The Shinedown Incident – Part One
Hello again, reader, hopefully, I have more than just me :). Today’s post is going to be a two-parter; it is going to focus on a bit of a story about my most recent guitar purchase.
This whole guitar story starts about a year ago and much to the chagrin of my wife; I might add. Not too long after starting classes for a master’s degree, I decided that once I finish, bam I’m buying myself a new guitar. Side note, I didn’t talk to my wife about any of this, master’s degree or guitar.
Fast forward a few months to get the guitar before I finished. Well, it involves some new jobs, a puppy with accompanying fence, and Ace Frehley. Yes, the original guitar player from KISS. Well, not Ace directly, but his signature guitar, a three humbucker Gibson Les Paul. No, I don’t make that kind of money; I’m married and have a daughter, so all Matt’s guitar money is non-existent. What did I do next, well, it involves eBay, giving my godson a guitar and Shinedown?
Naturally, being a bit of a Guitar nerd, I started searching for a vintage Greco Les Paul copy from the late seventies. When I found them, on eBay and reverb, I quickly realized that I didn’t want to pay that kind of money and have to deal with customs and import the guitar from Japan. So, I started searching for alternatives, and that is where Shinedown comes in, specifically, Mr. Zach Myers. Apparently, Mr. Myers has had a couple of different signature model Paul Reed Smith guitars. His first being a three humbucker single-cutaway guitar.
What do you know, Zach’s first signature model guitar checked off all the boxes, it had three humbuckers, look enough like a Les Paul and was over the top. Not in a bad arm-wrestling Sly Stallone movie kind of away, but in a This is Spinal Tap kind of way, perfect for a rock star or some guy in Illinois to pretend. Anyway, the search was on, and the only place I could find one for a reasonable price was Japan. Again! Then one fateful day, an eBay seller from Oklahoma posted one for sale. It was blue, the only problem was, Shinedown autographed it. I figured what the heck, I’ll make an offer and the least they can say is no.
Stay tuned for part 2 next week.