Hi Joe, ladies, gentlemen, and kids of the online community!

My name is Robert, I’m 27 years old, and like many of you on here, I’ve been playing the guitar for years (15 years if you count ownership of one, 21 years if you count first playing one). Many of you would ask why I mentioned my age. As a member of other active online communities over the years, insults and vulgar comments were usually made frequently such as “what do you know? You’re just a kid!” and far worse (both to myself, and others that were active). I wanted to clear the air before such comments were made. Show me respect and it will be shown to you as well. Hopefully we can keep things clean on here.

As for the why I came here and joined the community, it was for many reasons. The first was so that I could communicate with Joe and his fans (of which I am one of). Another logical reason was so I could learn from Joe, from all of you here, and perhaps share what I have learned in life as well. Should my knowledge, experiences and words be of any use to making somebodies life better, than they were worth typing and sharing with all of you.

A quick note is that I tend to type a lot. Kids would call the posts “books” as it’s usually a lot to read. Fair warning in advance, I do post a lot as well (I may have to break some of them into parts, due to the character limit). I won’t be insulted if you tend to just skim right through them all either.

My next post would have to do with some recent life changing experiences (with regards to my life, and a few others I know). In respect of the younger members on here, I will cut all the graphic material out (by graphic I mean the violence and general medical details). I still have to leave some key points in though. The intent of me posting it is to get feedback from Joe and some older members on here, as to what I should do next with regards to me playing the guitar. As I have been really struggling with the question “where do I go from here after all of this?” It is a really confusing decision to make, so the more input I get (Joe’s would hold the most weight in this matter), the easier I can make it. All help is greatly appreciated.

*phew* First post done, more to come!

Hi Joe, ladies, gentlemen and kids,

As promised before in my first post, this has to do with some rather life changing experiences. Aside from Joe and a few older members, you can skip over this one if you like. Out of respect for the kids, I’ll keep all the graphic material out or to at least a sheer minimum (the main points only).

Okay so back in January of this year, a few things happened that really changed things for me. I was heading to a local contest for “Best Player” (with regards to the guitar folks, not the other meaning of the word) of which I was the defending champion from the previous contest. I had my gear with me in the trunk of the car, my Gibson Double Neck guitar with me in the back seat, and my 2 month old godson in a booster chair (also in the back seat). My cousin was driving me there, and it was her infant. As luck would have it, we were hitting an intersection, I saw a truck coming down at a huge speed, I unbuckled and my gut instinct was to protect my godson. We got T-Boned, and thankfully my godson was okay. I on the other hand, was hurt. And my gear was either destroyed or stolen, thanks to the car getting wreaked. Keep in mind people I’m leaving out a lot of details with this one.

A quick aside, if any of you talk to the fine people at Gibson Guitars (I know it’s mostly Ibanez people here, and I did have an Ibanez guitar of my own in the trunk, it too was sadly destroyed), I’d like to offer my thanks for them having built my Gibson EDS 1275 Double Neck guitar. I loved it immensely, and the last note it played was a miracle, as it had helped save my life and that of my infant godson.

I’ll talk about the guitars and amps I owned in a future post as well. Plus what I have left in another one too.

As you can imagine, that wasn’t all of it. A day after being in the hospital, I still wanted to defend the title. My cousin informed me my godson was alright, but I had my gear destroyed or stolen. I still went to it, after getting the “intern champion” (a person that only holds the title until the champion is healthy to defend), and the second place winner together. Even in the shape I was in, the organizer offered me an acoustic to play, and I was going to play “Love me tender” by Elvis Presley. Yes, I went from being able to play “Through the fire and the flames” by Dragonforce (or “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd)…to trying to play something of that skill level. I stress the trying to play, as I still wanted to pay tribute to the King of Rock even after all of this.

The intern champ turned out to use some really vulgar words to myself, the late Elvis Presley, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and a few others. I just couldn’t compete against someone with such hatred in his heart. He lost the intern champ status, and any chance he had of winning. The prize was an acoustic signed by the late John Lennon, and as luck would have it, the second place winner played “Imagine” by John Lennon. She took the guitar and title after I told her “I think John wanted you to have this.” I think it fits her well, as she was very kind and caring.

I’m still going through rehab, and seeing some people to help with my emotional aspects. I had to leave playing the guitar behind, to focus on my education, as I could no longer do both for a while. As mentioned previously, I have to ask Joe (and you others)…where do I go from here with regards to playing the guitar? With no guitar of my own now, and only scraps of gear left, it’s a tough decision to make! All input is greatly appreciated.