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Richard,

Great question, great topic. In fact so good that it has me on a quest to find my 1st instrument, an old square neck Spanish acoustic that I think came with my ancestors on their initial trip from the Canary Islands. I am told that a cousin of mine has kept it since I gave it to him when we were children . . . the saga begins.

I will post findings as they occur.

Later

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Quote:

Conn Victor trumpet, 4th grade, supplied by the school

Not counting the flutaphone, used in third grade to determine who got issued the band instruments.

Mac, was your Olds cornet an Ambassafor? I have one of those as my knock-around practice while travelling horn. Thing is built like a tank. I bought it from Eddie and fixed it up.




Love that typo in Ambassador. "What's that Ambassafor?" -- "Why it be for makin' music!"

Yes, bear in mind that it was a used horn that Pop brought me. Don't know where he got it or from whom and wish I still had it, only had it for a little over one year when it was obviously time for something a bit better and Pop took it out of my hands one day and returned with an old silver plated NY Bach "Apollo" model trumpet that featured a bell with a gold lining. That horn soon turned into a brand new NY Bach Strad ML bore that I had for at least the next twenty years.

Horns. Too many have passed thru these hands by now...


--Mac

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Hmm, I was around 8 or 9, and the first instrument I actually learned was piano accordeon - don't panic, being a gentleman I no longer try to make noises on one (apologies to Furry)

But that was my sisters', then I tried to learn a bit of piano on my grandmothers piano, but my teacher wasn't really helping and I was lazy anyhow, eventually I got hooked by the local brass band and learned trombone.

Finally, when I was about 14 my mum bought me my very own trombone, a Besson Academy 403 (professional level). I still have that horn and it still sounds great, shame the slide is so ordinary

Current stable has grown a bit but the 2 horns I play most are my Bach 42A (big bore) and my custom Rath R10F (small bore).

One of the surprises of my collection though is a King trombone from about 1918 - can't be exact about the date - that was made for the US Navy, engraved U.S.N. at the factory. I even have the original case, also with U.S.N on it in what looks like it might have been gold leaf, but someone painted over it

This horn sounds amazing and I plan to use it more often, especially for the odd Dixie gig I do, but my absolute favourite is my Custom Rath - the thing almost plays itself


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I guess my first instrument was a violin my parents bought me when I was around ten or so. It was used and I don't remember the brand. I played it for a year or so until I found out violin wasn't a 'cool' instrument.

I didn't play anything until I was in my 20s and wanted to jam with some musician friends. Since there was a drummer and a couple of guitarists I decided bass might be the way to go so I bought an Odyssey bass and started trying to learn to play it. I consider this to be my real 'first' instrument.

I have since owned a number of basses. A Fender P-Lyte and Rickenbacker 4001 both of which I've since sold. I currently have a Gretsch Committee, Tunebass Maniac and Ibanez SR500 and SR300.


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My first instrument. I was 4 yrs 10 months old when I started music lessons.





I smashed the hell out of my car today. When the cops came I told him "Officer, that guy was BOTH texting and drinking a beer." The cop said "Sir, he has every right to do that. I mean, it's HIS living room..."
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like others have said, I had limited access to family instruments like an old archtop and an out-of-tune piano received from the church that closed down the street. But the first instrument that was mine was a Harmony Rocket my dad bought me in the 70's. The one in the pic looks like it but my first one had only a single pickup. It got stolen from the backseat of my 64 Rambler and I went to a local music shop and replaced it with the dual pickup version. Later gave it to a buddy when I bought my Les Paul.

http://www.12fret.com/wordpress/wp-conte...H54_1969(C).jpg

Just the other day I thought I'd pick one up cheap on the internet for old times sake and was shocked at how much they go for!

Last edited by JohnJohnJohn; 11/20/12 09:14 PM.
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Knackered old upright in the basement that had to have been built into the house. We had to disassemble it to get it out of the house.

Never held tune, missing a couple hammers, ivory pieces broken off in various degrees in middle 3 octaves or so. But we used it until we got a Baldwin in the family room upstairs.

3rd grade recorder.

5th grade garage sale Olds trombone.

12th grade Peavey Milestone Electric guitar for graduation present.

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<...>I am in the school that instruments should be played and not displayed like museum piecs, so it gives me joy to know someone skilled is using it.




Which is why I sold my Modele 26 and even my Mark VI tenor - I really preferred the H.Couf. Perhaps the favorites of all I owned. I'm now playing a custom finished MacSax that I dearly love. The intonation is much better than either the VI or the Couf, the tone is big and bold, and it is very free blowing. I can't make a direct comparison with my old saxes, but I'm glad I didn't keep them.

I have a 1970 Gibson ES-330 that used to be my favorite guitar. As soon as prices for collectibles goes back up, it's on the auction block. I love my Parker so much, I hardly touch the Gibson anymore. BTW, slightly on-topic, it was my first electric guitar. I also had a Japan Epiphone flat-top, the model number has long since faded from the blue tag inside the body.

Every once in a great while I have a little nostalgia for my old instruments, but other than the resale value of the VI (which has been blown out of proportion for the horn), I'm glad I sold them because if they were here, they would just collect dust. An instrument needs to be played.

And many of those first instruments, the Silvertone/Danelectro, the Harmony, or Kay helped a youngster learn about music and in the hands of someone with talent, were able to make great music. Some of the high-end instruments of the not-so-distant past were hard to play, had poor intonation, but were used to make great music.

Notes


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Hey you know what?

I forgot about what was my real very own "first instrument".

It was a plastic "Flutophone" -- a late 40's or early 50's marketed thing that was basically a Recorder made of plastic with more of a police whistle type mouthpiece and a large bell at the bidness end.

Worked fairly well for figuring out songs in the key of C that were based on the Major Scale.


--Mac

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Quote:

I forgot about what was my real very own "first instrument".




I did too. Actually it was my brother's baritone horn, which was bigger than I was. In 6th grade, a woman teacher came after school and taught us to play using the do re me scale. When I got to junior high school, the band teacher gave me a little test. He pointed at a note and said, "What note is that?"

I hesitated a bit and said, "Let's see."

He said, "Your right, it's C. You're in."

Needless to say, I didn't last.

Don S.

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I used to tell that same joke but mine was "He pressed a key and asked 'What note is this?'" and I said "Oh gee...."


I smashed the hell out of my car today. When the cops came I told him "Officer, that guy was BOTH texting and drinking a beer." The cop said "Sir, he has every right to do that. I mean, it's HIS living room..."
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Quote:

I used to tell that same joke but mine was "He pressed a key and asked 'What note is this?'" and I said "Oh gee...."




My joke actually happened.

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let's see... how to begin...?

I'll start by saying that my dad was a strange combination of inventive, unconventional and um, frugal. So when The Beatles popularity left me wanting a guitar, here's what dad came up with:

1) He took a metal gasoline can and fastened a piece of aluminum tubing from a discarded TV antenna to it

2) then he cut a sound hole in the can using tin snips. Since in his world, smooth edges were for sissies, the sharp snipped metal edges were left intact (which is more than I can say for the skin on my fingers after trying to play it)

3) He took a roll of #10 electrical wire, stripped off the sheathing and screwed it directly to the can with sheet metal screws. (apparently this was to be an ELECTRIC guitar)

4) for a headstock, he screwed a sawed-off piece of 2x4 to the other end of the aluminum tube, and hard-wired the other end of the electric wires to it. No tuners. I had to be satisfied with whatever frequency it generated when I plucked the, um, strings.

Sounds like I'm kidding, but I'm as serious as a heart attack. Mom must have talked to him, though, because eventually a store bought guitar showed up under the Christmas tree. Unfortunately, it was almost as unplayable as the gas-can-tar.

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Simply hilarious, Pat! It belongs in my humor thread. Thanks for the giggles.

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You've gotta give your dad an "A" for effort. It probably took a few hours to put that thing together.

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Great story Pat!

Later,

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Based on my own and countless others' experience with substandard axes and well-meaning but ill-informed parental involvement, my son's first personal instrument was a Squier Strat which I picked out of several for sound and playability, along with a used Fender 40-watt amp with a 12-inch speaker.

I took him shopping with me at Guitar Center. He wanted a cheap but cool-looking B.C Rich that we saw. Even though he couldn't play, I made him handle the Strat first, on which the neck and action were very good. The neck on the Rich felt like a 2x4, with action to match. Even he could tell the difference and agreed that the Squier was the better choice. It had a transparent red finish, unusual for an inexpensive ($150) knockoff, even if it was a Fender.

I was famous in my little family for buying Christmas gifts for the children while they were present without their knowing. This was no different, although it was the last time I was able to pull that off. We went out to the car without having made a purchase. I said I had forgotten my checkbook inside, then went back in and did the deal, with my son none the wiser. I picked up the rig a couple of days later.

It showed up under the tree with the amp and all necessary accessories, including a Roland stomp box chorus. The look on his face was priceless. I told him that if he had been able to play he could have started gigging immediately. He still had no idea just how good the guitar was until I told him in all sincerity that I might want to borrow it some time. That impressed him.

Part of the deal was that I would give him lessons. Within a few weeks he was playing rhythm to my blues leads. Not long after that he played in public at a school function. The whole thing was an incredible bonding experience which we both enjoyed immensely.


"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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Way to go Ryszard!

My college age son just informed me that he wants to learn guitar and there's a used Michael Kelly Visionary V5 stashed away here. Very cool neck adjustment capability that I've only seen on Jeff Babicz' customs called the Variable Set Neck. Craigslist buy.

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Mine was a Fiddle I got at 6 years old, still have it.

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Ryzard, would you adopt me because there is this GORGEOUS Paul Reed Smith Mira on Craigslist and Christmas is coming....


I smashed the hell out of my car today. When the cops came I told him "Officer, that guy was BOTH texting and drinking a beer." The cop said "Sir, he has every right to do that. I mean, it's HIS living room..."
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