Looking back

[NotScott]

I have read that if you want to get better, play with those better than you and you're bound to pick up some new techniques

Playing with others is absolutely the fastest and best way to get better.

As for first guitars, here is a pic of my first pro guitar (hard tail Strat), my first Les Paul and my first Marshall. Sadly, none of them are with me any longer.

 

[rcole_sooner]

I started playing in college, when I was around 21 or so. So that means I've been playing the guitar for 1 year for about 39 years now. I never spend enough time on it to get any better, and I take long breaks. Probably haven't played in a couple of months now. I'll have to relearn everything I forgot again. But each time it takes a little bit less time to learn.

 

[Juan Tumani]

I completely understand this.
There were plenty of times that I decided to push everything else aside and get a couple of guitars out and see what I could do.
If I couldn’t get my head into it, I realized I couldn’t remember songs that I should be able to play in my sleep.

Or my tempo was loose.
And something I’ve always been proud of, at least I had a good sense of timing.
When I couldn’t even pull that off, I realized my head was nowhere near where it needed to be.

Put these beautiful, shiny, valuable toys away carefully, and go back to slaying dragons in the real world.

A few big life-changing adult-world events over the years meant that my guitars stayed cased up for many months at a time.
Even a few years here and there.


Exactly!

One of the bright spots of being a mediocre player is that most other players are far better than me.

I can always learn something from hanging around with guys who have some serious chops.

… …

I’ve bought and sold and traded dozens of guitars.
So just the gear aspect of it is fun.

My first Les Paul, over 30 years ago, just didn’t work for me.
I sold it.

The second one, I had a little longer.
But I sold it too.

Maybe I really am just a Strat guy.

Bought my third Les Paul, and it was a keeper.
Bought my first tube amp, and figured out why the first two Les Pauls didn’t work for me.
So I bought the second Les Paul back.
I still have it.

I remember getting my first Marshall over 20 years ago.
Holy cow!
I couldn’t use them anywhere, but it was great therapy by the time I had a full stack and a couple of heads and some different cabs to play with.

When the prices got irresistible, I finally decided to sell off all of my Marshall stuff over the last couple of years.
I don’t really miss it, but it was a lot of fun at the time!

Sometimes a few years passed in between, but I still get some stuff out and kill most of the day at home by myself, remembering why I first wanted to do this back in the 70s even before my voice changed.

A few years ago I figured out the best way to explain what my passion actually is.

For most of my friends Music is their passion and the guitar is their tool of choice. For me the guitar itself is my passion and music is just what you do with it. I've never been a great player but I've gone through over 300 guitars.

 

[Mockbel]

I started playing in late 90’s .. I was around 18 years old… I remember first guitar (a cheap classic folk) and I remember how amazing was the feeling about first few notes I played (lead part of The Unforgiven intro).. I was extremely happy and shocked.. I am producing the same sound I heard on the record.. It is happening.. I am starting to play !!

 

[Leee]

As I learned more about guitar in my teens and early 20s, I remember being surprised at how many people fessed up to the idea of playing guitar to get chicks.

Now, celebrity interviews are one thing. These people will say whatever it takes to make the conversation interesting.

But blue-collar guys like me, and nobody knows anything about them?
Yes, they wanted to get into a band so they could be cool in a bar and get chicks.

That completely blew me away.
I guess my whole life is sort of compartmentalized anyway, but chicks were one thing and guitars were quite another.
I rarely ever mixed the two.

All that time I spent playing guitar in my bedroom, and later in my own living room, was for me.

When I did finally get on stage all those years later?
I just loved being part of a band.
Making music with these other guys.

Absolutely the most rewarding - almost orgasmic - experience I’ve ever had with a bunch of dudes.

Playing sports?
Part of the team?
Sure, it’s cool.

But it’s nothing like playing in a band and nailing the song.

I remember a couple of times being surprised when the audience started clapping and cheering. I had forgotten all about them…

 

[Juan Tumani]

During high school I was so focused on guitar I completely forgot to get into drugs/alcohol.

 

[Mockbel]

…and about how good I play.. I remember the first few years I was dedicated to learn.. and reached a very good technical level.. now I rarely play.. my technique has become horrible but I think I play with more ease now and come up with better music than what I used to do when I was way better technically.. I think it is called experience

 

[Spirit]

I started playing in my early 20,s then had to sell all my gear in my 30,

wife bought me an Epiphone les Paul,Daughter bought me a Marshall amp for my 50th birthday

in all honesty I can say I had been playing the wrong guitars all that time,although Quite Good it’s only when got my les Paul did I truly start to excel
I’m a very technical player and spend hours running through scales and chords in all positions

I play for a minimum of 2 hours, at weekends more like 4-6 my Guitar is right next to me,

im smashing metal,blues ,Rock,writing my own songs and chord progressions and solos going to join a band soon,I’m loving every moment that I play

 

[MikeyTheCat]

On one hand I really miss being in a band, and on the other it's something I never want to do again.

I think as long as you can find an enjoyable challenge to give you just enough drive to learn something new, perfect a technique, write a good song or overcome some hurdle playing is a great outlet.

 

[SteveC]

During high school I was so focused on guitar I completely forgot to get into drugs/alcohol.

During high school I was so focused on drugs and pussy that I forgot to get into guitar.

 

[sonar1]

On one hand I really miss being in a band, and on the other it's something I never want to do again.

I think as long as you can find an enjoyable challenge to give you just enough drive to learn something new, perfect a technique, write a good song or overcome some hurdle playing is a great outlet.

+1
Had my fill of all kinds of venues for decades.

Now, I realize with great gratitude that I’ll never have to talk to a nightclub owner ever again!

That inspires me to play anything I want, any way I want, at whatever volume I want! Just like when I was a kid! WooHOO!

 

[gibbycustom]

I am loving all these start up stories you guys are posting. It’s turning into a “how and when you starting playing” and it’s great. One comment that ticked me off because it was so spot on was “you get what you put into it”…we never like hearing the truth. I’ve been playing half hearted because my effort is mediocre at best. Can’t stay happily married to a woman if you put in 10 minutes of quality time together…same goes for guitar. It’s unreasonable to assume I’m going to get better, and it feel rewarding if I noodle for a few minutes (30 on a good day) and call it a day. I appreciate everyone’s honesty, and their stories. Please keep sharing the “how I got started” stories or even stories from gigs.

 

[efstop]

I'm no good at lead, but I can chord and sing for a few hours.

 

[sonar1]

Oh, how it all started began because my oldest brother played piano, and I friend of his would come over with a guitar and plug into our Hi-Fi and they’d jam.
I was about ten when the speaker blew!

Hooked for life I was!

Eventually took some legitimate guitar lessons, but I had to learn “all that other junk” from friends in Junior High. We wanted to play like Duane Eddy, and The Ventures.

The turning point for me came after Boot Camp in 1968. When came home on leave I overheard a friend saying “he can’t play anymore.”

That did it! I was never without a guitar handy again!

 

[Leee]

How I started could be a Coen Brothers movie.
If they remade “Footloose.”

I grew up in a small farm town in the middle of nowhere in western Kansas in the 70s.
We didn’t even have any radio stations that played rock ‘n’ roll.

The people who drove to Denver or Wichita or even Amarillo would come back and tell us of all the amazing FM rock they heard while traveling.

Two small department stores in town carried a pathetic selection of music, but it was all we had.

Music was all word of mouth.
The cool guys were the ones who knew the good music.

I was the youngest in my family, and no one I knew had any musical skill.
I started playing on an acoustic and trying to copy records, but I had no mentor or instruction from anyone.

I learned of a few older guys in town who played guitar really well, but they were drunks and potheads, and there’s no way my folks are going to let me hang out with them.

Sort of like the Ballad of Curtis Loew from Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Middle of my junior year in high school, my folks bought some land in southwestern Oklahoma and I was forcibly relocated.
But I had two badass rock stations out of Oklahoma City!
And I was able to start going to concerts!
And I met a few other high school guys who were also trying to play guitar.

That’s where it all started for me, at the dawn of the eighties when synthesizers were suddenly all over the place.
Years later, I love piano and I love a cool Hammond B3.

But I still fucking hate synthesizers.

 

[Juan Tumani]

During high school I was so focused on drugs and pussy that I forgot to get into guitar.

I'm not going to out right say who, but one of us had a more funner'er youth.

 

[rcole_sooner]

I couldn't stand it anymore.

 

[MikeyTheCat]

I have read that if you want to get better, play with those better than you and you're bound to pick up some new techniques

Or at least drag them down to my level.

 

[dc007]

During high school I was so focused on drugs and pussy that I forgot to get into guitar.

Guitar actually helped with the pussy. Primary reason I kept playing

 

[MikeyTheCat]

Thinking about how I started. As many did, I thought George Harrison was cool. Took some lessons as a kid, and somewhere in 9th or 10th grade fell in with some guitar geeks. We loved everything guitar, and where I first was exposed to things like Return to Forever, and Becks Blow by Blow and Wired. My guitar heroes were a little eclectic; Johnny Thunders, Roy Clark, Michael Alsup, Frampton and John Gatto & Micky Marchello. I got into my first band by talking with a guy who was playing an acoustic bass in a park. He told me he knew someone who was looking for another guitar player and gave me a number to call. I called, I auditioned, I got the 3rd guitar slot. Turned out that I was the only rookie and everyone else was pretty seasoned. Then the lead guitar player quit, and I shared lead duties with the singer. Then he decided to focus more on singing and I got moved into the lead guitar role. That band morphed and merged several times becoming a 8 piece before splintering into three different groups, with each of those groups having members from the other other groups but each with a leader from that big group or 8.
There were also side groups including a Jazz group and a 1970s NYC Punk style band which was helluva lot of fun.

I will say that guitar is the common thread to a lot of my life from high school until I got married.