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(Many musicians of India.......... won't let anybody TOUCH THEIR
INSTRUMENT. --
Kind of like Nigel Tufnel from Spinal Tap. ("Don't touch it. Don't touch
it." to Rob Reiner)
Paul
---- Richard Sales <richard@glasswing.com> wrote:
> Vintage instruments?
>
> It IS something you have to experience to know. Most guitars are made
> of wood. Wood ages. And wood that's had sound put through them for
> ten or more years sounds DIFFERENT than wood that's new. Simple
> physics. The more sound put through and the older, the better they can
> sound. In the old days we used to put our guitars, especially
> acoustics, in front of our stereo speakers and crank it and leave them
> to cook for as long as we could stand it. We might have been crazy,
> but the theory is sound I think.
>
> I know - I've played a lot of nice guitars. My new Collings acoustic,
> actually 12 years old, sounds wonderful. I have a Santa Cruz here
> (Bill Bloomer's) that's about the same age that sounds incredible. But
> my grandfather's Maurer, made around 1924 by the Larson Brothers,
> sounds so good it just howls and humiliates my other guitars. And it
> is loaded with personality... or, what's called in Sanskrit, 'bhava'.
> Now you might think this is strange, but I don't play it all that much
> because it spoils me... and because I can't take it on the road.
>
> Now, many musicians of India, who I think have had an awful lot of time
> to think about their instruments and who practice probably more than
> anyone on earth, quite often won't let anyone else even TOUCH THEIR
> INSTRUMENT. I've wondered why this is and have concluded that guitars
> - wooden instruments especially - become charged with the spirit of the
> player. I know this may sound a little fern bar and double latte to
> some, but I know it for a fact, or have experienced this with my
> guitars and playing the guitars of others. It's almost like you can
> download a bit of the players energy when you play their guitars. Or
> when they play your guitars they get charged. John Fahey played my
> guitars frequently and vice versa. Danny Gatton played my guitars etc.
> David Sylvian played my guitars and vice versa.. and many others.
> This is all very subtle stuff but very tangible if you pay real close
> attention. And, because I am mainly a tone junky more than a
> technician. it makes all the difference to me.
>
> Wait! Save your typing fingertips! Yes I AM crazy! Don't waste your
> time belaboring the obvious. The catch is, I haven't met a soul yet
> who isn't. 58 years and counting.
>
> Now all of this doesn't mean you can't go into a store and buy a new
> Tele that doesn't sound magnificent. And it doesn't mean you HAVE to
> have an old guitar to make great music, or become famous, or to write
> that song or do that solo that will change the world for the better...
> or be a worthy human. There's a different kind of aging that does
> that. But there will always be incredible players who use dog guitars
> and make magical music. One of the best guitarists I've ever worked
> closely with (Kenny Davis - The Platters, The Flamingos) had about five
> brand new Japanese strats that he torqued and tortured and squeezed
> devils and angels out of. So...????
>
> Who cares? I care because, FOR ME, I love it and am spoiled by very
> fine instruments. Does this make me a better player? Hard to say. I
> personally think so because I think tone is everything. I've always
> thought one really well played howling note could out perform a
> blizzard of thirty second notes. It's all about soul. And if you've
> got soul, you can make it happen with a two string ektar. I've seen it
> happen. I perform with a guy who does just that (Bhagavan Das). If you
> don't have soul, you couldn't do it with a Stradivarius.
>
> There's nothing wrong with that! The world needs good accountants and
> business people. And I don't say that sarcastically. All people have
> soul - just some have it for music, some for numbers, some for zeros
> and ones, some for scalpels and bone saws, some for literature,
> storytelling etc. And they all deserve equal respect.
>
> Therefore, I think it's most important to focus on our own hearts and
> minds and wood shedding and conquering our own demons & shadows (and
> technologies) and training our own angels to come when we whistle. It's
> FAR more important than vintage or not vintage. I just like to make my
> angels job easier by having a nice axe to land on.
>
> And, Luca, thanks for the kind words. I'm always so reluctant to write.
>
> I bow to all of you and your ever expanding talent, intelligence and
> value.
>
> richard sales
> glassWing farm and studio
> vancouver island, b.c.
> 800.545.6846
> 250.752.4816
> www.glassWing.com
> www.richardsales.com
> www.hayleysales.com
> www.blueberryfieldsfarm.com
> On 19-Dec-06, at 6:55 AM, Goddard, Duncan wrote:
>
> >>> I'm sorry, this is the largest pile of arse I have ever heard.<<
> >
> > it's quite obvious to me from damian's measured response that he's
> > never had the good fortune to encounter an "inanimate" object
> > possessed of the spirit either of it's makers or it's previous owners.
> > this leads me to wonder if NZ is a desert when it comes to elderly
> > fenders & the like.
> >
> > damian, don't knock what you don't understand.
> >
> > duncan.
> >