Guitar Acquisition Syndrome is nothing to laugh about. Won’t you help?
“Joey Gaydos Jr., who played 10-year-old guitar-playing wunderkind Zack “Zack Attack” Mooneyham in the 2003 Jack Black comedy School of Rock, is facing felony charges of larceny and grand theft after Florida police nabbed him stealing guitars and an amp four times over the past five weeks.
“According to TMZ, Gaydos Jr. would walk into various guitar stores, try out an instrument, and then simply leave without paying for it. He would then attempt to sell the gear in a pawn shop.
“The guitars that Gaydos Jr., who in the movie rocked a Gibson Flying V, pilfered included a blue Epiphone Prophecy Les Paul (valued at $800), a black Fender Stratocaster ($699) and a Gibson Les Paul gold top ($1,900). He also made off with a Fender amp.”
I actually have fewer guitars than I used to. I gave my Jay Turser student size hollowbody (like a slightly shrunken ES-175) to my friend Sara, who is a symphony-level violinist with some nerve damage in her right wrist, after she told me that she needed an instrument she could play without a bow. It seemed to help, and she is playing paying gigs with her violin again.
I have a thing about stolen guitars, though, as I have lost four of them to burglaries. A Carvin DC-150 that was my first electric guitar, a Yamaha SA-2000 that was the best instrument I ever had, a Yamaha SA-2100 that I replaced it with, and a ’67 SG that I did extensive work on myself.
I think I miss the SG the most, although I can probably play anything on my Les Paul that I could play on the SG, it just doesn’t feel the same…
Someone gave me a gorgeous red Strat, but I finally had to admit it wasn’t the right guitar for me and gave it to my kid. The sound I really long for is the twang of a Telecaster (preferably hollow-bodied and sea foam green). When I finally make some money, I plan to buy a cheap knockoff and try it on for size.