..I bought my first guitar at 16 and started playing professionally at 21. From the beginning, I was always modifying and hot-rodding my guitars to make them look cooler and play better. Now in my 40s, I have graduated to making the instruments I could only dream of when first starting out.Part of my drive comes from remembering what it was like to want a really cool looking guitar, but only having enough coin to afford hock shop crap. Inevitably, I ended up with substandard guitars, but with my interest in art, I was able to make the instruments look great. I still own my first guitar, but it would be totally unrecognizable by any former owner.After playing and tweaking guitars for years, I started building them in my 30s. Now, in my 40s, I wish I had started in my 20s. I love it. I've toured all over playing live music. Building a guitar is the only thing that comes close to that feeling. I guess, in a way, I get to live vicariously through the instruments I create.
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