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I have a 1988 Strat that has original wood and thats about it. I've replaced all the hardware once and the electrics twice.  It now sports an older Kahler flying tremelo with trem-setter, Sperzel locking tuners and Lace Alumitone pickups in a pearl pickguard.  I love this guitar. It's also not for sale.

It's a Zen thing. maybe...  Years of practice allow things to just flow naturally.  0ddly, I can do this in some keys fairly easily, but the other day I was sitting in with a group and I had no idea what to do until the singer said. "it's in G#".  I was really locked out until he told me where I was supposed to be. 

I thought, "G#?? who writes songs in G#?"  Two seconds later I was thinking, "It's his song.  He can write it in whatever key he wants to."  Very humbling.

Fear not. Credit is always given where due.

I had the Dean Markley back in the day when that was pretty much the only thing there was. Back then, it was invaluable. Now, there are better things to choose from. You can't beat the simplicity though. I still have it and use it on my old Guild now and then.  Lately there are many products that are more refined. The best are probably from L.R. Baggs and Fishman but these are the ones I know.  I haven't played with Sadowsky or other manufacturers so i can't speak for them.  The point is, there is a lot out there now to chose from.

No. That would be too easy.  It's a no name gas station more famous for their breakfast burritos than they are their gas..

Then there was Hendrix's Little Wing..  Thats haunted me for years.

Still,  There are some tunes that seem impossible to me.. I'd love to be able to do all of "Alice's Restaurant" but that seems to be outside of my talents.  Took me long enough to be able to do "4 and 20" (Stills) but that one Arlo tune has me stumped.  Sure, the chorus is easy.  It's the verses that kill me.

Who can remember that far back??!!

I was raised in northern Indiana as stolid member of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches. I followed in my father's footsteps in that he taught me how to build a house, how to fix most simple mechanical things and to become an Army translator for the purposes of the national intelligence interest.  He spoke Chinese.  I speak Russian. I can still scare the new immigrants when I can single them out.  I love to cook. Opened a restaurant. Closed a restaurant. I still love to cook.  As a  trade, I repair and rebuild the structural components of aircraft large and small and currently work as a field service rep for a company that supplies 5th generation fighters to the Air Force.  I've worked on every airplane you've probably ever flown or flown on going back to B-18 bombers and DC-2's (B-18 is not a typo). Always learning something, I'm back in school.  I'm almost a pentagenarian. Less than 30 days separates me from that pedigree. Besides working full-time, I attend one state college and one university in my pursuit of a Bachelors degree that I should have gotten years ago.  BTW, trigonometry still sucks, and its gotten more complex since we used sticks and scratch marks (back in the day) in the dirt to count.  I now like wine now more than beer and moonshine more than whiskey.  I've played guitar since 1972.  I started on bass.  My parents had a gospel quartet that I became a part of at the ripe old age of 12.   I've been playing something with strings ever since.  Lately, as an experiment, I've been building my own instruments out of cigar boxes and table legs that I get from the Home Depot.  It's a distraction that has peaked my interest in primitive American instruments.  These "guitars" are extremely interesting to me and I'll continue to build them as long as people want them.  Currently, I'm growing Thai basil and chilis in my large kitchen windows.  I like it hot.  Thai hot.  Me and the missus are recreational kayakers and enjoy the springs, coastal lakes and the Gulf of Mexico.  If you've not paddled a natural spring fed creek or river in NW FL,  you probably ought to.  Where am I going from here?  Ask me tomorrow.

Jerome, that is an awesome flower.

Jerome nailed it.  If your not playing it, what is its purpose?