# Your very first GAS?



## Grand Moff Tim (Aug 2, 2011)

Ah, Gear Acquisition Syndrome. We all know it. Some more than others, some for longer than others. However strong we've had it, however long we've had it, I'm willing to bet that we all remember the very first guitar that infected us with it.

What was the first guitar you guys ever GASsed over?

Did you ever get it?

If not, _will_ you ever get it (ie: have your tastes changed)?


Lemme get the ball rolling. Back in the halcyon days of 1996 when I was still a complete n00b learning how to play on a $175 acoustic, a friend and I went to the Del Mar fair to see what we could see. In between bouts of shitty roller coasters and awesome fair chow, we sat down to rest our dogs and watch a band play for a bit. I don't even remember who the hell they were. Just some three-piece rock band who weren't even playing a big stage or anything, so they at very least weren't famous _yet _(for all I know they're millionaires by now. Who cares?). They weren't particularly impressive or anything, but the guitarist/vocalist was fondling a guitar the likes of which my fragile young mind had hitherto never seen...









I was transfixed. I had literally _no idea_ what the name of that evil looking beauty/bastard (beautastard?) was, but boy howdy did I ever want one. At the very next opportunity, I went to the library, checked out a book about the history of electric guitars, and poured through it in hopes of finding out who that dark Cinderella was (because that's how we rolled back before the internet, kids). I found it, and I was _levelled_ with my very first case of gas.

Of course, anyone here knows that it's a Gibson SG Standard. We also know that Gibson isn't exactly the cheapest brand on the block, so figure the odds that I was able to run out and buy one, unemployed 15 year old that I was. By the time I was older, employed and alot better a guitarist, I no longer cared about Gibson. I became a bit of a Fender fanboy, matter of fact. That is to say, no. No, I never did get that Gibson SG Standard in ebony.


Now that I'm thinking about it again, though...


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## BangandBreach (Aug 2, 2011)

Epiphone SG Gothic, then a Jackson DKMG.


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## Church2224 (Aug 2, 2011)

Fender American Strat in Olympic White and Rosewood fretboard, then an Ibanez JEM7V. I will get them both....someday.


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## Scar Symmetry (Aug 2, 2011)

Cameron Diaz.


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## AySay (Aug 2, 2011)

Jackson DK2 in eerie dess. Still want one...


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## Miek (Aug 2, 2011)

Uhhh...I don't really remember, I think it was some Ibanez artcore.
The first guitar I remember really wanting really really badly was a PRS custom 24 in whale blue.
I will get one of those fuckers yet.


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## toiletstand (Aug 2, 2011)

when i first started playing i really wanted either a fender strat or bc rich warlock. Lost interest in the warlock and im holding out for the right Strat. Nolly's comes to mind. 

but the firs guitar that i OBSESSED over (to the point of drawing it in my notebooks) was an ibanez K7 in blade grey. I was never able to acquire one because i was fifteen. if i come across the right deal though ill for sure pick one up. hell i wouldn't mind firespeak blue. i'm a sucker for a great blue finish.


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## Hollowway (Aug 2, 2011)

Here's mine. I'd still try to get one if I had any interest in getting any more sixers. Something just so cool about it.


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## Anonymous (Aug 2, 2011)

Apex 1
I want this guitar so bad. I'll probably never get one though, they quit making them and I'm 17,jobless and car-less.
Oh well

And I'm a Cancer! and love 7 strings!! So it's perfect for me!!!


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## Dayn (Aug 2, 2011)

I think it's safe to say that no, I don't have it. My taste in guitars have been refined over the years, and that guitar nowadays won't handle what I play.

But I can say for damn sure that I still want similar body work on any custom I get.


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## Syriel (Aug 2, 2011)

Ibanez S Series.


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## setsuna7 (Aug 2, 2011)

back in '98 it was ESP KH-2 and KH-3. Yes I'm a Hammett fanboy!!!


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## Joelan (Aug 2, 2011)

Church2224 said:


> Fender American Strat in Olympic White



Exact same as this 

It was my dream guitar 6 or so years ago, and I will still get one someday, but probably in Vintage White.


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## Kabstract (Aug 2, 2011)




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## The Munk (Aug 2, 2011)

...A good playing electric guitar...


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## W424 (Aug 2, 2011)

Mine was also SG Standard, back in 1996. I got an 80's standard in 1997 and had it for a few years, I still miss it. I got another SG in 08 because it's still the best looking guitar shape ever.


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## Rook (Aug 2, 2011)

2002, Jackson RR1 in black, bought one in 2007, I love it! All the guitars I've owned since (LOADS) none have stood alongside it in quality and finish (even my EBMM's which I've loved). It's amazing, I was literally speechless when I openned the case.

I have USA Jackson GAS at the moment, but which one?!?!


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## zakattak192 (Aug 2, 2011)

I've wanted one of those ever since the 4th grade when I started playing guitar. Then I played one for the first time a few months ago, and I was completely unimpressed with the baseball bat neck.


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## Guitarman700 (Aug 2, 2011)

An Ibanez Jem. My GOD I wanted one SO BAD. That was before I saw the price.


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## orakle (Aug 2, 2011)

jackson dkmg 

got a job at 15, worked my ass off and got it !


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## ittoa666 (Aug 2, 2011)

Scar Symmetry said:


> Cameron Diaz.



Look at my avatar.


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## GuitaristOfHell (Aug 2, 2011)

Schecter C-1 Classic, thank God I have one .


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## Hollowway (Aug 2, 2011)

zakattak192 said:


> I've wanted one of those ever since the 4th grade when I started playing guitar. Then I played one for the first time a few months ago, and I was completely unimpressed with the baseball bat neck.



Oh yeah, me too! Most of those classic BCR shapes blew me away the first time I saw them!


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## misingonestring (Aug 2, 2011)

Syriel said:


> Ibanez S Series.


 
This.

Back when I liked D-D-D-Dragonforce...


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## guitarister7321 (Aug 2, 2011)

I remember when I started playing in middle school I really wanted a Jackson DKMG, I believe it was that or a similar model. They had one at the guitar store I took lessons at. I wanted it because it had the "whammy bar with the tuners on it" and had those "really good EMG-HZ's". Boy, was I a n00b 

I guess I kind of fulfilled this GAS a few years later when I got my Charvel. It's pretty much a Jackson (even has the Jackson style toothpaste logo). And the whammy bar has the tuners on it  And I just bought real EMG's for it.


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## ScrotieMcBoogerballs (Aug 2, 2011)

I was pretty much good for a year or two after I started playing, then I saw Jack Black playing an SG in "School of Rock" and I first experienced GAS. It's been downhill ever since then


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## Koop (Aug 2, 2011)

ScrotieMcBoogerballs said:


> I was pretty much good for a year or two after I started playing, then I saw Jack Black playing an SG in "School of Rock" and I first experienced GAS. It's been downhill ever since then



SAME! Except it wasn't from seeing School of Rock. I remember saving pics of SG's and looking at them all day while I had my shitty Squier strat


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## s_k_mullins (Aug 2, 2011)

My first GAS ever was an Ibanez RG7, because that's what I saw Korn and Wes Borland using. Strangely enough, as many guitar as I've owned over the last 12 years, I've just purchased my very first Ibanez, and never owned an Ibanez 7-string.


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## Andromalia (Aug 2, 2011)

This was the first high end guitar I've played in a shop, on an ADA MP2 and power amp, it sustained for years and I was very impressed. i jammed on Sad but True with my then lead guitarist in the shop and had a blast. The price tag was utterly beyond my reach back then.
Never got it in the end, but it's the guitar that hooked me to ESPs for some time.


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## Thrashmanzac (Aug 2, 2011)

for me it has to be the cole clark stealth.
i have been gassing for one for about 4-5 years now 
however i guy i know has one, im i have been letting him know i am keen to buy it 
one day i WILL own this guitar 
here is a pic for all concerned:


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## darren (Aug 2, 2011)




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## Thrashmanzac (Aug 2, 2011)

^did you ever get one darren?


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## troyguitar (Aug 2, 2011)

no surprise really


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## Justin Bailey (Aug 2, 2011)

Dayn said:


> I think it's safe to say that no, I don't have it. My taste in guitars have been refined over the years, and that guitar nowadays won't handle what I play.
> 
> But I can say for damn sure that I still want similar body work on any custom I get.



Lmao at "It won't handle what I play"


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## Gamma362 (Aug 2, 2011)

LTD Kh-602. I was a Hammett fanboy at the time, and I got the guitar without ever trying one, or owning a guitar with a floating bridge (I had been playing for about 6 months at the time) and I fell in love with it. The floyd tends to piss me off a lot nowadays but I love the thing to death, it was my first real guitar and as much as i have been saying lately that i want to sell it I never will


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## jymellis (Aug 2, 2011)

the year was 1989. i first saw the jem777vbk. knew i had to have one. got one about 6 months ago


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## toiletstand (Aug 2, 2011)

^^^ yes!


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## darren (Aug 3, 2011)

Thrashmanzac said:


> ^did you ever get one darren?



No, the closest i got was a pointy Lado.


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## WarriorOfMetal (Aug 3, 2011)

You know those instrument-shaped pins you can buy for like $5 at most music stores? I saw one shaped like a Warlock at the store where I took drum lessons when I was in middle school, before I started playing guitar. Decided I needed one, but never got one until a few years ago, which I had until last summer-ish.


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## yellowv (Aug 3, 2011)

UV MC. Saw it on the insert in my Passion and Warfare cassette tape. Was hooked ever since. Was a huge Ibby fanboy for many years until they stopped making awesome guitars and just made a bunch of black RG's  That said my first kickass guitar was a brand new black 99' 7620. Only took me nearly 10 years to get my first Ibby 7 after first seeing the UV.


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## maliciousteve (Aug 3, 2011)

the Dime333 BlackJack. I saw a picture of one in a magazine when I was about 11 and I would go back to read the magazine just to see pictures of it. Then I came across one in a local shop when I was about 12 or 13 and my parents helped me buy it. I loved that guitar right up untill my little sister knocked it over and split the headstock. I got it repaired and part exchanged it for the Strat I still have today.


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## Sicarius (Aug 3, 2011)

Paul Allender's CU24.

god damn.


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## jymellis (Aug 3, 2011)

here are some pics when i first got it and was cleaning it. it now has strings and a black/green/black pickguard. last pic is it hanging next to my UV7BK.


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## vampiregenocide (Aug 3, 2011)

I've pretty much always had a thing for Ibanez and a lot of their models.  However I did start as a bassist, and really gassed for a Carl Thompson custom or Warwick.


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## USMarine75 (Aug 3, 2011)

Hurricane guitars... Jason Becker.






Kramer Baretta...






Peavey Wolfgang... first GAS that I actually satisfied.


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## USMarine75 (Aug 3, 2011)

jymellis said:


> here are some pics when i first got it and was cleaning it. it now has strings and a black/green/black pickguard. last pic is it hanging next to my UV7BK.


 


I remember seeing this as a kid and always wanting a Steve Vai guitar... Finally got my first JEM this year!


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## jymellis (Aug 3, 2011)

USMarine75 said:


> I remember seeing this as a kid and always wanting a Steve Vai guitar... Finally got my first JEM this year!


 
which did you get? and did you get a wolfie also? god i love high quality peavey guitars

and i love steve announcing faith no more and prong \m/


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## XEN (Aug 3, 2011)

Back in 1986 while I was living in France I picked up a brochure for a Steinberger GM1TA and was smitten. I still have that brochure.

The guitar? I picked one up for $395 in 1995. Someone had traded it in to a store without knowing what it was worth - I guess the store had no idea either - and I became one of the luckiest guys ever! I don't think I'll ever be able to part with it.

Here's a pic, not of mine, but you get the hint:


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## thatguy5557123 (Aug 3, 2011)

My first gas was bc rich warlocks of any kind, my second guitar was a revenge warlock and its still my main six, fantastic guitar idc what anyone thinks ;-)


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## sytraxiplague (Aug 3, 2011)

urklvt said:


> Back in 1986 while I was living in France I picked up a brochure for a Steinberger GM1TA and was smitten. I still have that brochure.
> 
> The guitar? I picked one up for $395 in 1995. Someone had traded it in to a store without knowing what it was worth - I guess the store had no idea either - and I became one of the luckiest guys ever! I don't think I'll ever be able to part with it.
> 
> Here's a pic, not of mine, but you get the hint:



Damn it! You beat me to it 

I've had other guitars I liked.. But the first time I saw a Steinberger, I just new I had to have one. 3 years after having one, I still have GAS for more, more, more! Haha.


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## sunbasket (Aug 3, 2011)

I was about 12 in 1997 and wanting a Strat in Olympic White as well... Gavin Rossdale from Bush X had one (I've changed my ways, I swear!)... small town mind you with 1 half-decent guitar shop. I got a strat copy, "Stage" brand... never matched up to my guitar friend's Samick or my other friend's Ibanez and I was GASSing for their gear soon enough.

The first real GAS _once I had a job_ was..hmm, for an Ibanez RG. Was about 16. Got some MIJ model which is now discontinued-- spent all my $ on it. Still have it


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## jymellis (Aug 3, 2011)

sunbasket said:


> Got some MIJ model which is now discontinued-- spent all my $ on it. Still have it


 
which one?


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## USMarine75 (Aug 3, 2011)

jymellis said:


> which did you get? and did you get a wolfie also? god i love high quality peavey guitars
> 
> and i love steve announcing faith no more and prong \m/


 
I have a JEM7VBK and a Bad Horsie...

I love Peavey I think they are so underated. I have a small collection of Peavey Wolfgangs... all from the 97-2000 era. My first was my first new "real guitar" - a 97 white Wolfgang Special. I also have a gold special (unplayed), a red special deluxe (special with the added maple top), and a green standard (archtop) which is my daily player. I'd like to add a stoptail one and I have a gold project one (need a neck) that I'd like to add a Fernandes sustainer to and some other mods...

Yeah, Steve Vai hosting HBB changed everything for me about how I thought about guitar... I realized it wasnt just about strumming chords for me anymore lol.


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## jymellis (Aug 3, 2011)

USMarine75 said:


> I have a JEM7VBK .


 
you mean this? or one like mine?








thats a serious collection of wolfies


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## USMarine75 (Aug 3, 2011)

jymellis said:


> you mean this? or one like mine?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
Exactly that one... well not literally, but you know what I mean... I prefered the black and chrome to the white with gold... but then I found out that mine doesnt have evolution pickups (breed) or alder body(basswood instead)... but on the other hand I get a great Hendrix tone out of it which is why I never believe anyone that says Ibby's have a thin tone! But I was thinking of hitting up Nick at Axepalace for some BKPs to really kick some ass with it (I have all those Peaveys when I want Hendrix or EVH tone lol)... also have a Bad Horsie which has the same specs as the other one I have...


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## engage757 (Aug 3, 2011)

This is a bit like asking a junky what his favorite time shooting up was for me I am afraid. I tried aquiring more and more and just ended up with a shit ton of guitars. And GAS is still just as bad. My first GAS today? A Lakland 44-AJ in Trans-Black. But it is only one o'clock.


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## gordomenz (Aug 3, 2011)

The first guitar I ever bought was an Epiphone Special 2. I think I paid $100 for it, mind you I was JUST learning how to play, I didn't even have an amp. I traded the Epiphone in and picked up an Ibanez Gio after I bought a shitty Marshall G80RCD for $200. I thought it was a great guitar, I didn't have any problems with it at all. But then I saw a white Jackson DK2M. I had to have it. But seeing as how I still really couldn't play, I didn't really want to spend $600. But, you know how GAS is, I said fuck it and bought it. Then GAS really hit me. Mark Morton came out with his signature Dominion. I'm a huge Lamb of God fan. I didn't think I'd ever see one at the local Long and McQuade here so I thought it would be unobtainable for me, especially at the $1400 mark. I lusted after that guitar for at least a year. Any time I saw a cover of a magazine with that guitar on it, I would buy it and read all the write ups and reviews on it. Until one day I was walking through L&M, and HOLY SHIT! There it is! They had a red Dominion hanging on the wall. I went up and asked the sales guy about it and he said "I think we have the black one upstairs, do you want to see it?" Fuck yes I said. He was up there for about 10 minutes and I remember thinking to myself. "that fuckin guy doesn't know what he's talking about". Then the door he went through opened up and he came out carrying an unmarked cardboard box, and now I"m thinking he's really fuckin with me. He puts it up on the counter and opens it. There she was. Needless to say I bought it. I love the guitar, one of the nicest playing guitars I own. Being as this is truly a disease, (ever watch that show hoarders?) My guitar collection is no where near complete. Here's a list of guitars in my GAS list. Jackson DK2M - own it. Jackson Dominion - own it. PRS Torero - own it. PRS - CU24 - GAS Jackson SLS-3 GAS. Jackson USA Soloist - GAS. PRS Akerfeldt Sig. - GAS. Ibanez MTM 1 GAS LTD RA-600 GAS (I'm a sucker for signature models) and some gear. Peavey 6505+ combo - own it. Peavey 5150 iii GAS. Mesa mark iv and v head. with matching cab. 6505+ head , orange cab. One day I'll have all this gear, even though I don't play in a band, guitars are a huge passion of mine. I definately don't get enough time to play or practice. I work too much and have a young family. We just had a baby boy 7 days ago, and I have a 3 year old daughter. So my time is dedicated to family. But one day........one day.


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## Viginez (Aug 3, 2011)

B. C. Rich Ironbird NJ (Reversed Headstock) in black


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## Shashing (Aug 3, 2011)

My friend and I both were absolutely dieing to have one of these each about 5 years ago now. Still think about it some day, maybe once there's money in the bank again I'll pick one up. It's a pretty cool guitar really even if it is a contradiction in itself  b.c. rich and a semi hollow all in one weird little package.


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## Metamurphic (Aug 3, 2011)

The first gas i remember was an ESP explorer like hetfield played. that was back when i was a teen. I don't even like non superstrat shapes any more.


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## theicon2125 (Aug 3, 2011)

Don't worry, I grew out of it.


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## Tranquilliser (Aug 4, 2011)

Jackson RR24M in Snow White, with Black Bevels.
I still want one.


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## yingmin (Aug 5, 2011)

Way back when I first started playing, I saw ads for Parker guitars in Guitar World magazine, and thought they were absolutely amazing. I loved how technologically advanced they were without being weird for weirdness' sake, and I loved the feature set. I got a chance to play one at Musician's Friend back before all their physical locations were bought out by Guitar Center, and was floored by how well they played and how good they sounded. My dad even got me a Parker brochure with a fold-out poster and framed it for my room. For whatever reason, I eventually got over them and didn't really think about them for a long time. Several years back, I was looking on eBay for guitar synth stuff, and just happened to find an old Fly in emerald green with a GK-3 on it. The price was too good, so as ill-advised as the purchase was, I jumped on it, and it's been my #1 guitar ever since.


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## DrakkarTyrannis (Aug 5, 2011)




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## johnythehero (Aug 5, 2011)

Mine was the Ibanez EGEN (Herman Li sig) but of corse for an 11 year old I was floored a guitar could even cost that much ( I think its like 2.7 k or something)


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## SenorDingDong (Aug 5, 2011)

Never have I hounded after a guitar, until I saw this beauty. Only guitar with a trem I have ever wanted. One day, I promise you all, I will have a notable NGD with one of these beauties.


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## Ironbird (Aug 5, 2011)

I've had 2 notable GAS moments in my life, all were equally monumental, personally.

First one: Kramer Pacer






This was around 2001-2002 when I was still in college and became a HUGE Tom Morello nut. I still like his playing a lot, but I'll never want a superstrat!


Second one: BC Rich Custom Shop Speed V






This amazing instrument changed the way I looked at guitars forever. All-maple neck and wings with flamed maple top, diamond inlays, Assassin headstock, Speed V body with Kahler Pro bridge. It was this guitar that ultimately shaped my preference for guitars!


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## pearl_07 (Aug 5, 2011)

This is what all started me playing back in ~2000. My uncle had a beat up black Squier strat with a white pickguard, and then I saw a Guitar World with Gilmour and his black strat. I bought a black pickguard for it and I thought I was such a badass. I still want a Gilmour Sig strat, but I highly doubt that will ever happen.


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## FACTORY (Aug 5, 2011)

Gotta say my very, very first guitar gas years before ever even playing one as say *a 5-year-old *in 1990 was (if my memory serves me) the Kramer Frankenstrat.






It definitely isn't exactly what I'm gas-ing for these days as a guitar player of 10 years but back then it just seemed to be the fuckin bees nees yeah know, _lol_.

Coincidentally 20 years later and 10 years in what I gas for these days is very similar in spec, shape and feel (some what) you could say.


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## Disfear (Aug 5, 2011)

For those not in the know, it's the Peavey Raptor. Didn't really GAS over it beforehand in my life, but it looked amazing when I walked in to the guitar store. I was ten years old and had just won a drawing contest, so I could afford the beauty and a Peavey amp along with it on my own. I didn't know anything about guitars back then, but this one blew me away. I bought it five minutes after I had seen it the first time and I've still got it on my wall. Not a great guitar by any means, but as a beginner's toy it served well. The frets didn't cut my fingers, it stayed in tune for longer than ten minutes, and it looks a lot better than the new, or newer, Predators.

My first actual GAS was this:






The strat body shape I fell in love as a ten-year-old, the amazing skull finish (I had never seen any actual images on a guitar's body before, didn't even know it was possible), and the inlays that looked like they could bite someone's head off, it was all more than enough to make me berserk and aroused and whatnot. When I saw the price tag though, needless to say I was devastated. "OH YEAH, NOW I ONLY NEED TO WAIT FOR 15 YEARS BEFORE I CAN AFFORD ONE. YEAH. NICE."


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## stevemcqueen (Aug 5, 2011)

My first one was an ESP Eclipse. So I got a black EC-400. I actually had it for 7 years before I traded it for an S-1 Elite a couple months ago.


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## Vinchester (Aug 5, 2011)

Back when I was starting in 2007 I had a raging GAS over the BC Rich Warlock. Glad I bought my Schecter Hellraiser instead of getting fooled into buying those Bronze series


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## s4tch (Aug 5, 2011)

I've been playing since '93. My first guitar was an Ibanez EX370. I had it until recently, I always liked it, but never fell in love with it, neither with other guitars. Last year, I had my first GAS: cannot explain, but I wanted a Washburn N2 so desperately, that I sold my surprisingly great Korean RG7321 w/Dimarzios. Only thing in my life that I really, and I mean, really regret doing. The N2 was a huge disappointment: while playing comfort and sound was almost perfect, I hated the bridge so much that I sold the guitar some months later. Than came my second GAS: an Ibanez RGA32 MOL with that nice natural mahogany finish. It's a nice instrument for the price indeed, especially with a DiMarzio AT-2 and a Breed Neck. Now the love is gone, and I'm missing a 7 so much... That's the 3rd GAS, I guess. I'm dying for a 7620 or any Japanese 7 with a decent trem or a fixed bridge.

And of course, as Friedman was my idol, I always wanted a Jackson Kelly. And a Rhoads. And a decent Strat. And a Tele, a Kotzen especially. And how great a good old Gretsch can be... And if I get a Suhr, I'll play like Guthrie _and_ Reb Beach.


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## Bribanez (Aug 5, 2011)

My 1st case of GAS was in 1984 for a 1979 NOS Stratocaster at my local guitar shop. 3 color tobacco sunburst, maple neck, big headstock. Then I traded it many years later for some GAS on a Jem77FP.


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