Forever Young

A while back we bought a book for my daughter titled Forever Young. The text is by Bob Dylan from the song of the same name and the illustrations are by Paul Rogers.  No, not the same Paul Rogers of Bad Company fame though. The illustrations begin by showing a fellow modeled after Woody Guthrie giving an acoustic guitar to a young boy in the honor of a long standing tradition.  The illustrations continue to show the boy playing at home to his parents, playing to a crowd in the park, playing in his room, daydreaming, walking and singing in marches, playing with a group of musicians in the park, and finally giving the guitar to a young girl. My daughter calls this book "the guitar book." We have been reading this book here and there for a while now. However, lately it's been in heavy rotation during our nightly bedtime stories.

Forever Young By Bob Dylan and Illustrated by Paul Rogers (Ginee Seo Books, 2008)

This past Saturday afternoon I found some time to pull my acoustic guitar from it's slumber and noodle around and strum along to some songs while my wife and daughter were out. When they came home my daughter was excited to see the guitar and wanted to strum the strings and play with the guitar pick.  I let her play around with what she wanted and answered her questions as she pointed to different parts of the guitar. 

A few months ago I taught her to talk into the soundhole of the guitar and hear her voice inside the guitar body.  On Saturday she spoke into the soundhole with her mouth up against the strings. Instinctively, I asked her "who's in there?"  Without hesitating and full of confidence my daughter replied back to me, "Bob Dylan!"  This response obviously made my wife and I  laugh heartily out loud.

That's my girl!

Classic.

Items To Buy: Guitar (or Bass Guitar)

Last night I got my acoustic guitar out to play a while. Eventually this led to me getting my bass guitar out to play and I was completely dissatisfied. My bass guitar is a Yamaha model from the late 1980's or early 1990's that I bought off someone in the early 1990's and needs some work. It needs new strings, there's a buzz on the strings, and it needs some work on the electronics - whenever I plug into my amp it seems to cut out. Furthermore, the aesthetic is just not there for me - the guitar is black and used to have a sticker and it just looks like I'm playing in a metal band. *Ugh*

I like the look of this one much better -

Epiphone Jack Casady Signature bass - $799 (Gold/Ebony). I did a little research and found a Ebony version for sale at Swing City Music for $699. I like the gold version (pictured) much better though. Classic.

I would love to have a Rickenbacker 4001 -  (USA) or a Rickenbacker 4003 - (USA) (Jetglo, Fireglo, Midnight Blue, Mapleglo), but can't justify spending $1500 to $2000 on a bass guitar no matter how cool it may look or sound. If I didn't get the Epiphone I would probably stick with a Fender Precision Bass or

Fender Jazz Bass. There are so many choices with the Fenders however -

• Vintage '51
• Vintage '57
• Vintage '62
• Geddy Lee
• Deluxe
• Standard
• Road Worn 60's
• Road Worn 50's

...and that's not to mention Gibsons like a Gibson Thunderbird IV (USA) or an Gibson SG reissue - $1399.

Guitars
This is a monster of a whole different kind. I have been thinking about buying an electric guitar for a couple of years now. So many choices, and sounds.  However, I have narrowed it down somewhat.  The main thing affecting the decision will be price. Maybe with some Christmas and birthday money I can get something and finally make a decision.

Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker 330 (USA) (Jetglo, Fireglo)
Rickenbacker 360 (USA) (Jetglo, Fireglo, Midnight Blue, Mapleglo)
Rickenbacker 620 (USA) (Jetglo, Fireglo, Midnight Blue, Mapleglo)

Fender
American Vintage '52 Reissue Telecaster (USA)
Classic Series '72 Thinline Telecaster (Mexico)
Road Worn '50's Telecaster (Mexico)
Artist Series Joe Strummer Telecaster(Mexico)
Artist Series Elvis Costello Jazzmaster