Time to check out some different gear
 

I'm really not much of a guitar store junkie. I may make an occasional trip to check out something specific, but that's really infrequent.

However, I'm leaving soon for a few weeks in Asia, and will likely find myself bored out of my skull by the time the first weekemd rolls around. I then turn into a hound looking for some decent live music or a shop to check out some local gear. I've come across some unusual instruments this way... and some dead ends. I once made a decent trek to check out a supposedly great live music scene just to find a woman in a long gown playing John Denver tunes on an enormous harp. Not exactly what I had in mind.

Anyone else check out music shops more often when they're away from home?

Re: Time to check out some different gear
 

Occasionally, but honestly I don't get the chance to travel much. A couple weeks ago I went with my son and his former Cub Scout pack up to South Carolina for an "indoor camp-out" about the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, and on Saturday afternoon we had a couple spare hours and drove around just looking for anything interesting we saw. That included a small "mom&pop" guitar store in the Charleston suburb of Mt. Pleasant. It was interesting to go to a different store besides my 2 local gear stores and my local pawns.

If I'd had $250 to spare I could've walked out of there with a very clean Epiphone Dot. :(

Re: Time to check out some different gear
 

Last year my son and I did an "indoor camp-out" on the Battleship New Jersey (also cub scouts). A good time, but no guitar shop for us...

Re: Time to check out some different gear
 

Our weekend was really cool, there are actually 4 decomissioned ships at Patriots Point in Charleston Harbor, where we stayed. The aircraft carrier we slept aboard, and a sub, a destroyer, and a Coast Guard cutter. The first night we slept aboard the carrier, did an evac drill, and watched a movie (Tora! Tora! Tora!). The next morning we took a boat out to Ft. Sumter, and then in the early afternoon we explored the other 3 ships. The guitar store stop was kinda the result of a packing error I made, I thought I had packed myself 2 shirts, but one was a matching one my son had. So I was hoping the guitar store would have a cool t-shirt I could buy. Instead we found a Goodwill store and I bought a softball team jersey (I'm guessing) t-shirt with "Brewers" on the front and the number "16" on the back. It only cost $4! Plus they were having a special on videotapes, so we got 8 movies for $8! We continued our drive out to Ft. Moultrie, then went back to the ship for Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Re: Time to check out some different gear
 

We just did the one ship, but is was a great experience. The kids were all over it like ants on a crust of bread. We slept in the bunks, ate in the mess hall, toured the captains quarters, saw the one ladies room built for Nancy Reagan, noted the companies that built components for the war effort (the main compass was built by Lionel), and simulated a firing excercise of the 16" guns. All in all, a fun trip.