most players become obsessive about. That’s the way it is with guitars. You have it in your hands and you relentlessly fiddle, twiddle, experiment, run your hands up and down its neck, find new combinations – new pathways. It dominates, rules, monopolises and grips your imagination to the point that you are in a lifelong wrestling match. You become bedevilled by thoughts that there is always a better guitar – it goes with the territory. I stare at my Police guitar lying on the white sheets: there is hardly any paint left of its original sunburst finish, raw wood now shows through its scarred surface, but I like the red and yellow solar flare that spreads as if from major to minor across the belly under the strings. Arriving at this guitar was a bit like having several relationships with the wrong women before finding the one you truly love and will spend the rest of your life with.

It's a great read, well worth picking up

Keyzer

Thats the most spot on description of how I feel about guitars.

Time to send this to the missus, now she'll finally understand !!!

Don1

Read a book? :eek:

Dord

Keyzer wrote: »

Thats the most spot on description of how I feel about guitars.

Time to send this to the missus, now she'll finally understand !!!

I agree, I couldn't have said it better myself.

Thanks for posting that Doc!

Doctor J

It made my day when I read it, he pretty much defines GAS

You become bedevilled by thoughts that there is always a better guitar

:pac:

Ger the man

One of the most enjoyable books Ive ever read.

Ancient1

Doctor J wrote: »

he pretty much defines GAS

You become bedevilled by thoughts that there is always a better guitar

And that's where we all fail.

Miserably. :pac:

Alanstrainor

Keyzer wrote: »

Thats the most spot on description of how I feel about guitars.

Time to send this to the missus, now she'll finally understand !!!

Haha, i think i'll have to learn that whole quote off so i can recite it back to friends when they say things like "another guitar, what the hell!?!, you already have 4!"

In particular because i'm GASsing a second hand SRV Strat it the moment. Oh mama!

Or a Bacchus...and since i'm on a SRV buzz i just saw this
Bacchus

Ancient1

Ooooh, the Charley...:eek:

Is there anything those mofos don't make, Doc?

Alanstrainor

Ancient1 wrote: »

Ooooh, the Charley...:eek:

Is there anything those mofos don't make, Doc?

I KNOW!, i couldn't believe it when i saw it, I'd love to see what the neck on it's like though, I'm kind of strapped for cash...but there's a, lets face it, pretty BIG part of me that wants to splash out.

Ancient1

Man, just go for it and stop torturing yourself (and me)! :pac:

And with an exchange rate like this it doesn't get much better.

Edit: and there we are, GASsing in Andy Summer's thread an entire 11 posts in!

Doctor J

You've seen his Telecaster, yeah?