Thanks, guys, for the great advice. The issue I have is that I was never a musician and have zero musical skills or talent. Yes, I played in many bands, from school to marching to rock, but that was 60+ years ago, and even in my marching band, they made me drum major since I was so bad at trumpet!
I LOVE the guitar--I have an American Sunburst/maple neck Strat I have had for 20+ years and I bought a Fender Squire bass a few years ago as I have always wanted to learn that as well, but with my VERY SMALL fingers and really bad arthritis, I am fooling myself about being able to play anything much longer. I did buy an old (late 1960's Epiphone 6-string acoustic) to try to give me some incentive, but the hands just hurt too much, and even though they say playing will help, it is a waste. My mom had this very badly for years, and having spent my career typing for the last 65 years, it is not improving. I will probably keep the Epiphone, but the others have to go EVENTUALLY.
This is not to say I will not try, but if you know anyone with arthritis, you know that even the typing will have to end fairly soon. I am 75 now, and yes, I will keep the Guild for a while, but it has to go. My daughter did not get the music gene either and has no interest in these instruments at all. This is sad to me, but she is a wonderful daughter who has many other talents, so I am resigned to the fact that they will all have to go within a few years. There are real musicians out there who do not have arthritis and will appreciate them for what they are.
I will keep trying to play for a while, and cannot wait to get the Guild back from Tom, but the writing is on the wall for all of my stuff. When I retired and downsized and moved last year, I had to sell the 150+ model train pieces I had collected with the idea of building a big layout; this house is set up in such a way that there is no room for such a hobby. I still have a bin or two full of original Plasticville that I was going to use on the layout to sell when I get to feeling better.
All is not lost; I have been working on old cars for 45 years, and now have a '66 Corvette that keeps me busy and happy, I am finally going to have some time for some writing that I have been wanting to do forever, and I am redoing this entire house, so busy I am!
Anyway, fear not. I will play the Guild as long as I can, but it will have to go sooner than later. I am only glad I had it for the last 38 years and I did enjoy it for many years (neighbors might disagree....) so all is not lost yet!
Cheers,
Richard