Ohhh - that's my favorite!

 

We're getting to that part of our "gearing up to leave"... the really hard part... the most angst: which guitar(s) to take with us.  It isn't a matter of just picking one off the wall and going with that.  Mark and I will be playing with some friends of his and also with just the two of us.  He suggested, "Bring the 12-string because that will be a different sound that we don't have.  Plus, I have plenty of guitars and amps that you are welcome to use."  He makes good sense.  However, I took the 12-string when we were out last summer and I really missed having my smallest Emerald to play in the motorhome and out on the patio.

Last year when we went to Arizona, I took one guitar and left it at Mark's... Joan told me we need to have one that stays in the motorhome.  Mark said, "Bring whatever you want - I'll make room for it."  So, Joan and I agreed that two guitars will need to make the trip.

And, a new wrinkle: I told Joan that I wanted to sell off a guitar and make room on the wall for something that spends most of the time in its case.  Mark buys and sells guitars regularly, and the Phoenix area would be a better market to sell guitars (and stuff) since it is a much bigger market.  So... today, I wanted to go through guitars to see what gets the least playing time, what duplicates other sounds, and what I feel I could part with.  Because for me, each guitar is special - I buy it because there is something about it (usually the tone) that occupies a good sonic slot.

So, we went through guitars today...

Yes, those are just a few of the cases.  I took guitars out of cases that haven't seen the light of day in over a year.  I lovingly cleaned them.  Then, played them.  Plugged them in.  It makes me realize what an emotional attachment I have to most of these lovely instruments.  One is a guitar that presented itself a day after I bought the most expensive guitar I'd owned (at that point).  Joan really wanted me to get the one that presented itself - it was the first time she said, "I'm buying that one for me - and you can play it if you want."  Truly, I couldn't justify that purchase in my head, but she made it happen with her heart.  I pulled that guitar out and heard an audible gasp... it came from me.  That particular guitar is a Taylor T5 - they no longer make that model and this is a gorgeous cherry burst... I told Joan: "That one needs to get back on the wall and get some playing time."  No, that one won't be for sale.  Ever.  Well, maybe after I'm dead.

On the bright side: Joan pulled a couple more guitar hangers out of one of my "stuff bins," and said, "With a little rearranging, we can get two more guitars on the wall."  No, that doesn't mean that the two I picked out to sell will stay.  Each of those guitars are a very nice example of the model, but I am not "attached."  That may be because each of the guitar shop owners I bought them from turned out to be jerks (see, I cleaned that up instead of saying "assholes").  The guy I bought the Taylor from accused me of "being a shill for Emerald" (on a guitar forum) because I like their guitars better than a brand he carried.  The other dealer just flat out lied about having the guitar in stock when they didn't.  For the record, Joan bought that one while I was in the shower that day.  When it came in, I had to do a lot of work on it to make it comfortably playable.  It's a good guitar, but it never should have gone out

There will be a Taylor 522ce 12-fret (all mahogany) and an Epiphone SG Prophecy (with Fishman Fluence pickups) that will get sold off.  A couple amps that have been moved down a notch thanks to the Bose PAs; and two decent 10 channel mixers that were more than I need after getting a Bose T4 Tonematch mixer.

I also considered selling one of the Emeralds... to buy another Emerald.  Joan asked how it was different from what I have... I need to work on my communication skills.  :-)  And then I played it again and changed my mind.