I am currently in the market for a '69 Camaro Z/28 302 4spd, number matching in Garnet Red. Being a pony car with a smaller engine, I should stay alive longer...I don't think I am quite mature enough for a true muscle car. I am thinking that this would qualify as my midlife crisis...
with the price of dz-block camaros going thru the roof i have just two words for you;big block.nothin says muscle like a 427 or 454...
"In the market" means that next year I'll pull the plug on a 2002 Honda Accord or a Mazda 323 or something.
I see things that relate to me personally throughout this thread. I took a 25 year hiatus from music and a few years ago got back into it. It was like riding a bike, within a month I was back up to snuff and I'd say, well actually most people that know me will agree that I am greatly improved over where I was in college. I guess the "not daily" ingestion of whatever has allowed me to progress as a geezer.
Some people can call it a mid-life crisis but to me it is just having more time, money, etc. than I did before. Also the guys I play with have played regularly out for 30 years and although they still want to play out they don't want to do it regularly so that works for me. Plus now I got daughters that can be roadies. Save my back, ya know!
This has all been very illuminating. I regret now putting the "mid-life crisis" in the thread title... I can see that is quite a perjorative label, and doesn't adequately describe the range of motivations for people seriously getting into their music (and fun generally) mid-life. I think it sounds all very positive and healthy, overall... the connotations surrounding the notion of the "mid-lfe crisis" involve denial and desperation, none of which seems to be applicable here.
But there does seem to be something of a trend in progress, and so the guy I was talking to did seem to be onto something I hadn't picked up.
The only thing that worries me if all us geezers start rockin' out, where does leave rock'n'roll as the principal art form of youthful rebellion? What are the youngsters going to rely on to differentiate *their* generation? Haiku?
Oh well. That's their problem, I guess.
-Mark
Last edited by Plugger; 10-14-2005 at 05:37 AM.
I think they call it Rap ;)Originally Posted by Plugger
Oh, yeah. Forgot about that. Poor sods. They'd be better off with Haiku.
-Mark
The 302 is the way to go. The big blocks have a serious hookup issue unless you run 10" tires on the back. That means cutting the tubs and/or running bars to transfer the weight.
That is, unless you can find a Pontiac 400 with 4 bolt mains and solid lifters from a 1979 Trans Am WS6 (the four speed version only, the automatic had a 403 Olds motor) and drop it in. That's the hot setup. Proper launch torque and good revs on the wind-out.
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
Fellow gear heads:
4th generation F body with the LT1 (94-97)
1) reasonably priced
2) they handle
3) faster than most sane people need to go
4) They have all the cool stuff as standard equipment
do I look like I know what I'm doing?
Played classical guitar from 12-16. Royal Conservatory exams, etc. Got my drivers license, got into hot cars, discovered my penis, lent my guitar to a buddy who left it in the high school locker. My next door neighbour burned the school down ( a she - true story). Got back into electric in 85. Bought a pointy Ibanez, bought a Marshall. Tried to be Yngwie, Duane, SRV, EVH, Beck, Vai all rolled into one. Quit in frustration. Didn't look good in spandex pants, anyway. Got married in 89. Took up the guitar in 2002 and am making real progress. Started at the beginning - classical, moved on to acoutsic steel string, then electric and bass. Play at church and for myself. It's a blast. All MIM and Chinese guitars except my Larrivee and Spanish Aria classical. Still don't look good in spandex. Look alright in a Hawaiin shirt.
Better sell yer house dude-- the real deal goes for upwards of $80,000, up from $8-10,000 when I was in high school 10 yrs ago. D'oh!
You discovered your penis after you got your license?
I know...what sucks is that I have at no time in my life ever been able to afford that freaking car. The '96 Caravan with the three wheel covers and partial paint does just fine...gets me where I need to be. I just always had this thought that when the daughters were grown and gone I could finally get my car...
i got my 66 pontiac back in the early 80s and drove it to work,car shows,beaches,etc.for almost 25 years.it currently has a 67 400 pontiac,worked turbo 400,headers/cam and a carb from a 71 judge.total cost was under 15 grand including 2 engines,2 trannies,and 3 paint jobs.the last one was a strip it to bare metal extravaganza that took 5 months.sadly enough between the price of gas and the lack of wide open space to get on it she spends a lot of time in my garage lately.guess i have reached geezerdom when a/c and disc brakes mean more than speed does...
I just bought a '68 Caddy for 900 bucks-the cars are out there, just be patient and keep yer nose in the classifieds. Red room, what you need is a clapped-out '76 cutlass--I'll cut you a sweet deal on mine
I tried to learn the guitar at 12. but I was already playing the trumpet in the band at school, and gave up on the guitar shortly after starting.....
I bought an Indiana acoustic 2 years ago, at 32 years of age, and a VHS 'learn to play guitar' lesson. After learning almost nothing, but having fun and learning by watching David Gilmour and SRV concerts on DVD, I sold a rifle I never shot at a gun show. On the way home my buddy and I stopped in Chambers Guitars in Murfreesboro TN on a whim. I left the store with a '99 Fender MIM 70's re-issue and a Danelectro Honeytone amp....
It's been all downhill from there..........
I soon replaced the Honeytone with a 30 watt Marshall combo, which was replaced with a Carvin X-100B/Peavey 412F half-stack. My middle son and oldest daughter now play guitar, with the son learning classical. I still have the Strat, the boy has an Ibanez Artcore 335-clone(an excellent guitar for the $$!!) , the wife covers her ears when she comes down into the basement to do laundry, the neighbor's dogs bark, the walls rattle,
Cats-n-dogs living together, I tell you......
What were we talking about??
Sad, only 34 and already I suffer from CRS......
70's re-issue Stratocaster.......
D'Addarrio XL 10-46's
Marshall G215RCD
'88 Carvin X-100B w/ GT E34L's
Sovtek Mig 100U, Sovtek 5881's
Old, patchouli-reeking Peavey 412F cab
Ibanez TS-9 RI
EH Big Muff Pi
Danelectro Dan-Echo, FAB Metal, FAB Overdrive, and Dan-o-Wah(don't laugh, it's my son's..)pedals
Guess I don't have an excuse to NOT learn how to play, now....
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
went out yesterday and bought a MIM telecaster for $310 brand new.this thing plays great,what bang for the buck!
This describes me. I took a 20 year hiatus.
I played classical for 3 years as a lad. A bit of electric in the mid 80s. Got married. Kids. Put the axe away till 1999. Have been playing steadily since. I'm 45. Bought a Mini Cooper S. Have a small collection of mid priced guitars and amps. Still married. My boss bought a new Jag XKR, got divorced. Payed out $100Ks to the ex in cash and property. Has a new younger squeeeze with discrete tastes - Porsche Cayenne, granite flooring, Sub Zero appliances, water front home. You tell me who has a better mid life crisis.
Went to school all through my 20's, playing guitar on a "open mic" level.
Once I finished school, around 32, I decided to do the band thing part time.
Beats the hell out of working and going to school.
Several guitars in different colors
Things to make them fuzzy
Things to make them louder
orange picks
The connotation of denial and desperation that surrounds common usage of the term "mid-life crisis" is no surprise. Almost all the terms surrounding psychology get fuh-up when they pass into common terminology. Most people think they know what "anal retentive," obsessive-compulsive" and "bipolar" mean, but they don't have a clue about those, either.
A mid-life crisis is not a desperate attempt to deny that one is aging by acting out in an age-inappropriate manner. It's the universally-experienced sense that one has not accomplished most of what one hoped to do as one becomes painfully aware of one's own certain mortality in middle age.
The confusion comes because some men react to the crisis by acting out in age-inappropriate ways... eating a lot of drugs, getting a "red sports car," etc. But the truth is, the majority of men have their crisis in quiet or act out in violence or other expressions of insecurity, and some exhibit a very healthy response to the crisis... mending old rifts between themselves and their loved ones,, starting new and fulfilling careers, getting into volunteer work and so on.
So, a jackass with a Corvette and a thimbleful of cocaine is no more a symbol of a mid-life crisis than the guy who quits his miserable middle-management gig, opens a neighborhood bakery and starts volunteering at the hospital.
Me, I stopped playing around age 25 because I got sick of guitar playing. Made no music at all until a couple of new friends and a few words of Zen startled me back into it at 32. Realized at 35 that guitar playing wasn't enough, so I got into keys and MIDI and stuff. Quit my job at 40 and starting making music for commercial applications. I'll be 50 on the 24th of this month, and I've spent over a 1/4 of the living years making music professionally... fully half the adult years after age 20. I consider that damned lucky.
My uncle Bob the psychiatrist said, when asked about handling a mid-life crisis, "I suggest you keep the crisis going as long as you possibly can. The alternative is to start getting ready to die." I'm in the 10th year of mine.
That's a great post GJ.
Guilty
I am in year 8 of my 'crisis' with no end in sight
do I look like I know what I'm doing?
I don't know about mid-life crisis thing, but peole have always been getting into guitar (or any other hobby) later in life...when the kids are gone, good job, disposable income etc.
Heck, back when I was selling guitars, I had a customer who was just retiring, was early to mid 60's. He'd been wanting to learn to play since seeing Led Zeppelin in the late 60s here in Boston.
His wife gave him the OK (to keep him out of trouble, I assume) HE wanted the Jimmy Page rig, so he walks out with a brand new Les Paul, 70's 50-watt Marshall bhead, 4x12 cab, and a little practive amp for his lessons, that he'd alraeady set up. Besides the rest of the trimmings.
He'd come in every now and again, and I'd watch him getting better and better, and he'd always say he was having the time of his life playing, and his only regret was not finding a way to pick it up earlier.
He probably didn't remember that Jimmy played a Tele at that show.
Several guitars in different colors
Things to make them fuzzy
Things to make them louder
orange picks
Kap'n: could be...I think I remember what he told me...admittedly, I could be remembering it fuzzy; this would be 7 or 8 years ago...
I do remember that rig, though...some things you never forget...
But didn't Jimmy get his pauls in 68 or 9? I remember there was one that got stolen before he got his Burst...
Edit: according to Jimmy in a couple interviews I have here, he was using the 59 'Burst while recording Zep 2....so he had it for a good chunk of 69, especially since he had a custom stolen even before he got that Burst.
IN fact, in reading further, he says that the Custom got stolen in transit from Boston to Montreal...it's pssible that show was the last he had that custom...(pure theory there...)
I do remember he said Led Zepp in the late 60s...
Last edited by jrgtr42; 05-01-2006 at 09:51 PM.
About midway in my twenty one years of life I played cello, I had a crisis when i wanted to play music but could not get my self to practice. I thought: "eh, i'll try guitar. what the heck." It was suposed to be my secondary instrament to Cello. But frets are so easy, and guitars are so commonly used and so portable...now my crisis involves being a music education major and watchin people my age around me get married and have kids. This feels weird, so does living by myself and realizing the students i observed for my Intro to teaching class think of me as an adult... when i shure don't feel like one.
Last edited by Jonnda; 05-01-2006 at 11:58 PM.
"The other Shaltanac's joopleberry shrub is always a more mauvy shade of pinky-russet."
"there's NOTHING WRONG with a live penguin, but...I expected a hamburger!"
I think for me and others, that you get caught up in raising a family and all that goes into building your career, etc. you loose sight you.
You look at yourself, and realize many of the ideals you had for the future have not come to realization. Some don't really matter anyway and you drop them, but others you don't. and you realize there is not that much time left to accomplish some of these things.
For some it is also the realization that you not young anymore. You miss the "glory days" of old. So while the body has not gone totally to waste, you start trying to do the things you did as a youth.
It means different things for every person.
The Best Guitar Photos On The Net!
Photoweborama
Well, I'm only 53. No mid life crisis yet.
I'll let you know when I reach mid life.....I think that'll be about 75.
If you leave the house, you're just asking for it.
Everyone loves an optimist... or is that optometrist? (I can never remember.)
-Mark
Wow you hit the nail on the head. You have to fault the guy though for putting up with it for so long but I agree that a lot of people who supposedly go through a midlife crisis are just doing what they have always wanted to do but couldn't for some reason or another. Myself I am pretty lucky. I am 28 have plenty of gear, a nice house, Vette, Mustang, Truck and don't have to answer to anyone about it. My girl is great. We have been together for 12 years now. :-) I don't tell her how to spend her money and she doesn't tell me. That being said both of us are very good with our money and understand that priority comes first then the excess you do with as you please.
i am in that midlife group! only had played some in HS back in the late 60's. few years ago my daughter wanted an acoustic, she soon lost interest. i started playing it, loved it, sold it and switched to an electric. initially i took a local community college beginner class and was playing circles around the others (who were mostly younger 20ish adults) in this particular class. i am not aware of a lot of older adults starting up, but i do see a lot of older experienced guys in there 40's 50's in local bands around here.
You would have to leave the house to get one
do I look like I know what I'm doing?
If you leave the house, you're just asking for it.
Add me to the list!
I tried learning to play for a couple years while I was in high school. I think I learned a total of 4 chords. Shortly after graduation I sold my Peavey T-15 guitar and Backstage amp. Last December, around the time of my 42nd birthday, I decided to give it another try. I went out and bought a American Deluxe Strat HSS. Since then I've learned more than I ever did during all that time I goofed around in high school. I'm not sure if it's due to having more patience or if it's due to better equipment, but I'm having a blast!
P.S. I also bought my first motorcycle at the age of 39. It was a 620 Ducati Monster. Since then I've moved on to a Moto Guzzi v11 Sport
I have been kidding myself saying I'm not experienceing an early mid life crisis at 27. I had my kids young, followed the career path and I find myself here 10 years later at 27 buying new guitars, amps, pedals etc. My excuse for buying new gear has been that the old gear can go to my 7 year old as she is starting to show an interest in guitar, she really likes the heavy distortion you can get out of a guitar amp.
I think the observations about middle-agers getting into guitars is correct, but its no crisis. It's just that sh*t happens alot in life, and its nice to have a hobby to take your mind off it.
Middle-agers generally have more money available for nice guitars, so it makes for a great hobby.
I have played all my life. But for the first 30 years of playing I had just one guitar: A Val-Dez Classical. I played the shit out of that thing, folk and accoustic rock. You should see the nut on that thing, the string slots are almost down to the board. The small fret wires are grooved amazingly.
But 10 years ago I got my first nice acoustic-electric, and then 7 years ago a Charvel superstrat. Whoa! Electric guitar is a whole new beast!
Now I have been playing lead electric in a band for the past 5 years, and have some nice guitars. No turning back!
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote