The "story" that goes with your guitar.

[Oldguy64]

I'm a story teller. I love a good story. The funnier, or more heartwarming the better.
I also believe every guitar has a story. All of mine have interesting stories.
I think the stories add to the "mojo" of the guitar.
I think KY Dave's story about his D-28 is one of the most amazing I've ever heard.

My best guitar story involves my Alvarez Masterworks.
I'd been looking for a high end Alvarez for a while. I resolved to find one for my fiftieth birthday. I literally waited for years for a Masterworks or Yairi to show it's elusive face.
One day, about two weeks before my birthday, I was perusing Reverb.com.
Back then they had like a total of ten Alvarez guitars.
The Masterworks was one of them, and it was local.
Three years waiting...and it was local, available, and my birthday!

Say what you will, but that guitar came to find me. It stays!

So, any other good stories and added mojo?

[champ0608]

When I was in high school I spent a lot of time hanging out at the local music shop. It was a tiny hole in the wall without any real quality instruments. The owner was a rancher, and I don't think he ever made a penny from the guitar store, but it was his boyhood dream to own one, so he did, and kept it afloat with the money from his ranch.

The guy he hired to work the counter was what I considered a virtuoso. He could play anything. I would go in there just to sit and play and learn. He never minded me hanging out all day, and he'd teach me things here and there.

His guitar, that he brought with him every day was an early 50s Gibson LG-2. It was a real gem. After coming in for a couple years, he finally started letting me play his guitar. I had never touched a guitar that felt old. Everything I had played was modern and covered in glossy paint. The neck on this one was worn so beautifully, and felt like real wood. And it sounded just so good. Better in his hands of course, but in my hands, it was clearly better than anything else I had ever played.

Years later, I was driving through town and of course I had to stop in the place, and there was the LG-2 hanging on the wall. There was a young kid working the counter, and I asked him about it. He told me "the old dude" who owned was killed riding his bike down the road. His wife was trying to sell the guitar (along with several others from his collection) to help fund a scholarship in his name for music students at the local college.

I had to have it. I bought it and took it home, but when my wife saw it she immediately recognized it. She'd taken lessons from him years before as well. When I told her the story she started to cry. She sat down with that guitar and played it through the night. That's when it became her guitar.

But the story continues beyond just the guitar. Later that weekend we got in touch with the old rancher's wife and went to breakfast with her and expressed how sorry we were to hear about his death and how much we'd cherish the guitar. She was very touched, and was mostly thrilled to know that with the guitar store finally selling that guitar, that small music scholarship would finally be created in her husband's name. She was really happy about that.

She passed away within six months. The community college however worked some magic to now offer two one-year tuition scholarships to music students in each of their names. I know they're both smiling about that.

[fazool]

OK I think Champ0608 just won and anyone wlil be hard pressed to top that story.

[zombywoof]

Many decades ago I bought a Gibson harp guitar that was hanging on the wall of a restaurant as a decoration.

But I do still gpt one that has a doozy little piece of history with it.

I own a 1942 Gibson J-50. When I first stumbled on it I wad told it was a refinished 1943 J-45. I knew it was a '42 but figured it was still a J-45 that had lost its burst through the years. Thing is though, the FON placed the guitar squarely in the batch of J-50s that actually left the factory before the first J-45s. Yet, looking at the top which was made of two pieces of wood which appeared not to have been book matched but picked at random, I and others figured Gibson never would have let a natural top guitar looking like that leave the factory.

A sharper eye than mine then noticed that the top halves were, in fact, book matched but that one of the of the untrained ladies building the things flip flopped one of the halves. My repair guy then found traces of an original sunburst confirming that is what the guitar had in 1942. As the story was pieced together, somewhere down the line somebody noticed the screw up and decided on the spot to shoot a burst on the guitar to cover up the mistake.

So the guitar can be seen as either a messed up J-50 or a very early example of a J-45 as it was built a couple of months before the J-45s went into production. If only Gibson had kept better records. But all of this just endears the guitar to me more as it is a perfect example of something built at a specific time in a specific place.

[Silly Moustache]

Hi Old Guy, this ld guy has two good ones (I think).

I'll do them in separate mails.

Andy's D35 story.

It was about 1976. For reasons and in ways that I can't recall, I found myself playing guitar mandolin and Dobro, in a London based Country Rock band which had decided that they wanted to do an acoustic set.

One of the guys (mainly the fiddle player) had a damaged D35 (with a fixed but obvious broken neck), but even to my relatively untutored ears it sounded remarkable - it was a 1973 model and so not a treasured year, but is haunted me. I offered to buy it but he advised me that he'd never part with it.

My job moved me north of London, and soon after it became logistically impossible for me to continue with the band.

Further, I had bought my first property and had to make choices between paying the mortgage or eating some months, and so my Martin D28 had to go, along with a couple of other lovely pieces.

I formed a duo with another guy - also a Martin fan who was keen to assemble a collection of every Martin model he could.

One day, I drove up to see him and pick for a while and he showed off an old slightly battered D35.
It sounded wonderful and (to my ears) far better than my newish D28.

I looked at it carefully and saw the broken neck. I said nothing at the time but memorised the serial number, and made contact with the feddle player.

Hi, have you still got your D35 ?
Er, no, why ?
I might have found it - can you remember the serial number?

It was the same guitar. He had traded it for a D45.

Next time I saw my friend, I offered to trade my newish D28 for the broken,. battered D35, and he readily agreed. (back then we thought newer was better than older).

I kept that guitar, my only dreadnought for many years , although between 1983 and 1993 I was struck down by a rare disease which affected my joints and stopped me playing. The Martin and my other instruments were pout in our uninsulated attic ...for ten years !

In 1993, I decided to try to start playing again, and (with help) get it down from the attic. It was pretty much still in tune! I used it to learn to play again, and by December that year, I managed my first floor spot for many years.

I formed an Americana trio and we became quite successful. I decided to "upgrade" to Martin J-40s and sold my D35 to a friend. I knew pretty much immediately that I'd made a big mistake. The J-40 didn't last long.

My frind has not cared for it, at it really looks pretty sad nowadays, but he gigs with it at least two/three nights a week, and when he comes to my club, it nearly makes me cry to hear that old D35. It has a very wide grain top, and I have wondered sometimes whether it is accidentally some special kind of spruce - adi or some such.

Al the time I owned it I never had anything done to it, and recently I took my friend to my favourite luthier to re-fret it and replace the peeling off pick guard.
It is as sound as a bell and sounds like a bell.

I'd buy it back if offered. He won't sell.

[Oldguy64]

Originally Posted by fazool

OK I think Champ0608 just won and anyone wlil be hard pressed to top that story.

Definitely!
Completely blows me away.

Good stories from all! Keep them coming.

My funniest story concerns my Ovation.
I'm a dialysis nurse, and I took an extra partial shift because it was getting near Christmas.

I finished at noon, and went home restless.
I grabbed my fourth son (my Jiminy Cricket) and wandered directly to the GC in Overland Park, KS.
Typical Saturday. The place was packed. I was patiently playing my way thru the inventory, and had skipped over this Ovation a couple of times, for "real" guitars.
The sales guy is walking thru and off handedly remarks that that Ovation is basically a "thousand dollar guitar" but they aren't really selling.
I check out his claims and find that this particular guitar is indeed MSRP at a penny shy of a grand. And this one is priced under $350.
Scheming begins. Jiminy...you remember Jiminy? He says, "uh dad...you need to talk to mom. If you don't she'll kill you for not, and me for not either stopping you, or getting you to talk to her. You aren't getting me killed this close to Christmas over a guitar."
So, I call the wife. I explain how this guitar is even better than the Alvarez Fusion I've been playing. So much so, that I'm willing to trade it to lower our cash outlay. So, I get her on board. I put the guitar in layaway to keep it from getting bought.
Jiminy and I race the thirty plus miles back home for the trade in guitar.
And before I can go out the door my wife stops me, and conversation ensues.
She knows I love Alvarez guitars. And she eventually tells me, I don't have to trade my Alvarez.
So, we race back to GC, the entire time I'm asking "What just happened." My son, being the wise one says, you came out ahead on that one...trust me, don't ask. Just roll with it."
I did.

[billgennaro]

In 1980, I had been working in a guitar repair/restoration shop in N.J. for a couple of years. Up on the shelf of "guitars to restore" was an old 1935 Martin 000-18. There was no finish on it to speak of. I had inquired about it years earlier and my boss told me it had been there for about 10 years and that the old woman who brought it in never came back or called or anything. So my boss (Tom Doyle) was just holding on to it and really had no idea what to do with it. So years passed and I continued to work there. One day, my boss asked me if I wanted to sell my D-35. Apparently, he had a client that he owed money and the guy would take a D-35 in lieu of payment. So my brain clicked into gear and I said I'll take that old Martin for it. My boss didn't even have to think about it and said, "Yeah, sure". So I restored the guitar myself and was the proud owner of a 45 year old 000-18. That guitar would be 79 years old today. I ended up selling it in 1994 for much less than what it would be worth today. It's a cool story but, truth is, I never really bonded 100% with that instrument. A few guitar friends that played it thought it was the best guitar they ever heard. But, unfortunately, not me. I liked it fine but eventually came across other instruments that suited me better, so I sold it (sigh).

Bill

[Silly Moustache]

In 1993, after a long illness, I had given up, playing for ten years.

I was walking along the high street of my small city one day and happened to glance in a music store, to see a fascinating dark brown topped guitar, on sale for £150. (not much even then) but it had a little damage on the back - nothiong much but not perfect.

I went in and had a look at the guitar - Daion - a name I'd never encountered, but not having played for ten years, I couldn't really do it justice.

It haunted me. Why wold I buy a guitar when I couldn't play any more, but it was so pretty and so cheap!

I thought about it for a couple of weeks and then resolved to go back and just buy it.
I couldn't find the shop. It had closed down, and so it, and that guitar had disappeared.

Later that year, my company IBM having discovered that it wasn't making money anymore, decided to offer everyone enormous golden handshakes if we "wished" to leave. Long story short, i took the offer, and commenced my "outplacement" which consisted of a plush office with a secretary, and all the online and telephone access I wanted.

Whilst running at least two marketing campaigned to find myself another job, I also researched that dark brown guitar.

I phoned many shops but no-one even knew of them, until one day, it occurred to me that a friend of mine had a luthier friend, and I rang him on the off chance: .
"Hi, have you ever heard of a Daion Legacy?"

The response was a choking coughing sound.

"Are you OK?"

"Yes" came the reply - "its just that as I was talking to you, I've opened an envelope from a client of mine and he's posing with just that guitar".

"Does he want to sell it do you think?"

"Well he's just taken possession of a custom guitar that I built for him, so it might be worth contacting him".

He gave me the guy's number. I rang him immediately.

"Hi, you don't know me but I wonder if you would consider selling your Daion Legacy?"

" .................................................. .... who ................... told you I was thinking of selling it?"

I told him and of my long search for such a guitar.

Yes he did want to sell it to help him with the cost of the custom guitar.

He lived a long way away - and that was problematic.

However within two weeks I got a job interview within twenty miles of his home town, and so I went to the interview (I didn't get the job) but I did get to meet him and I came home with the guitar.

Getting that guitar prompted me to tech myself to play again. It still plays wonderfully, but now I have changed to wider neck 12 fret guitars and so
I'm now trying to sell it.

....and this is the very guitar :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhIWro5pBak

[Misty44]

When I was a carpenter, I'd find old pennies left under window sills by the original builders dating the year the work was done: a professional bonding and time link between them long ago and us.

While removing the non-original guard on my then recently purchased used D-18, I discovered Merle Haggard's "signature." Provoked some head scratching and wonderment on my part - who other than Haggard would bother doing this, and doing it in a way that mimics one of his know styles?



So my story is that Merle's original guard on that D-18 needed replacing, and in between the old and new he penned his signature to the top as a way to say "howdy" to me years into the future. Like throwing a message in a bottle overboard, hoping someone someday may find it.

Improbable? Yes. But that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

[billgennaro]

Here is a second story from me. My wife recently struggled with breast cancer. She had a mastectomy and underwent 6 months of chemotherapy. It was a hell-ish year for both of us. I doted on her the entire time and was at her beckon call 24/7. I sometimes think that I was in an equal amount of emotional pain as she was in physical pain. I had truly wished it was me, and not her, lying in that bed all of those months. Anyway, she is now in her third year of being cancer free. One night, I jokingly said to her, "You know, if you ever die before me the first thing I'm going to do is go out and get a Somogyi". We both laughed and nothing more was said. About 10 minutes later she walked into the room and proclaimed, "I don't know why you should have to wait for me to die to buy the guitar of your dreams. You sacrificed for an entire year for me when I was sick. I think you deserve a Somogyi to kick off your retirement". And she meant it. She told me to buy what I wanted, no matter the cost. So I went to Luthier's Collection in San Diego, and I played dozens of guitars. I actually settled on a Jeff Traugott Model R instead of a Somogyi. I've had it for nearly two years now and I am in guitar heaven. I had been married for 30 years when all of this happened and it had been a great 30 years. My wife and I have always been in love since the day we met (March 4, 1981). But since her bout with cancer we have grown even closer and more in love. Who says good things can't come out of a seemingly tragic event? I am one lucky guy!

Bill

[billgennaro]

Originally Posted by Misty44

When I was a carpenter, I'd find old pennies left under window sills by the original builders dating the year the work was done: a professional bonding and time link between them long ago and us.

While removing the non-original guard on my then recently purchased used D-18, I discovered Merle Haggard's "signature." Provoked some head scratching and wonderment on my part - who other than Haggard would bother doing this, and doing it in a way that mimics one of his know styles?



So my story is that Merle's original guard on that D-18 needed replacing, and in between the old and new he penned his signature to the top as a way to say "howdy" to me years into the future. Like throwing a message in a bottle overboard, hoping someone someday may find it.

Improbable? Yes. But that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

I agree that you should stick to that story. I would also call Martin and see if they have any records of Merle ever purchasing a particular guitar from them. I did that once with an instrument (a Tommy Dorsey trombone) and it turned out to be true in my case. Just a thought!

Bill

[random works]

My wife who always thinks I am finished with getting guitars , out of the blue said she saw a guitar through a local Facebook ad. The seller wanted $30 or so I think and my wife offered $20 and got it. It was an old Stella Harmony OM size. I thought I could pull the tuners off and maybe make a wall hanger out of it. It looked like all plywood and the neck needed a reset. I plucked a few notes and was surprised enough to put new strings on it, then I slotted the bridge deeper and sanded the saddle to lower the action. The guitar had been played a lot and there was wear on the neck, looks like a thumb wrapper had played first position chords. He was a cigar smoker to, the smell of cigar smoke ( which I like) permeated the interior. So I had a mental picture of a cigar smoking blues player whaling away on the guitar with a shot glass at his side. I found out the guitar was not plywood, but all solid and sent it off to have it worked on. Due to the skill of the luthier ( and X bracing) it sounds heavenly still has the mojo. I told my wife If I pass away she should keep this guitar and she agreed.

[islandguitar]

These are great stories.....I'll share one.....it's not nearly as heartwarming, but kinda fun anyway!
I'd looked for several years for a second smaller 00 Bourgeois and finally found one....a 00 in Arizona at Acoustic Vibes. Something just seemed to "speak" to me about this guitar ( the woods, the look, price,etc.), even though it was on the internet and not played in person. Fortunately I knew Bourgeois and it made it easier to consider purchasing. A few calls back and forth....the store owner.....my wife at work.....more questions with the store owner. Another call to the store owner.....who says "oh yes, someone is here looking at the guitar now".( no bs as they are a shop which has more invitation only with serious clients). I say...."I like to buy that guitar, would you let that gentlemen know that it's sold, please". He says...."just a minute" puts down the phone and walks over and literally takes the guitar out of the guys hands! Comes back and makes the sale with my credit info, etc. The guitar arrived the very next day.
Dial it forward......two days later I'm on UMGF talking about this exchange and a guy on the forum writes back from NORTH CAROLINA and tells me, HE WAS THAT GUY! Amazing.....seems he was traveling on business that day in Arizona and had stopped by the shop and then returned home a day later. Blew me away that this guy just two nights later connected via the forum. He was nice enough to let me know he thought I got a great guitar!
A fun story! Small world!
Fred

[okieboy]

My 1964 Gibson LG-1 is just back from its annual "full physical" at Tulsa Guitar and Electronics. It has been part of my life for a very long time. During my senior year (1964-65) at Hope College in Holland, Michigan I was a departmental assistant. At the end of the first semester I was handed a check for $50. I was still playing my Sears Silvertone but I had been looking longingly at a Gibson in the window at a local music store. It had a small ding on the left lower bout -- hence the $50 price. And it had not traveled far from its birthplace. I marched the check right down to the music store and bought that Gibson. I really knew nothing about what I'd bought except that it was a Gibson and it sounded a whole lot better than my Silvertone. I had that guitar all through graduate school; I courted Jeanne with it 45 years ago, and I sang our daughter to sleep with it. But for a very long time after 1969 the Gibson stayed in its case as I relentlessly climbed the academic ladder. I really only realized how wonderful that Gibson is when I retired and could give it the proper attention it deserves. I look now at it from across the room and think how much we have seen together. I'm grateful for it and the history that is stored in its wood. I hope we have a few more years together!

[callouses]

I have a 000 alvarez that is special to me. I was never especially partial to smaller bodied guitars, but, this one is sentimental to me. I used to own a '70 j45. Bought it new, took it with me everywhere I went, even VietNam. I had a close bonding with that one, moreso than other guitars I have owned through the years. When my son was in his senior year of high school, he wanted to go on his senior trip to New York, but we didn't have the money to let him go. He accepted the news and took it well, but I could see in his heart that he was really let down. So, I sold my j45, (my only guitar that I had had for 30 yrs), and financed his trip. I went for a few years guitarless, and a good friend at church loaned me an Ovation that he had 'till I could save up for a new guitar. After a couple of months I returned it to him, because the curved back of the Ovation, and my pot belly could not reconcile each other. It would just slide up, like a lap steel, I couldn't play it . But this same friend was out researching ads from the newspaper, and found the Alvarez we are talking about. He offered it to me for what he paid for it. 60 bucks. It had a cardboard case that was falling apart, the strings were high, but I gladly took it, because I was so eager to play. I asked another one of my buddies, who does all my guitar work for me, to take it and see what he could do. He did a neck reset, and HAND STICHED the cardboard case back together...I still love to play that guitar every day.