No matter how old you are, you probably have some awesome memories of the days when you first started to learn how to play guitar? Well I just turned 57 years old this year (2011), and with very fond memories, I remember back in 1965 when I started taking guitar lessons at this funky little guitar shop in the neighborhood where I grew up in the Southeast part of Portland, Oregon, USA.
Looking back I REALLY wish that I had taken some pictures of that silly little guitar shop!
Here is TIP #1 - Take lots of pictures nowadays!
It is so stinking easy to do today, getting easier every day, and the quality available is just unbelievable! Point and shoot, and after you have a couple hundred pictures stored in your camera, take the time to go through them and delete the photos that you don't feel you need to keep.
Here is TIP #2 - Only delete the pictures you can't make out!
With the exception of the really blurry shots, or the ones of the ground or sky, why not keep all of the pictures you take? They are basically free, they don't take up any space to speak of, and who knows; someday you might find that the memories on a particular picture are wonderful to have.
Taking pictures nowadays is really simple; and there are SO many digital forms of cameras, and even high definition cameras in our phones today.
There is no doubt that pictures from 1965 would have helped me remember a lot about my first guitar shop! Heck my memory isn't what it was, and it never was as accurate as a few pictures from that time-frame would be.
But then again, taking pictures back in 1965 was a big thing! Back in the 1960's, you didn't just take pictures and view them instantly like we do now. A person had to actually go to the photo shop, purchase a roll of film, put that film in a camera, take the pictures, and then have them developed. In more detail...once you bought the film, you had to take the roll of film out of an air-tight sealed foil package, insert the film pack in your camera, and then you could start taking pictures. The film packs back then were filled with 12, 24, or 36 pictures; maybe more if you had the professional camera. THEN, after shooting the pictures, you had another step prior to actually being able to view your pictures - you had to take the exposed roll of film to a special shop (the Photo Shop) where the film would have to be developed. (Maybe you have seen the photo shop on "That 70's Show"?) Once the shop was finished with developing (you know...all that "dark room" stuff), you could see your pictures...maybe a week or so after you took those pictures. LOL But I still wish I had gone through all of that just to have a few pictures (even though they would have been black and white) of my first guitar shop; the place where I got hooked on guitars.
You would think that guitars, like cameras, were a lot different back then. Well we would both be wrong. The way they are constructed is a lot different today, but the way they look, act, feel, and produce music, is almost the same as guitars made 40, 50, or even 60 years ago. BUT, if you are going to collect guitars; you will want to go with the older guitars every time.
Here is TIP #3 - When collecting guitars; better to purchase older ones.
Sure there is a plethora of new guitars out there today, but I think that is the part of the problem. Too many guitars, and they are just being mass-produced.
QUESTION: Would you rather have a hand-made one-of-a-kind guitar that was signed by the luthier, or a one-of-twenty-thousand off an assembly line?
If you are into collection guitars, here are a couple that you might want to look into; the Univox 6-string narrow/hollow-body electric guitar from 1965 (this one is a copy of the Gibson 335 if you know what that guitar looks like?)
The other classic that you may want to obtain is the VOX Astro IV violin-shaped bass guitar, which is an absolutely awesome, and beautiful, bass guitar that was hand-made in Italy.
Here is an interesting part about guitars; be they old or new...there is VERY little difference in the guitars that were hand-built in the 1960's, and those guitars that are hand-built today in 2011. The basics are exactly the same; for the most part.
Speaking of classics and collector's items, how about cameras from the 1960's? I don't know for sure, but I bet you can't even purchase film for them anymore...LOL...so they are basically useless. As for guitars made in the 1960's or older...the older a guitar, the more sought-after, and valuable they become. One reason is that guitars actually start sounding better with age, the older guitars look really cool, and whether or not they were well-cared for; most guitars from the 1960's have become collector's items.
Cameras from the 1960's might be considered a collector's item, to just the right collector, but I would argue that if we were still using our cameras from the 1960's, that they wouldn't give us as good a picture as our handy little smart phone does today. Phones today takes high definition photos, and high def video, that are digital; and if you don't like them - you delete them.
How easy is that? As a matter of fact, here is a "collector" camera to look up; the Canon fTb camera from 1976. That camera was about $500 back then, and it is worth about $5.00 today! No kidding! Most 35MM cameras from the 1970's apparently aren't collectors' items; so be careful if you invest in an old camera - thinking that it might be worth something.
TIP #4 - Don't buy old cameras, unless you know you can get the film, or unless you just like to display them.
If you started playing guitar in the 1960's, you probably remember that you had to go visit a guitar instructor at his place of business, and pay him about $5.00 per hour-long lesson. And that was back when the minimum wage was about $1.00 per hour...YES $1.00 an hour! But to spend $5.00 on guitar lessons as an 11-year old kid was GREAT! That was then, this is now. Heck, you can get almost any type of guitar lesson online now.
Online guitar lessons are awesome, they are incredibly easy to access, easy to follow, and you can repeat your lesson as many times as you like because all of the online guitar instructors are preparing their guitar lessons on streaming video. How great is that? These lessons are relatively inexpensive too. They are extremely easy to follow and you can actually learn a lot in a very short period of time! And they can be watched over and over in the comfort of your studio at home. Back in the 60's, you probably had to grab your guitar, hop on a bicycle and ride a few blocks (making sure not to drop your guitar), and then sit down with your instructor at the scheduled time, as he taught you one lesson in exchange for a five dollar bill. One lesson, 5 bucks...no free repeats like today.
TIP #5 - Online guitar lessons are the ONLY way to go!
If you really enjoyed those lessons back in the 60's, you are going LOVE the online guitar lessons of today. But no matter whether you learn in person, or online, here is THE best tip, for a guitar player, EVER....
TIP #6 - Spend just 15 minutes a day on your guitar, every day of your life, and you will be AMAZED with your progress."
I have often wondered how awesome I would be on the guitar had I followed that one little tip? Now just imagine if you spent 15 minutes EVERY day of your life to improve on your guitar playing. What would the results be?
CONCLUSION: Old cameras - be careful on what you buy. Old guitars, you don't have to be as careful! But either way...DO YOUR RESEARCH!
Well...how about this challenge? I challenge myself to pick up my guitar and work on something, new or old, every single day for just 15 minutes. How about you? Do you want to take on my challenge? Just imagine how incredible we will be 60 days from now? Sixty days, times 15 minutes a day is a WHOPPING FIFTEEN HOURS of practice...WOW.
Are you up for FIFTEEN hours of rehearsal over the coming 60 days? I am! Let's do it together! I am going to use some of these online guitar lessons to improve my chops on the guitar, and in sixty days; we can compare "notes".
Peace!
Rich
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