Dmitri’s New Guitar
During a break at last Saturday’s band practice, Dave, Pharaoh and I went to our favorite area music store. We went in looking for a new ride cymbal. The cymbals that were originally bought for the drum set were very cheap, sounded that way and were finally getting on our last nerve.
Before I left, Dmitri reminded me to keep an eye out for a specific guitar that he has been looking for. He and I have made ten trips to at least five guitar stores this summer looking for this elusive axe.
Dmitri has wanted a Jackson guitar for many years. The guitar that he’s had in his sights was a DK2, also known as a Dinky. In each of our travels to the used guitar store, we would find a Jackson, but not the type of guitar that he wanted.
This all started for me back in the spring The band went to our favorite San Francisco used equipment store, Black Market Music. Dmitri saw the guitar that he wanted, but didn’t buy it at the time. A couple of weeks later the store went out of business and Dmitri’s dream of owning a Jackson guitar went up in smoke.
Or so he thought.
Since that last trip to Black Market Music, Dmitri has mobilized his musician friends, and he has a lot of them, to keep a look out for a Jackson DK. Our brother Ethan, the master of all used equipment, had located a couple of DK2s on the internets but Dmitri wouldn’t commit.
Back to last Saturday: Dave & I drove down to our latest favorite used music equipment store. As I mentioned in the begining of this article, we went to find a ride cymbal. I’ve gone to this store every Saturday for three weeks and each time they have had a new Jackson but never the right one. This time they had a guitar that not only looked like the one he wanted but it was a beautiful transparent red and the hang tag said it was a DK2. It turns out they had also marked it down $100 just before we walked in. After checking out the wood, bridge, and finish I immediately bought it.
We came back with the guitar and caught Dmitri completely off guard. He had no reason to suspect that we would actually find the guitar. I handed him the axe and he was practically speechless for a good two minutes. The only words I finally heard him mutter were “I can’t believe it”.
Once he composed himself, he noted that the neck was not bolted on but was a neck-thru. Because of that feature, it could not have been a Dinky (What do I know? I play bass.). A quick trip to Google showed that it wasn’t a DK2 at all but the more expensive Soloist model [Update: Dmitri's Google-Fu is strong and he found out that it's a transparent red Pro Series SL3 Soloist].Apparently someone at the guitar store screwed up, thought it was a DK2 and priced it as such. The guitar should have been at around twice the price that I paid for it! Sometimes the breaks can go your way too and Dmitri certainly got a good break that day.
We regrouped and practiced for another hour or so, this time with the new Jackson on lead guitar. We all got to marvel at the sound. Not only does she sing, but she also is one pretty guitar.
Oh, and not to be outdone: Dave found a fantasic sounding ride cymbal for Andre priced at $50. Everyone enjoyed the new sounds. Don’t you love happy endings?