How will you use your stimulus money? I'm doing something really crazy with mine.

It has been almost fifty years since I laid down my guitar, got a haircut and and a real job. In 1965 my cousin and I decided to start a rock band when we were freshmen in college. The Beatles were huge, and we wanted in. We grew our hair and went the whole nine yards. I had been playing since 1961 when the hootenanny days were in full swing and I got my first electric guitar in 1963. It was a piece of crap.

A local minister cosigned a loan for us, and we got two fender Mustang guitars, a Hoffman bass, A Super Reverb and a pro reverb amplifier, a Fender Bass Amp, some kind of electric organ-cannot remember the brand. Microphones and mic stands. One of our friends was an electrical engineering graduate and he built a PA system for us. That was 1966.

I quickly mastered the guitar and became the Eddie Van Halen of the city. We got tight as a band and had a lot of gigs for about five years. Unfortunately. my cousin got into drugs and went the San Francisco route-he died in 1972. I played professionally until about 1975 ending my career with the guy that wrote the song Candy Girl for the Four Seasons. He had a nightclub in the city and brought me to New York.

My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, got pregnant and instead of jailing me, they let me marry her in a shotgun wedding. The music was done. I laid the instrument down and never played another note.

When I get the new stimulus check I am going to use it to spend about $2500 on a new guitar, probably a Strat. I will have to learn to play again but I know I can still do it. I can still picture chord progressions in my head, and I have no arthritic health issues. It has been nearly fifty years since I have picked a string but I know in my heart I can still make music on that thing.

I have posted this picture before. It is me with my wife and friends in 1971: We are center she has a drink, I have a cig:


View attachment 443181

sorry about the quality, it is an old polaroid I found at my dad's house after he died in 2008.

You could almost retire off what those guitars and amps are worth today.

From Ebay, completed auctions...

1971 Fender Mustang Sunburst $1,421.00

Vintage Fender 1967 Blackface Super Reverb Amp
$2,400.00

1967 Fender Pro Reverb Blackface Amplifier 2x12 Combo
$2,049.99

Hofner 500/1 ’63-RLC Violin Beatle Bass Vintage Finish (SN#V0318H006)
$3,299.99

1963 Fender Bassman Amp And Cabinet Tuxedo
$2,099.00
I still have a Fender Vibratone
It has been almost fifty years since I laid down my guitar, got a haircut and and a real job. In 1965 my cousin and I decided to start a rock band when we were freshmen in college. The Beatles were huge, and we wanted in. We grew our hair and went the whole nine yards. I had been playing since 1961 when the hootenanny days were in full swing and I got my first electric guitar in 1963. It was a piece of crap.

A local minister cosigned a loan for us, and we got two fender Mustang guitars, a Hoffman bass, A Super Reverb and a pro reverb amplifier, a Fender Bass Amp, some kind of electric organ-cannot remember the brand. Microphones and mic stands. One of our friends was an electrical engineering graduate and he built a PA system for us. That was 1966.

I quickly mastered the guitar and became the Eddie Van Halen of the city. We got tight as a band and had a lot of gigs for about five years. Unfortunately. my cousin got into drugs and went the San Francisco route-he died in 1972. I played professionally until about 1975 ending my career with the guy that wrote the song Candy Girl for the Four Seasons. He had a nightclub in the city and brought me to New York.

My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, got pregnant and instead of jailing me, they let me marry her in a shotgun wedding. The music was done. I laid the instrument down and never played another note.

When I get the new stimulus check I am going to use it to spend about $2500 on a new guitar, probably a Strat. I will have to learn to play again but I know I can still do it. I can still picture chord progressions in my head, and I have no arthritic health issues. It has been nearly fifty years since I have picked a string but I know in my heart I can still make music on that thing.

I have posted this picture before. It is me with my wife and friends in 1971: We are center she has a drink, I have a cig:


View attachment 443181

sorry about the quality, it is an old polaroid I found at my dad's house after he died in 2008.

You could almost retire off what those guitars and amps are worth today.

From Ebay, completed auctions...

1971 Fender Mustang Sunburst $1,421.00

Vintage Fender 1967 Blackface Super Reverb Amp
$2,400.00

1967 Fender Pro Reverb Blackface Amplifier 2x12 Combo
$2,049.99

Hofner 500/1 ’63-RLC Violin Beatle Bass Vintage Finish (SN#V0318H006)
$3,299.99

1963 Fender Bassman Amp And Cabinet Tuxedo
$2,099.00
I still have this stored at my son's house. Have no idea what it is worth or if it even still works. My Strat is so old it needs to be rewired.

 
That Vibratone had a rotating Leslie speaker in it. I could make my guitar sound like a Hammond organ.
 
I'm donating mine to various small restaurant owners who have been forced to close by fascist Democrats.
I actually did that...
Two locally owned brewpub/restaurants - I purchased ten $10 gift cards each from both, and handed them out to folks.
I belong to a group called "Love your local Business".... they have "chapters" throughout.
A bunch of us with some means got together and spread the love if you will among several locally owned establishments.
 
It has been almost fifty years since I laid down my guitar, got a haircut and and a real job. In 1965 my cousin and I decided to start a rock band when we were freshmen in college. The Beatles were huge, and we wanted in. We grew our hair and went the whole nine yards. I had been playing since 1961 when the hootenanny days were in full swing and I got my first electric guitar in 1963. It was a piece of crap.

A local minister cosigned a loan for us, and we got two fender Mustang guitars, a Hoffman bass, A Super Reverb and a pro reverb amplifier, a Fender Bass Amp, some kind of electric organ-cannot remember the brand. Microphones and mic stands. One of our friends was an electrical engineering graduate and he built a PA system for us. That was 1966.

I quickly mastered the guitar and became the Eddie Van Halen of the city. We got tight as a band and had a lot of gigs for about five years. Unfortunately. my cousin got into drugs and went the San Francisco route-he died in 1972. I played professionally until about 1975 ending my career with the guy that wrote the song Candy Girl for the Four Seasons. He had a nightclub in the city and brought me to New York.

My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, got pregnant and instead of jailing me, they let me marry her in a shotgun wedding. The music was done. I laid the instrument down and never played another note.

When I get the new stimulus check I am going to use it to spend about $2500 on a new guitar, probably a Strat. I will have to learn to play again but I know I can still do it. I can still picture chord progressions in my head, and I have no arthritic health issues. It has been nearly fifty years since I have picked a string but I know in my heart I can still make music on that thing.

I have posted this picture before. It is me with my wife and friends in 1971: We are center she has a drink, I have a cig:


View attachment 443181

sorry about the quality, it is an old polaroid I found at my dad's house after he died in 2008.
/——/ My income is such that I won’t get much of a stimulus check. But what I do get I’m donating to the Trump 2024 campaign.
 
It has been almost fifty years since I laid down my guitar, got a haircut and and a real job. In 1965 my cousin and I decided to start a rock band when we were freshmen in college. The Beatles were huge, and we wanted in. We grew our hair and went the whole nine yards. I had been playing since 1961 when the hootenanny days were in full swing and I got my first electric guitar in 1963. It was a piece of crap.

A local minister cosigned a loan for us, and we got two fender Mustang guitars, a Hoffman bass, A Super Reverb and a pro reverb amplifier, a Fender Bass Amp, some kind of electric organ-cannot remember the brand. Microphones and mic stands. One of our friends was an electrical engineering graduate and he built a PA system for us. That was 1966.

I quickly mastered the guitar and became the Eddie Van Halen of the city. We got tight as a band and had a lot of gigs for about five years. Unfortunately. my cousin got into drugs and went the San Francisco route-he died in 1972. I played professionally until about 1975 ending my career with the guy that wrote the song Candy Girl for the Four Seasons. He had a nightclub in the city and brought me to New York.

My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, got pregnant and instead of jailing me, they let me marry her in a shotgun wedding. The music was done. I laid the instrument down and never played another note.

When I get the new stimulus check I am going to use it to spend about $2500 on a new guitar, probably a Strat. I will have to learn to play again but I know I can still do it. I can still picture chord progressions in my head, and I have no arthritic health issues. It has been nearly fifty years since I have picked a string but I know in my heart I can still make music on that thing.

I have posted this picture before. It is me with my wife and friends in 1971: We are center she has a drink, I have a cig:


View attachment 443181

sorry about the quality, it is an old polaroid I found at my dad's house after he died in 2008.
/——/ My income is such that I won’t get much of a stimulus check. But what I do get I’m donating to the Trump 2024 campaign.

tenor.gif
 
It has been almost fifty years since I laid down my guitar, got a haircut and and a real job. In 1965 my cousin and I decided to start a rock band when we were freshmen in college. The Beatles were huge, and we wanted in. We grew our hair and went the whole nine yards. I had been playing since 1961 when the hootenanny days were in full swing and I got my first electric guitar in 1963. It was a piece of crap.

A local minister cosigned a loan for us, and we got two fender Mustang guitars, a Hoffman bass, A Super Reverb and a pro reverb amplifier, a Fender Bass Amp, some kind of electric organ-cannot remember the brand. Microphones and mic stands. One of our friends was an electrical engineering graduate and he built a PA system for us. That was 1966.

I quickly mastered the guitar and became the Eddie Van Halen of the city. We got tight as a band and had a lot of gigs for about five years. Unfortunately. my cousin got into drugs and went the San Francisco route-he died in 1972. I played professionally until about 1975 ending my career with the guy that wrote the song Candy Girl for the Four Seasons. He had a nightclub in the city and brought me to New York.

My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, got pregnant and instead of jailing me, they let me marry her in a shotgun wedding. The music was done. I laid the instrument down and never played another note.

When I get the new stimulus check I am going to use it to spend about $2500 on a new guitar, probably a Strat. I will have to learn to play again but I know I can still do it. I can still picture chord progressions in my head, and I have no arthritic health issues. It has been nearly fifty years since I have picked a string but I know in my heart I can still make music on that thing.

I have posted this picture before. It is me with my wife and friends in 1971: We are center she has a drink, I have a cig:


View attachment 443181

sorry about the quality, it is an old polaroid I found at my dad's house after he died in 2008.

You could almost retire off what those guitars and amps are worth today.

From Ebay, completed auctions...

1971 Fender Mustang Sunburst $1,421.00

Vintage Fender 1967 Blackface Super Reverb Amp
$2,400.00

1967 Fender Pro Reverb Blackface Amplifier 2x12 Combo
$2,049.99

Hofner 500/1 ’63-RLC Violin Beatle Bass Vintage Finish (SN#V0318H006)
$3,299.99

1963 Fender Bassman Amp And Cabinet Tuxedo
$2,099.00
I still have a Fender Vibratone
It has been almost fifty years since I laid down my guitar, got a haircut and and a real job. In 1965 my cousin and I decided to start a rock band when we were freshmen in college. The Beatles were huge, and we wanted in. We grew our hair and went the whole nine yards. I had been playing since 1961 when the hootenanny days were in full swing and I got my first electric guitar in 1963. It was a piece of crap.

A local minister cosigned a loan for us, and we got two fender Mustang guitars, a Hoffman bass, A Super Reverb and a pro reverb amplifier, a Fender Bass Amp, some kind of electric organ-cannot remember the brand. Microphones and mic stands. One of our friends was an electrical engineering graduate and he built a PA system for us. That was 1966.

I quickly mastered the guitar and became the Eddie Van Halen of the city. We got tight as a band and had a lot of gigs for about five years. Unfortunately. my cousin got into drugs and went the San Francisco route-he died in 1972. I played professionally until about 1975 ending my career with the guy that wrote the song Candy Girl for the Four Seasons. He had a nightclub in the city and brought me to New York.

My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, got pregnant and instead of jailing me, they let me marry her in a shotgun wedding. The music was done. I laid the instrument down and never played another note.

When I get the new stimulus check I am going to use it to spend about $2500 on a new guitar, probably a Strat. I will have to learn to play again but I know I can still do it. I can still picture chord progressions in my head, and I have no arthritic health issues. It has been nearly fifty years since I have picked a string but I know in my heart I can still make music on that thing.

I have posted this picture before. It is me with my wife and friends in 1971: We are center she has a drink, I have a cig:


View attachment 443181

sorry about the quality, it is an old polaroid I found at my dad's house after he died in 2008.

You could almost retire off what those guitars and amps are worth today.

From Ebay, completed auctions...

1971 Fender Mustang Sunburst $1,421.00

Vintage Fender 1967 Blackface Super Reverb Amp
$2,400.00

1967 Fender Pro Reverb Blackface Amplifier 2x12 Combo
$2,049.99

Hofner 500/1 ’63-RLC Violin Beatle Bass Vintage Finish (SN#V0318H006)
$3,299.99

1963 Fender Bassman Amp And Cabinet Tuxedo
$2,099.00
I still have this stored at my son's house. Have no idea what it is worth or if it even still works. My Strat is so old it needs to be rewired.


No Vibratones sold recently on Ebay, but there is one currently with an $899 asking price. That old Stratocaster you have is probably worth some bucks, depending on the year it was made. Even in non-working condition.

I played 30 years but just quit one day back in 2007. Between the BS in the music business, the artistic frustration, the staying out later at nigh,t and the drugs and alcohol, I just said "fuck this."
 
It has been almost fifty years since I laid down my guitar, got a haircut and and a real job. In 1965 my cousin and I decided to start a rock band when we were freshmen in college. The Beatles were huge, and we wanted in. We grew our hair and went the whole nine yards. I had been playing since 1961 when the hootenanny days were in full swing and I got my first electric guitar in 1963. It was a piece of crap.

A local minister cosigned a loan for us, and we got two fender Mustang guitars, a Hoffman bass, A Super Reverb and a pro reverb amplifier, a Fender Bass Amp, some kind of electric organ-cannot remember the brand. Microphones and mic stands. One of our friends was an electrical engineering graduate and he built a PA system for us. That was 1966.

I quickly mastered the guitar and became the Eddie Van Halen of the city. We got tight as a band and had a lot of gigs for about five years. Unfortunately. my cousin got into drugs and went the San Francisco route-he died in 1972. I played professionally until about 1975 ending my career with the guy that wrote the song Candy Girl for the Four Seasons. He had a nightclub in the city and brought me to New York.

My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, got pregnant and instead of jailing me, they let me marry her in a shotgun wedding. The music was done. I laid the instrument down and never played another note.

When I get the new stimulus check I am going to use it to spend about $2500 on a new guitar, probably a Strat. I will have to learn to play again but I know I can still do it. I can still picture chord progressions in my head, and I have no arthritic health issues. It has been nearly fifty years since I have picked a string but I know in my heart I can still make music on that thing.

I have posted this picture before. It is me with my wife and friends in 1971: We are center she has a drink, I have a cig:


View attachment 443181

sorry about the quality, it is an old polaroid I found at my dad's house after he died in 2008.



Excellent story Ray, thanks. My wife and I already transferred our mighty stimulus checks into our savings, however, I had been thinking about getting back into fly fishing. For my twelfth birthday around 1984 I received an antique copy of Walton's The Compleat Angler, which sent my fly fishing interest into overdrive. I used paper route money saved over many months to purchase an L.L. Bean 6 weight fly rod and compatible reel. Little did I know that a friend of my father's was about to gift me one of his old rigs—an eight weight bamboo fly rod with a nifty spring-and-pawl reel from the 1940's. I ended up selling the L.L. Bean rig at a yard sale, fascinated with the bamboo setup, which I would use over the next few years to fish for everything from small stream trout to pike and striped bass. And then one day, while riding my bike to work in a local orchard (I was about 15), the lower section of the bamboo rod fell out of my backpack. I had always packed it along because there was a pond stocked with bass and bluegill at the orchard. I found it on the return trip home that night. It must have been run over twenty times or more laying in the middle of the road.

I haven't owned another decent fly fishing rig since. Thought I might change that with the stimulus money, but I'd rather spend my own EARNED dollars on a new rig.
 
It has been almost fifty years since I laid down my guitar, got a haircut and and a real job. In 1965 my cousin and I decided to start a rock band when we were freshmen in college. The Beatles were huge, and we wanted in. We grew our hair and went the whole nine yards. I had been playing since 1961 when the hootenanny days were in full swing and I got my first electric guitar in 1963. It was a piece of crap.

A local minister cosigned a loan for us, and we got two fender Mustang guitars, a Hoffman bass, A Super Reverb and a pro reverb amplifier, a Fender Bass Amp, some kind of electric organ-cannot remember the brand. Microphones and mic stands. One of our friends was an electrical engineering graduate and he built a PA system for us. That was 1966.

I quickly mastered the guitar and became the Eddie Van Halen of the city. We got tight as a band and had a lot of gigs for about five years. Unfortunately. my cousin got into drugs and went the San Francisco route-he died in 1972. I played professionally until about 1975 ending my career with the guy that wrote the song Candy Girl for the Four Seasons. He had a nightclub in the city and brought me to New York.

My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, got pregnant and instead of jailing me, they let me marry her in a shotgun wedding. The music was done. I laid the instrument down and never played another note.

When I get the new stimulus check I am going to use it to spend about $2500 on a new guitar, probably a Strat. I will have to learn to play again but I know I can still do it. I can still picture chord progressions in my head, and I have no arthritic health issues. It has been nearly fifty years since I have picked a string but I know in my heart I can still make music on that thing.

I have posted this picture before. It is me with my wife and friends in 1971: We are center she has a drink, I have a cig:


View attachment 443181

sorry about the quality, it is an old polaroid I found at my dad's house after he died in 2008.



Excellent story Ray, thanks. My wife and I already transferred our mighty stimulus checks into our savings, however, I had been thinking about getting back into fly fishing. For my twelfth birthday around 1984 I received an antique copy of Walton's The Compleat Angler, which sent my fly fishing interest into overdrive. I used paper route money saved over many months to purchase an L.L. Bean 6 weight fly rod and compatible reel. Little did I know that a friend of my father's was about to gift me one of his old rigs—an eight weight bamboo fly rod with a nifty spring-and-pawl reel from the 1940's. I ended up selling the L.L. Bean rig at a yard sale, fascinated with the bamboo setup, which I would use over the next few years to fish for everything from small stream trout to pike and striped bass. And then one day, while riding my bike to work in a local orchard (I was about 15), the lower section of the bamboo rod fell out of my backpack. I had always packed it along because there was a pond stocked with bass and bluegill at the orchard. I found it on the return trip home that night. It must have been run over twenty times or more laying in the middle of the road.

I haven't owned another decent fly fishing rig since. Thought I might change that with the stimulus money, but I'd rather spend my own EARNED dollars on a new rig.
You should go with it. Life is short.

:113:
 
I've bought 11 firearms over the last three weeks, so I'm good there.

I might put it towards a new Gibson SJ-200...
 
My Strat is so old it needs to be rewired.

Why?

I had a '55 Strat that, electronically, was dead-nuts original (pickups, switches, etc).

Age doesn't mean it needs to be rewired and, in fact, rewiring could hurt the value. What year is it?
 

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