Probably a common dream for guitarists 🙂
We’re loading out to go to a gig. I ask someone to grab my stuff and we head over.
Small hole in the wall place, narrow and a little dark, large window at the front and I can see across the street a corner shop.
We’re playing but I can’t seem to get any volume. I walk up to a short/wide amp, black face and a little beat up with worn corners, turn down my guitar volume and turn up the amp, I go back and try to turn up the guitar but it’s still muted sounding. We’re playing Bon Jovi’s You Give Love A Bad Name.
I can’t seem to remember how to play and I’m slow, the neck is insanely wide, almost like I’m trying to play the body of the guitar, so I have to reach around to press on the strings. I hear where I’m supposed to be but can’t seem to get there.
The guys are looking at me as if to ask, “What the fuck?”
I realize my pedal board is missing. The guy must have missed grabbing it when he grabbed my guitar. I’m playing clean but getting no volume. The guitar has knobs that add distortion but still no volume.
Okay, the owner is annoyed, the customers are annoyed and don’t want to hear Bon Jovi. Okay, Killing In The Name. I tune my guitar to drop d but without my board, I don’t have the starting flanger sound. I give it my best shot though.
What’s this though, I hit the lead in notes, *flang* *flang* *flang* but it changes to *dah* *dah* *dah-da* *dah-da* *dah* (Bon Jovi). And still a too wide neck, and no volume.
The customers are down to a handful and the guys break out an envelope with song requests, two columns typewritten, about 8 songs in each column, the owner turns up the music player. I’m looking over the guys shoulders at the songs and hoping I can get the chord changes so I can muddle along.
It’s getting dark and the shop I can see across the street has their roll down cage in place.