New member/long time owner

[tommymc]

Hello all. I ran into Darrell last night at a gig and he told me of this forum, so here I am. I bought my Time at Darrell's Music around 1979-1980 (the sales slip is kicking around somewhere) I'd been playing in bands for a few years and really needed an upgrade from my beat up Mosrite. I took a trip to the big city of Burlington with a pocket full of cash and spent the day playing every guitar in Boyd's and Darrell's. I came home with the Time and have been playing it ever since. (As near as I recall, the runners up were a Gibson 335 and a Gibson L6 for about the same money)
Even though I'm new to this forum, apparently a photo of my guitar has preceded me: http://www.timeguitars.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=20 It's a GS1-022 and the neck has a date of 3-25-76. I was under the impression the guitar was made in Darrell's basement...does this fit the time-line?
Through the country music circuit, I became friends with Dick Willis. Several times he tried to recruit me as a Time salesman, convinced that a satisfied owner would be a convincing salesman. Sales isn't my strong point, and I declined his offers. Dick was a great guy, and somewhat of a mentor when I started playing pedal steel. I'm still using the old MSA volume pedal he gave me.
I'm glad to see this forum, and look forward to hearing from other owners, as well as learning about the history of Time Guitars.

[ChrisClark]

Welcome Tommy,

I found your guitar when I was starting the board. The time sounds right. Having the date and serial number is great, it really helps with the history and all that. The serial number [#22] is surprising low!
Take a look at this guitar Alan is assembling in Darrell's basement. It looks like Black Walnut...it that your guitar? The third photo has a good shot of the grain pattern on the back.

SollyDad & I visited Dick's son 2 weeks ago. He and the family have a amazing collection of Time guitars. I hope to start posting about these guitars in the near future.

Probably a good thing you turned down the salesman offer, I don't think the Don & Eric ever made that much money! LOL
If you are inclined, please post some about your guitar and experiences.

Chris

[tommymc]

Hi Chris. Yes, I saw those photos while exploring the forum. The guitar is tantalizingly close to mine...,close but no cigar. The one in the photo appears to have a string-through design, mine doesn't. In 30 years of Saturday night gigs, I'm sure the guitar has some stories to tell. Most of them elude me at the moment. It has it's share of nicks and wear: LOL these days people are paying a premium to have new guitars "reliced." I had to do a bit of touch-up after an 'incident' at the old Country Cuzzin. Our singer's ex-boyfriend tried to pull her off the stage. I saw red...their private life was one thing, but attack the stage, and you are attacking me. It all happened fast but I jumped the guy and when it was over, there was a big ding in the wood just under the tone pots. That's the beauty of a natural finish, I was able to make that one disappear.
We played a lot of gigs at the old Cuzzin and with the exception of that incident, it was one of my favorite places to play.