Yup. Ok, lemme start from the beginning. Really, the place that it started was when Senpai texted me asking if I'd mind getting my birthday present early. For reference, my birthday is in May, and I'd be home from school on my birthday. But, he said it was pretty cool and he wanted me to have it early, regardless of how ridiculously early spring break was. So I'm like, ok cool, I'll let you know when I'm home.
So, I flew in last night, and we got to hang out today. I had actually gone downtown to see some old teachers, but thats beside the point. He had said to meet him at his house after he was done working and picking up my present. I get to the door, and he's got a guitar case on his back, which isn't too unusual for him. We head upstairs, and we're just chilling for a bit, till he runs downstairs and grabs an old amp. I've seen this thing before in the corner of his room, it looks kind of old and worn but it sounds good as new (not that I'm an expert on amps or anything, but it sounds awesome). He asks me sorta casually, so are you walking home later? And I'm like yeah, it's not that far, why? Response?: Well, I'll have to walk up with you cause you're not gonna be able to carry this thing home.
Um. Excuse me?And he just watches my face as I realize that this is my present. But oh no, he's not done. He had told me earlier that it was in two parts, black and white, and you can't use one without the other. So I'm thinking, holy shit. And he's not done. So he stands up, grabs this thin guitar case off the chair, and says, you know this case is yours too. I mean it's a pretty nice case...and I guess whatever's inside is gonna have to be yours too.
Wait wait wait. Back up. The amp is one thing. A freaking electric guitar? (Ok, I didn't say "freaking". I was way too excited for that). You have to remember-- this is the guy that gave me Carmine when he was gonna chuck that acoustic. I owe him basically everything I've learned since that summer. I owe him for the direction that a good portion of my life has taken. An electric guitar?? Holy shit. No way. No, not just an electric guitar. A Fender Stratocaster. Holy shit. This is the guitar I was going to save up for two full years for. Black and white, like a perfect equinox. She's absolutely beautiful. The strings are so smooth, the plastic is on the pick guard like it's never been played. Twenty-one frets and I can hit the 13th and 14th so easily, and my fingers glide across down the neck like baby oil.
I was absolutely speechless for probably a full 20 minutes. Felt like my brain had exploded and plastered itself across the floor of his bedroom. When I finally got a hold of myself, he handed me a pick, plugged in, and had me play through a song while he fiddled with the dials and switches to show me what everything did.
Speaking of all the dials, I'll have to get on some new lessons about the electric guitar. There's so much you can do with the sound, the EQ, the tone, literally everything. You can do hammer-ons and pull-offs, slide between frets and bend the strings.
See, it's funny beause apparently this entire time he's just been reading my blog and laughing to himself. Reading my fantasizing rants about hammer-ons and how beautiful they sound, and thinking to himself, she can't even do that properly on an acoustic, this is gonna be great!
And meanwhile, I've been talking to all my friends at school about how much I miss playing his guitar when I'm not home (same style by the way, but a really beautiful off-white. His guitar is actually essentially a character in a story I'm writing on the side).
Well, the next thing up is names. One for the guitar, one for the amp. I'm thinking something that captures the essence of the equinox (like I said, my first thought when I saw her), day and night, light and dark, something like that. Maybe "Sombra" for shadow or "Luz" for light or "Luna" for the moon. I'll have to think on it.
Then after that I'll probably record a quick demo song to test out the sound (and try not to blow out my mic), and I'll get to the lessons as best I can. It'll be a learning experience for us both, since I really have no experience with the electric.
Oh yeah, and when I finally got home I realized I had no capo and no tuner, so I had to tune by ear. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. Or experience in this case, I suppose.
I still feel like I'm floating through a dream right now. The acoustic was one thing. My mind is still spattered across my floor, I think. I'll let you know when I've shoved my brains back into my head enough to crank out a song.
-Kal
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