View Single Post
  #12  
Old 06-16-2014, 05:56 AM
JTFoote JTFoote is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: The Great Smoky Mountains
Posts: 1,594
Default

I had a Madeira back in '82, given to me by my ex-wife as a replacement for a Yamaha that had been stolen when I was in the Army. She probably paid about $100.00 or so for it. I recall that it was a pretty darned good entry level guitar, and I played it for about three years before trading it.

I wrote a lot of songs with that Madeira, and when I traded it, the bass player I was working with really mourned the loss, and fussed at me for several years afterwards, because he had really liked the sound of it. I traded it for a $400.00 Les Paul Standard, plus cash. Wish I still had that one, too.!

I remember that I never had it set-up, and it was ready to play, right off the rack. It was seven years later, when I bought a Guild GF-55, that I finally had a guitar good enough in tone and playability to adequately replace it. The Madeira might have been part of the Guild budget line, but it really was a good guitar, and better than the price would indicate

I'd not pay $500.00 for one, but I might pay half that if it was in pristine condition, just to have one again. Personally, I'd rather have a Madeira that was in great shape than a modern Taylor Big Baby, but that's just me, fondly remembering those days when I was really learning to play, and doing it on that guitar. I should have kept it, and trading it is one of my few regrets of that era.

I miss it more than I do the ex-wife.

... JT
__________________
"Yield to temptation. It may not pass your way again." - Robert A. Heinlein
Reply With Quote