And away they go!

Well, the order was made today, and we are currently awaiting the shipping number.

So how is it that someone like me, who claims to know nothing about Guitars, ends up with a $1,200.00+ order, not knowing what he is buying???

And that will be the theme of our weblog: "From Ground Zero To Guitar Hero." It sounds lame, but it markets well, so shut up with the sarcasm. I get enough of it from my wife and oldest daughter. And for the record, my oldest daughter has quite a lot of nerve... She loves 80's hair/glam metal with a passion, (Thanks to me of course) but loves to pop off on how they used dinosaurs instead of tour buses back then.

I live in a very "rural" area, and with our village being a little over 300 in population, and the nearest music store over 90 minutes away, I had no other choice but to rely on the internet, a few choice friends back in Southern California, and basically the opinions of those I do not know personally. So I hung out at different forums, read different articles and weblog posts, asked a few questions here and there, and then decided.

My first question was "Acoustic or Electric" to start with, and the majority of the folks I talked to all agreed that Acoustic was the way to go. I am an old man, with no where to go in any hurry, so taking the slow, tried and true, traditional route, was to be the road best traveled.

A lot of names were thrown out at first... Martin, Gibson, Taylor, etc. And after a while, it came to narrow down to those three. So my first lesson in Guitar came rather easily.

Lesson #1. "All guitarists have an opinion, most will share it whether asked or not, and most will never agree with each other." Sounds like a lot of drummers I have partied with. LOL

After numerous threads of watching people argue with each other, one fellow sent me a PM that read...

"Hey Bro! Fuck those jokers. What you need to do is go to the manufacturers websites, find the area where they list the artists that use their guitar, and choose the guitar that the artists that you like are using. If you like their music, then it stands to reason that you will like their instrument. Gotta go, there is a bong rip with my name on it."

It sounded logical to me, so Taylor got the nod.

Now on to RHM. (Rock House Method)

That one was even harder at first. Everyone had something to tout, and had reasons why not to go with the others. Most told me to go to my local music store to find a teacher, and try out different guitars, but as I had got tired of telling them. "The closest is 90 minutes away, and I know nothing about guitars, so what am I supposed to be looking for you fools!"

But in the end, four things sold me on RHM.

1. It was a combination of book, audio, and visual. (I need all the media types I can get for being %100 ignorant on the subject to be learned.)
2. AMS (American Musical Supply) had it in stock, so it went on the "Payment Plan" easy enough.
3. The wife said... "Go with the blonde guy, (John McCarthy) he is hot. Hot guitarists MUST know what they are doing, or they wouldn't be hot."
4. Enough people recommended it to make it good odds on a coin flip.
   

So with the wife giving the "wisest" of the advice, (Much like "Captain Cannabis" with the guitar suggestion.) it seemed to be the logical choice once again.

The "Accessories" were basically "Hit or Miss". I will have to see over time whether they prove to be good or not, through my own experience.

So in a nutshell, for those who find themselves in my situation, there is the route I followed to make the choices.

And away they go!

http://rosegardenmusic.blogspot.com/2008/10/and-away-they-go.html

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