I only have four guitars, not that I'm hoarding or anything, but just like some people have an addiction with getting a tattoo right after they've gotten their last one, I sort of have that feeling when I buy a guitar. I don't usually act on that urge, but I did this time. I have always wanted a black Fender acoustic guitar, so I bought one. It arrived in a few days, heavily wrapped and perfectly shipped, and I was so impressed with the seller that I wrote to him and told him how grateful I was.
Well, as you can imagine, that conversation led to him asking me how many I had, and if there was something else I wanted or needed. Need? No, I don't need another guitar. I had three, and I can only play one at a time. I told him this, but you know how they are -- he said to me, "If you only knew how many people say that to me." I can relate. I hear some of the same objectives that other insurance adjusters hear, so I can imagine that as a guitar enthusiast and salesperson, he hears just about the same things over and over again as well.
I told him I used to own a Stella acoustic guitar from the mid-1950s, and I truly loved it. I believe it was stolen, I think it was; since I didn't give the person permission to sell it, that means it's stolen, but it was a family member who did it. It makes it worse in some ways, so I prefer not to use the word "stolen". However, that is exactly what happened to my guitar. The thing is, as I get older, I am starting to understand the depth of the behavior of one of my family members, to the point that I am no longer shocked when I find out what really happened to a number of my sentimental possessions that I have "lost" over the years.
I told the salesman that the Stella was a beautiful instrument and I loved it. He had a few. He has a few of everything, it seems. He travels around the central part of the US, picking up guitars in various stages of repair, retuning and reworking them, and then he sells them. It's a great gift to have, and I'm thankful for people like him. He didn't have a Stella in my price range, but he did have something unique. He had something VERY unique. It's so unique that I couldn't find it online whatsoever!
He has (and now I have purchased) a 1930's Ercar guitar. That's what it looks like. It could also be Encan, but I don't think so. I can't find anything online about them whatsoever. The man had a video of himself playing the guitar, so I know it will be playable and not just a beautiful ornament. This guitar is handmade by a luthier. I would have loved to have his or her name, but alas, it is not to be. You can tell, however, that it is handmade, which is even more rare and wonderful.
I've got to come up with a great name for the guitar, and I will. I named my black Fender "Cash" after Johnny Cash, as he played a black guitar. I got this one for one very specific reason; it will remind me of the guitar Eoghan MacRae plays in my books. I suppose I have a name! MacRae! This is the second guitar I've named for a Scot! I have Wally, or William Wallace; he's a Yamaha from the 2010-2015 era. Besides those three, I have Norman. Norman is named Norman because he was rescued from a trash bin in Norman, OK. Norman is a 1974 model Aria.
All of my guitars, when I receive them, go to Guitar Center to be inspected, tuned, and restrung. I was told today that MacRae will not need that; he'll come already play-ready and have been worked over by a master who has literally sold over 110,000 things online with a 97% approval rating; that's really important to me. So, yeah, I think I'm strung up for now...see what I did there? Don't fret! (Ha...I kill me) I'll be in slide heaven soon enough, and when I actually know what I'm doing, I'll smile and let them all sing one at a time. I'm absolutely never alone, and I'm never ever bored. How could I be? I have God...and yeah, I have dogs, cats, lizards, a few kids, and guitars too.
No comments:
Post a Comment