Nodter... Number 1

This is my special guitar. For the past four years this one has been my number one go to guy guitar. Its been everywhere I've been and played at all but 2 shows and is prominently featured on every recording. I love this guitar. I'm sorry to be such a dork like that. I admit it. I'm the kind of guy who goes around loving the inanimate.
I don't know the exact day that I purchased this guitar but I do have a small range of days. The first gig I played with Shitting Glitter happened on this date at this place:

2/15/03 Westchester B&G - Serial Mom Presents - Los Angeles, CA
I did not have the guitar then, at that time I had an acoustic guitar in my possession and an electric that wouldn't stay in tune to save it's life. I ended up playing that horrid gig with a borrowed acoustic/electric through an amp. It was after that gig that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I would need a new guitar. This is the first gig where I used my new Telecaster:
4/8/03 The Derby - FemMuse - Los Angeles, CA w/ Abigail’s Attic

This guitar is the first and only guitar I've actually purchased as a thinking adult. I had made mistakes as a young dude in the guitars I went for before, never really seeing the forest for the laminate particle board trees. Of course my uncle Ronnie was handy during this decision time as well, I think it was he who initially steered me towards a fender. Ronnie also gave me another crucial piece of advice which essentially made the decision of which Telecaster to get for me. He told me to play them unplugged and listen for a good acoustic sound, if it sounds good acoustic, it will sound good plugged in.
With Ronnie's advice in mind I set out one day from my apartment in North Hollywood to find my new guitar. I walked a few blocks to the subway, caught a train into Hollywood and walked from Hollywood Blvd. to Sunset. I stopped in every guitar shop on Sunset Blvd between Highland and Beverly Hills, playing every Mexican made Telecaster I could get my hands on. Most were well made and had decent acoustic sound, but through the first five or so stores I felt no magic in any particular guitar. The last store I planned to stop at was a Sam Ash at Crescent Heights and Sunset, in the complex that has now lost the Virgin Mega Store. The Sam Ash haslong since moved down Sunset where they took over Manny's, which used to be my favorite guitar store. My guitar was literally the last Telecaster I played that day, number 40 of approximately 40 if you will. I immediately loved the color. I have still not ever seen another guitar that color. The color helped but it was the first G major Chord I strummed on it that really set it apart.
I didn't at the time have the $350 dollars they wanted for the guitar, I had made a deal with our singer Amy, she would put it on credit and allow me to pay her back. It's amazing what risks singers of bands will take for their musicians. I had planned to call Amy and have her come meet me if I found a guitar I liked that night, but for some reason I didn't call her. I took one more look at the guitar and walked out the door back onto Sunset Blvd. I walked another mile or so over to Amy's house considering the guitars I had played. For some reason the last guitar hadn't completely stuck out in my mind as "the guitar".
I eventually completed my walk to Amy's apartment, I told her a bit about my guitar adventure and then we just fell head long into the Weho night. We went out that night in the neighborhood jumping from bar to bar and drinking and talking. We must have decided to stop into the motherlode for a drink at some point because we were walking back from Pavilions Grocery store where we had gone to get cash when suddenly I was struck by the oddest thought. Like a bullet a name popped into my head, a ridiculous name. A name that could only be true and from something else, because it doesn't occur naturally in my brain. The name was Nodter, and in the moment I knew the name I knew that it was the name for that last guitar I had played. I felt a rush of panic knowing that I had left Nodter in the store and that he could be bought out from under me. I was nervous for the rest of the evening thinking that I may have let my guitar slip through my hands. I was so distraught I could barely party the rest of the night away.
I don't know if I slept that night, I think I laid down for an hour or two before the guitar store opened but I know it wasn't productive. I ended up leaving while Amy was asleep and heading back to the store. Nodter was still there on the wall. I played it again and confirmed my previous feelings. I needed this guitar. I had the sales guy hold it for me while I went back to get Amy and her magic credit card. I think Devin even went along to pick it up with us, as he needed something new as well.

Over the years many stickers have found a home on Nodter, most though are just temporary. The one above has been stuck below the bridge for a long time. It actually came from a gay Marriage ralley we played at in Silver lake. I stuck it on that day and it's been there ever since. This was the date of the show:

5/15/04 Sunset Junction - Marriage Equality Rally - Silver lake, CA

This sticker, which is worse for the wear since it's on the back of the guitar is a bit of psychic healing. It's a sticker of a piece drawn by Von, who used to be the guitar player in SG. It's a drawing of Devin and Amy and above it Amy wrote the words, "The end deserves happy endings, Fresh Draw"
A tradition I've been taking part in now for 4 years is sticking my voting stickers on this guitar, though I think I missed a local one here and there. The top one pictured here is from 2006, when the dems fought back control of both houses of congress. Below it is my 2008 Presidential Primary sticker. I won't mention who I voted for as it's just too timely.

I hate this sticker. This is 2004 general election. EW. We all feel the same about that. It pains me to see this sticker sometimes, that's why I placed it here, where you can't see it and where I sweat on it with my thumb during "The Apple Falls"

Here is a shot of the strap in a little detail, it's a planetary theme. You can also see my lucky lady bug sticker and the remainder of an ACLU sticker which used to say "I refuse to surrender my freedoms" now it just says "I refuse", which I like a bit better even.
This last shot is of Nodter and I in Iceland. Rather than name all the recordings nodter appears on I felt it would be easier to name some of the places Nodter and I have been.

All over southern California goes without saying, Many times we've played in San Francisco. We've also played north of there in Portland and Seattle. We've played in Albuquerque, NM two or three times, as well as Flagstaff, AZ. We also made a trek to New York to play. We had the best time together in Iceland though, even If I was bit worried about him on the flight over.