Why do you own two guitars?

I’m glad you asked. It started back in ’94. I was laid off for the very first time. (hardly the last) I was a 4th term apprentice and suddenly with a lot of spare time on my hands. My younger brother P had been taking guitar lessons for as long as I can remember. Every Christmas or Birthday he would get more lessons. Jazz. Blues. Finger picking. Classical. There might be a few more that I'm missing. The kid had talent. Eventually able to hear a guitar riff once and play it back for you then and there. With me being such a music geek I wanted to learn a little guitar myself. Just to learn a couple songs and have a little fun. $650.00 bought me a ’91 Fender Strat Plus from Songbird Music. The guitar was near mint. Finished like a piece of high-end furniture. The intention was to bug the little bro into showing me a few things and for me to make the most of it while I was out of work.

P showed me a few power chords. I would ask him what songs were straightforward enough. (ok, ok… simple enough) for me to learn. Pretend We’re Dead – L7. Drive Blind – Ride. What You Said – Holy Rollers. Were a few of them. I did manage to remember a few full chords but I couldn’t show you one of them now if my life depended on it. I didn’t keep on it. I didn’t bug my brother enough and I didn’t invest the time needed. P would occasionally borrow the Strat when he had a show. That’s sort of how I ended up with the second guitar. P had a Gibson SG Firebrand. It’s relatively rare. Over the years it has been used and slightly abused all in the name of Rock ‘N Roll. It has been saved by the Twelfth Fret more than once.

P had looked for a back up guitar for a while but never had any luck. I stumbled across a SG with a cherry finish at another consignment shop near Danforth and Danforth. Made in 1980 it was still a real SG. Not some lesser clone they were making at the time. P looked at it and it was a close enough match to his first but he didn’t have the cash. I ended up fronting the $800.00 for it. What’s a big brother for right? He would pay me back when he could and no biggie. I didn’t foresee him falling in love with a classic Guild Acoustic guitar later that summer. It was blond and from the late 60’s. It had a great sound to it and when I think back on it now I can’t really blame him for picking it up when he did. At the time though I was pissed. I swore that the SG was now mine since he invested into something else. It still didn’t help me learn to play any better than the Strat did.

There have been a number of times when we have been a little tight for money and I’ve thought of selling the two guitars. (I’ve still got an extra car to sell but that’s another post) They are two fancy slabs of wood with a little electronics jammed inside that are worth more now then when I first bought them. The money could be well used somewhere else but then I start thinking that I could never replace them for what I originally bought them for and I doubt in the same condition. I have two girls. I have two guitars. Should I start overloading them on Luscious Jackson, Liz Phair, L7, Elastica, The Breeders and Veruca Salt?

Hopefully Uncle P will be up to giving a few lessons when the time is right.