music: Allman Brothers Band- At the Fillmore East d.2
I’d been plucking away at my old Epiphone Les Paul Special for almost four years now and over the past year or so I finally outgrew it. While the low-low-lowest end LP was a perfect starter electric, I realized about a year ago that I was past the starter stage and it was time to upgrade. I kept a casual eye open to new guitars around town, periodically popping into music shops to check out the latest. An axe caught my eye a couple days ago at Mr. Music in Allston. They say that you’ll know when you pick the right one up, and as I took it off the wall and started to pick at it something felt very, very right about it. the weight, balance, neck width, action, the way it sat, distance from volume knob to selector switch…this was it. ES-335 model (an ES-333 actually), which is the model i’d been eyeing for years. This one had a natural finish, not flashy but elegant, and because it was an ES-333 it was about $800-$900 cheaper than its bigger brother. I was in and out of the store for a couple days this week, plugging the thing in, debating whether or not to drop so much money on a piece of wood and metal, allowing myself to believe I was ready for such a nice axe.
So it’s been a long time in the coming; the old tools could only get me so far. I dropped a hefty chunk of change today on my new guitar.” It was a sizable investment to be sure, but one that will pay dividends in excellent sound and playability for years and years. This is an axe that will be with me for a long time.
The difference between the old and new guitar is astronomical. Everything feels more solid now; I actually feel like I can pull off some pretty brash licks that I couldn’t have before. Part of it is the new axe just plays better — it’s better constructed and has higher-quality components — but part of it is that this new guitar means that this music thing is getting serious. The biggest hang-up I had in buying the new axe was the question of just how serious I was going to be about playing. Was I content to play in my bedroom, record some stuff and squirrell it away, or am I ready to start collaborating, hitting up jam sessions, playing out? The latter just wasn’t feasible with the old guitar, at the level I was looking for anyway. And even if I spend another couple months or years in the bedroom recording mode, the new axe will lend a higher quality to my work. What comes out of the thing is more balanced, measured, even. Simply put, I can worry less about putting my fingers in the right place (the old guitar demanded a much more exact hand technique, a good thing for a starter axe) and start worrying more about bringing feeling to the music. I’m much looser now. I’m able to think more laterally than vertically on the fretboard. And the sustain…
The past couple months have seen a steady investment in music gear. I’m now in possession of some high-quality mics, a mixer, some digital production software, a pretty nice 20-watt tube amp, some pedals, some cables, a bass, my trusty old acoustic, and now one beautiful natural cherry semi-hollowbody Gibson electric. Looking at the thing now, I realize that it’s almost the same model as a guitar I listened to a lot growing up, one owned by a friend of mine in high school, a guy whose playing (and discipline and modesty about it all) did a great deal in inspiring me to pick up the instrument for myself. My buddy Mike is now making it as a musician, performing on Garrison Keillor’s Prarie Home Companion, and I can only hope to channel some of his drive, emotion, passion, and talent in this new step.
The guitar is a musical intstrument, and like any instrument it is a tool that humans use to facilitate some other project. It is a means to an end. This particular instrument will allow me some more freedom of expression, increase the range and quality of my pallete, but ultimately the music will come from the same place it always has. Now, though, more has been made possible and the bar has been raised. I look forward to the challenge.
Posted by davidtaus at October 15, 2004 10:54 PM
