old guitar appreciation day

earlier today, i pulled the strats out for a group shot. since i got the charvel, it's made me think of my first custom built guitar, which was a present i got myself for my 16th birthday oh so long ago. i remember it cost me $340.

there was a little music shop near me, and the owner used to build a few parts guitars here and there. a few of my friends had some, and i wanted one of my own. originally, it was to be based off of jake's white charvel, but i found this neck in his shop, and it felt so awesome (i've recently figured out that it's a chandler...or more accurately, a paul c's neck and body). funny, even though it has a v-trem on it, i never got the bar for it (i told steve i didn't need it), nor has there ever been a back plate on it.

a few months after i got the guitar, it was stolen and wound up in a pawn shop. luckily, the owner of the pawn shop called the guy who built my guitar (very strange coincidence) asking how much he could get for this white strat with no serial number. steve (the guy who built my guitar) called me and asked if i had my guitar. i said, "sure! it's at my singer's house!" he told me that in reality, it was in a pawn shop in oak park, il. i went and got my guitar back, and have had it since.

it's changed a little over the years; for its 10th bday, i got the pearloid guard (it was originally white), and i also modded the rout to accept a jake style configuration (it had one for a few years) and eventually returned it back to how it was (s/s/s).

it's been beat on, kicked, dropped, and the victim of many other types of teenage angst. but now, it mainly sits quietly with the others. i have to refret it, and will do so soon. you can see how badly the frets have worn down in one of the pix. this guitar and i have been through a hell of a lot together, that's for sure. it's funny to see it next to the charvel, as when it was new, it was as white as the charvel is now. here it is in its weathered glory.

oh, the green jake guitar is a warmoth body + a chandler strathead neck that has the most stripey, kickass slab of rosewood i've ever seen.