Sharing the love...for PRS and giving the gift of music..

[Hopeful Sinner]

A little back story: this great kid who's parents do business with me always talks music and guitars with me when they come around. His faves are Shinedown, Five Finger Death Punch and Chevelle... Well of course I tell him about the best guitars on the planet, PRS...and that a couple of his groups play em too. Anywho, a week or so ago Shawn posted a couple shirts in the Pay It Forward thread so I grabbed one (not quite my size) with the intent of giving it to this kid. It came in the mail, I called his folks and asked them to bring him by the office, that I had a small guitar related surprise for him. They said sure and that was that...

Well I got to thinking about this kid and how much he loves music and wants to play but they can't really afford to get him started at the moment. So, I got to thinking, I had my first PRS SE Custom under the bed just hanging around and hey I don't play this thing any more, it's a great guitar with a few nice upgrades and would make a killer first for this kid. So, what the hell, I took it along with a cable, strap, case, some picks, extra strings and a small Line 6 practice amp my son use to play through before he became a gear hound and I gave this dude his first rig free and clear. He was gobsmacked and in complete disbelief and his mom cried and kept hugging me.. It felt so good to impact a life with the gift of music.

Well, the story doesn't end there, I was talking to my bud Nick who teaches guitar and piano at a local music store in town about what happened and how good it made me feel. This guy says Hey bro give them my number and I'll give the kid 6 months of free lessons!!! By this point I was absolutely over the moon.

It all plays into the spirit of this forum, our brotherhood and fellowship and the generosity of every person here and how much it can affect the life of others. Great bunch of folks here !!

That is all...

 

[JustRob]

Awesome job man! :congrats:

 

[jfb]

Way to make a difference. Nicely done.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

That is so cool.
I just gave a guitar to my childhood babysitter, she was the first person I ever knew with an electric guitar and a huge influence on me and was looking to start playing again. This little dude will never forget you, may your chosen deity look upon you with pride.

 

[]-[@n$0Ma☩!©]

Well played, Jon.

 

[lgk1208]

This is awesome. The world needs more people like you. Who knows maybe he will make it BIG and hook you up with some free concert tickets. HAHA. It always feels so good to do things like this for people.

 

[Shawn@PRS]

Class act!

 

[Hopeful Sinner]

Guys, thanks so much for the kind words! Shawn, thanks for sending that shirt, it sparked the whole thing!!! On that note, the entire Pay It Forward concept set it off...

I'm gonna try to get a pic of Ryu (parents were huge Street Fighter fans) at his first guitar lesson to share with everyone. I will never forget that kids' smile...the joy on his face was absolutely priceless...

 

[Goldtop]

Way to go (to all of you guys)! A complete set of gear, free lessons... What a great thing to do. So special all the way around.

Lloyd

 

[markie]

You are a good man Jon!

 

[boxstop7]

It's stories like this that help me keep my hope for humanity alive. I'm willing to bet that this entire episode (your gifts to him, the free lessons from your friend) means more to that young man than any of us can truly fathom. Gestures like that help shape a person decades after the fact. You just made that kid's life immeasurably better, likely for years to come, with little more than a simple gesture of kindness.

Inspiring stuff, man! Thanks for sharing! roud:

 

[C&M Music - Lafayette]

Yes, Good deal Jon, and you also Sergio. The gift of giving never stops giving back. You always know that you did something really good and cool. I gave away a niice guitar last year. It felt great! If you see the opportunity give it a try.

 

[rugerpc]

Jon - you are truly a class act. The gift of music is second only to the gift of love and you gave both! Kudos to Sergio and Audie too!

I try to do a version of this... My office isn't decorated the way you would expect a doctor's office to be. Instead of pictures of golf courses and tennis balls and rackets all over the place or pictures of cute little fuzzy animals or sweeping landscapes or posters of common diseases, I long ago decided my office would be different.

When I was in college, I thought one room would be decorated with rock climbing gear, but that is another story.

My office and treatment rooms are decorated with music. Guitars, drums, amps, posters of guitars and musicians, etc. In one room, along with the guitars, I have a typesetter's drawer with all kinds of picks displayed in it along with guitar parts like tuning pegs and bridges and in the corner a PRS HG70 head sitting on a big Crate 4x slant front.

So, aside from the normal conversations to be had at the doctor's, there are lots of conversations about guitars and music. I schedule myself to have time with each patient. That means when a kid or a grown up asks about guitars and I sense an interest in learning, I grab a guitar off the wall and shove it in their lap. They get their first lesson right there in the chair. I've lost count how many times this has happened. The next step is to take the patients to the guitar store to help them pick out a starter. (I wish someone had been with me when I bought my first guitars... ) I refer them to a great local teacher and then it's on to the next potential player.

I have even had group guitar lessons in my waiting room with my instructor and patients.

This year, I'm going to start giving lessons to true beginners. I don't have the chops to teach intermediate players, but I an get almost anyone started on the right path with fewer bad habits to break later.

 

[MOBirds]

Awesome!!!

I did something similar a year ago while at my local PRS dealers store. Mom walked in with her 13yr old son so he could look at guitars. He was asking how much different models were so he could "save up" and get one some day. His mom asked bout lessons and the look on her face when she heard the price told me she wasn't going to make it. Meanwhile, the boy is fiddling with an acoustic, playing what his mom described as "what he's been able to learn watching YouTube lessons". I was impressed with his drive to learn whatever he could however he could. So I paid for 3 months of starter lessons to get him going. He told his grandmother about this, and she was so blown away that he had impressed a stranger enough to pay for his lessons, she bought him the guitar. Strangest part, I didn't even know either of their names. A month into his lessons, I'm talking to the instructor at the store and he says "Hey, Ethan's doing great!" I looked at him blankly and said "Who's Ethan?" They all laughed at me and explained that was the 13yr old's name.

Cool stuff! We need more of this. I'm always scouting out kids to "invest" in when I see them now.

 

[László]

Superb, guys, just superb.

 

[Shawn@PRS]

 

[Danerada]

That's the good stuff right there. Good on ya.

 

[south89]

All I can say is that is what true kindness is to your fellow human being. Well done Well Done :congrats::congrats::congrats::congrats::congrats::congrats::congrats:

 

[maxtuna26]

As i read this, i felt that faith in humanity is restored. Well, at least in this forum! I like the idea of contributing to other musicians or starters like this. It keeps the ball rolling, then maybe one day as the helped person has achieved some level of success, they may set out to help others too! if they remembered the reason they picked-up their first guitar or other instruments. this is really good stuff, we need more of this! :cheers: