How many times over the years have you come back to the guitar?

[WFO!]

I am 52 years old and recieved my first guitar in 2008 after my two sons started playing. The fire burned hot for several years and although I still vistited guitar forums (this one) golf overtook guitar as my main hobby outside of work and family. The love of guitar never left but the inspiration waned. I feel the draw of guitar pulling my back in and excited about a second go around and where it goes.

How many times have you stepped away and come back hard?

I started at 13 and played and practiced intensely until 23 when I left my hometown and moved to Montreal. From 23 until 29 I played but I wasn't inspired or growing as a musician. When my daughter was born I wanted her to think of me as a musician (not just somebody who sat in front of the TV) so I got serious again. That was almost 17 years ago and I'm still practicing daily and I'm playing the best guitar of my life right now.

[beatcomber]

Never stopped since starting in 1977...

[packmule]

Was basically obsessed, playing for hours every day from the age of 11 to 41 - played in lots of bands, recording, touring etc. Then put the guitar down for 10 years to focus on other instruments. Picked it back up this past April and obsessed all over again.

[Kerbie]

For 48 years, I haven't stopped, so I haven't had to come back to it. But coming back is better than staying away!

[Steadfastly]

A few times, once due to a serious shoulder break.

[CASD57]

Originally Posted by packmule

Was basically obsessed, playing for hours every day from the age of 11 to 41 - played in lots of bands, recording, touring etc. Then put the guitar down for 10 years to focus on other instruments. Picked it back up this past April and obsessed all over again.

Started and stopped several time 10-30years old but never really got past a few lessons, started again because I wanted to sing, my instructor was in a band and invited me to try out, so I spent the first few months playing cowboy chords to cowboy music and when I hadn't learn that chord I'd Palm mute the guitar, so basically I learned to play on stage because we gigged 40-50 times a year, that was when I was 38, I'm now 61 and the only time I stopped since then was for three years or so after a divorce and a remarriage. But now I'm playing again, mostly at home with the hopes that one day I'll bring my guitar to some family stuff and some busking, mainly for the fun. It's different being the sole player and singer than playing with a band [emoji16]

[L20A]

Started playing at age 18.
It was touch and go for several years as I was learning on my own.
Then I met a buddy that played when I was about 28 and we started to play out.

When we quit playing together, I stopped for a while.
Eventually I got back to it.
Then when I was in my last 40's I must have had my midlife crises.
More like a depression period.
I quit playing for a couple of years.

I picked it back up again and started playing at a local jam session that got me excited about playing again.

Never stopped after that.

[silvereagle48]

Started and stopped several times over the last 50 years but, always kept a guitar around.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by silvereagle48

Started and stopped several times over the last 50 years but, always kept a guitar around.

This is pretty much me over 40 years. Started at 18 and played a TON until I was 27-28. Basically obsessed for the first few years as I got good enough to play with folks and then dived into that. More electric than acoustic, but plenty of both. Jammed with anyone at anytime, played out a lot, was in a couple of bands, a regular duo, sat in with several others pretty frequently. I was never a pro but played for a lot of beer and pizza in those years.

Then at 28 my first daughter was born just as my career was really ramping up, and the guitar took a serious back seat to life. And from then until about two years ago, I always had one electric and one acoustic around (for most of that time a 1968 D28 and a 70s Strat), but rarely played. I'd say over those 30+ years I might have gotten back to the point of having decent callouses twice and only for a couple months before life got crazy again and I put it back down.

Then a couple years ago, having retired, I picked it up again and within a few months I was obsessed all over again. I'd just had a couple cheap placeholder guitars around in those last ten years or so, having sold my D28 and Strat for lack of use. So I set about upgrading my gear and finding what I liked again.

And I'm loving it and playing more than ever, and possibly better as well. I don't know if I'll ever be motivated enough to get together with other folks again - I'm pretty much of a homebody now in retirement and I like that just fine. But with loopers to jam with myself on electric and with solo acoustic, I never run out of stuff to work on or just play at. I'm even FINALLY learning a bit of finger style after wanting to since the earliest days but never having the patience.

So basically I played a lot, left, came back in fits and starts a few times, but then came WAAAAAY back a couple years ago. I can't see why I'd ever want to stop. I'm not particularly good, never really was, but I've never loved anything more than playing....

-Ray

[Aaron Smith]

I've been playing for 26 years, with two different detours of 1-2 years. I didn't stop playing completely, but I would only play once every week or two instead of once a day.

I think it was good for me. When I decided to re-engage, I was invigorated to work hard and learn new things.

[Pura Vida]

Played with varying frequency for 20 years, but then took 10 years off (family, job obligations). I've been back for over three years and enjoying it much more this time around.

[Nyghthawk]

I first started playing in 1971 when my parents bought me an almost unplayable jumbo guitar that I think was a Greco. It was terrible and I traded it for a Lyle Hummingbird in 1974. I quit playing in 1977 because of personal tragedy.

I picked it up again in 1984 when a work friend offered me an Ovation with a pickup in it. I had a lot of fun with it but in 1986 my son was born and the guitar was a disposable source of much needed funds.

Fast forward to 2013. My wife had an old Applause stuck in a closet. I came across it looking for something else. I thought, "Why don't I restring this old piece of junk and see if it still plays." It did but sounded terrible and had no saddle left. I bought my DR-500mce with monies I got from selling off my CZ 75 9mm stainless. Best swap I ever made. Been playing since then.

[Neil K Walk]

I didn't take to playing guitar until I hit high school. It was too much like work, but when it stopped being like doing homework and I began to see it as a way of emulating the music I liked to listen to it really opened up doors.

As for the quitting part, it's actually happened twice. The first time was short and sort of unavoidable, the second time was longer and a big mistake that I've since rectified.

The first time happened when I joined the Navy. Obviously I couldn't play during basic training but one Sunday during a weekend pass I went to the EM club and checked out this crappy little guitar and ... well, even on something so crappy I realized I really missed it. I ended up going home, packing up my electric and a little practice amp and flying with it all the way to the Persian Gulf. Sorry it wasn't an acoustic, guys - but ships are too noisy and an acoustic wouldn't have survived the latitudes I saw that year.

The next time I quit was when I graduated from college and tried to get an honest job. I felt pressured to focus more on that than anything else. I actually put my guitar in a closet for several years, forgotten. That was a pretty miserable number of years, but then one day 15 years ago I discovered it in the closet with the old strings on it and it was like that day at the end of boot camp all over again.

I won't say that I feel like I was born to play the guitar but I find that after 10 about years something inside me clicked and when I play I feel in tune. It's like when you hit the harmonics on the 5th fret of one string and the 7th fret on the adjacent string above and you tweak the tuning machine on the higher string to get them to come into tune. By using your fingers and not just your ears you can actually feel the oscillations of each string going from dissonance to one stronger wavelength. I wish there was something in life I could do to get that sort of instant gratification that everything is where it needs to be.

[J. Scott]

I started playing guitar at six years old, I am 57 now. I have played and practiced almost every day since. The only time that I slowed down with the guitar were the times that I had a heavy schedule playing bass gigs. I am now medically retired and spend a lot of time at home alone. My instruments are an important part of my day. Hopefully I will be able to play guitar from six years old till six feet under.