So I get this letter in the mail inviting me to a musical instrument sale. It's run by a music store, or rather by a foundation established by the family that's run the store for decades. It's supposed to be selling instruments donated to the local university music program by the store, and part of the proceeds benefit the foundation and whatnot. Kind of confusing, but at the end part of the sales price qualifies as a tax-deductible contribution so that's all good.

I thought when I got the thing that Spencer might like to go and mooch around the guitars, and I'm always interested in the coolness factor. So we schlepped down as a father-son bonding outing -- and to get his dusty butt outta the house for a damn change. He's long wanted a Gibson SG (but a specific model in some special finish that costs $1600 or something) and I thought they might have something to look at. Maybe it'd motivate him to play more or something? The instrument he has is a throwaway rank-beginner model, and he doesn't play it much, so the high-end thing is clearly a silly idea at this point.

But he does enjoy the music, and I want to support that interest. Maybe it'll evoke some engagement from him in one area of his life, which is conspicuously and worryingly absent these days. Plus, we still owe him part of his H.S. graduation present, from 2 years ago, because he chose a new amp to replace the nasty one he had, but he didn't want to compromise on a cheaper guitar when what he really wanted was the SG. The deal was that he'd get a job, since he wasn't going to school the fall after graduation, and pay for the balance of the instrument he wanted beyond the amount of the grad present he still had coming.

He didn't hold up his end of that, so he never got the Gibson. But I do regret that the interest kind of faded after that.

So we get there, and make our way through after chatting with the kid from Spencer's high school who's volunteering, apparently because he's a student in the music program. We're led through a whole room full of baby grand pianos that must be costing $5K or more, and a hallway full of electronic keyboards. Finally in the guitar room they have all the awesome Gibsons over by the wall, and you have to ask for prices. Um, ouch. We won't be buying the SG here.

But in the middle of the room are a whole bunch of instruments on stands, covering the whole range. Of course, we ended up taking one home.

At first, Spencer wanted a bass because he already has the guitar, and the guy said he could run a bass through his guitar amp if he kept the volume under control. Not a problem in his dorm room, at the just-learning stage. But he ended up changing his mind in favor of an Ibanez guitar in a more affordable range. He says he'll play it, and I think it's bound to help if he has a better instrument. I was happy with the bass, because he'd then HAVE to play with a group or at least one other person -- the bass doesn't work much on its own -- and that'd encourage the whole social thing. But he has the guitar amp, and I want the one that he'll play more.

Part of this, of course, comes from my own failure to outgrow the interest in guitars. I have an acoustic that I keep thinking I'll play more. And I saw many, many that I would have wanted for myself -- one Gibson acoustic in particular. But I've long felt a need to get the graduation present debt resolved, and I'm casting about for something that'll help to draw Spencer out. Plus I ended up throwing some money at Max's broken-computer problem while he was here a week ago.

I hope it was a good decision. And I wonder what K will say about it all.