"Too good to use..."

[Shangas]

My son is a very decent guitarist and I am emphasizing the importance of being a musician and not a collector.

Please talk to my father. He has like 10 guitars and they just keep growing.

And that's just the guitars.

I haven't told you about the drums, saxophone, mouth-organs, keyboard, flutes, horns, pipes, and other musical crap that he has lying around.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Please talk to my father. He has like 10 guitars and they just keep growing.

And that's just the guitars.

I haven't told you about the drums, saxophone, mouth-organs, keyboard, flutes, horns, pipes, and other musical crap that he has lying around.

Guitars that keep growing will end up being a problem. For starters, they'll get so big that you can't play them.

Guitar collecting is a cool hobby...IF you play them. Don't let them sit in a dark closet. They need LIFE!!!

 

[HudsonHawk]

My son is a very decent guitarist and I am emphasizing the importance of being a musician and not a collector.

I am steering him away from that odd mentality of spending thousands of dollars for new guitars that are trying to look like they've spend 20 years on the road. He recently showed me the Clapton "Brownie" Strat. I told him if he wants a guitar that looks 20 years old then own a guitar for 20 years.

Nowadays you have to pay extra for buckle rash and cigarette burns in the headstock.

 

[Feraud]

And there are suckers who pay it!

 

[LizzieMaine]

I rarely play my clarinet, but that's not because the clarinet is too good to play, it's because I play it so poorly.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I rarely play my clarinet, but that's not because the clarinet is too good to play, it's because I play it so poorly.

My "ability" doesn't stop me from picking my guitar. I actually have several really nice guitars, but unfortunately, they don't play themselves.

 

[Worf]

Well lemme say this bout dat. I've some "workhorse" basses that I don't mind playing or risking. I play in bars, road houses, joints of ill repute... No chicken wire per se.. but dang close to it. I got the Fender in 1970 and the Givson in '88 and both were in HEAVY rotation for quite a while.... now I've lesser lights to take the wear and tear... That's just good sense... why risk a $12,000 instrument when a $800 one will do?

Worf

 

[HudsonHawk]

Well lemme say this bout dat. I've some "workhorse" basses that I don't mind playing or risking. I play in bars, road houses, joints of ill repute... No chicken wire per se.. but dang close to it. I got the Fender in 1970 and the Givson in '88 and both were in HEAVY rotation for quite a while.... now I've lesser lights to take the wear and tear... That's just good sense... why risk a $12,000 instrument when a $800 one will do?

Worf

This is just me speaking, but...because it's not about you, it's about the instrument. What's the point of a beautiful instrument that never gets played? It will die. And THAT is a tragedy.

Of course, I feel that way about most things...cars, hats, guitars...your mileage may vary.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Spills and cats and fancy Bauhaus sofas - the bane of my life. My Barcelona chair is also thoroughly clawed. Ho hum. Glad I discovered inexpensive copycats of bauhaus designs! The cats can claw the copycats to their heart's content, and everyone's happy.

I'm trying to think of anything I have bought as a conscious "collectable" (therefore, too good to be used) item. I'm struggling. I know many vintage leather enthusiasts are horrified at the beating I give my original USAAF A2s and RAF Irvins etc., but I don't see them as anything more than vintage clothing, bought to be worn.

Spilling is a part of life. We purchased a new couch and put a blanket over it. Between spills and the pug who thinks it's his bed, I'm trying to get as much life out of the couch as possible!

We tend to not purchase things that are too good to use. I don't see the point in it.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I've known plenty of people who have a "formal" living room and/or dining room and what I've found laughable about it is that they don't even use it to entertain guests: It's basically a life-sized dollhouse. And then I've also known of people who have taken the concept to a completely macabre level where they will preserve the bedroom of a departed loved one as a sort of shrine. I've seen this particularly with parents who lost a child very young. They'll keep the room just as it was with all the toys still in place.

 

[Zombie_61]

...why risk a $12,000 instrument when a $800 one will do?

Some would ask, "Why own a $12,000 instrument that you never play if an $800 one will do?" They're usually the same people who would ask, "Why would you spend hundreds of dollars for a hat? I can get a case of 'em at WalMart for that price!" Both of which are, of course, silly questions in this crowd.

I've known plenty of people who have a "formal" living room and/or dining room and what I've found laughable about it is that they don't even use it to entertain guests: It's basically a life-sized dollhouse. And then I've also known of people who have taken the concept to a completely macabre level where they will preserve the bedroom of a departed loved one as a sort of shrine. I've seen this particularly with parents who lost a child very young. They'll keep the room just as it was with all the toys still in place.

I've known people like this, and when they show off the room with great pride and explain no one is allowed to enter I can't help but wonder why they haven't strung a velvet rope across the doorway with a "Please Do Not Enter" sign hanging from it.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Some would ask, "Why own a $12,000 instrument that you never play if an $800 one will do?" They're usually the same people who would ask, "Why would you spend hundreds of dollars for a hat? I can get a case of 'em at WalMart for that price!" Both of which are, of course, silly questions in this crowd.

I've known people like this, and when they show off the room with great pride and explain no one is allowed to enter I can't help but wonder why they haven't strung a velvet rope across the doorway with a "Please Do Not Enter" sign hanging from it.

Combining these two thoughts, I am reminded of this scene in Spinal Tap:



Nigel Tufnel: Look... still has the old tag on, never even played it.

Marty DiBergi: [points his finger] You've never played...?

Nigel Tufnel: Don't touch it!

Marty DiBergi: We'll I wasn't going to touch it, I was just pointing at it.

Nigel Tufnel: Well... don't point! It can't be played.

Marty DiBergi: Don't point, okay. Can I look at it?

Nigel Tufnel: No. no. That's it, you've seen enough of that one.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

This was very common in the UK, particularly among the working classes. The "best" china was kept in the "best" cabinet, in the room that was kept "for best" (upper working class, of course. It was partly a display of status - we have extra space that we can waste and never go into; you are cramped 7 into a two-room tenement.

They were used, though. Particularly when being visited by the vicar, or some other personage of dubious stature. The amount of "best China" crockery sets that have been bequeathed to my mother's possession is positively obscene. The problem is, they're all total garbage; the kind of crap you'd get on special at the Houndsditch Warehouse Co. or Woolworth's. She won't use them, convinced in the notion that they are "best".

I've known plenty of people who have a "formal" living room and/or dining room and what I've found laughable about it is that they don't even use it to entertain guests: It's basically a life-sized dollhouse. And then I've also known of people who have taken the concept to a completely macabre level where they will preserve the bedroom of a departed loved one as a sort of shrine. I've seen this particularly with parents who lost a child very young. They'll keep the room just as it was with all the toys still in place.