germs

my sleeves cost somewhere in the neighborhood of about $100-125 per hour for one of the top tier guys in my area. that's a discounted rate, for all the walk-in business i give them as well as being in the public spotlight around town in bands and such. anyway - i'm a bit different from some other tattoo guys. i started at 18 getting big pieces done. but i don't go obsessively in a row. when ever i feel the need to get inked, i go in. there's no rush for me. i've got my whole life to do this.

Personally, music is my passion. I'm lucky to be really good at something else I can make money at that doesn't TOTALLY suck my soul away... But yeah, being on stage IS better than sex.

OP, maybe this has been covered already, but what's the perspective? For the part-timer who plays in bars/clubs, dragging out a $1K+ guitar is sort of dicey...I don't do it personally. I'm bringing MIM and Squier. With minimal upgrades, say $200 (or the price of a REALLY nice pickup set) you can get a great player piece. Probably wouldn't win any awards, but it'll be solid and dependable - and that's what's important for regular gigging. I can recognize the MIA's are superior on just about every level out of the box. BUT I don't need to spend that kind of money to get a good guitar. It's that simple for me. So I prefer the MIM.

I find your second bullet the most interesting of the two. I honestly find it a bit cold and blunt...but hey, thems the facts... Do they take into account the fact that most nightclub owners would rather pay some guy/gal with a suitcase full of promo CD's $500 (who probably doesn't need the job anyway) a night over the guys/gals out there trying to earn a living, thus severly limiting access and availability to paying gigs locally, regionally, and nationally? ...Does that sound bitter to you? I should probably read the article before judging it...