Re: Vintage Gear, E-bait etc

[Richard Sales <richard@glasswing.com>]

Ah!  Quoting the Guru! :)

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 9:03 AM, Paul Richards wrote:

> (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.