Re: Vintage Gear, E-bait etc

[Paul Richards <paulrichard10@adelphia.net>]

(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.
> >