Buhay banda - Part 3 (Early Influences)

Continuing my musical life's story...

Before I jump to the Nagcarlan leg of my journey, let me tell you about the people who have influenced me when we were still in Manila.

• Wilfredo Diongson a.k.a. Tito Toto is Mama's brother. One of the better guitarists and singers in the family. In fact, he used to play in Japan and was close to signing a recording deal before his band broke up. He taught me how to play by ear (widow?) and how to transpose.
  
  He and family are now living in Sydney where Lani, Lei, Donnel, and I visited him a few years back. I think he's still doing gigs there... well, he should. I know he's still good.
  
  [UPDATE: According to Donnel, the correct spelling is "ouido" not "widow". No wonder I couldn't find that meaning it in the dictionary. Thanks Don!]

• Reynaldo Diongson a.k.a. Tito Rey is also one of Mama's brothers. Although not much of a guitarist (nor instructor), he is a great buddy. He's always there, ready to jam and sing along with us, while we're all sitting on the roof of Mama's canteen during those nightly brownouts in Manila.

• Joe. One of Papa's workers in the furniture shop. Joe is an outstanding guitarist. He taught me how to do solo and helped me appreciate having bass accompaniments. He also taught me the lead lines of Wonderful Tonight and we would always play Soldier of Fortune.He used to play in Willie Garte's band, and taught me "Bawal Na Gamot" way before the song became famous.
  
  I don't know where he is now, but he is probably the one who had taught me the most, guitar-wise, when I was young.

• Papa and Mama. They have been supportive and have always encouraged us to pursue our interests.
  
  They bought us stuff that we needed (guitars, tapes, tablatures), stuff that we thought we needed (additional guitars), and stuff that we made them think we needed (do I need to elaborate?).

• Bro Jeff. For one, he was my constant jamming mate. And two, he helped me develop my interest in tinkering with and building guitars. How? During one of his heated arguments with Papa, Bro got stupid and went to "grab and destroy" mode. He grabbed his electric guitar (see picture) and swung it to our TV set. I think he was planning to break the TV, but his guitar ended up broken and the TV survived almost unscathed.
  
  To cut the long story short, I had instant guitar parts to play with. I got a maple neck, tuners, pickups, a bridge, pickguard, and electronics that were 100% compatible with my own electric guitar. That got me to start customizing my guitar to my liking. It had since undergone numerous modifications and I have customized (and repaired) many others.
  
  And now, a big part of my hobby is obtaining old, worn-down (therefore cheap) guitars and restoring them into worthwhile instruments.

To be continued: Moving to Nagcarlan