So I have my new-to-me 1986 Gibson ES-175. It’s pretty damn sweet, and while I originally planned to get a black one—what can I say, I like everything to color-coordinate easily—I ended up with an alpine white one that’s pretty much identical to one once played by Izzy Stradlin.
And after going to my jam space to practice and also to prep tonight’s Vampire’s Ball (CiTR 101.9fm CiTR.ca, Wednesday nights 1-4am Pacific), I didn’t feel like driving out to the burbs to drop it off at home before going into the station and I wasn’t going to just leave it in my trunk or at the space, so, up it comes with me.
One of the newbies who greatly annoys me is hanging around and wants to make conversation, though you’d think he’d have learned by now that I’m not one for conversation.
“Whatcha got in that case, honey? A nice Gibson guitar?” [note: the Gibson logo is stamped on the case, much to my consternation at times like this]
“Mmm-hmm.”
“A J-50?”
“ES-175.”
“Wow, lucky girl! You musta done something great to get that!”
Yeah, asshole, I blew Guns N Roses (all members past and present, plus most of the roadies) until one of them forked over Izzy’s old guitar, which they found kicking around in Axl’s basement with some old empty Nighttrain bottles behind all the old and now out-of-date platinum awards for Appetite for Destruction (because now that it’s sold 18 million, who wants to be caught dead with the 14x platinum plaques still on display?).
No, wait. That’s not how it happened; I simply saved up my money and watched EBay like a hawk until an ES-175 in good condition that also looked cool and was at a price I was willing to pay came up (bonus points for having set off my déjà vu spidey senses, as I think I mentioned in a post a couple weeks ago), then pounced and gave my PayPal account a workout.
Idiot.
Funny thing, ya know – I keep hearing people whine about misogyny in the music industry, but it’s pretty rare I actually encounter it from anyone actually working in the industry.
Guys who merely think they’re in the biz, however…
But then it’s not necessarily misogyny, as I bet the same idiot who assumes I got that guitar in exchange for favors also assumes any male act who has had any success got that because his uncle owns the label. Even if he has no uncle.
Jesus, these people. I can’t help but wonder if this assumption that things only come out of dumb luck, nepotism, or illicit barter is just a way of excusing their own failures… But that’s a topic for another day.
Anyway… I recall that while I was waiting for the guitar to show up I said I’d post pics when it got here, then didn’t get around to it, so here they are now.
