What *else* are you "into?" Cars? Guitars? Watches? Audio? Whatever?

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Avincent52

Avincent52

Active Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2023
Messages
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Location
Montclair NJ
I'm relatively new to Japanese knives, but when I posted a general query about sharpening on Facebook earlier this year, I realized a bunch of my friends are knife nerds too.
While I have "friends friends" most of my online friends are people who share my affinity for one or more of my interests.

Guitars Vintage Martins and Gibson acoustics and high-end boutiques. Also vintage Fenders, old amps and boutique pedals. I'm super lucky to call many amazing luthiers my friends.
Cars I lust after Italian but I actually bought a Porsche 997 because I actually drive it and don't wrench myself.
When I had to haul kids and a dog around I had a topaz blue E46 BMW 325iT RWD wagon with a 5 speed and the ZSP sports package and various M3 and ZHP parts. Most versatile car ever. Total unicorn.
Watches Again vintage chronos, especially racing/tech inspired things like old Heuers and Omega Speedmaster moon watches.
Audio My first thing until I realized that with these other hobbies you could re-sell what you bought as you upgraded without losing tons of money. I've still got an older high-end stereo system (Dunlavy, VAC, Audible, Linn) and some nice headphones (Audeze, Grado) I used to write for Stereophile and other mags.
Music The guitar and audio thing naturally connects to music, and I have wildly eclectic taste. Any given playlist could run from Joe Henry to Bill Frisell to Taylor Swift to Etta Baker to the Dead Kennedys to Bill Evans to Bill Monroe to Richard and Linda Thompson to....

I've come to realize it's not just about the things themselves but a certain mindset about wanting to understand them at a high level and aspire to owning and using something truly exceptional or at least have a strong opinion about good, better, and best in those categories where money stands in the way.

So what else are you into besides knives?

(No affiliation with the store in the video. Never even heard of this place, but the watches and cars are nice though the guitars are kinda pedestrian...)

 
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WildBoar said:
You pretty much covered the typical bases. Not sure about having such a new Porsche, though :D
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In some alternate universe I'd have a 1972 oil-flap, long-hood 911 sunroof coupe in Aubergine.
But I'm okay with a car that has seat heaters, ABS and airbags but also hydraulic steering and a 6-speed manual and is the size of a newer Cayman/Boxster.

Knives are much cheaper and easier to store than cars.

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I own a small number of guitars. Missing a few here unfortunately but it's ok I promise it's not that many.

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I like cookbooks a little bit too
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Been a fan of other stuff, M cars, old Rolexes, leverless FG controllers, old cameras, fountain pens, illustrated books... uh tbh Im prolly forgetting stuff
 
tcmx3 said:
I own a small number of guitars. Missing a few here unfortunately but it's ok I promise it's not that many.

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Been a fan of other stuff, M cars, old Rolexes, leverless FG controllers, old cameras, fountain pens, illustrated books... uh tbh Im prolly forgetting stuff
Click to expand...

I love the custom color Strats:
Sonic Blue!
Shell Pink!
And is that Sherwood Green vintage or just a nice Custom Shop?

But I do think you're totally missing a Telecaster, my friend.

tele-oral-history-feature@1400x1050.jpg
 
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I’m big into watches, don’t have many nice luxury ones apart from a Tudor Pelagos 39mm, which I’m loving.

I also play rugby and golf and have done since I was about 4 (I’m 27 now) so that takes up plenty of my time.

I like to ski also, and try and get away for a week of skiing once a year with my friends.

It’s hard bank rolling all of these interests 😅
 
Avincent52 said:
In some alternate universe I'd have a 1972 oil-flap, long-hood 911 sunroof coupe in Aubergine.
But I'm okay with a car that has seat heaters, ABS and airbags but also hydraulic steering and a 6-speed manual and is the size of a newer Cayman/Boxster.

Knives are much cheaper and easier to store than cars.

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That might have belonged to someone in the DC area in the early '00s. He was very serious about his car, so if course he would always get pissed when we would call it 'eggplant' :D He tracked it for a few years, while trying to keep it in near-concourse condition. Eventually keeping it nice won out. He sold it when values started shooting up and used the money to help fund his retirement account.

Guitar-wise, we've been building a collection as both my son and wife have been learning how to play. Right now we are keeping it to one per category (strat, tele, Epi LP, PRS elec acoustic, and a elec and started acoustics). I am 'legally' the owner of the Fenders as my wife did not want my son getting 'expensive' guitars. So I bought them and let him use them. One day I hope start learning to play.

Watches have become a 'thing' over the last 5-6 years. I won't discuss those, as that expense took the place of track weekend costs.

Audio equipment -- I went a couple/ few decades before having to replace my lower level 'high-end' gear. More recently I put together systems for my son and wife. Both use streaming as primary sources, although I scored a late '60s Pioneer TT so my son can play records too. I've been steering towards transparent equipment (which also happens to cost a lot less, usually). A few months ago I broke character when I had a chance to buy some 'end game' loudspeakers for a steep discount. It was a tough decision as I really wanted to looking into an active setup. But I'm pretty dang happy with the these.

Music? I'm not very diversified, and I'm not ashamed to say so :) Rock, mainly. A dash of punk, grunge, new wave, etc. Most for the same era as my Porsche preference.
 
Porsche 993. Last of the air-cooled. Loved owning this for the 10 years I was its steward. Picked it up in 2010 in Colorado Springs with 22K miles on the clock. Hardly broken in. 35K when I sold it before moving back to Germany.


It had ultra rare original Porsche Recaro bucket seats from an RS
 
Avincent52 said:
I love the custom color Strats:
Sonic Blue!
Shell Pink!
And is that Sherwood Green vintage or just a nice Custom Shop?

But I do think you're totally missing a Telecaster, my friend.

tele-oral-history-feature@1400x1050.jpg
Click to expand...

It's a NAMM guitar from a few years back. Fully roasted; neck and body.

The blue one is a 96 relic iykyk.

Re teles I am sort of looking at them but Im not very passionate about guitar atm so purchases are kinda paused.
 
I'm deep into the world of custom playing cards. Like actual 52 card poker decks. There's a whole world of amazing beautiful decks out there, fueled mostly by young folks performing "cardistry" with the decks. If you haven't ever seen a cardistry video before, I highly reccomend "Gosh," by Noel Heath on youtube.

I then take it a step further, by combining my love of blades with my love of cards, to create 3D shadowbox art from the cards. So basically my card hobby funds my knife addiction 🤣

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My IG, if you wanna see more 😁
https://instagram.com/3decksdesigns
 
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Shoes, anything that's resoleable for the most part but I do have some that aren't. Usual construction methods are goodyear welt and stitchdown but I have representatives of several different kinds. I have about 8 pairs of shell cordovans (fancy pseudo leather) and the rest leather. I have about 60 pairs of nice shoes and I am trying to pare that back.

Watches - I am quantity over quality. I have a few nicer ones but nothing truly luxurious. I have about 20 automatic watches, 16 swiss, but still nothing fancy, just solid, good watches.

I just got out of endurance running and mountainbiking a couple/few years ago. Pocket Knives.

I am trying to fill my spare time with knifemaking and blacksmithing and fixing my house.
 
Rossmore 7: Don't get me started about sports. I've been a pretty serious tennis player and downhill skier. And as a journalist I've covered multiple Super Bowls, World Series, NBA Finals, and US Opens (tennis.) But my real thing is Formula One.

Wildboar: Aubergine>eggplant. If you need any advice about guitars at any point, happy to help.

Corradobrit1: 993s are freakishly great and those seats are next level.

TCMX3: A tele will reignite your passion for guitar. Not sure if that's a good thing, financially speaking...

PPIIBBSS: I had no idea such a thing existed. Amazing.

Pitted...soul: People at work have commented on my variety of sneakers, but I realize I'm nowhere near being a sneaker head.
Shoes are even more fun. Didn't Daniel Day Lewis become a cobbler upon retirement?

​

 
tcmx3 said:
I like cookbooks a little bit too
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That is all too familiar to me. Pots, pans and kitchenware too. All the stuff for the prep, cooking of, eating and sharing food. Knives actually came towards the end of it.

I haven't really found myself collecting much 'stuff' though. I wear a workout watch. I drive a very normal family car without wanting anything else.
 
Avincent52 said:
Rossmore 7: Don't get me started about sports. I've been a pretty serious tennis player and downhill skier. And as a journalist I've covered multiple Super Bowls, World Series, NBA Finals, and US Opens (tennis.) But my real thing is Formula One.

Wildboar: Aubergine>eggplant. If you need any advice about guitars at any point, happy to help.

Corradobrit1: 993s are freakishly great and those seats are next level.

TCMX3: A tele will reignite your passion for guitar. Not sure if that's a good thing, financially speaking...

PPIIBBSS: I had no idea such a thing existed. Amazing.

Pitted...soul: People at work have commented on my variety of sneakers, but I realize I'm nowhere near being a sneaker head.
Shoes are even more fun. Didn't Daniel Day Lewis become a cobbler upon retirement?

​

Click to expand...

unfortunately most of what's taken the wind out of my guitar playing sails has been RSI. I have to be careful when it comes to hobbies that use my hands and guitar comes and goes depending on how into something else I am that puts wear and tear on them.
 
tcmx3 said:
unfortunately most of what's taken the wind out of my guitar playing sails has been RSI. I have to be careful when it comes to hobbies that use my hands and guitar comes and goes depending on how into something else I am that puts wear and tear on them.
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Sorry. I was just bantering in gear mode. On a serious note, there are lots of resources out there about playing ergonomics that can help with RSI.
It's something that so many serious players encountered and ultimately overcame by changing their technique and other habits.
Happy to help more if I can.
 
Avincent52 said:
People at work have commented on my variety of sneakers, but I realize I'm nowhere near being a sneaker head.
Shoes are even more fun. Didn't Daniel Day Lewis become a cobbler upon retirement?
Click to expand...

So I had to read up on this b/c I hadn't heard about DDL cobbling. Turns out he did in the late 90s before Gangs of New York.

I've always been a shoe guy as long as I remember. I have the shoes of a CEO but not a CEOs salary. I sold shoes when I was young and that facilitated the obsession. Boots, dress shoes, loafers, derbies, oxfords, brogue. Like knives, always on the hunt for the balance of materials, price, style, and craftsmanship. We talk about leathers and lasts they way all of us talk about steel and grinds. You find the maker's that compliment your foot shape. There are small independent makers, like knives, sometimes one guy doing it all.
 
Tekkz said:
Collecting and cutting rocks/gemstones! Just as a hobby, I don't sell anything I create. I post some of my pics to instagram.

Springridge Gems


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The lady and I like to go rockhounding. Your stuff is lightyears cooler than mine. We live in SE TN and can't find an arrowhead to save our lives. We go hunting all the time for them and even work basically inside an archeological national park, no heads. Are these all finds of yours?

I wanna go to the Great Lakes and go searching there. And mudlarking on the Thames.
 
I used to race cars when I was younger, with fewer responsibilities and student loans at my disposal. After a fairly serious crash I developed some fear, which really caused my times to take a hit. When the kids grow up I’ll return to it. In contrast to the nice cars, we ran mostly Subarus, FRS and S2000s. Less computers, more panic.

Used to frequent big shows, “raves” as it were before Covid. Music is still a huge part of my life, recently saw skrillex (by himself) on tour, completing a life long goal.
 
My love of Geology & Biology. They are totally linked. Life wouldn't be without Geology. Bone clone hominid skulls. Fossils, meteorites, rocks.

Most of stuff collected in past have gone way up in value esp. Meteorites. Bought US & World large silvers late 90's early 2000's when gold & silver in the basement. Searched rare die strikes have some truly rare coins 1600's, 1700's, 1800's all before steam presses in 1830's made mass production of coins possible. Instead of one at a time hand press with reverse & overse die plates. Most all my coins are worth much more than I paid for them 20 years ago.

Things bought that haven't made gains on cars, motorcycles, surfboards, knives.
 
Pie said:
I used to race cars when I was younger, with fewer responsibilities and student loans at my disposal. After a fairly serious crash I developed some fear, which really caused my times to take a hit. When the kids grow up I’ll return to it. In contrast to the nice cars, we ran mostly Subarus, FRS and S2000s. Less computers, more panic.

Used to frequent big shows, “raves” as it were before Covid. Music is still a huge part of my life, recently saw skrillex (by himself) on tour, completing a life long goal.
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S2000's that haven't been trashed racing I believe will be collectable in the future. One of non boosted great engine to be put in a sports car. Double overhead cams Honda VTec.
 
Keithpaints said:
S2000's that haven't been trashed racing I believe will be collectable in the future. One of non boosted great engine to be put in a sports car. Double overhead cams Honda VTec.
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Gearbox is sublime.
If you want a car to be an investment the key was to choose carefully. Aircooled Porsche and vintage Ferrari have skyrocketed. I sold my 993 for twice what I paid 10 years earlier. Obviously condition is paramount. American muscle hasn't faired quite so well which means bargains can still be had.
 
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