F'ing college.

DOSWDOSW Posts: 2,014
edited February 2007 in Musicians and Gearheads
I have to save up all my money for it. The only guitar stuff I can really afford to get are new strings. *sigh*

There are so many things I would love to just splurge on... nothing ridiculously expensive, but things like an Aerodyne tele or a Seagull acoustic or something like that. I basically tell myself that I just have to concentrate on getting better and not think about improving my arsenal. But it sucks anyway.

Anyone else in a frustrating limiting financial situation?
It's a town full of losers and I'm pulling out of here to win
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • senninsennin Posts: 2,146
    I think I might like the gear more than I like playing! :p

    I really need to learn to play though.....I'm still a rookie!
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    no worries, most gigging musicians have mostly crap anyway because they are relatively poor in pocket. This whole idea of the professional guitar is a joke. Any guitar played by a pro is a professional guitar.

    Saving money is good for you and it will help you in the long run. Just keep pushing your own playing as long as it's fun, that and if you had anything nice in college some one would scratch it, break it or breath on it wrong.


    Window shopping is tremendously fun I do it all the time.

    have fun with it, keep your strings fresh and your fingers bleeding :D
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • Drew263Drew263 Posts: 602
    sennin wrote:
    I think I might like the gear more than I like playing! :p

    I really need to learn to play though.....I'm still a rookie!

    I'm with you! I've got my eye on this everytime I go in for my weekly lesson..

    http://img3.guitarcenter.com/dbase/pics/products/6/3/6/273636.jpg

    This is what I'm learning on..

    http://img3.guitarcenter.com/dbase/pics/products/7/1/3/393713.jpg

    Window shopping is TOO fun.
  • NovawindNovawind Posts: 836
    I've gotten my wah and phaser off of ebay used, as well as my Traynor. I too feel your college financial woes. I know I'm going to have to shell out some $$ for the repair fee for my amp, so I know I can't afford an attenuator ($100) or a delay ($100+) right now. Hell, I need a replacement trem arm for my strat but I can't even afford that.

    I'm being realistic so instead of a gibson, this will probably be my next axe:
    http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/2/8/8/475288.jpg
    If idle hands are the devil's workshop, he must not be very productive.

    7/9/06 LA 1
    7/10/06 LA 2
    10/21/06 Bridge 1
  • senninsennin Posts: 2,146
    I've done the college thing....but I wasn't into guitars back then.

    Now I can actually afford stuff....so I really have to be careful....but I'm still going the budget route.

    I really want to get a quality guitar though! I'll give myself another year of practice....then I'm getting an American Strat!
  • DOSWDOSW Posts: 2,014
    My acoustic guitar is particularly frustrating... it's an entry-level Yamaha with a solid top that will sound great one day and will sound like a tin can the next. It also has a really tough action to it.

    I could get a Seagull M6 on ebay right now for $300 shipped. I could probably sell my Yamaha for at least $100, so that would make it easier financially, but I've never played a Seagull before and I'm afraid the thicker neck wouldn't be comfortable. So it's hard to justify spending money on even a ridiculously good deal like that.

    *sigh*
    It's a town full of losers and I'm pulling out of here to win
  • Drew263Drew263 Posts: 602
    Novawind wrote:
    I've gotten my wah and phaser off of ebay used, as well as my Traynor. I too feel your college financial woes. I know I'm going to have to shell out some $$ for the repair fee for my amp, so I know I can't afford an attenuator ($100) or a delay ($100+) right now. Hell, I need a replacement trem arm for my strat but I can't even afford that.

    I'm being realistic so instead of a gibson, this will probably be my next axe:
    http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/2/8/8/475288.jpg

    Only thing I don't like about mine is I wish it would stay in tune quicker....every time I play it, I have to re-tune multiple times in the first 10 minutes or so. Then it settles in.
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    Drew263 wrote:
    Only thing I don't like about mine is I wish it would stay in tune quicker....every time I play it, I have to re-tune multiple times in the first 10 minutes or so. Then it settles in.


    You can accomplish this by "stretching" the string as you tune it up.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • NovawindNovawind Posts: 836
    Or I could replace the stock tuners with locking ones for $60 extra. I don't know, it's over a year away before I even think about a second guitar.
    If idle hands are the devil's workshop, he must not be very productive.

    7/9/06 LA 1
    7/10/06 LA 2
    10/21/06 Bridge 1
  • taratara Posts: 293
    DOSW wrote:
    I have to save up all my money for it. The only guitar stuff I can really afford to get are new strings. *sigh*

    There are so many things I would love to just splurge on... nothing ridiculously expensive, but things like an Aerodyne tele or a Seagull acoustic or something like that. I basically tell myself that I just have to concentrate on getting better and not think about improving my arsenal. But it sucks anyway.

    Anyone else in a frustrating limiting financial situation?

    i can't relate about the guitars, but my real obsession is bikes, which are fucking expensive. now, i lived with my parents during uni, so they decided how i spent my money, which meant not on bikes (this is not an appropriate activity for a girl who one day should get married). i raced for my university mountain bike team and rode a bike from 1993 for the entire time. there have been several incredible revolutions in construction since then (brakes that work, suspension, geometry). finally i left and saved up enough to buy a bike this summer. now i'm back at school and living off of government loans (thanks osap!) and really, really have no $ to spend on bikes. but it's been the best thing in the world, i went up from being 15th at races, to being 2nd, or 5th, and i'd like to think that my legs had something to do with it, but i think it's in part the bike, oh, and it's more fun to ride too.
    anyway, i didn't want to reinforce materialism, and i have to say that i miss the old bike sometimes (i had to be way more skilled to ride it, i've lost some of that now), i'm just saying that i feel what you're at school and can't afford the soft toilet paper
    No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it.
    Albert Einstein
  • lucylespianlucylespian Posts: 2,403
    Been there, done that, spent 7 yrs poverty stricken to go to University, but totallly worth it in the long run.
    The truth is that nothing good in life comes without doing the hard yards for it.
    It's tough when you are there though. The worst thing is that it is often the best part of your life, youth, health, parties, shagging, little responsibility ( I know, you don't believe this, but wait til you get a career and a mortgage and you'll know what I mean), and you are too poor to appreciate it, so you want it to end, so you can get on the the money earning bit.
    I say wallow in it, window shop, bum guitars and enjoy it while you can.
    Music is not a competetion.
  • lucylespianlucylespian Posts: 2,403
    Pacomc79 wrote:
    no worries, most gigging musicians have mostly crap anyway because they are relatively poor in pocket. This whole idea of the professional guitar is a joke. Any guitar played by a pro is a professional guitar.

    Saving money is good for you and it will help you in the long run. Just keep pushing your own playing as long as it's fun, that and if you had anything nice in college some one would scratch it, break it or breath on it wrong.


    Window shopping is tremendously fun I do it all the time.

    have fun with it, keep your strings fresh and your fingers bleeding :D

    This is all so true !! Far from being a professional musician, I am more a "musical professional".
    Therefore, while I can't shame the devil in a duel to save my soul, I can actually afford nice gear. Ironic , isn't it ??
    Minstrels were always drunken bums anyway.
    Music is not a competetion.
  • Definitely on the same page as you. I'm suprised i didn't write a post like this earlier considering i've been playing for 4 years and FINALLY just got my first electric and first amp. I've been playing on a really shitty acoustic and borrowing an electric from a friend (I'm a sophomore in college now). As long as u have a guitar to play on and progress, that's all that matters, unless you're trying to get a band going. I'm slowly going to start buying a pedal here and a pedal there.

    I definitely agree with Novawind on using ebay. I just got a mint Traynor YCV40WR for half the price on auction. I'm sure anything else I buy in the future will be off of ebay as well. Do you go to Albright?
    Camden I '06, Camden II '06, Bonnaroo '08, Camden I '08, Camden II '08, Philly Spectrum II/III/IV '09, MSG I '10, MSG II '10, Made In America '12, Wrigley '13, Brooklyn II '13, Philly I '13, Philly II '13, ...
  • Drew263Drew263 Posts: 602
    Pacomc79 wrote:
    You can accomplish this by "stretching" the string as you tune it up.

    hmm really? I stretch them when I change strings, but never thought about doing it while tuning. I have always done a lot of bends beforehand but I'll give that a shot.

    Thanks.
  • DOSWDOSW Posts: 2,014
    As long as u have a guitar to play on and progress, that's all that matters, unless you're trying to get a band going.

    I wish I was like that. But I really like to sound as best I can just because it's more pleasurable for my ears. I'm going to try and see if can play the "early birthday present" card on my parents to see if they can chip in on that Seagull on eBay... I'll probably be able to re-sell it if it's too uncomfortable with minimal loss. I've heard nothing but good things about them.

    And to answer your question about where I'm going, I'm actually taking a year off before college, so I'm heading out this fall. The best thing I've learned on my year off: go to college and get an interesting job, because I honestly detest supervising at the grocery store that I work at now.
    It's a town full of losers and I'm pulling out of here to win
  • DOSW wrote:
    I wish I was like that. But I really like to sound as best I can just because it's more pleasurable for my ears. I'm going to try and see if can play the "early birthday present" card on my parents to see if they can chip in on that Seagull on eBay... I'll probably be able to re-sell it if it's too uncomfortable with minimal loss. I've heard nothing but good things about them.

    And to answer your question about where I'm going, I'm actually taking a year off before college, so I'm heading out this fall. The best thing I've learned on my year off: go to college and get an interesting job, because I honestly detest supervising at the grocery store that I work at now.

    I've only played one Seagull. It played and sounded great. They do have pretty fat necks, but I have small hands and it wasn't really an issue for me, so it probably won't be for most other people. Where are you planning on heading in the fall?
    Camden I '06, Camden II '06, Bonnaroo '08, Camden I '08, Camden II '08, Philly Spectrum II/III/IV '09, MSG I '10, MSG II '10, Made In America '12, Wrigley '13, Brooklyn II '13, Philly I '13, Philly II '13, ...
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