Guitar Porn

I heard a story this morning about a guy in search of the ultimate guitar. I'm on the same quest, although, I'm not necessarily looking for a handmade instrument. I have gotten it into my head, that I really deserve a superior guitar; it's a luxury, an extravagence, kind of my Eldorado, my Porche, my nubile, curvaceous young blond. You see, I'm approaching the half-century mark this fall, and it dawns on me, that there's probably more years behind me, than in front of me, so why not?

I have been playing quite a lot, both on my own and with the band. I own two guitars already, one an acoustic guitar that I've had for over 25 years, a big, clunky, Japanese-made, hollow-body guitar made by Hohner (famous for their harmonicas, not their guitars). It's like a part of me, not perfect, not fancy, but kind of like my arm, part of who I am, where I've been, where I've come from. Then there's my electric Fender Telecaster Slimline (made in Mexico). It's a dream to play, beautiful action, fast, sleek, light, I've actually been in a torrid love affair with it the last few years. It totally re-charged me on music and I wrote and performed the soundtrack for "Another Korea Revisited," with it.

So, yesterday, at Guitar Center, on a mission for something else (an xylophone for the Lovely Carla - it's all show biz), I scoped out a couple of my ultimate candidates. I'm really hooked on buying a Gibson Les Paul Standard, the preferred instrument for such guitarists as: Jimmy Page, Duane Allman, Peter Green, Neil Young, Mike Bloomfield. It entails some serious cash, so I'm not gonna just plunge into this, I need to make sure the money flows in before I let it flow out...but, I'm thinking when we're back from Edinburgh, working on the next play (I'm gonna do a soundtrack for sure) me and a Custom Shop, AA Maple Top, Les Paul Standard may be meeting up on some enchanted evening, and the notes will rock out sweet, and beautiful.