Back in August, with the blessing of AGF Owner/Founder J.R. Rogers, “Riorider” Phil Brodersen announced that in anticipation of this forum's 10th Anniversary, we would give an AGF Outstanding Volunteer Service Award, the first such award in our history. I was totally blown away to be named the recipient of that award.
http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=192789
In addition, people were invited to say nice things about be, deserved or not, and tell “Cotten stories” on me. Many of you did, and I'm e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y grateful and humbled. My very manly-man eyes overflowed again and again as I read the comments. Sometimes that was because of how touching they were. Sometimes it was because I was doubled over with laughter, rolling on the floor, just thinking how relieved I am that you don't live with me every day! You'd see that I'm a very simple, ordinary man, with many of the same problems and limitations and flaws that other people have.
Yet this ordinary man has been given an extraordinary honor by some extraordinary people! Not only did people make up nice things to say about me, they were invited to donate toward a collective gift of a custom guitar, to be made by the luthier of his choice, with a value up to $5000! Friends, to me that is a LOT of money, more than I would ever likely pay for any guitar!
In fact, because I knew I couldn't afford a fine, custom built guitar, I never even looked at them, except perhaps when one would show up in our Classifieds. This this Award came, and together, people actually amassed $5,000! With this, I set out on a journey, a journey to learn about the custom guitars being built by our AGF Sponsors. Oh, I know that there are fine builders who are not (yet!) supporters of this community, but I felt that it was only fitting that an AGF Award guitar be built by an AGF Sponsor. That was the easiest decision in the whole process! From there, it became an uphill climb.
You see, though I've only met one of them in person, every one of our luthier Sponsors is a dear friend. I mean that! I've talked with each one along the way, and though they are very distinct individuals that defy pigeon-holing, I have tremendous respect for each one, both personally and professionally.
Complicating matters was the fact that I knew nothing - nada - about the wonderful world of custom guitars. I needed an education, fast! So I asked my friends here for their thoughts on "Choosing a Sponsor's $5,000 Fingerstyle" guitar.
http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=193185 WOW! I couldn't believe the depth of wisdom, insight and opinion, often born out of many years of experience with a wide range of custom guitars that I received. That public thread alone runs some ten pages, and I've received dozens of confidential PMs and emails from trusted friends. You
can't buy at any price the kind of advice I've received! Again, I'm blown away by the kindness people have shown.
Of course, we're guitarists, and we seldom agree 100% on anything. Every one of our luthier Sponsors was recommended by at least a few very enthusiastic fans. But the more I read, the more I studied web sites, the more I got to play sample guitars from some of these very generous builders, the more I was able to narrow my working list of potential builders.
I was thrilled when I finally got it down to ten. Don't laugh, that wasn't easy! I was only able to do that because a few regretfully took themselves out of the running, for various reasonable reasons. But how to choose among those ten? That was probably the most enjoyable-yet-painful experiences in my life! I loved every minute of it, yet hated it when I reached the point where I felt I should take another friend's name off the list.
No, I won't share with you who those ten were, or the six, or the Final Four. I will only tell you the eventual winner, and I'll tell you a little about why this particular builder was chosen.
In a minute. This post is already nearing it's limit, and there remains much to say. So somebody please go wake up the drummer. I'll give him the cue for the drum roll before The Announcement in a moment. Someone needs a little moderator help, and as always, first things first.
cotten