Fear hangs the fellow that ties up his years... [025]
Stuck in my head: "Couldn't Stand the Weather"
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
Couldn't Stand the Weather
It's been six months since I've written anything, and a lot of life has happened. While a lot of it deserves unpacking, I also have a therapist who is incredibly helpful so at least for the time being, I don't feel the need to address the last few months, here.
As I recently wrote, "Therapy teaches you how to be patient with yourself as you get over the things that used to hold you back, and to be patient with the vast majority of people who largely lack the skills to regulate their emotions. Therapy is not about how to become more compliant with other people's expectations of you despite having low expectations for themselves. Healing is a lonely road. Shit."
Anyway... I'm just gonna get on with it for today.
Sunday randomness:
Twice have I attempted to acquire the Hendrix Stratocaster (the black is now discontinued), and twice have I been thwarted:
A. The first (white) was a pawn shop find that turned out to be counterfeit; luckily, the manager saw things my way and I was refunded, though many times pawn shops are "as is" and you can get screwed at an unscrupulous shop.
B. The second (black) had several cracks in the poly... not sure why those toads at guitar center think that's "great" condition, but that's the cost of doing business with that organization. Here again, I was also refunded.
Perhaps the third time will be the charm.
A note about that first guitar: a couple of months later, it ended up on Craigslist - apparently, Person #2 bought it, and sold it as authentic to Person #3; Person #3 figured it out and was LIVID because he paid $600 for it and Person #2 wouldn't return his calls for selling him a counterfeit instrument. Person #3 made it public on Craigslist and ran his complaint/advert for about a month before it disappeared again. Remain vigilant, kids.
I don't do that "relic" shit with guitars. Phil McKnight of YouTube fame made a good point about "relic-ing" being a solid business strategy - companies are willing to sell you "pre-damaged" goods so if anything happens to the items during shipping then gosh darnit it was supposed to look that way!
It seems like fake authenticity to me. The industry switched to polyurethane as a method of preventing wear and deep damage that's caused by nitrocellulose ultimately being cheap garbage (it's garbage, you're wrong, wood doesn't "breathe", eat shit, and die mad about it). People really like that worn-in look, however, and IT SELLS LIKE CRAZY.
Anyone who's ever played with me knows I am hard in my guitars, but none of my instruments are damaged to that extent. "Serenity" is twenty-three years old this year and she still looks amazing: her poly sports no cracks, no paint chips, and she still glistens under stage light.
Guitarists are just reckless with their gear, which is the behaviour of bloody savages. The desire for "cred" is asinine - LOOK HOW TORN UP MY SHIT IS I MUST BE HARDCORE AND A TOURING ROCKSTAR.
Sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up.
After moving to seattle, fools would give me shit for liking Stevie Ray Vaughan because Jimi Hendrix "did it first" and he's from here and blah blah blah. It's made it quite hard to listen to Hendrix because of all the massive assholes I've encountered through the years attempting to play music and get involved in the "scene" here. It's the behaviour of gatekeeping homerism, which I do not appreciate.
It's not Jimi's fault, and I know that... but the northwest is full of a certain type of asshole that really gets in your skin and stays there.
Everything I've ever read about Jimi says that he was soft-spoken and kind, so it's no wonder that Stevie Ray Vaughan wanted to pay his respects. I believe in competition, but the Hendrix/Vaughan thing isn't a competition, it's just guitarist wankery, a menagerie of jerk-offs opening up their mouths to spew out covid breath and bullshit opinions when they should be learning how to stop being punk-based and start learning how to be good, learnèd musicians.
Further, Jimi wasn't a seattle artist, he was London-based, and he was always nervous about coming back. I feel for Jimi in the sense that the organization that's responsible for his legacy is mired in conflict. I don't know how to feel about Janie and Leon but I do think the Hendrix Strat is a cool piece. The seattle connection shouldn't be a source of resentment, something that keeps me from getting a guitar that I'll enjoy playing.
It comes up in therapy. I'm learning. Healing is a lonely road.
Shit.
Comments
Post a Comment