New/Old guitar day
Oct 13, 2021 15:28:04 GMT -7
Paul (TRANE), heynewguy (Ol’ Bill), and 9 more like this
Post by The Bad Poodle Experience on Oct 13, 2021 15:28:04 GMT -7
I have only purchased three acoustics in my entire life. i bought a 1978 Ovation Balladeer model 1111-1 new back in high school ($350) and i bought a yamaha nylon string classical in 1980, also in high school so i could study and prepare for music school auditions. In 1999, after the breakup of my first marriage, i impulsively bought a early 70's chrome plated bell brass Dobro. I paid too much and resented it so much that it sat in a closet for 3 years until i could bear to play it.
I still have all 3 guitars but the Ovation and nylon string have been in their cases for well over 25 years now. The Ovation came with cheap, plastic machine heads and when one of them cracked and made the guitar unusable with 6 strings, i packed it up and forgot about it.
For the past 16 years, i've been using my wife's Taylor 712 to pick around the house.
Still, I've never felt like i had a proper acoustic (martin, taylor, Gibson, etc) of my own but every time I go to look, it's the same process. I set my sights on something inexpensive but ultimately end up choosing something way more than i thought i'd spend and walking away.
So, the process started again a few weeks ago as i considered getting myself an acoustic as a bday present.
Over the years i've learned that you should know the intended specific purpose of an instrument before buying it. in this case, as much as i WANTED a sound cannon like a D-45, what i NEEDED was a guitar to record with at home. to this end, i really believed a smaller body guitar fitted with a pickup would be the cheapest and simplest route. After starting in the $500 range and ending up considering something in the mid-$2000's, the wife and i "had a talk" and she was correct. after the house remodel and my daughter's wedding this past summer, we had no savings to speak of. it just wasn't a good time but i was feeling like "there will never be a time".
That's when i had an epiphany and a compromise was struck. I took out my Ovation, cleaned and oiled up the fretboard (had never been done in 43 years) and took it to the local shop tech and had him put on a set of chrome locking Grover machine heads, adjust the truss rod, check intonation, etc and well, it's like having a new guitar again for a grand total of $79 in upgrades. Tomorrow I'm having him install a K&K pure mini pickup and this weekend i should be able to do some recording with it. I feel so good about it. The guitar sounds pretty great with it's 43 year old solid spruce top.
I will post a video once i have it back from the pickup install.