Pay it forward -

Still have the graphtech saddles if anyone wants to try them.
 
I never knew you were so nice. :) Got a guitar or two to share. :tongue:
I have my moments. :laugh: I could loan you one for a bit, you'd have to pick up and drop it back off though. :)
 
The title is pay it forward. Come on fellas...pay it forward!!
I would but I've been giving all my stuff away at another PRS forum.
Been giving a bunch of pickups away lately over there.
Anyway fellas, there's only one thing better than getting free stuff and that's GIVING stuff. Try it. When you give someone something who needs it, especially if they're young and broke, well I can only think of one or two things that feel better and you can't do those with your pants on...but those things only feel good for a short time. Giving stuff away feels good for weeks...forever sometimes. It truly is better to give than to receive. Always knew that was "true" but...when you give guitars to broke kids or a school in a third world country (or just a school that has had it's music program decimated...like most have)...well here's just one example.

A couple years ago I met this kid online who is in Finland. He lived with his single Mom (very broke and struggling) and just had his Squier (and most of their household stuff..what little they HAD) stolen.
I too was raised by my single Mom and I raised my kids by myself for most of their lives so..been there done that and didn't like the shirt. The shirt was a too small hand-me-down from a cousin probably :-(.
I offered him my '86 or so USA strat...FREE...and I'd pay to ship it. Cost me like $200...$200 that I didn't have..and never really do even still.
Actually, this was more than a couple of years ago and I really was broke come to think of it.

I got a couple more emails from him asking if I had shipped...still hadn't received it he said.
About a week later I see that the tracking showed it had been accepted.
NEVER heard from the kid again. Nothing. Crickets. No "thank you" no NOTHING.
Maybe he lost his computer or they couldn't pay for the internet? They have internet cafes in Finland..surely?
More likely...or possibly he wasn't a broke kid at all.
But I didn't care. I still got all the feel good brownie points and karma and it felt just as good as when I give guitars to kids or people who appreciate and are thankful for it..almost.

Oh and this short one (sorry)...my wife and I were visiting the West Coast where I grew-up. We're driving around town, it's raining pretty good and we see a guy in a safety reflector vest who had upset his wheelchair on the sidewalk and NO ONE was pulling over to help the poor crippled bugger out!!! :-O.
I pulled a nut, we dodged the downpour while running across the street and we picked dude up and put him back in his chair. He mutters the word cigarette? The wife says give him your pack. Of course!!
So we're driving away like heroes wondering howcome no one stopped to pick him up (literally). On the next block my old drummer is delivering a pkg to a jewelry store in his Purolator (courier like FEDEX) van so we stop to chat and catch-up. After all the "what you been up to all these years?" greetings we start telling him about the cripple and how no one was stopping to help. Darren says...heck, you know that guy, we went to school with him. He lives down on Beach Place where we lived when we were roomates (there's an huge flight of stairs to get down to Beach Place (a waterfront street). He's a FAKER. When he gets to the top of the stairs he folds up his chair and walks or RUNS down the stairs.
When the Alaska Ferries dock and all the vehicles drive off they all get funneled onto highway 16. Wheelchairdude waits at the intersection for the vehicles and tourbuses and rolls-out onto the crosswalk in front of them and flips himself out of his chair. All the horrified tourists jump off the bus to help him and give him money.
You guys been HAZED!!! lmao.
WTH??????
Oh well...Luanne and I looked at each other, laughed our arses off and said..oh well...we'd do it again.
Hey, we didn't know he was a fraud. We surely still qualified for the Karma? Even knowing we had been tricked we still felt good about stopping when no one else did.

ANYWAY...sorry for the rant. Point is...and I am NOT trying to diminish the OP's awesome and generous gesture...that giving stuff away to people in NEED is probably the BEST feeling in the WORLD. To me that's what life is all about. First making yourself HAPPY and secondly, being compassionate and generous and wanting to help...well, that's what life is all about. That "he who dies with the most toys WINS" cliché is nonsense. We're gonna be DEAD! No, I'd say that he who dies with NOTHING...nothing but a happy heart knowing that he made a difference in peoples' lives...HE is the winner.
SO...give me all your stuff. I accept guitars, amps, watches, jewelry, cash gold and silver (please no checks), money orders, paypal transfers...hey, I'm here to help. Consider me th Bank of Good Karma. Hello Sir, would you like to open an account today? Lol.
Seriously though...go through your drawers (PARTS drawers you sickos) and see what you have that isn't JUNK and GIVE that stuff away. If you know a poor family, kid or school...hey we all have too many guitars. Can you imagine? Grabbing one of your gems, casing it up and saying...I'm gonna find someone to GIVE this to today. The feeling is liberating even to me for just saying that sentence. You'll feel better than you ever have (with your pants on). The ONLY better feeling is the one the recipient feels. Well...maybe I'm wrong there too cause seeing a kid's eyes light-up in shock and disbelief...NO WAY...you're GIVING this to me???...well the feeling YOU get when you experience that is MasterCard PRICELESS and lasts a lifetime. Much longer than that guitar would have brought that much joy and fulfillment. Try it.

My most recent guitar giveaway happened in February. I was in the Caymans visiting an old friend/drummer...getting some R&R and doing a little gigging down there. I brought a strat, an OD pedal, tuner, cables, strap, a Shure SM58 and a Beta 58 (my main vocal mic) and mic cables..oh and of course an assortment of picks, a strap, guitar cables...and I think that's it. Oh...this was on Cayman Brac...not Grand Cayman where everyone is rich. The day before my return flight I went down to the school and donated ALL the gear I brought. Geezus, youda thunk I gave them a whole music WING not a guitar and a bit of gear. I was like a hero. I was (and probably still am) the talk of the Island. Maybe not? Don't care.

Hey, we all struggle...no matter our financial situation. I'm not rich by any stretch. Life (mine) is a constant struggle...but at the same time, I have the BEST life. I am the most thankful and appreciative (and dumbfounded) mofo on the planet for my life. I'm not a nice guy. I SURE don't deserve my life. I have NO idea why I'm living my dream but maybe...just maybe (can't see why else) it's Karma?
PAY IT FORWARD!
Give stuff away. Do it for selfish reasons like me...so YOU feel good...but DO it. You'll see.

Again, awesome gesture there OP. We need more people like you in this world.
 
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