Amish Guitar

It shouldn't be too much of a surprise to anyone who has been reading this blog that I prefer a more old fashioned approach to things. But I also like to use things that have a certain uniqueness. I wear bow ties (and tie them myself). I use fountain pens. I prefer making macaroni and cheese from scratch rather than from a box. I prefer a charcoal grill to gas and use lump charcoal instead of briquettes. I pop my corn on the stove in an antique popper rather than use the microwave. I like having a flat top haircut in the summer. Old fashioned yet still unique.

I've been wanting to purchase a new case for my Art & Lutherie guitar for some time now. It's not that the case I've been using is bad or wearing out. It's just not... right for me. Godin's Tric cases are pretty cool and I opted for the deluxe case with the covering. Lightweight and incredibly insulated against thermal changes, it is a decent enough case. But it's not traditional.

So, as I said, I've been wanting to replace the Tric case for Jane with a hard case. I looked around and, as you might imagine, all the cases seemed to look alike. Traditional but same. Nothing really struck my fancy.

I came across a site (I've long forgotten the URL) that told the story of how Leo Fender walked into a luggage maker's shop and asked them to create a case for the Telecaster. The luggage company did, and used tweed for the outside fabric. A classic look was born. So I poked around and sure enough, tweed guitar cases are not hard to come by but not too many people choose them. I was on the scent.

Jane's basic shape is based on classical guitar dimensions. So, finding a case for such an animal that was also available in tweed was a small challenge. She's a little deeper than most classical guitfiddles are, so many cases would not fit. I did happen across TKL's site and noticed that their classical case in their Prestige line came very close to Art & Lutherie's specifications for the model. A quick email to TKL garnered a response that the case would work and it was available in tweed.

So, to make a boring story short, Jane has a new home.

I know it's odd to be jazzed by something as mundane as a guitar case, but I just feel so much better for having it. Jane expresses who I am so well, both visually as well as audibly. It's nice to have her stored in something goes along with that feeling.

And if I needed any proof, when I pulled the case from the packaging my wife's one comment was: "That's definitely you."

I've mentioned Doug before. He's the friend who gave me a painfully honest apprasial of a song I wrote and he's the one that just a little hyper to have everyone use their pinky on the high E string when playing a G chord. Oh, and he gave Jane her first ding. Still, he is a great friend and I love him like a brother.

But now he's given me GAS. That's Guitar Acquisition Syndrome.

It happened suddenly and in a very public place.

We are both musicians in the church praise team. Yesterday, as we were getting our guitars off the stands to play, he whispers to me "Let's trade." And since I like doing silly things, we traded. My A&L Folk for his A&L Dreadnought.

Now, I've always eschewed dreds, complaining that the bassiness makes them sound muddy to my ear. I've always felt I prefer the caramel mid tones of my folk. Well, that might certainly have been true in the beginning of my stringed instrument journey. A heavy bass would have been distracting for me as I attempted to produced a balanced sound. Yesterday, however, I found I ADORED that bass--that I was looking forward to the chords that play all six strings or even better, the E chord with the open low E. It was delicious.

So, what am I to do? If I spend my "allowance" for a new guitar, I will risk the ire of Mrs. Amish. While I do have enough saved up, things are tight enough in other areas of the budget that to buy something so unnecessary would be, well, in the words of my youngest daughter, ungood.

I did, however, float an idea over to Doug. I know he has wanted to upgrade his guitar to a solid top. So, I suggested I buy his for about a hundred less than what he paid for it, and he can use that money for a newer, more exciting guitar with whitewalls and other bells and whistles.

He's considering it.

Stay tuned. The Amish Guitar may become a three guitar household after all...

Found an article by a Paul Humphries called Don't give in-You're never too old at Guitarnoise.com. I don't know anything about the author, but his story sure sounds familiar. I knew there were other people like me out there--people who picked up the guitar later in life.