In The Big Inning

Ok, ok, I have my own blog now; are you happy? Seems like everybody and their dog has a blog these days. I kept telling myself that I really didn't want my own blog, that I didn't have time for a blog (busy, busy, busy) and that it wasn't that cool anyway...

Denial...not just a river in Egypt... (now there's a country/western song just waiting to be written...)

So here I am writing my first post. I would like to thank my beautiful and creative (dare I say beautifully creative?) wife Becky for helping me set this up and taking the pictures and cropping the pictures and using Photo Shop to improve my skin color, cover up my zits and place a different head on my body.

That's right! That's not my head in the Profile photograph!

Well; it is my head but it is not the head that I was using when she took the photo of the rest of my body. Becky took several photos of me and then combined the best body shot with the best head shot; pretty cool huh? Bet you never would have known if I hadn't told ya...

And by the way I don't have multiple heads that I take off and switch around depending on my mood or the weather or what I happen to be doing at the time; I just meant that the head/body combination that you see in my photo never actually existed together at the same time.

Well actually they did; it was just the look on my face coupled with that particular body that was... oh never mind...

In case you are wondering; my blog is named in part for my most prized earthly possession; my Rickenbacker model 360 - 6 string electric guitar! I have been playing guitar since I was 12 and the Rick 360/6 in Jetglo (read: black) has always been my dream guitar. It is the guitar played by Peter Buck of REM on almost every single REM record ever made. It is an essential piece of the early REM sound (Chronic Town album thru Document). I have carefully modified mine by adding an additional pick-up (vintage style; what Rickenbacker calls a "Toaster Top") in the middle of the guitar between the two original "pups" (that's guitar lingo for pick-up). This gives me access to even more wonderful combinations of sweet, sweet Rickenbacker tone.

I got this guitar in July of 2007. It was expensive (read: $1500) and Rickenbacker just raised the price on all their models (if you want one now it will cost you $2500). I have my benevolent and caring (dare I say benevolently caring?) wife to thank for this righteous acquisition. It was my birthday and since she doesn't work (outside the home) I thought it was a bit odd that she would go and spend my money ( I know, I know, in marriage it is always "our money" but just roll with me on this thought) to buy me a birthday present. So she agreed to let me buy the Rick. I found it at Annie's Guitars and Drums in Savannah, Georgia. I was going to order one from a local dealer until I read the Rick forum on the Rick website (http://www.rickenbacker.com/; this is a great site by the way if you want to learn more about these guitars) and learned that some people who had put in orders had been waiting for one or two YEARS and still hadn't gotten their guitars yet. There is currently a huge demand for these instruments and since they are all handmade in Santa Clara, California (no overseas manufacturing) they ain't exactly cranking 'em out by the truckload. So I decided to go grab the one in Savannah before Becky changed her mind about the whole thing. It turned into a wonderful day trip. We bought the Rick then walked around downtown Savannah, visiting the Cathedral of St.John the Baptist, Lafayette Park (did I spell that correctly?) and the Riverfront.

So now I play my Rick every chance I get! And even if I don't really have time to play I will open the case and just stare at it for a few moments (really I do, just ask Becky). It has been immensely satisfying to own such a wonderful guitar. When you spend that much money you figure it better be worth it. Well if you are a guitar player and have been thinking about buying your very own Rick....

I highly recommend it.

Well there you go; my first post. Hopefully it won't be my last. I will do my best to post as often as I can (as long as I am not busy staring at my Rickenbacker). Thanks for stopping by; feel free to visit and leave comments anytime you are in the cyberhood.