Want

Title	Artist
Razor's Edge	AC/DC
New Jersey	Bon Jovi	not reissue
Keep the Faith	Bon Jovi
These Days	Bon Jovi
Havana Day Dreamin	Buffet, Jimmy
Heartbreak Station	Cinderella
Photographs & Memories	Croce, Jim
Decade of Hits	Daniels, Charie	Meh (cheap)
Devil City Angels	Devil City Angels
Fly	Dixie Chicks
Taking the Long Way	Dixie Chicks
Lita	Ford, Lita
Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks	Hanoi Rocks
Oriental Beat	Hanoi Rocks
Self Destruction Blues	Hanoi Rocks
Axis: Bold As Love	Hendrix	not reissue
Electric Ladyland	Hendrix	not reissue
David Johansen	David Johansen
Cracked Rear View	Hootie Blowfish	Meh (cheap)
Beck-Ola	Jeff Beck
Greatest Hits	Janis Joplin	not reissue
Room For Squares	John Mayer
Elder (correct order)	KISS	Meh (cheap) $10 or less
Alive III	KISS
Unplugged	KISS
Zeppelin 1	Led Zeppelin
Zeppelin 2	Led Zeppelin
Zeppelin 3	Led Zeppelin
River Runs Red	Life of Agony
Ugly	Life of Agony
Little Casesar	Little Caesar	Meh (cheap) $10 or less
Too Fast for Love	Motley Crue	not reissue
Muppets Take Manhattan	Muppets Soundtrack
12 Songs	Neil Diamond
Dark Side of the Moon	Pink Floyd
The Wall	Pink Floyd
Native Tongue	Poison
Sign o' the Times	Prince
Transformer	Lou Reed
Runaways	Runaways	MOST ****
Herion Diaries	Sixx AM
Heart of Stone	Southside Johnny
The Rising	Springsteen, Bruce
Magic	Springsteen, Bruce
Texas Flood	Stevie Ray Vaughan
Sky Is Crying	Stevie Ray Vaughan
Core	Stone Temple Pilots	Meh (cheap)
Red Light Fever	Taylor Hawkins & the Coattail Riders
Psychotic Supper	Tesla	MOST ****
Surprise Attack	Tora Tora
Angry Young Them	Them	MOST ****
Hear!	Trixter
Velvet Undgerground & Nico	Velvet Underground
Bringing Down House	Wallflowers
Cherry Pie (original US explicit)	Warrant	MOST ****
Til The Medicine Takes	Widespread Panic
The Wind	Zevon, Warren	MOST ****
Very Special Christmas	Christmas	MOST ****
Phil Spector Christmas	Christmas	MOST ****
Bitches Brew	Miles davis	MOST ****
mingus ah um	charles mingus	MOST ****
** need to find a good one **	Ray Charles	MOST ****
Live Acropolis	Yanni	MOST ****
Les Miserables	Les Miserables	MOST ****

Have

Title	Artist	Date Added	Comments
Back in Black	AC/DC	8/22/20
AC/DC Live	AC/DC	3/5/22
Gold	Adams, Ryan	3/3/17	gift from David
Rocks	Aerosmith
Almost Famous - Original Soundtrack	Almost Famous	12/25/21	Soundtrack
Helluva Band	Angel	8/22/20
Asia	Asia
Sign In Please	Autograph	12/12/20
Back to the Future	Back to the Future	9/24/15	Soundtrack
Pet Sounds	Beach Boys	6/12/21
Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl	Beatles, The		gift from Sluder
A Hard Day's Night	Beatles, The
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	Beatles, The
White Album	Beatles, The	12/4/21
Abbey Road	Beatles, The
Hey Jude	Beatles, The	10/21/21
Let It Be	Beatles, The	3/3/17	gift from David
Truth	Jeff Beck	8/14/22
Blow by Blow	Jeff Beck	9/28/20
Jeff Beck with the Jan Hammer Group Live	Jeff Beck	10/17/20
Birds of Satan	Birds of Satan	4/3/22
The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion	Black Crowes, The	3/16/21
Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night	Bleachers	2/3/22
Slippery When Wet	Bon Jovi
Cross Road	Bon Jovi	9/28/20
This House Is Not For Sale	Bon Jovi	12/25/21
2020	Bon Jovi	2/23/21
Time Out	Dave Brubeck Quartet	9/5/15
Buckingham Nicks	Buckingham Nicks
A White Sport Coat and A Pink Crustacean	Jimmy Buffett
Living and Dying in 3/4 Time	Jimmy Buffett
Candy-O	Cars, The
At San Quentin	Cash, Johnny	9/26/22
Fire on the Mountain	Charlie Daniels Band	3/7/21
Cold Winter	Cinderella	5/21/22
Slowhand	Clapton, Eric	10/21/21
Unforgettable	Nat King Cole	8/28/22	from Jason Krull
Collective Soul	Collective Soul	8/8/20	Reissue
Discipline Breakdown	Collective Soul	6/23/22
Blood	Collective Soul	6/17/20
Kind of Blue	Davis, Miles	8/27/22	180 gram Mono
Pyromania	Def Leppard
Hysteria	Def Leppard	6/1/20
Land of the Damned	Diamond Rexx	3/13/21
Gaslighter	Dixie Chicks	7/17/20
Tooth and Nail	Dokken	5/21/22
Doors	Doors, The	12/4/21
The Soft Parade	Doors, The	10/17/21
Morrison Hotel	Doors, The
Selling Things	Dunne, Brian	3/27/20	Signed to Abigail / Alice
Rio	Duran Duran	5/1/21
Highway 51 Revisited	Bob Dylan
Blood on the Tracks	Bob Dylan
Hotel California	Eagles	28-Aug	from Jason Krull
Long Player	Faces, The
Oh La La	Faces, The	8/22/20
Fantastic Cat - EP	Fantastic Cat	9/21/21	Signed to Abigail / Alice
The Very Best Of	Fantastic Cat	7/29/22	Signed
Wake Me When It's Over	Faster Pussycat	44443	Reissue
Rumors	Fleetwood Mac
Live at MSG	Fearless Flyers	12/25/21
Fearless Flyers III	Fearless Flyers	7/20/22
Greatest Hits	Foo Fighters	1/9/21
Wasting Light	Foo Fighters	4/3/22
Medicine at Midnight	Foo Fighters	8/8/21
Frehley's Comet	Frehley's Comet	Childhood	Signed by Frehley's Comet
Live + 1	Frehley's Comet	Childhood
Second Sighting	Frehley's Comet	Childhood
Spaceman	Ace Frehley	10/20/18
Origins II	Ace Frehley	9/17/20
Garden State	Garden State	3/7/21	Soundtrack
New Miserable Experience	Gin Blossoms	1/2/21	Reissue
Beauty and the Beat	Go-Go's, The	10/17/21	1981 pressing
Dookie	Green Day	1/9/21	Reissue
American Idiot	Green Day	12/25/17	gift from David
Anthem of a Peaceful Army	Greta Van Fleet	8/22/20
Appetite For Destruction	Guns N' Roses	12/25/16	gift from David
Back to Mystery City	Hanoi Rocks	8/27/22	Reissue
Two Steps from the Move	Hanoi Rocks	7/23/22
Are You Experienced?	Jimi Hendrix	5/21/22
So On And So Forth	Griffin House	6/3/17	Signed to Abigail
Rising Star	Griffin House	6/28/19
Thriller	Michael Jackson
Bad	Jackson, Michael	3/19/22
Streetlife Serenade	Billy Joel
Turnstiles	Billy Joel	12/12/20
The Stranger	Billy Joel
Glass Houses	Billy Joel
Glass Houses	Billy Joel	8/28/22	from Jason Krull
In Style	Johansen, David	8/27/22
Elton John	Elton John
Tumbleweed Connection	Elton John
Honkey Chateau	Elton John
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road	Elton John
Departure	Journey	10/21/21
Escape	Journey	Childhood
Frontiers	Journey	Childhood
Raised on Radio	Journey	Childhood
Raise a Glass	Kings Never Die	7/15/20
KISS	KISS	Childhood
Hotter Than Hell	KISS	8/7/21
Dressed to Kill	KISS	Childhood
Dressed to Kill	KISS
Dressed to Kill	KISS		Blue Label
Alive	KISS
Destroyer	KISS	Childhood
Rock and Roll Over	KISS	Childhood
Love Gun	KISS	12/4/21
Alive II	KISS
Ace Frehley	KISS	Childhood	Signed by Ace Frehley
Gene Simmons	KISS	12/4/21
Paul Stanley	KISS	8/26/15
Peter Criss	KISS	12/4/21
Dynasty	KISS	8/22/20
Creatures of the Night	KISS	Childhood
Unmasked	KISS
Lick It Up	KISS	8/22/20
Asylum	KISS	Childhood
Crazy Nights	KISS	Childhood
Revenge	KISS	7/23/22
KISS my Ass	KISS	Childhood
Psycho Circus	KISS	12/25/20
Monster	KISS	6/2/21
IV	Led Zeppelin
Houses of the Holy	Led Zeppelin	10/10/20
Physical Graffiti	Led Zeppelin	10/21/21
Coda	Led Zeppelin	12/25/12	from Dameron
Milk and Honey	John Lennon Yoko Ono
Sports	Huey Lewis and the News
A Place Where There's No More Pain	Life of Agony	2/7/22
The Sound of Scars	Life of Agony	10/11/19
Waiting of Columbus	Little Feat	8/26/15
Men Without Women	Little Steven	5/28/17
Voice of America	Little Steven
No More Party's (single)	Little Steven
Soulfire	Little Steven	5/27/17
No Fairy Tale	Lisa Loeb	10/2/15	Signed
Thunder in the East	Loudness	8/14/22
Lyle Lovett and his Large Band	Lyle Lovett and his Large Band
Mammoth WVH	Mammoth WVH	6/11/21	Signed
Il ballo della vita	Maneskin	9/29/22
Teatro d'ira: Vol. I	Maneskin	9/29/22
Sob Rock	Mayer, John	7/16/21	Orange Limited Edition
Lean Into It	Mr. Big	11/26/21	Record Store Day 2021
Pat McGee	Pat McGee		Signed to Abigail
Sugar Packet	Pat McGee	12/25/20	Signed
Uh Huh	John Cougar Mellencamp	10/17/20
Band on the Run	Paul McCartney and Wings	2/20/21
Bat Out of Hell	Meat Loaf	1/22/22
Master of Puppets	Metallica		Reissue
Garge Days Re-Revisited	Metallica	12/25/18	gift from David
Greatest Hits	Motley Crue	5/27/21
MouseRat	MouseRat	12/25/21
Muppet Show	Muppets
The Muppet Movie	Muppets
The Great Muppet Caper	Muppets
Black Parade	My Chemical Romance	2/28/21
New York Dolls	New York Dolls	5/1/21	Reissue
Too Much Too Soon	New York Dolls	3/19/22
Too Much Too Soon	New York Dolls	7/23/22	No Sleeve - Original Label
Night Ranger	Night Ranger	12/4/21
Nevermind w/ 7-inch	Nirvana	12/25/21	30th Reissue - SEALED
Nevermind	Nirvana	8/14/22
MTV Unplugged	Nirvana	8/8/21	Target Issue
Tragic Kingdom	No Doubt	2/28/21
Blizzard of Ozz	Ozzy Ossbourne		Jet Label
Ten	Pearl Jam	8/8/21	2003 Press
Vs.	Pearl Jam	Childhood
Vitalogy	Pearl Jam	Childhood
No Code	Pearl Jam	6/18/20	25th Reissue
Gigaton	Pearl Jam	12/25/20	gift from David
Animals	Pink Floyd	8/26/15
Look What the Cat Dragged In	Poison
Open Up and Say…Ahh	Poison
Flesh & Blood	Poison	Childhood
1999	Prince	1/22/22
Purple Rain	Prince	5/1/21
Sign o' the Times - Single	Prince	7/25/21	0-20648-A SH1
The Truth	Prince	6/12/21	Record Store Day 2021
A Night at the Opera	Queen
The Pack Is Back	Raven	1/22/22
Blood Sugar Sex Magik	Red Hot Chili Peppers	12/25/21	2003 Press
Californication	Red Hot Chili Peppers	12/25/21
Restless Breed	Riot	1/22/22
Young Man's Blues	Rock City Angels	5/1/21
Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!	Rolling Stones, The	8/22/20
Some Girls	Rolling Stones, The
Simply Dreams	Linda Ronstadt	10/17/20
Eat 'Em and Smile	Roth, David Lee
Skyscrapper	Roth, David Lee	8/7/21
Things You've Never Done Before	Roxx Gang	6/1/20
Moving Pictures	Rush	2/12/22
Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols	Sex Pistols	1/22/22	Reissue
Singles	Singles	5/28/17	Soundtrack
Graceland	Simon, Paul	9/5/15
At the Sands	Sinatra, Frank
Skid Row	Skid Row	9/3/21	2021 Reissue
Old Enough to Know Better	Small, John	1/22/22
Social Interourse	Smashed Gladys	5/1/21
Kinfolk 2	Smith, Nate + Kinfolk	12/25/21
Doggystyle	Snoop Doggy Dogg	12/25/21	Gift from David
Now and Then	Soul Station	3/23/21
I Don't Want to Go Home	Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes	5/28/17
Greetings from Asbury Park	Bruce Springsteen
The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle	Bruce Springsteen
Born to Run	Bruce Springsteen
Darkness on the Edge of Town	Bruce Springsteen
The River	Bruce Springsteen	5/28/17
Nebraska	Bruce Springsteen
Born in the USA	Bruce Springsteen
Live/1975-85	Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band	8/26/15
Tunnel of Love	Bruce Springsteen	10/10/20
Working on a Dream	Bruce Springsteen	10/10/20
Western Stars	Bruce Springsteen	6/14/19
Letter to You	Bruce Springsteen	10/23/20
Only the Strong Survive	Bruce Springsteen	11/11/22	PREORDER
Book of Dreams	Steve Miller Band	5/28/17
Heavy Metal Rules	Steel Panther	6/20/20
Teaser & the Firecat	Stevens, Cats	10/17/20
Tea For The Tillerman 2	Stevens, Cats	12/25/20
Stillwater Demos EP	Stillwater	6/12/21	Record Store Day 2021
Stillwater EP	Stillwater	7/13/21
My name is Barbra	Barbra Streisand	8/28/22	from Jason Krull
To Hell With The Devil	Stryper	David Childhood
Every Picture Tells a Story	Stewart, Rod
Controlled Chaos	Strauss, Nita	5/14/19	Signed
Breakfast in America	Supertramp		from Jason Krull
Age of Winters	Sword, The	8/9/18
Apocryphon	Sword, The	8/12/18
Used Future	Sword, The	8/12/18
Get the Money	Taylor Hawkins & the Coattail Riders	4/3/22
Temple of the Dog	Temple of the Dog	12/12/20
Jailbreak	Thin Lizzy	2/20/21
Thundermother	Thundermother	6/14/19
Heat Wave	Thundermother	8/9/20
Black and Gold	Thundermother	8/19/22
So Alone	Thunders, Johnny	3/19/22	Reissue
Daddy Rollin' Stone - EP	Thunders, Johnny	tbd	Record Store Day
Lions	Tokyo Motor Fist	4/18/22
Traveling Wilburys vol 1	Traveling Wilburys	5/21/22
Allied Forces	Triumph	8/28/22	from Jason Krull
Trixter	Trixter	12/25/20
Stay Hungry	Twisted Sister	2/20/21
Tuff	Tuff	12/4/21	Signed to Me
Joshua Tree	U2	12/12/20
Achtung Baby	U2	12/25/21	30th Reissue
Other Nature	Ume	8/12/18	Signed to Abigail / Alice
Be Here	Urban, Keith	1/2/21
Defying Gravity	Urban, Keith
Passion and Warefare	Steve Vai
Inviolate	Steve Vai	3/24/22
Van Halen	Van Halen	Childhood	First Pressing
Van Halen	Van Halen	Childhood
Van Halen II	Van Halen	Childhood
Women and Children First	Van Halen	Childhood
Women and Children First	Van Halen	Childhood
Fair Warning	Van Halen	Childhood
Diver Down	Van Halen	Childhood
1984	Van Halen	Childhood
5150	Van Halen	Childhood
OU812	Van Halen	Childhood
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge	Van Halen	Childhood
Balance	Van Halen	Childhood
Van Halen III	Van Halen	5/1/21
A Different Kind of Truth	Van Halen	12/25/20
She's the Woman - Single	Van Halen	10/9/20
Tokyo Dome	Van Halen	12/25/20
Texas Flood	Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble	8/26/15	WARPED - need replace
Vinnie Vincent Invasion	Vinnie Vincent Invasion	Childhood
Exit Wounds	Wallflowers	8/7/21
Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich	Warrant
Latest and Greatest	Warrant	3/12/21
When Harry Met Sally…	Harry Connick Jr		Soundtrack
Pride	White Lion	10/10/20
Whitesnake	Whitesnake
The Rock Album	Whitesnake	6/19/20
For Once in My Life	Stevie Wonder
Talking Book	Stevie Wonder
Songs in the Key of Life	Stevie Wonder	8/26/15
Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium I	Stevie Wonder
Warren Zevon	Zevon, Warren	6/12/21
Occupation Foole	George Carlin	10/17/20	Comedy
The Age of Spin & Deep In the Heart of Texas	Chappelle, Dave	7/11/21	Comedy
Equanimity & The Bird Revelation	Chappelle, Dave	7/14/21	Comedy
8:46	Chappelle, Dave	tbd	Comedy
Bill Cosby Is a Very Funny Fellow...Right!	Bill Cosby		Comedy
To Russell, My Brother Whom I Slept With	Bill Cosby		Comedy
Reality…what a concept	Robin Williams		Comedy
A Night at the Met	Robin Williams		Comedy
Christmas	The Chipmunks		Christmas
Christmas Album	Jackson 5	8/22/20	Christmas
A Christmas Together	John Denver & the Muppets	12/12/20	Christmas
A Twisted Christmas	Twisted Sister	11/26/21	Christmas
Pretty Paper	Willie Nelson	5/1/21	Christmas
Cover Me: Springsteen Songs	Various Artists		Various Artist
Born to Add	Sesame Street		Children
My Name is Roosevelt Franklin	Sesame Street	10/10/20	Children
Frozen Soundtrack	Various Artists	12/25/21	Abigail's Vinyl
Moana Soundtrack	Various Artists	12/25/21	Alice's Vinyl
Love Songs	Beatles, The		previous collection - D
Disraeli Gears	Cream		previous collection - D
Greatest Hits	Dylan, Bob		previous collection - D
Greatest Hits Volume I & II	Joel, Billy		previous collection - D
The Song Remains The Same	Led Zeppelin		previous collection - D
Lynyrd Skynyrd	Lynyrd Skynyrd		previous collection - D
Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite	Presley, Elvis		previous collection - D
Whipped Cream & Other Delights	Herb Alberts Tijuana Brass		previous collection - M
Hot August Night	Diamond, Neil		previous collection - M
His 12 Greatest Hits	Diamond, Neil		previous collection - M
San Antonio Rose	Nelson, Willie & Ray Price		previous collection - M

The Real Matt P went to a concert and...

The Real Matt P went to a concert and decided to reboot this blog.

Happy Saturday everyone!!! I love music! Did you know that? I think so. If you are reading this, you probably know me or slightly know me.  I'm Matt Perrone.  I'm a dad.  I'm a husband. I'm a musician. I've been called the Real Matt Perrone. And I love live music.

Preferably, I love playing music live with my friends and bandmates, but if I don't have the time, then the second best thing is to go to concerts.  By my count, I've been to over 250 concerts and some of those were festivals. Plus, there are a plethora of bands before my day and today that I've missed.

In the upcoming weeks, months, who knows maybe years, I shall write in this blog about my live music experiences. Shows that I've experienced, concerts on my horizon, gigs I wish I've seen.  Heck, every now and then, maybe it will be a live performance that isn't even a band, such as a theater performance, a play, a Monster Jam or something along those lines.  I don't know.  I'm just making this up as I go along. 

So, who's with me? Who wants to take a journey?  I feel I can carve out some time weekly to ramble about my favorite pastime.   Subscribe and follow allow :)

Bye for now.

Your pal,

The Real Matt P.

One more thing.  As I was getting ready to publish this post, I was proofreading it and realized I should add a picture or two.  So, I checked my "concert" keyword.  As I thumbed through, I stumbled upon some Springsteen concerts.  Where I was reminded of how close I was for these two shows during the Wrecking Ball concerts in the summer of 2014. What a blast!  I'll cover that sometime for sure.  Also, I needed to add a picture of me for anybody who may have stumbled upon this blog randomly.

Thanks again and enjoy!

The Real Matt P -- 2014

Bruce Springsteen -- 2014

Treasures on eBay

Let me begin with I'm not a Blogger.  I don't claim to be one nor do I envision extra time in the near future to become one.   As you can see, my last Blog was Dec 2011 and that was simply to post lyrics I had written.  But, I wanted to share a recent story that was 6 months in the making.

*** WARNING: I'm long winded ***

To begin, we'll rewind to September 2014.  I had been surfing the web in some free time and decided to look for the first guitar I owned online.  On occasion for the last 5 or so years, I would search the web for my make and model, but never found it.  To be fair, I never (and still don't) know the model.  All I know is it a white Cort.  It was a 3/4 size guitar.  I would plug random searches into Craigslist, eBay, Google, used Sam Ash, used Guitar Center, online thrift shops.  Never found it.  

Time warp a little further with me to around 1989 or 1990.  I received my very first guitar as a gift.  I'd be lying if I remembered the moment.  I can't recall if it was Christmas or my birthday or just a "Hey, you have been learning guitar from your babysitter, here's one of your own."  Regardless, I now had my own guitar.  I loved it!  I was learning Poison, Trixter, Warrant, KISS, Van Halen songs…you name it.  (mind you, I wasn't learning them well).  As my Van Halen craze grew, I wanted a new guitar.  I wanted a Kramer (what Eddie Van Halen was playing at the time).  I also wanted a guitar with a Whammy Bar.  So, I eventually got a Kramer, probably around 1991.  And then just like that, I barely played the Cort anymore.

Here's a picture from January 1992.  It's the only picture I have of my Cort.   The Marshall was my neighbor's, the RAT pedal was a friend's, the rest was mine. 

I still have the Peavey amp and the Kramer, but the Cort was sold to buy my bass guitar in 1993.  I sold the Cort (I think) to Victor's House of Music in Ridgewood, NJ.   I can't remember much about that, but I do know that I used that bass guitar a lot because I ended up becoming the bass player in my band.  I used that bass all through high school and first year of college.  Never thought much about the Cort until the last 5 years or so.  I began to get nostalgic.  

Then, this September 2014 I found the same make and model on eBay.  I couldn't believe it.  I hadn't seen a picture of this guitar (aside from the one above) in 20 plus years.  I never saw it in old Cort catalogs, never saw it online, never saw it anywhere.  I started to think this guitar didn't exist.

So, the eBay auction was set to end in 10 days when I found it.  It was $99 plus $29 for shipping.  There weren't any bids on it yet.  I figured that's not too bad.  The seller and I exchanged a few emails because I wanted to make sure it worked.  He said he bought it at an estate sale and assumes it does.  But I asked him if he could take it to a store to check.  He nicely complies and writes back that it works great.  I also asked if it had a strap.  Maybe by some stroke of luck it had red strap in the above picture.  Alas, no strap.  So there was no way for me to see if it was mine.  Oh well.  Still, it would be cool to own even though it wasn't actually mine.  

By the time I received the email that the guitar was in working order, I was in the middle of a road trip, but I decided it was worth a bid once I arrived at my destination.  I got to the hotel, opened up eBay, and the price was now $199.  He raised the price!!!  WHAT?!?!!  I guess you can do that if there aren't any bids.  I was bummed.  $200 was too much to pay for a guitar that looks like my first one.

So, I let it go.  That was tough.  But the auction ended.  No buyers.  Then, he relisted it.  Auction came and went again, no buyers.  I emailed him once or twice saying, if he switches to a Buy Now for $99, I'll buy it.  But never heard back from him (I think that's against eBay rules to ask about pricing via email…oops).

This relisting/auction ending cycle continued for a few months.  Then, he switched to Buy Now but for $199.  Nope, still too rich for my blood.  All this time, I never officially "Watched" the item.  I didn't want to give him the incentive to continue to relist at same price.  Finally in January(ish), he relisted at $179.  I was like, "Ok, that's a start".  Again, 30 days came and went, no sale.  He relisted again at $179.  

Finally, I began to relent.  Those past 5 months, I have been scouring the internet hard for this guitar.  Nothing.  Really digging deep.  Nothing.  So, as my birthday neared, my wife asked, "What do you want for your birthday?" and I said, "how about that guitar."  But I didn't even give her any of the information.  So, I got some birthday money from relatives and used some saved money and finally bought it the day after my birthday, close to midnight…you know, those late hours when you shouldn't be online shopping. 

Immediately, I had buyer's remorse.  "What did I do? I don't need another guitar  This is just going to hang on the wall."  But slowly, those feelings subsided.  I was like, "it'll be pretty cool to have."  If nothing else, it'll be great wall decor.  I mean, others pay much more than this for art.  This is my art.

Took a couple of days for the seller to find a box.  I sent him a great article about shipping guitars, since he never handled guitars before.  I also requested the shipping info because I didn't want it left outside, especially if it was cold out.  I wanted to stay ahead of that.  Well, the shipping info he sent was wrong.  Not found in USPS, UPS, or FEDEX.  I was like…"great, this thing is going to get lost and never get here."  

Low and behold, I get home from work today and look in my bushes and there is a box.  This box is SOAKING WET!  It was pouring yesterday afternoon.  To say I wasn't pleased would be an understatement. 

I open the box.  It was packaged GREAT!  Bone dry inside the box.  The guitar was wrapped in bubble wrap, then put in it's case which was bubble wrapped on the outside, then that was covered in packing paper.  WELL DONE.



So, I bring it inside.  I start to unwrap.  I was really careful.  I didn't want to damage the guitar case.  I mean, let's be honest, I bought that, too.  As I was carefully cutting through tape and paper and bubble wrap, my heart was racing.  I began to get really excited.  I felt like Ralphie from "A Christmas Story" when he was unwrapping his Red Rider BB Gun.  Ralphie went through so much to get that gift and that's what I felt at that moment.

I unlocked the latches of the case to open it and remembered, just like mine back in '89, this case, too had only 3 latches, as compared to full-size cases with 4.  I then opened the case and saw the biggest familiar face.  It wasn't the guitar that jumped out at me, it was a PEAVEY sticker located inside the guitar case.  It was starring right back at me and my heart pounded so hard!  THIS IS MY GUITAR!!!!

I immediately recognized that sticker.  I put that there 25 years ago.  I would have never remembered until I saw it but now it's as clear as day.  I called my wife immediately.  My heart was still racing.  Incredible!  I still can't believe it.











Funny, a friend asked me prior if there were any distinguishing marks that I could look for when the guitar arrives and I said, not that I know.  Holy cow, who would have thought that a sticker would make all the difference.  In the last few hours, I noticed a few other things that stand out and help me know that it is mine.  After I bought the Kramer, I used this same case for the Kramer even though it didn't quite fit.  The Kramer had a point in the headstock which wore into the case.  That wear is present.  Also, there is a crack where the neck meets the body.  I wouldn't have remembered this, but now that I see it, I remember.



Post script, I emailed the seller to tell him (a shorter version of) the story.  I asked where he specifically got the guitar.  He said, Mahwah, NJ from an older couple that was downsizing and the guitar used to be their son's.  For those that don't know north Jersey geography, that is 8.5 miles from where I sold it.

#Reunited

To sum up…what an incredible turn of events!  I can't believe it!  Honestly, this is crazy!

Thanks for reading.

www.therealmattperrone.com

Must Be Me

Must Be Me

I woke up early this morning

with you right beside me.

Hand in hand, cheek to cheek

in my arms so pleasantly.

We take a walk and spend the day

through the streets uptown

until the clouds form above

and the rain journeys down

Why can't I see

Why can't you see

eye to eye with what I see

It must be me

As we head to the nearest place

to get shelter from the storm

i listen to the words you say

as your love for me is torn

i can feel my world crumbling

as i stare out the window pane

my body's starting to go numb

i wonder if i'd feel the rain

Why can't I see

Why can't you see

eye to eye with what I see

It must be me

some of what you're saying

may happen to be true

but it doesn't mean i want the end

it doesn't mean i don't love you

tomorrow's just another day

i hope it's better than the last

can i learn from the words we shared

and put it all in the past.

Why can't I see

Why can't you see

eye to eye with what I see

It must be me