“What the fuck is that guitar she’s playing?!” was my reaction when I saw the ‘This Must Be The Place’ part in Stop Making Sense. I’m pretty sure I was eating Gandi‘s butter chicken roti (note to self-write about this in future.  And eat more of this in future.  And think about moving to Toronto just for this one dish) and pretty high. It was my second thought after “this movie is now my favourite thing I’ve ever seen, hmm, great roti…damn”.

So the guitar in that sequence is Ben Qweller coveted, Fender Swinger. There’s not that much official info on it. And what’s out there is all the same: there are believed to be 300 guitars made in the sixties, they are 3/4 sized guitars, whatever, kind of crappy/awesome guitars.  Being a musician, I have this sort of love/hate/cry relationship with music gear. Anytime I see a guitar like the Swinger or a weird tube amp, my intial reaction is “I want that sooo bad”. Better, “I need that or I’ll explode”. Then I cry because, being a musician, I can’t afford shit.  But I do really want a Fender Swinger.  I’ve never seen one in person, but, it’s probably the best guitar God ever made us humans make. I know you can’t put the word, “best” in front of something like a guitar or a dog or something, but that’s the feeling I get when you want a guitar-it IS the best.

One thought that makes me want to murder the 17 year old version of myself is of when I sold my JCM 800 faded brown tolex Marshall stack for a snowboard and a real crappy solid state amp.  It sometimes keeps me up at night.  Ahhh…  hmmm.

ohhh….

DAMMIT!!

So now I try to stay away from Craigslist postings about amps and crazy weird guitars. Maybe it’s also why I don’t get a real job. I’d just spend all my money on 70′s amps and rare guitars like a kid with 10 cents spends it all on penny whistles and moon pies. uh.

So, moral of the story: If you live in Toronto, you have to try Gandi’s butter chicken roti. It’s the only thought that pushes out the Marshall amp debacle from my head.

comment on things you wish you had, or dumb things you gave away.

photo of Tina Weymouth playing in Tom Tom Club, not in Stop Making Sense.