Damn. I'm pissed. The dude brought in the guitar to work today and I was blown away. Gorgeous guitar. Below is a pic of the same guitar, only the body is a different color (this one has black around the edges instead of the cherry sunburst style). I personally like how the frets are extended over the hole, giving it a few extra notes.

The guy is asking $75. A steal, right? That's what I thought. And even better, he said I could keep it for a week and play on it for a while and see if I like it. Bonus! So I brought it home tonight.

The strings were like 2 years old, so tonight I had to run out and get some new strings, restring it (meanwhile praying I didn't damage the guitar, since I didn't own it yet). I finally got it re-strung at like 10:45 tonight, mainly because I've never strung a real acoustic guitar before and I was super paranoid about somehow nicking the finish or something.

So got it restrung and played my first chord on it.....and immediately noticed that the low E-String buzzed when I played hard. Maybe that's the new strings, I thought. Nope, the high E-string buzzes as well. And the sound isn't at all the warm, rich tones I was expecting. It's really tinny (not like small, but like Tin-sounding). Very disappointing. I SO wanted this guitar...but if it sounds bad, why buy it, right?

But I'm going to keep playing it for the next week, while I continue to shop around. What I do like about it is the way the chords ring soooooo much longer and better than my classical guitar. Seeing as I've never played a normal acoustic guitar before, I'm willing to bet that this is true for all acoustics...this one isn't special. It's just so much more fun to play, and makes me want to buy a better one at the same time.

So that's the update. This is quite the learning experience for me, so that's always a plus.

rock on.

When my stimulus check is deposited in my bank account, I'm going to buy an acoustic guitar. I don't think that's a surprise to many of you...I've kind of been obsessing about it for a while. My dad's old classical guitar from the 70's gets the job done for now, but I'm ready for something real. Something good.

I was talking about it today at work (or rather, a co-worker made a comment when I was looking at the line-up at Guitar Center's website during lunch. So I was telling the story about it, when a contractor was like "Hey C. Maurice, I have a guitar you might like." Turns out this dude is in a band and has something like 3 electric guitars, an acoustic guitar, a classical guitar, a bass, and an acoustic-electric. The acoustic-electric is the odd guitar out right now. Long story short, he's going to bring it into work this week for me to try out and possibly buy for like $50 - $100. Definitely a great deal, if I like it.

If I like it.

The thing is, this is probably the only time I'll ever drop this kind of money on something like a guitar. This is guilt-free for me. Not money I'm saving up for something else. I want to make it a guitar that I love and that I enjoy and that sounds good, not one that was convienient and cheap at the time. So we'll see....but it definitely is a grand opportunity!

------------------

What I'm drinking: He'brew Messiah Bold

I've been putting off drinking this beer for a while, even though it has looked quite intriguing...but somehow it seems sacrilegious or something. But dang, it's really, really good! Messiah Bold is technically a "Dark Brown Ale," but to me it tastes kind of like a smooth, rich porter. I highly recommend picking one up. Plus, it's "Kosher Certified, Rabbi Approved," if that sort of thing matters to you.

L'Chaim!

I pretty much had the most boring-est weekend ever. The weather here was blah (snowing) and I had already used my "fun" money for the week, so I couldn't even go out albeit by myself. I even had to drink Bud Select to save some cash. Although, I guess I hadn't drank that one yet in the last 2 years of beer, so I wasn't wasting a 6-er, but still. Bud select. That's pretty bad. Oh yeah, and I guess I did cheat a little this week, though not really. I drank keystone tall boys, but I haven't had those in the last 2 years...it's just that they were in cans, not bottles.

I actually like Keystone...I just wish I could find it in bottles. I don't even think they make keystone bottles. Hmm..

Anyway, life has been uneventful. In fact, this whole last week was pretty uneventful...well, except for hiring an intern from Wartburg, which will be interesting this summer. But other than that.....

meh.