My name is B.J. I'm from Ohio, if you can't guess by the screen name. I've played guitar since the mid-90s, I picked it up right after graduating. I had been a major music fan since my pre-teens, thanks to my religious parents. They deemed 80s music like Devo and Twisted Sister, Madonna and the hair bands evil, so I found a box of my dad's old records from the 60s, and asked mom if I could listen to those. She said since they were dad's, they must OK. So I got heavy into Steppenwolf, the Stones, some mid to late Beatles, and picked upVan Halen along the way. I saw Nirvana and Weezer, decided I could play guitar if they could, and got addicted. Then I saw this Stevie Ray Vaughan guy on MTV Unplugged. The "stripped" down show where all these marquee bands played, except they had twice as many people playing. Stevie went out by himself, rocked the crowd, I was entranced, and I've been blues ever since.
I just bought a 23rd anniversary H-535, the nicest guitar I've ever owned, It took a while to save up, but it stayed on the shelf long enough for me to get it. This guitar feels like history to me, and it's a very special instrument, especially since I had to sell my first Heritage earlier in the year when we had some money issues.
I'm usually a Strat guy - I have a 2008 Mayer Sig Strat that I had a satin refinish to match a 62 the local shop had, and a 2017 Olympic White American Professional Strat.
I have a 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb, maybe the best amp Fender has made since the Rivera's, or even the 60s. Other amp is a 90s Kendrick 2112, a Tweed Deluxe at 25 watts with black tolex instead. Made up for the 68 Bassman I had to sell. I love guitars, I love music, I'll give anything a shot, and mostly I love playing. Everybody love everybody. Thanks for letting me share in the community here.
One of these days I want to head to Kalamazoo and visit the factory. I don't know if they allow that still. Maybe they'll let me pick out a guitar to buy. Anyway, I think Heritage guitars are special, and much better than their cousins that relocated down south, at least contemporarily.
