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Bluestreak
GMC:er
50 years old
Male
Central Florida
Born Nov-30-1973
Interests
Guitars, cars, computers, women
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Joined: 21-December 11
Profile Views: 1.273*
Last Seen: 23rd April 2013 - 08:05 PM
Local Time: Mar 19 2024, 06:02 AM
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Bluestreak

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24 Jan 2012
I'd begged my father for a guitar from the very first time I saw the video for Quiet Riot's rendition of Cum On Feel The Noize. My father, being ex-military and a hater of all things rock-n-roll as was the average parent of the 1980's, I waited five years. I was 14 when my grandmother finally gave me a guitar, realizing my father would never encourage the skill. She bought me a 3/4 scale jazz guitar right out of the Sears catalog.

The year was 1987, and I took to it like a duck to water. I would play in my bedroom after school until my fingers bled, and then I'd fill my fingertips with super glue so I could keep practicing. Three years later, my guitar teacher "graduated" me because I was teaching him 8-finger techniques.

I played in various bands from 1989 to 1995, when I went to college. Engineering degree. My guitars sat in cases for years. I picked them up again in 2001 when I had a chance to do some work on a local radio station, where I did backing tracks for commercials they produced in-house. It was there I met a producer, who was also a singer and lead guitarist. We formed a band and played together until 2004, when he got married and moved away.

And again my guitars sat. By 2004, my career dominated my life... 50, 60... sometimes 80 hours weeks.

A while back I had a chance to go into business with a friend. To slow down. I took it. Now I have a quiet office job in the middle-of-nowhere, and I've moved one of my old guitar rigs and my 1991 Ibanez RG770DXLB out to the office where I can literally crank it up to 11 and the nearest neighbor (a quarter mile away) probably wouldn't hear much. I have all day here to practice, something I'm sure most guitarists my age wish they had again.

BUT...

... my skills are WAY rusty. I was reading the exercises and lessons - and I made the mistake of starting to try some things on Level 6+, after 7-8 years of not having touched an instrument. I'm currently working in the 3-4 area to get my hands to work like they used to. The muscles remember and it's quick to return, but I'm still a much duller blade than I once was. I require a lot more sharpening!

Musical influences? Vai, big time. Dream Theater/Petrucci. Anything Paul Gilbert, Green-Tinted 60's Mind is my all-time favorite song to cover. Iron Maiden. George Lynch. Lots of late 80's pop-metal influences. And a few of the classics... Les Paul/Mary Ford, Zep, Ronnie Montrose, etc. If it involves rock music and a guitar, it's probably music that'll interest me.

I am an Ibanez collector, save for my first really good guitar (an '89 Charvel 375 Deluxe) and my hand-made custom twin-V. The rest are all Ibanez.

- The afore mentioned 1991 770DXLB (LG = Laser Blue) ... my first Ibanez, purchased new in Rockledge, FL in July 1992. Been enamoured with this guitar for almost 20 years now. In excellent condition, never been in anyone's hands but mine.
- 1992 RG570EG (eg=emerald green)... mint condition, my wife's guitar which I've inherited. She never learned to play, had it since July '92.
- 2001 UV777BK - The "Universe" Vai model that's been around for a decade. Awesome guitar, but I never really got to use it. My band at the time was a little too limited. Hoping to get to know this guitar better after 10 years in my collection.
2004 RG2770FMTB - The prize of the collection, it's a Japanese market super-strat I managed to import to Florida. Documented 1 of 12 made. Ultra-rare, currently tied w/my '91 for favorite all-around player.

I also got into building guitars. I built a replica Vinnie Vincent "Double V" in 2009. This is actually the guitar that really inspired me to play. Couldn't own an original (most are owned by Vinnie himself)... so I drew one in AutoCAD, cut it out on a CNC wood mill, and did the rest by hand. I "kind of" cheated. I used a neck off a Jackson DKMG, I just glued a block of wood to the bottom of the neck and reshaped it to fit the Ibanez neck pocket. This is me building it the day it came back from the paint shop. The guy who painted my Mustang coupe painted this guitar to match my car.



The finished result.



Its "shrine" at my house. Who knows... I might have played the tuba were it not for this guitar!



So... that's me in a single post. I'm looking forward to getting my skills back where they should be... and beyond. I have to go practice now. I saw Ben playing in the chat and I feel an extreme need to slink into a corner and practice.

A lot.

-Roger (aka Bluestreak)

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