Once you're bitten by the guitar bug you'll understand. Guitars are special and those who have been bitten understand this and accept that their world is forever changed now and the lure and mystery of the instrument itself becomes as sweet to us as the music that drew us to the instrument in the first place. When you play on an instrument that helps you play effortlessly with great emotion you can't help but fall for the instrument itself. It's like you can love love for love's sake but it's you're lover that makes love tangible and real. The radio and it's affect on you or hearing someone else perform is one thing, but music flowing through your very own voice or hands via an instrument is something else altogether.
When you're a songwriter or performer your guitar really does become an extension of your soul, your very being. The more comfortable and at ease you are with your guitar and the better it sounds the more effective you will be at getting the music across that you are trying to play. This is also true for the casual player. Just because you might not be a professional musician doesn't mean your guitar or your music is any less important or effective. You might be playing for a few friends at a backyard barbecue but that doesn't mean you want your music to sound any less impressive than the pros at the big club downtown.
The guitar is a portable instrument designed to be cradled in your arms either standing up or sitting down. It can be plugged in and played electrically with a multitude of sounds and effects or can be played acoustically on a variety of body styles and string types, but the basics of guitar playing are the same on any style guitar. It is an extremely popular instrument because of it's portability and the fact that it is easy to learn something to play in a relatively short amount of time. It is both percussive and melodic and therefore the perfect accompaniment for a singer.
Another aspect of the guitar for the songwriter is that it seems that each new and different guitar you acquire comes loaded with a batch of songs. There is no greater inspiration for me than a new or different guitar to bring out a new song. The only thing that compares is getting stuck writing a song and then coming back to an old faithful guitar that has been delivering results for years.
My latest acquisition is a beautiful Heritage Cherry '61 Reissue Gibson SG that I've immediately fallen in love with. Who'd a thunk it? I've been playing Fenders for years and have occasionally come close to buying a Gibson but never even considered an SG. But on July 2nd 2011, one month to the day my sweet mama passed away, I won my Gibson beauty in a drawing at Musicians Corner in my hometown of Nashville, TN. I believe it was a sign from Mama saying "you're on the right track, keep believing in your music." I'm naming this cherry beauty after my red headed mama Anna Mae.
The way we come by our guitars can be magical. They each have a story. I remember the first guitars that were given to me. The Kingston acoustic that I could barely play because the strings were were so high. The Sears semi-hollow body electric with the adjustable bridge and whammy bar that kept it forever out of tune but still sounded wicked blasted through the little blue Harmony amp with tremolo Mom and Dad got for me to go with it. I learned just barely enough on those instruments to know that I wanted to have an instrument that I could really learn on, so I worked through a summer and fall cleaning office buildings with my dad to pay for a great acoustic guitar. Then there are the stories of the teenage bands and the guitars that came and went in subsequent years. Then coming back to music professionally in my thirties and more guitars that have needed to come since. The recording session that I took that called for classical guitar but I didn't have a classical guitar. So I bought a cheap Yamaha that a guitar builder buddy customized for me in a day and is one of my favorite writing and recording guitars ever since. There's the early 60's Gibson 12-string that I was blessed with by a former student. And now...there's Anna Mae. And she's already been used in a couple gigs and is looking forward to many recording sessions.
I've enjoyed many SG players over the years
like Cream era Clapton, George Harrison,
Sister Rosetta Tharp, Pete Townsend, Paul Weller, Robbie Krieger, Jerry Garcia, Thom Yorke, Frank Zappa
and Derek Trucks to name a few, but never really thought about playing one myself. Now I have to say it's 60's style thin neck is the smoothest neck I've ever played on. It's lightweight and is equipped with killer classic '57 Humbucker pickups. The natural warm overdriven tones seem perfect for so much of the current music I'm working on.
If you've been reading this blog I'm sure you're already someone who understands this relationship between a person and his or her guitar to some degree and by this point I'm sure you're ready to sign off and go pick up your favorite musical partner, collaborator and inspiration...your guitar. Go pick some tunes and have some fun! Thanks for reading. Be sure to share stories about your favorite guitar in the comment section. We'd love to hear them.