Avocations other than the motorcycle

[Checkswrecks]

Exploring in a kayak. This is the old Perception Corona kevlar that moves like it's part of me.

At home, we keep Karen's at a local lake so we can get out at least once a week. We also do a trip to the coast of Maine every July in the area of Orr's Island near Brunswick.

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[JRE]

You sound like me. I consider myself a guitar hack, not a musician. I love to hack away and make sounds that entertain me, but it's all for my own entertainment.

This describes me too

 

[88millimeter]

Hmmm, this question got me thinking about my "hobbies" and made me realize i do a lot of stuff other than riding motorcycles, but motorcycles are my one real passion.

 

[True Grip]

I grew up following Grandpa and Dad and Uncles to the creeks giging fish and frogs or setting out bank or trot lines or following them in the woods rabbit,squirrel or deer hunting. It helped me love the outdoors. One of the reasons I love motorcycling so much is moving thur scenery like I'm a part of it. I don't hunt or fish as much as I use to. As a kid it was pleasurable but also had a sense of necessity as I aged it became more sport that I did by myself. Maybe I just miss the good ole days and grandpa. Still love mother nature and will take a day in the Great Basin over a city any day. Still love my Guns(bred in me). My wife and I enjoy kayaking our rivers here when we find time. It's a good day when the extended family all get together to float and cook out.


As you can tell I married a country girl and she is OK with my trophies.

 

[Chuck B]

I do a little woodworking. Close neighbor friend named his boy Enzo. He had a 5yr bday coming up and I had the time so it made it easy what to give him.... Ferrari bed.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Too cool!

My name is Money Penny. Can you print some dollars too?

;D

 

[Dirt_Dad]

What is the dark colored electric on the far left of your couch pic?

That's a Schecter S-1 Elite. That one has a beautiful finish. Ultimately it did not remain a keeper. My Schecter C-1 Classic is a keeper.

I have no problem parting with any guitar that doesn't speak to me. I've returned every guitar I ever bought mail order...and there have been a bunch. I have 3 guitars that I'll never part with. My Ovation 1778 T Elite an awesome sounding guitar. My (Mexican built) Strat that you can almost feel breathing when you pick it up. I swear that thing is alive. Finally my '67 Epiphone Crestwood Custom, a museum piece I never play, but was the first guitar I ever owned. It's actually a collector's guitar, but the neck had been broken off long before I got it. Drops the value at least by 1/2.

I played as a kid on that Epiphone and was always terrible. In 6th grade my daughter took guitar in school and we got her that $99 Fender classical you see in the photo. She had to pry me off that thing. Finally bought one for me which became two to three to ten guitars. I was obsessed playing hours everyday until she went away to college. Funny how I still suck at it. Tell me to play something in the key of... and I can only give you a blank stare....huh? I know nothing of music. But I can entertain myself endlessly with my own sounds. I can read a tab and play just about anything I want to learn. Just don't ask me to keep time, or change keys. Whatever that means.

 

[creggur]

That's a Schecter S-1 Elite. That one has a beautiful finish. Ultimately it did not remain a keeper. My Schecter C-1 Classic is a keeper.

I have no problem parting with any guitar that doesn't speak to me. I've returned every guitar I ever bought mail order...and there have been a bunch. I have 3 guitars that I'll never part with. My Ovation 1778 T Elite an awesome sounding guitar. My (Mexican built) Strat that you can almost feel breathing when you pick it up. I swear that thing is alive. Finally my '67 Epiphone Crestwood Custom, a museum piece I never play, but was the first guitar I ever owned. It's actually a collector's guitar, but the neck had been broken off long before I got it. Drops the value at least by 1/2.

I played as a kid on that Epiphone and was always terrible. In 6th grade my daughter took guitar in school and we got her that $99 Fender classical you see in the photo. She had to pry me off that thing. Finally bought one for me which became two to three to ten guitars. I was obsessed playing hours everyday until she went away to college. Funny how I still suck at it. Tell me to play something in the key of... and I can only give you a blank stare....huh? I know nothing of music. But I can entertain myself endlessly with my own sounds. I can read a tab and play just about anything I want to learn. Just don't ask me to keep time, or change keys. Whatever that means.

I've got two Mexican Fender-built guitars. The "bumblebee" EVH and the EVH Wolfgang Special also in the pic. The bumblebee was a fanboy buy, and it's great for what it was meant for - straight-on Rock.

The Wolfgang was a thoroughly researched buy. That guitar can do anything from pristine clean, to twang, to crunchy blues, to full on rock. The thing that makes it perfect for me is the neck which fits my smaller hands and busted pinky very well. Love that guitar and the arched flame-maple top is flawless. Nothing wrong with Mexican Fender products in my book.

Much like you I'm a tab guy, but I can keep time and I'm giving an earnest try to develop my ear and delve into music theory a bit. I still suck, but playing makes me happy... And the fact that my amp has a headphone jack makes my wife happy...

 

[Dirt_Dad]

... the fact that my amp has a headphone jack makes my wife happy...

::026::

I'm still trying to get back to playing after cutting off the tip of my finger last February. It has been a real impediment to my playing.

 

[JRE]

I'm pretty sure the same thing happened to a guy named Tony Iommi but with 2 of his fingers

 

[Dirt_Dad]

I'm pretty sure the same thing happened to a guy named Tony Iommi but with 2 of his fingers

Yep, I think of him often when I'm trying to get my finger back into shape. Not sure if I'll need to go that route, or if I need to buy a better classical guitar.

Been a while since I bought a guitar. Years ago when I would go to Guitar Center I could not make it to back of the store without someone yelling out, "hi Jon." Boy, they knew a sure sale when they saw me. The good thing was they always discounted the guitars for me. I'd pick one and ask, what's "my" price? It made it less painful.

 

[BravoBravo]

This is an interesting topic. When I turned 60, I decided to return to the guitar, a hobby I took up briefly in my teenage years, when we all wanted to be rock gods. ;D I started taking lessons from a very capable teacher, and now, 2 1/2 years after my 60th birthday, I have a small collection of guitars, my premier instrument being a Martin D16GT, along with a Seagull Artist Series electric-acoustic, a Fender Stratocaster, and a little Washburn Rover travel guitar. It is a lot of fun, and I have gotten to the point where I can play some of my favourite tunes for my wife passably well. I'm still a hack, but having fun with it.

Cheers,

Bruce

 

[OldRider]

I do a little woodworking. Close neighbor friend named his boy Enzo. He had a 5yr bday coming up and I had the time so it made it easy what to give him.... Ferrari bed.

That is super cool !!!!

Besides MC's I'm into golf and running. For my 60th. birthday I went to Disney World and ran in the DW 48.6 mile Dopey Challenge. It was streched out over four days with a 5K on Thur., a 10K on Fri., a 13.1 mile half marathon on Sat. and a full 26.2 mile marathon on Sunday. I can honestly say that was a one and done deal.

I think golf is on the top of my list. As much as I like riding MC's, a week playing golf with good friends would win out.

 

[creggur]

This is an interesting topic. When I turned 60, I decided to return to the guitar, a hobby I took up briefly in my teenage years, when we all wanted to be rock gods. ;D I started taking lessons from a very capable teacher, and now, 2 1/2 years after my 60th birthday, I have a small collection of guitars, my premier instrument being a Martin D16GT, along with a Seagull Artist Series electric-acoustic, a Fender Stratocaster, and a little Washburn Rover travel guitar. It is a lot of fun, and I have gotten to the point where I can play some of my favourite tunes for my wife passably well. I'm still a hack, but having fun with it.

Cheers,

Bruce

That's awesome! Never too late to indulge a passion.

One of the things about the guitar (and motorcycle) for me is that an aspect of it brings me back to my youth. I love loading up a backing track of Van Halen's Panama (which I will proudly say I can play - solo and all) and fire away at it. For a little while somewhere in my little brain I'm 15 again - and it's a good feeling.

 

[Checkswrecks]

...I have 3 guitars that I'll never part with. My Ovation 1778 T Elite an awesome sounding guitar.
...

True story about the Ovation guitars.


In the 1980s, I worked at Kaman Aerospace and weekly had to go to the Moosup CT plant where the Ovation was built in the 1970s. For those not knowing the history, Charlie Kaman played guitar and was a staunch Republican who tried to get employees to vote against JFK during the 1962 election. After the election, the fairly new small company was getting less Government contracts for helicopters and he had engineers familiar with acoustics and vibration (it's what helicopters do best). So Charlie tasked them with designing the best guitar possible when they had time and sometime during the mid-60s the Ovation round back was born.


The Moosup plant was bought in the 1970s and had been an old textile mill in a poor town on the Rhode Island border. There was a small 3rd floor area where the guitars were inspected and tested. This was before the helicopter line came back to high production in the late 1970s or 1980s and guitar production moved out.

A friend named Dave was a local musician buddy of mine who had been one of the guitar testers and he liked to talk about how there had been a small group of guys who would sit up in the third floor area and play what he called the "Ovation Rag" to test each guitar. (There were other hilarious stories about smoking weed behind the building and getting lost while trying to navigate back to the 3rd floor.) There was a lolly column in the middle of the area and guitars that they felt had a "buzz" or couldn't be fixed, were swung like baseball bats to break them on that lolly column, and then tossed out a window into a dumpster down below.


OK that's about all I know about guitars. I can't carry a tune in a wheel barrow, so you guys play and I'll listen.

 

[snakebitten]

great post. Big smile at my desk.

 

[Nimbus]

Lots of guitarists, but no mention of bicycles yet?

I've played acoustic guitar for 25 years or so and have two Taylors, a mid 90's 512 (Engleman spruce and Mahogany grand concert) and a Sitka/Koa limited edition grand auditorium that I feel could be the single best sounding guitar that I'll ever play.

Bicycling is a big passion of mine too. I love it. I found a great group of guys to ride with about 10 years ago and it's been a huge part of my life. Good friends, awesome competition, and a lot of time acting like immature kids riding really fast bikes. Plus it lets you eat anything all the time.

 

[fredz43]

Ok, on the subject of guitars.

Back about 1966 I bought a new electric guitar and amp. I taught myself to be pretty bad at playing it. One day I saw an ad in our local paper that said "1957 Sears Allstate 250 motorcycle for sale, $125 or trade for a guitar." I traded my guitar for my first motorcycle and that was the end of my guitar avocation and the beginning of my motorcycle avocation.

Jut think, if I had kept the guitar, I would probably be a famous guitar player instead of a famous motorcyclist.

Seriously, though, I often think of all the wonderful people I have met over the last 49 years that I would not have had the pleasure of knowing if not for my love of motorcycling and I'm very glad that I made that choice back in 1966.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

In the 1980s, I worked at Kaman Aerospace ...

I don't believe I knew that about you. Anytime I think of their helicopters I always think of their military synchropter stuff.

I've had 3 Ovations. Down to 2 right now. Their American made stuff is very good, and quite different from their off shore offerings. Even for a hack like me it's easy to tell the difference.

This thread got me to walk away from the keyboard and pickup my Ovation last night. It's a challenge with the finger thing, but it was nice to relax and play a bit.

 

[Tyke]

For me its listening to music, I was never that great at making music although I tried with a Strat for a while, my hands weren't nimble enough so a change to a Fender 4 string Jazz base helped somewhat, but alas even those days are now gone.,

I packed in the shooting too, (pheasants, vermin and some stalking of deer, and sold all my guns/rifles last year) due to health issues.

Walking with my lovely girl and our two dogs is a great passtime, ::008::