Recently I did a post regarding small builders and their crafts, pedal wise. Magic boxes of wires that can change the landscape of a an electric guitar's sound. Now for the flip side of the coin; the purity of just an acoustic guitar.
Guitar building is an art form, it's palette and canvas is enormously colorful and broad. Then there is the art that comes out of the instrument. Acoustic guitars are even more magical. It's raw materials created from mother nature, processed by an artisans hands, and played by people blessed with the ability to extract more from the final product.
My personal experiences with acoustic guitars aren't as vibrant as my journey with electric guitars. My first, an ovation, that I over paid for, and didn't sound all that great. I could take it to the beach though and not worry about it. I traded it in for a used Stratocaster. Many years later I got my second, an Ibanez Acoustic, was a gift from an Ex-girlfriend in a sense, as she got me a substantial gift certificate to a music store that helped fund that purchase. I didn't play it much, as I didn't play alot of acoustic guitar back then. I sold it in 2013. My wife doesn't like it when I sell guitars. She was saddened to see my Green Les Paul go, as well as my Blue G&L ASAT. When I told her I sold my acoustic she was bummed, when I pointed out how I got the guitar, she immediately said "oh get rid of it". I already play the Fender Mustang she gave me this past xmas more than I ever played that Ibanez Acoustic.
I admit the one I play now, isn't expensive or flashy. It's a Mitchell Grand Auditorium. Mitchell is Guitar Center's in house brand, like Kenmore or Die Hard. I did a review of it years ago, and I was really gobsmacked as to how good it played and sounded. It retails for about $300. I was able to keep it, thankfully and It's gotten alot of use, in my original band, my cover band, and just playing around the house.
In the past year Taylor has sent me several guitars for review; inexpensive mini models, to their top of the line instruments. The value of each one was staggering. It got me thinking of what you get when you take those big leaps. Each one got closer to purity. I used the Taylor Builder's edition K14CE in the studio for a recording session, and it moved me in a way that was beyond what I would expected.
It's not cheap, but when I saw the price, I didn't even flinch. It's worth every penny. I didn't think a guitar could get any better. But take it a step further, and it goes into this territory:
Instrument design and production has greatly benefited from modern technology, but seeing a craftsperson work in the traditional sense is amazing.
In the past, when most guitar media was perpetuated by a few magazines, as well as some "in the know" music stores, it was a small world. I knew of small guitar builders, from Eric Schoenberg, Danny Ferrington, and Dana Bougeois. I knew Parker guitars were made in Massachuetts, and I even worked for them for a bit. Now it's overwhelming, as there isn't just one funnel of information, but a tsunami that our internet and social media has become. Sorting out and finding the people out there, honing a craft and sharing their art, is mind boggling. It was neat to hear of a person sharing their craft that was semi local to me.
I admit, part of this post is to dig into something I haven't really blogged about; Acoustics. The other part is the recent passing of Anthony Bourdain. Yes he got his start as a chef, then a food writer, then a TV host on the food network, and the travel channel, then to CNN.
Over the years his shows started on foods, the people that made them and their cultures. On CNN it shifted, there were still explorations of foods, but people, and their cultures took the focus. I had no idea there was this Raw Craft show existed. But in going down the Youtube/Amazon/ondemand/netflix rabbit hole of his shows, looking for solace in the loss of a person that I never met, that took me to places near and far, I found this video. It got me to think about the purity of a hand crafted instrument. In this case, he was the perfect ambassador to investigate this amazing builder and her work. Again, he took me to a new place, not far from where I am. it's inspired me to explore more in my own backyard and work my way out. They called him the Elvis of bad boy chefs. He often referenced The Ramones, Iggy Pop, Queens of the Stone Age. Not surprising as music, is like food in a sense; good ingredients, assembled properly, and shared with others. Making instruments and making music falls into this ideology as well.
It's sad to see that someone could share the exploration of so many things pass on. Music can be as complicated as an amp simulation algorithm, or as simple as an acoustic guitar being played on the beach. In a sense, so can life. Try to find the simplicity in things, and the issues at hand tend to become less overwhelming.
If you need help, you are not alone. Reach out. Call a friend, call a family member, call the national suicide hotline at 1-800-273-talk. The world needs creative, and passionate people that share their creative arts and experiences with us all, in all of its forms.
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