Ironically, my whole enjoyment of the music ( and the guitar as it's vehicle ) only kicked in properly, when the 'Tone search' ended.
Yes; in the final stages a bit of the good old narrowing down of genre specific components - and getting the best prices was as enjoyable as ever - but when ( after 30 years ) I could just let go of the gear search - and got on with trying to make my playing / music better, I felt great .
For me the eternal search ( which of course began again with every genre I experimented with ) - was not invalid as such , but to a great degree - it was an excuse to delay what was really needed ; - and that was bl***y hard work and study / practice.
The three strongest elements of transition for me where :
1) Realising I could not respond adequately to someone saying " play us a tune then" .
2) Seeing a video of Joe Pass ( playing a "nice tune" ) whilst going D.I. into the front of house public address system - and still delivering a great evening's music.
3) Reading Matt Otten ( After watching his silky smooth demos for Peerless Monarch guitars on 'You Tube ' e.t.c. ) - saying that for him the tone search was not a path he felt that important, compared to study of the music itself.
To now get excited ( as a self taught, not music college player ) about song structure, melodic possibilities, nice harmonies - and the challenges of solo playing. Has been the best evolution I feel to have ever made.
