The more I dig into it, the more I believe some of the early warning signs are possibly associated with a life reference of "scarcity vs.abundance" or "deficit vs. surplus". As a long-suffering GASaholic, I must say that my attacks are associated with [real or imagined] thoughts of how I CAN have this thing more so than how I CAN'T AFFORD IT or why I SHOULDN'T have it. And judging from the hundreds of responses of other GASaholics, we tend to hold this in common. Our resources available somehow always seem to be possible and adequate for us to proceed with the acquisition. Like, it will all work out; the end justify the means, blinders on, etc. GASaholics somehow find a way. It has little to do with rational thinking.
QUESTION: What is your theory on the early warning signs of GAS problems?
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I think early warning sign if GAS should be heeded immediately! Life is so very, very short (those of us in the critical care medical field watch death come daily) buy them as quick as you can and pray that you'll meet someone like Jay who is definitely an enabler :))
ReplyDeleteEarly symptoms for me have always been when I can see me playing it in my minds eye (usually on stage in front of a LOT of people, LOL). Then I know there is "something" about this particular guitar or bass.
ReplyDeleteOne of the early warning signs for me is when my favorite axe is not sounding as awesome as it has always sounded in the past even after a set-up and fresh strings, played through your favorite amp. Could be a sinus infection causing your ears to decieve you. No it's G.A.S. early warning symptoms. A search for fulfilment in a tone defecient inner frequency at A-440hz.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure it's when you start taking a more active interest in something; you know how it is, you pick up a guitar magazine (really a guitar advertising magazine and lust inducer), read a few reviews on websites (to get the juices going), post about your interest at a forum (where your peers will either bolster the desire even more or else benevolently deflect it at a parallel item that you'll end up wanting even more.
ReplyDeleteEarly signs of G.A.S.:
ReplyDeleteAs a fourteen year old get a catalog with mainly Fender (and/or FMIC related) entries and getting a piece of paper out to calculate how much it would set you back to buy a drum kit, a bass, some guitars, microphones, PA, tape echo, etc. That's what happened to me. I was playing in a high-school band and dreaming of getting some good equipment. In retrospect, it being the '70's, it might just have been better equipment, but nevertheless... I was already computing then how many hours I would have to work to buy the whole shebang. If I think hard enough, I'm still able to remember the original number in Dutch guilders, about 6 grand. I have always dreamt of getting lots of equipment in general. It just took a while to get to that point that I could afford it. And, as stated in my response yesterday, the only thing that is different is the focus on a particular brand and guitar model. But I still once in a while dream of getting me that maple Pearl drum kit with Zildjian hand-hammered cymbals ...
I generally find using a lay-a-way at a store is a great way to suffer more G.A.S. I suppose one of the early warning signs might be chronic lay-a-way-itis. I don't think there is any kind of surgical way to remove this "-itis" as there is with appendicitis or tonsilitis... it just has to burn itself out. Or, if the lay-a-way period is up, the penalty for G.A.S. is to only be granted store credit for the dollar amount on the lay-a-way account, and to watch the instrument get hung back up on the wall a few days later. (OUCH).
ReplyDeleteOne severe lay-a-way-itis complication for me was when I had two guitars on lay-a-way at the same store at the same time. I got a check that allowed me to get one, but not both out of the lay-a-way system, but I had to use the money from the second guitar to pay off the first guitar.
Once I brought the first guitar home, I have a cousin who was inquiring about the second guitar model, so I gave him the info to the store I had had the guitar on lay-a-way at, and he ended up buying the guitar long distance from another state. I told him verbally as a part of me "finding" this guitar for him, that if he ever sold it, that I was to have first dibs on buying it from him. (I know how he is with stuff, he will buy, then sell, then buy something else, etc.)
Well in an e-mail JUST TWO WEEKS after he had bought this guitar, a guitar-of-the-week Gibson Firebird, of which they only made a very limited number of (and I had G.A.Ssed for only minutes after playing it)... he told me he had sold it to the guy at GuitarAndEffects, and online guitar store that offers a decent price for used instruments. He told me it was all boxed up and ready to go to this guy.
Pissed does not explain the term.
Not only had he bought the guitar on a whim, once he got it to his house, he decided almost immediately he didn't want it, and after telling me verbally over the phone I would have first dibs, offered the thing to someone else.
This was terminal G.A.S.-itis through chronic lay-a-way-itis, which also brought about the end of our cousin-to-cousin communication and relationship. I do not any longer associate with this man.
The early warning sign here was my having put too many guitars on lay-a-way. I live in an area where the local mom and pop guy will let you run well past the typical 90-day mark on lay-a-ways... which is really bad for true gasaholics. Plus, he has a better stock of guitars on hand on any given day than any three or four Guitar Center stores lined up in a row, so its a fit of G.A.S. just walking into the place.
So, in this instance, G.A.S. comes before family.
Who needs a worthless cousin who can't keep his word to you, anyways? Hahahaha
Problem is, I know he paid like $1,700 or so for the Firebird, and the Internet guy would have only given him about $1,000-$1,100 for the thing. I had told him I would pay him what he paid the store for the guitar, and he still sold it off like that. I was rather offended. I found the guitar for him, it was a special limited edition model I would just die for, then he treated it as if it were so much bowery brothel slime.
Jeesh....
G.A.S. at its finest... LOL.
My early warning was when my first bass, a nice red Hagstrom 4, was stolen and I had nothing to play for about three weeks. My bass teacher actually got me a Kent bass to play from the store at which I took lessons. I don't think I even paid any rent on it but it was a beast of a bass to play and I wanted a better instrument.
ReplyDeleteI ended up getting another Hagstrom, but everyone told me that I needed a Fender bass.
That got me started.
Layaway is also how I get about 95percent of my instruments. I have two instruments on Layaway right now. Guitar Center is the best because they will let me , being such a good customer, to layaway a bass with only 10% down and it seems and unlimited amount of time to pick it up.
Pawn shops are second best for layaways, but they require more regular payments and they can be real bastards if you miss a payment. They will put the instrument back on the floor and you will lose everything that you paid.
G.A.S is me thinking that the guitar or bass that I buy is worth far more to me than the money that I pay for it.
I feel that I can sell any instrument for more than I paid, well that is the case usually, anyway.