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Post by curmudgeon on Nov 18, 2018 16:25:44 GMT
someone, on some forum or whatever a book called "Between the Strings - The secret lives of guitars" by John August Schroeter which is a compilation of short stories (factual I'm sure) give by various professional guitarists.
They include stories of stolen guitar, broken guitars, guitars that were good, bad, magical, and a load of other guitar related stuff. I haven't even read half of them yet, but most are only a few pages and all have been really interesting so far.
Anyway , it occurred to me that we all have a story or two about that one special guitar, , or the one that got away, or the one special event etc.
So, I thought it might be fun for us to share our (preferably shortish) story.
So, please contribute:
Here's my first one to start the ball rolling:
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Andy's D35. In the mid '70s, I moved to Hertfordshire for work, and found myself in two bluegrass bands. Somehow, I also found myself recruited into a London based country rock band playing mandolin and Dobro. We had a great hippy fiddler in the band who sometimes played acoustic guitar. He had a 1973 D35 which for some reason was "special" It had a magical tone and a projection that cut through any band. I had my D18 or D28 - can't remember, which was fine, but yearned to possess that D35 but he wouldn't sell or swap. My time in the band ended (a corporate job and country wide gigs didn’t mix). A couple of years passed and I had a duo with another Martin admirer, and we were both buying and selling guitars. I'd bought myself a new D28 and took it to his place to rehearse for an upcoming gig and he also had a new guitar - a D35. Well just another D35. Then he played it , and I looked again - it had "that" tone. I asked to see it, turned it over - Yup same repaired "airport" neck fracture. "Where'd you get this?" I asked. "Macaris!" I knew how much the fiddler loved his D35 and had said he'd never sell, so, had it been stolen? I memorised the serial number (I could remember stuff back then!) and we carried on with our rehearsal. Next day, at work I rang the fiddler and asked if he had sold his D35. Yes - he had traded it to Macaris for a D35. The serial number was the same. Next time I went to see my friend, I offered him my brand new D28 in exchange. I think he screwed a few pounds extra out of me but the deal was done. In January 1983 I woke up in extreme pain and unable to move. I had developed something called "Sarcoidosis" which had attacked my lymphatic system and vitually paralysed me, especially performing, for ten years. In the meantime, once I could walk again, I went back to work and got involved in photography, and did quite well. In 1993 I left the corporate world and in so doing lost my access to the darkroom where I had made a considerable portfolio of prints. Out of work for the first time ever, and with no photography. Ten years ago, my wife had put my D35, my Vanden mandolin and my Dobro in the attic. I climbed up to see what had happened to them. I brought them down and took that D35 out of the old "Guild" hardshell case. I strummed it even before trying to tune up those ten year old strings. It was in tune! At least with itself. Ten summers and winters – and no cracks, checking or neck isues. Just fine.! I got some new strings, gave it a clean and polish and Whoa! That magical sound was still there. After a complete musical hiatus of ten years, I had to learn to play again but it came back to me. This time I wanted to sing and play solo singer-songwriter stuff that I'd been listening to in the darkroom and in the car etc. People like Guy Clark mostly. I got my "chops" together and started visiting folk clubs and slowly getting some stagecraft back. Soon I had a trio with a double bass player and another mando/dobro player and we were doing quite well. I singer-songwriter friend of mine wanted me to help him find a better guitar than his Yamaha, and we went on shopping sprees together, but when he said "would you sell me your D35? - I did. I got a Martin J12-40 and a J-40M. They looked great, nice and shiny, but I found I couldn't do the things on them that I could do on the D35. Couldn't understand it, until I opened for Isaac Guillory one night ....but that's another story. That 1973 D35 has since been refretted and had some maintenance done - but is still played almost every night by my friend and when he comes to my club, the tone pulls at my heart. =============================================================
So that my (first) story ...what's yours?
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Post by bleatoid on Nov 20, 2018 1:12:42 GMT
That is some story Andy - and a difficult one to follow - but here's my two ha'porth to keep the ball rolling.
I come from a large, not very well off, and not very musical family, but somehow, in our little council flat in the late '60's there appeared a knackered old piano and a nylon strung acoustic guitar of unknown brand - neither played very much by anyone (I think my dad had had musical aspirations for my three older sisters - they never materialised). A good few years later I discovered that we still had that old guitar and I started to muck about with it. Gawd knows what it was tuned to. Never had a lesson and didn't get very far but by this time (mid '70's) I was getting two buses there and back (into and out of the other side of Newcastle) to school every day, and on the way home I'd usually stop off at record shops and music stores - at which I eventually picked up a chord book - the long case-friendly one by Peter Pickow. Still got it, still use it. I never progressed much technically but I wrote dozens of songs on that guitar. Sent 'em off to Gus Dudgeon and got a lovely rejection letter from him - wish I'd kept it - and the songs.
By now I was into AC/DC big time and decided that the guitar obviously needed steel, rather than nylon strings if I was to sound anything like Angus Young….(!) I went to a music store in Newcastle, explained exactly what i wanted to do, and they very happily sold me a set of steel strings which immediately tore the bridge off the "family" guitar as I was tensioning them up. By now I was working a couple of part time jobs and saving hard. My sister was dating a guy who played lead in a club band and had an Ibanez (electric) guitar that he rated highly. My diversions to the music store (it shall remain nameless) continued and I fell in love with an Ibanez acoustic they had on display - purely on appearance grounds - a dreadnought, stained darkish - like cedar - it stood out a little from the spruce crowd. I looked at it lovingly and gave it an occasional touch when I thought no-one was looking. I went in there pretty much every school weekday and loved that guitar - it was a "shop-second" with a big chip out of the laminate back but it looked lovely (an S300SV as you ask). The store attendants had no interest in me and offered no advice, insight, help or encouragement. A few weeks later they sold it to me for every penny I had - in a crap case that didn't fit, and with five thumbpicks (I kid you not). I'd never played it, I was too shy, but they never asked if I wanted to, never asked what I was after, nor did they offer to play it for me - they just took my cash. All of it. May they rest easy.
But I loved my guitar and though I continued to make minimal progress for the next 25 or so years he was a good friend, much treasured and well travelled with many memories attached.
About 5 years ago I stopped playing altogether. I'd never, ever practiced with any dedication and finally gave up in despair at finding that playing the same couple of tunes increasingly badly twice a week was doing nothing for me other than building frustration.
I then had a bout of serious illness with a therapy programme that knocked me sideways for a year or so. One day, about 3 years ago, at a bit of a loose end, I picked up my old friend again, and after a while, promising myself to practice with a little more dedication, I convinced myself that I deserved something a little better after thirty odd years. I now have one or two very nice guitars and my old friend is retired, just like me. Sometimes I think I should sell him, but he's not worth as much to anyone else as he is to me, and sometimes I think I should give him away to a kid who could benefit from him - but a dreadnought isn't too child-friendly.
Maybe we'll just be buried together.
But never mind that Andy….why the hell did you ever sell the D35 for crying out loud?
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Post by curmudgeon on Nov 20, 2018 9:00:11 GMT
Hi Bleatoid, thank you for your story. Good to hear that despite the lack of encouragement you finally have a guitar or two that give you pleasure. The D35 ? Greed ! I was in a relatively successful trio and I desired (yup that's the word for it) a "matched pair" of Martins - a J12-40 came first, followed by a J-40M. Neither of those guitars suited me but they led me to realising tat I had to search for a guitar (or guitars) that DID suit me. That's another story, but I'd like to hear some more of other people's stories before I tell another. Thanks for your contribution.
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Post by PistolPete on Nov 20, 2018 10:00:45 GMT
Slightly off-topic, but related, this is a rough (very rough - please don't judge me too harshly) demo of a song I wrote based on a 'guitar story' someone posted on That Other Guitar Forum (in a thread that seemed to subsequently be deleted for no apparent reason, so I could never share it with him...). 68 Harmony on Soundcloud
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Wild Violet
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Post by Wild Violet on Nov 20, 2018 10:07:00 GMT
This is not such an amazing story - after 25 years of owning just one guitar (my brucey Gibson J50) I decided it was time for my much dreamed after a Martin. I had wanted a D28 when I bought the J50, but it cost $200 more and I had already been flipping burgers after school for a year to get the Gibson. In 2005 I got an HD-28 (which I was told was "better" than the D28) but sadly it was the D28 tone I was after, so moved the HD on.
That started a 5 year period of what can only be called a buying and selling frenzy. The pound was very strong against the US dollar, so I imported many different Martins looking for "The One". I sold them all at a profit, but didn't find one I wanted to keep forever. Turns out it was a pre-1990's D28 tone that I was after, though it took me years to figure it out. During this time I did find a very special Larrivee D-03R, but it wasn't a Martin so sold it on. That guitar haunted me. A few years later, I saw it come up on ebay. I didn't at that time have the money to buy it as I needed to sell the Martin that I currently owned (HD28 w/adi top) to fund it. A lovely guitary friend loaned me the money and I drove down to London to pick it up. It felt so good to have that humble guitar back.
Come 2012 and the big Martin Mistake happened (that's another story for anyone who doesn't already know it) and I wound up with a custom guitar worth far more than I could ever have dreamed owning. I played it exclusively and the Larrivee languished in the corner, so I finally moved it on. 6 years later, the Mistake Martin has departed to a new home. We desperately needed the money and as wonderful a guitar as it was, it didn't have that old thumpy straight-braced D28 tone I've been hankering after for all these years. Most of my guitars have gone off to new owners, including a very special J45. I'm back to playing my old Brucey J50, a guitar a friend made when he was just starting out as a luthier, and the lovely Vintage V300MH. I do check ebay now and again to see if my old D-03R pops up, but not too often as I don't currently have means to buy it. I'm finally content with what I have and I know one day, that Larrivee will come back home or I will find "my" D-28.
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Post by bleatoid on Nov 20, 2018 11:12:32 GMT
I’ve a feeling this is going to be a very interesting thread with some splendid stories. Wonder if we ought to alert TapaTalk to up our storage requirements in case Martin decides to chip in and give us the full nine yards?
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Post by ocarolan on Nov 20, 2018 11:27:57 GMT
Apols for a "name-dropping" post, but the names add to the story I think. Most of this has been recounted elsewhere here, but a while back and this seems a good thread in which to re-air it! Having owned several Fyldes, I'd never owned an Oberon - spruce/rosewood, chunky OM size-ish. kept a look out for one for a year or so, then came across an ad in Folk Roots - but it lived in Iceland. I emailed the owner, who said he was in UK in a few months and would contact me then if the guitar was still unsold. He had two Oberons, but wanted to sell one to part fund an Ariel. The owner turned out to be singer Chris Foster, who is from Somerset not far from me. He was coming over to see his brother in Bristol. As Oberon hadn't sold we agreed to meet up at Temple Meads Sation. In a scene reminiscent of other shadier deals, we met at the far end of one of the platforms, and, after a thorough inspection and a quick play I handed him an envelope full of readies. Amazingly, he didn't count it until I insisted he did. We spent a while chatting in the refreshment room after that - lovely bloke, and if you Google /Youtube him, you'll find that he's a fine trad singer too. Mostly working in and from Iceland in a duo with his Icelandic partner. This is Chris playing his "other" Oberon - I used the guitar for several years as my main ceilidh band and fiddle/guitar duo guitar - it came with an ancient Headway UST which was great for band use and cut through well. Not as good for solo use though, as the sound was a bit in yer face and piezo-ish, though better than many USTs at the time. After much intensive use Roger refretted it for me at remarkably little expense as I was thinking of selling it - less band use by now, more solo/duo, where my Ariel or Lowden with K&K fitted better. I hoped to get a local sale and put it on Gumtree. I had only two responses - one from Sheffield (from a bloke owning a recording studio who had bought instruments from me before) and one from USA! My Sheffield friend didn't want to pay the asking price (or trade me his Goodfellow!) but the US contact seemed promising, saying he was a musician, Robin Pecknold, and would be in the UK shortly on tour. He didn't mention he was main singer/guitarist in Fleet Foxes. After further emails we decided to meet up somwhere when they were in London for a few nights. So, we met half way, Chievely Services, where he turned out to be, as expected by now, a very quiet, unassuming and modest young man, and was of course totally unrecognised by the people in the cafe who paid no attention to his lovely playing whilst trying out the guitar. Hopefully they paid no attention either when he passed my a wodge of cash - didn't want to get mugged on the way out. Robin and I kept in touch for a while about guitarry stuff, strings etc - he didn't use the Oberon to perform, but as a "home" guitar, writing several songs on it. After a few years I saw an advert for it a Seattle music shop, and contacted the shop as there were various inaccuracies in the ad. We had an interesting "chat" where it came out that Robin was selling off a large amount of gear and going to do a course a uni for a year or three. Which is where, rather abruptly, this story ends! Though the "PS" is that later I asked Roger to build me an Oberon shaped guitar in cedar/mahogany (an Olivia - long since discontinued)as the shape is so comfy sitting or standing. Keith
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Post by andyhowell on Nov 21, 2018 12:56:55 GMT
I don't have any interesting stories really but that never stops me! Most of mine are about instruments that got way!
For many years I used a small local specialist store for all my guitar needs, the much missed City Music in Birmingham. The store catered mainly for lower end buyers and then moved into the PA business in a big way but Graham used to buy and sell rare guitars and always stocked a few really decent acoustics. Years ago — I have no idea how many — I went in one day and he asked me what I thought of this guitar. the maker had popped in a few days before and left the guitar with him. It was a Lowden and I'd never heard of them before. What memory I have it was that it was very much like Bensusan's guitar before he added the cutaway. The sound was amazing and like nothing I'd heard before; I was playing a Martin J40 back then. I thought about it and thought about again. I didn't buy it but have always regretted it. I've since realised that I am not normally a fan of the Lowden sound but this one ...
On another occasion I went into the store to find Graham in a state of great excitement. A guy had turned up in the shop a ew days before with the second guitar that the had made. Normally he was a high end furniture and cabinet maker. The recession (I forget which one now) had dried up. He decided to start making guitars and had left one in the store for a few days.It was simply astonishing.He came and took the guitar back with a promise to come back with two or three finished guitars. This was before the internet and mainly before we started thinking about luthier guitars. We were all very excited. The weeks turned into months and no guitars. Eventually the guy popped back in to apologise. the furniture trade had picked up and he simply had no time to build guitars ! But boy that one guitar was angelic.
On another occasion somebody I knew online — the old RMMGA usenet group — put out a message about a small bodied guitar. She had been somewhere and had decided she wanted a small bodied guitar. She then popped off to a RMMGA meet and met Alan from Northworthy guitars. He didn't have any guitars in his workshop but there was one in City Music in Birmingham. I had played the guitar and suggested she ring them up. Next time I was in they told me they'd sold the Northworthy to a friend of mine (who seemed a bit bonkers). I've subsequently played this guitar on a number of occasions but it sits now in Lancashire not being played much. This wasn't what she'd really wanted and so she commissioned a Lyn from Brook. Again a wonderful guitar but not played much except by me when I visit I suspect.
I can still remember some others that got away:there was Gibson Hummingbird in a large store who did' really know what it was, ana mazing Froggy Bottom about 30 years ago in Ivor Mairants, an amazing Collings in Denmark Street and all knit of bits and pieces in the old Andy's Guitars in Denmark street. The last 'bargain' I found like this was a Gibson Advanced Jumbo at Wunjos which was hidden in a corner. It wasn't old enough to ask silly money for it and I don't think anybody really knew what it was. But it had THAT Gibson sound ...
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Post by littlemart on Nov 21, 2018 14:38:17 GMT
Thought you might like this. One of my favourites from good old Leo Kottke. Enjoy - well kind of - it doesn't end happily!
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Post by curmudgeon on Nov 21, 2018 19:18:40 GMT
Anybody remember Don Partridge? "King of The Buskers" had a couple of hits and made some money then went back to busking.
He made frinds with luthier Chris Eccleshall, a long time pal of mine, who used to hold some cool parties in Ealing, or Acton, was it? Anyway I'd just got a a pretty , new Guild D40, loved it, and so took it along hoping to charm some young lovely at the party. Mr Partridge turned up, sans guitar, and borrowed my new guild, and entertained us all, charming all the ladies etc., and so i didn't get a chance. At the ed of the evening , I got bak my guild with totally exhausted strings, and a load of pick scratches right across the top. I was not happy.
Later, some time later, I was in Chris' workshop[ and saw a Gibson SJ200 and asked about it. "It's Don's. He's beat the life out of it and asked me yo repair it and refinish it, but now I need him to pay the bill and get it back and I can't track him down!"
Chris was/is a good guy but never made a great deal of money, and over time the unpaid bill irked him, so one day, he said to me - "you can have Don's guitar if you pay me the bill" - £260 I think it was, which I gave to Chris, and too the SJ200 home. Frankly it was still a wreck, and I couldn't earn to love it.
One day (this is probably '74 ish) I saw an ad in the back of Melody Maker for two guitars - a 1915 Gibson L-3 and a 1927 Martin 2-17. I fancied them but had no cash to spare at the time, but i went to view them anyway. The Martin needed some work but the gibson was in remarkable condition. The seller was American, and I asked him repeatedly if they had been importated legally and tax paid etc. He said yes. He did a swap for the J200. "-17 went to Chris for some work and I started playing that funky old L-3 archtop.
I got a phone call at work (funny!) and this chap somehow convinced me to get the guitars together so he could view them suggesting that it would be in my interest or some such.
I met him (and his pal) in my flat in Hammersmith, whereupon they pulled out their HM Customs and Excise IDs and confiscated my guitars! My old Dad was there with me as a witness and he was furious, but they took 'em away.
Many months later, it was suggested that if i turned "queen's evidence" I could "buy" them back, which i did as I had asked the American guy about their legality.
I had to pay the estimated customs charges and taxes, and they were finally returned. The American had been arrested but managed to leave the country whilst on bail and took the J200 with him.
Years later, I was doing a sot at Richard Durrant's "Folk" club at Shoreham airport and Don Partridge was heading the bill. I told him that I'd paid his bill for him for the j200 guitar, and he begged me to sell it to him. He was very disappointed to hear that it was long gone. I bore Don no ill will but it was a bit of karma for that scratched D40.
Funny, can't find any videos of him NOT playing a 12 string! Who made this one I wonder?
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Post by delb0y on Nov 21, 2018 21:00:13 GMT
When I was 16, going on 17, I got a Saturday job selling shoes. I saved up and bought a Fender Stratocaster. 39 years later, we're both a little more frayed around the edges, but still have it, and it remains my main (electric) gigging guitar. Not much of a story, but it's all I have.
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Post by bleatoid on Nov 21, 2018 21:45:46 GMT
I was just trying to work out delb0y whether that long relationship puts your strat into the era of the obligatory fag burns on the headstock? Probably half a decade out I reckon.
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Post by andyhowell on Nov 21, 2018 22:10:00 GMT
Don Partridge? What a wonderful story ;-)
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Post by delb0y on Nov 22, 2018 5:40:11 GMT
I was just trying to work out delb0y whether that long relationship puts your strat into the era of the obligatory fag burns on the headstock? Probably half a decade out I reckon. You're right, mine's a '79, and I think the days of a fag wedged in the headstock whilst one played a long blues rock solo were done by then.
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Wild Violet
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My main instrument is: Symonds OM-14
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Post by Wild Violet on Nov 22, 2018 12:18:33 GMT
I do check ebay now and again to see if my old D-03R pops up, but not too often as I don't currently have means to buy it. Well ain't that typical. Writing about that Larrivee had me take a little look to see what I could find, and up pops this. I can't be 100% certain that it was mine, but I did polish out the back (they have a matte finish) and the top looks very similar. Lynn's Larrivee?The guy got it recently in p/x and doesn't know it's history. It's the same year of manufacture, 2001. The other thing that makes me think it's probably mine is that I had a Greven pickguard on it, but replaced it before selling. The pickguard on that one does look like the one I used - it's certainly different from the ones that Larrivee sells. The guitar originally came with a clear plastic guard that I removed. I think someone upstairs is having a laugh... Edit - well after seeing a photo of the case, it seems incredibly likely that this is my old guitar. I'm taking this as a lesson from on high to stay content and grateful for what I have (which I truly am )... a few years ago I would be panicking right now about what I could sell or how to delay the rent so that I had the funds to buy it. Now I'm simply smiling at the irony of spotting it 48 hours after making my original post...
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