I have a very unexpected "problem", and I need help.

[jeanray1113]

Originally Posted by archerscreek

Regarding your current girlfriend resenting/disliking you playing the guitar, I can certainly relate. It is like a dark cloud descending upon my home. I have to squeeze in my playing whenever she’s not around, and if she is home and I want to play I have to leave my own house, a house in which she doesn’t pay a dime for in mortgage, power, or LP. But there’s light at the end of this tunnel because she’s supposed to be moving out fairly soon and I’ll get to play whenever I want to.

I learned my lesson.

Well, that really sucks. I'm surprised the relationship has lasted this long. I'm currently not in a relationship, but one major requirement of any future relationship would be that, while my partner would not absolutely have to be a musician himself, he would surely have to respect and support the importance of music in my life. You can't play in your home if she's home? That's just totally wrong!

[Floridapicker]

Originally Posted by yellowesty

I've owned a D-18 - and a lot of other guitars, some better, some worse (or far worse) - but I have no intention of suggesting whether the D-18 or some other guitar would make you a happier human being. What I would like to share, though, is a perspective on loss and replacing loss.

I've been a very fortunate fellow and have had only two significant losses in my life: my wife died 10 years ago and my home and ALL contents (including a guitar-building shop) burned in a wildfire about 5 months ago. After both losses I felt that trying to replace what was lost was a fool's errand. Whatever I might chose as a "replacement" could exceed the original in some aspects, but the replacement would inevitably fall short in some other ways - and those discrepancies would bother me a lot more than the enhancements would please me. That's just me, but I think many folks may find that they have similar attitudes. So, in both cases, I've moved in different directions rather than try to recreate what is gone. My partner now is a wonderful woman, but very different in most all ways than my departed wife. My housing and hobbies now are not recreations of what was lost, but are new adventures -- it's a big world; there are lots of alternatives.

So I'll suggest that you NOT think about "replacing" the J-45 (that you vaguely remember), but choose a guitar that you enjoy now. And the D-18 is a fine alternative and comes with a killer story.

The best most humble response on this thread. Kudos...