Re: I've Got The Itch
Pete my friend, you have my sympathies. If I were you I'd buy the Gibson because I know that I'd be sitting at home with anyting else thinking, "I should have bought the Gibson, why didn't I buy the Gibson?". Saying that I have a very understanding wife, who indulges me in my "toy" purchases, the last of which was an £8500 BMW motorcycle!
A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate enough to purchase a 72 Reissue Japanese Tele and I brought a friend along who was looking for a Strat. He had a £500 budget so was looking Mexican. After a couple of hours of playing different Strats he settled on a £1000 worth of US Standard. His explanation was that he'd be sitting at home playing and thinking, "it's great, but it's not American". Of course his 10 year old son who was with us had to be bribed into NEVER telling mummy how much this guitar cost with the promise of daddys old Cort. How happy is Jeff? Delirious.
Do it Pete, just buy the bloody thing, play the living daylights out of it and enjoy. It doesn't matter whether you're Clapton or Clapped out, if you open the case and it makes you smile it's worth it. You only live once my friend and owning a Gibson is a lifetime relationship. In years to come you'll be glad you did it and without meaning to be morbid it'll be a nice little investment to leave to your kids!
Jerry