You know I heard [something] on the radio a couple of years ago. It went something like this, it said, "buy a guitar and become a star."

Speaker plays guitar happily (something by Led Zeppelin) and puts guitar on stand.

And so I did.

Stands up.

And I thought this would lead me down the road to fame.

Puts guitar on stand

Well, I'm still looking. But over the years I found out that the road to fame is one that you need to make choices. What I'm here today to do is to help you realize that purchasing a guitar is a process of evaluation and examination.

The first thing you need to do is you need try to figure out "what guitar will fit my needs?" The second thing you need to do is you need to check the guitar for any flaws that it might have because the manufacturer does not make them perfect.

And the third thing you need to do is you need to learn how to take proper care of your guitar. Learn the techniques that will make your

guitar last as long as you would like it. This guitar right here, I've had for twelve years. It cost me fourteen hundred dollars, and it's my baby.

Well to stop fiddling around, let's start off by saying I have owned twenty-five different guitars. This one right here I've had for twelve years. I mostly play electric guitar because I used to be in a rock band. Well I've been through about twenty different electric guitars and let me tell you, I am still looking—so. Through a little bit of research though I can give you some tips that will help you out.

First thing you need to do is decide out what kind of guitar you need. Now as most musicians do, we subscribe to fliers and to circulars– mailers like this. This is Musician's Friend. There's other ones called Manny's music and there's several others.

What this thing does right here is it gives you a selection of guitars.

Now, depending on what kind of guitar you want to play, it can be an electric guitar player or it can be an acoustic guitar player, like this one.

However, let me let you know, with an electric guitar they don't play by themselves. You need to get an amplifier and effects and that costs a lot more money. Good thing about the acoustic is, you can get a pick and you can go.

So, there are different types of guitars also, come in different types of strings. This one right here is a six string. We also have twelve strings, which makes the guitar sound a little bit brighter, and there are four strings and those are usually called bases.

One thing that people do take into consideration whenever they're thinking about buying a guitar is they already got a preset notion in their mind. So what they do is they try to buy by manufacturer, by type. Usually people go and they look for Fender, look for Gibson, Gill, PRS, Ovation. This one right here is called a Takamini. It's a subsidiary company of Yamaha.

Another thing people do whenever they buy a guitar is they buy it for the color. Now, [picks up circular] one thing about these circulars– you can pick which guitar you want [puts down circular] and they even give you quite a few examples of colors you can buy. You can buy solid colors. Or you can buy Sunbursts. You can buy glittery -- you can buy all kinds of guitars.

Personally, I like black guitars because the way that the lights used to shine on me when I was on stage, jamming -- it made me look real hot -- at least I believed it looked good.

And another thing I would tell you to do before you buy a guitar is look into all the warranties they have for this guitar, because this is a purchase that is very expensive. Like I said this is fourteen hundred dollars right here. Being a college student fourteen hundred dollars is tough to come by. So, please, check out warranties. Make sure that they'll take care of your guitar if there is something wrong with it.

So let's progress on to the way you can look for flaws in your guitar. It was Dan Erwine of Guitar Player magazine [who] wrote in his November 28, 1998 edition, "there is one thing you can do that will show you five different things you can look for in a guitar." He suggested this – he said hold your guitar up like this [demonstrates technique] and look at it in this fashion.

Now the five things you are looking for -- you are looking at the neck, which is this part of the guitar right here. [Indicates] He said you are looking at the frettes, which is this part right here -- these little silver things. You are looking at the bridge, which is where the strings come up and go over the neck. You are looking at the nut, which is where the strings go in to, and go to the tuning keys.

Now, the first thing he said was, "look at your guitar like this," [demonstrates] First thing you want to do is look at the neck and make sure it isn't bowed or bent up like this because that can affect the sound of your guitar. [Plucks a little] You can hear a little bit of a twang. This guitar is fourteen, I mean twelve years old. So it's got a little bit of wear and tear on it. However I do try to take care of it.

He said the second thing you need to look for is the frettes. Make sure that these things right here [indicates] are all level. Make sure that they are all level, not one is sticking above the other. Make sure they're not sharp either, because if we start playing, you might tear the string and it'll break and then your guitar goes out of tune.

The third thing you need to look for is the bridge. Whenever you look at it, you want to make sure that all the strings are on the same level. You want to make sure that no string is above the other. And make sure that this bridge right here [points] isn't too sharp because if we're playing it, it could wear on the string and it could break.

And the fourth thing he said you need to look for is the nut, right here. [points] This is where the strings come into and lead to the tuning keys. Now, what Dan said was, if it's too deep, you could be playing, it could wear on the string right here, and it could break it at this point. Or, he said, if it is too shallow you could be playing, it could slip and your guitar could go out of tune. So it is something you need to look for.

And also he said check the tuning keys, right here. Feel them like this. Make sure that they're solid. Because if they are loose, the guitar could loose tone, your string could slip, and then you'll have problems.

So, let's move on to how to take care of your guitar. As I said this one right here is 14 years old. One thing I would do is I clean it regularly. Now for those of you who don't like fingernails on the blackboard, you might [not] want to listen to this.

What I do is I take this rag right here and I run it across the strings. [Demonstrates] What this does is this takes the acid off the strings. Makes them last longer. Gives it better tone; gives it better quality.

And also, after I play it every time I wipe the body of the guitar. This takes the acid off the guitar also off the paint. Makes it shine. Makes look pretty. You can see yourself. And also it makes it last longer. Keeps it pretty.

One thing I would suggest that you do after you play it and you put it up -- use a gloss or a polish. [Picks up polish] Now this is a combination of a string and a body polish. I would suggest you use it, put it on there. You wipe it on, you let it harden, and then you wipe it off about three minutes later.

So as you can see, there are many different things that will help you on your road to fame. If you follow all these instructions, you too can be on a stairway to heaven. [Picks up guitar and walks to stool. Sits and plays a bit of Stairway to Heaven.]

Thank you.