Guitar Fever Strikes Readsboro Home

Playing my new guitar has been a lot of fun. So far I've found time to play every day, but that's no surprise considering that the guitar is still my primary interest. I've noticed a steady imrpovement in my abilities every day, though I suppose that when you're this bad, it's not hard to see big improvements. I do think that if I don't get set up with some lessons soon though, that my improvement will begin to decline rapidly. Kristin and I are hoping to take lessons in North Adams together, but the guy that offers them doesn't have any sessions open right now. The other option is to take them in Pittsfield, but then Kristin won't be able to take them with me because it's too far for her to drive after work. So... I'm in a bit of an indecisive moment. I want to start taking lessons before I begin losing interest, but I'd really rather take them with Kristin because I think it would be great for the two of us to finally have a hobby that we both enjoy together.

Because of our new-found interest, Kristin is also interested in buying her own electric guitar. She's discovered that the electric is quite a bit easier to play than the acoustic is. This weekend we're going to check out the guitars at Falcetti and Wood Bros in Pittsfield. There's a beautiful used Fender Strat at Guitar Center in Albany that she likes, but she doesn't want to jump into a purchase until she's a bit more sure, and unfortunately that guitar will be long gone by then, so we'll have to see what else is around. Fortunately, Fender Stratocasters seem to virtually grow on trees, so finding another one shouldn't be too hard. I also mentioned the option of having me build her a kit. There's a strat-style guitar available in kit form very affordably, and since it's a kit and not a scratch-built guitar, it's a fairly simple procedure of painting it whatever color you want then putting it together. But, she's dead set against this idea, which is a shame because everything I've read seems to indicate that it's a good guitar for the modest investment.

Having a strat would be nice because it would be the perfect compliment to my guitar. Between the two guitars, there really isn't any type of music that we wouldn't be able to accurately play.

Below is a pic of Eric Clapton with "Blackie", the most famous Stratocaster ever used.