Can a man really have too many toys?

Recently I have begun to renew my zeal for guitar, rediscovering my love of classic rock in the process. This is due mostly to the fact that a friend of mine bought a drum set and we have begun working on a few songs for a possible cover band or open mic night appearances.

Taking stock of my guitar collection, I noticed it consisted of three and a half pieces; an old entry level $100 Takamine Jasmine series acoustic (which I believe has a sound way richer than most guitars two or three times the price, but I digress), a Fender Squire Strat that my father-in-law bought on e-bay that needs a new rheostat (it only plays with the sound nob delicately tuned to somewhere around 7 and 7/8), and a 1974/75 maroon Gibson Marauder that belongs to my father-in-law. The one half piece is the Gibson's accompanying amp that is showing its age and has no inputs for an ipod. Seriously, how can any budding musician be expected to deal with such archaic equipment as this?

So I needed at the very least a practice amp, which is where all the trouble started. I am only thinking of my wifes sanity, as the old amp is also missing an output jack for headphones. Thus I went to my favorite place, Guitar Center. I know some die hards out there are thinking that is a joke. GC is sort of akin to WalMart. It is the musicians bargain bin, but hey, I am on a budget.

I found a neat little Crate practice amp for $70 that includes some distortion overdrive effects and an input for my mp3 player, or more importantly, my laptop (I love anything that allows you to plug in a laptop).

My wife was none too happy about this purchase as we are on a tight budget with the baby and all. I think she understood, but from her perspective she sees a pile of equipment and I am by no means a professional making money off of it, not that most professional musicians out there are making money off of their equipment either. While I was at GC, I played an Ibanez amplified acoustic six string and loved it. My preference was for a Martin satin top that just blows your mind with its rich deep tones, but that thing is around $900 on a good day and I was already seeing the writing on the wall about my dream there.

What pleased me the most about the Ibanez was the price tag, a mere 1/3 the price of the Martin. Still, I hung it back on the wall knowing I can only test my wifes patience so much in one month. After jamming with my friend and working on a couple of classic tunes from Bob Seger and Bad Co., I could not help remembering the sound I was getting out of that Ibanez. "Man, how cool would that sound with an acousitc?" I would say. I could not help myself.

So I vowed I would raise the cash with some side IT work, and I told my wife the plan. She was very accepting, save for the "you already have three guitars, why in the world do you need another?" comment. She had a point, but guitars are like people, each of them has their own unique personality and they all have different situations that they work best in. You don't play Metallica on a straight six string acoustic, a Fender works best for most 80's rock, a Gibson has a specific sound you find in Clapton and others, and you just can't play Seger's 'Night Moves' alone on electric.

Having hashed it out with my wife I decided to move forward and get the guitar. By chance I just happened to check e-bay and found the exact model I was after w/hard case and leather strap, at an opening bid of $100! It was in good shape and I put in a bid. Three days later I was paying $20 shipping on a winning bid of $148. I saved over $200 on buying all that stuff new and the wife seemed pleased by this.

So, to make a long story even longer, I don't believe a man can have too many toys. I am collecting finely crafted small works of art. These are not toys to me. They are tools that I can use to brighten a room with, bring smiles to faces, and burn off a little after work stress. Now to convince my wife that even though I have a 30th anniversary edition Mustang GT convertible, I still need to get my hands on a '68 GT coupe to rebuild...that is a battle for another day I guess.