Stepping Stones

My first guitar was an acoustic I bought for $50 in Tijuana, Mexico in 1984. It was maybe a notch above a tourist souvenir. No receipt. No change returned. No idea how to tune or play it — but I did anyway. Every day. Two years later it was smashed into splinters on the driveway in an act of teenage catharsis (it was awesome, by the way).

My first electric guitar was a Christmas present from my parents in 1985. It was a black Aria Pro II with a whammy bar paired with a 0.01 watt Gorilla amp. I learned how to play Boys Don’t Cry by the Cure and covered the body with colorful dots of nail polish. Soon after I completely took it apart in an attempt to understand how it worked (never quite got it back in one piece).

These were my stepping stones into the world of music. A world for me that was an oasis in a desert. Music was my escape. It was my sacred place to explore. A new language. A refuge. A medium. A source of truth. Was then. Is now. Ten more guitars followed.

And for me it all started on a $50 tourist souvenir I could barely tune or play.

What was your first instrument?

What were your first musical stepping stones?

Where are you now?