Does a better guitar force you to up your playing?

Balderdash

Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2020
Messages
176
Reaction score
283
Location
Virginia & Vermont
Guild Total
2
You ever hear Kottke tell story of how he met Bob Dylan?



lol

<veer>
Since Leo Kottke is working into this thread…;
I’ve watched a lot of Leo K. YouTube videos and frequently, when he gets really going, his left foot pumps with impressive energy… Some months ago I wrote this;

Leo Kottke’s Left Foot

With all the global warming
From all the carbon fuel we use
Governments are in a frenzy
Over atmosphere abuse

Nuc reactors have their negatives
By now everyone has heard
We have to stop pumping oil
And coal is a four letter word

Electric cars are the future
Renewable energy; that’s the stuff !
But wind and solar are complicated
How can we generate enough ?

What else could we harness
That would have enough output
The best thing I could think of would be
Leo Kottke’s left foot !!

Amazing finger guitar work
A pounding rhythmic and awesome sound
His left foot going like a jackhammer
Pumping up and down

Hook him to a generator
Give him a guitar and just stand back
High voltage zings to the power grid
No need for a dirty smoke stack

So you can charge your IPhone
And drive your Tesla near and far
We’ll hook up Leo’s left foot
And give him his guitar
 

Neal

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2013
Messages
4,852
Reaction score
1,618
Location
Charlottesville, VA
Jim, I don't think there is such a thing, unless it gets in the way of durability. My Martin D18 David Crosby might be guilty of that, having already had some structural issues that required a neck reset and new frets/fretboard planing, which is probably a bit premature in a guitar that was less than 20 years old when the work was done.

As an aside, not long after I bought my D18DC, there was a Martin D18 Authentic 1937 that was languishing at the Guitar Center near my office, and I used to play it pretty regularly. I knew the store manager that was there at the time pretty well (they've probably been through twenty of them since), and after lowering the price a couple of times with no takers, I got a call from him one day. He told me that corporate had told him to lower the price to $3,000 (an insane price for a guitar like this that was more than double that new), and he said he would rather see me get it than someone who would likely just flip it.

I went the next day and brought my D18DC with me with a fresh set of EJ16s, and did the same with the Authentic. After A/B'ing for a while, I finally decided to just stick with the D18DC, largely because it had an adjustable truss rod (and it was paid for). On the scale they had, the Authentic weighed just over four pounds, probably the lightest dread I've ever encountered, and a few ounces lighter than the DC. I second guessed myself for many years on that decision, but the other thing that swayed me was the forward shifted bracing on the Authentic made it almost a little too bass-heavy, and the baseball bat sized neck was a wee bit too big for me as well. But the guitar still stuck in my craw, because it really was that good.

Fast forward to a few years ago, and I had the opportunity to try the then new D18 Authentic 1939, which was based an a D18 with a smaller neck, and rear shifted bracing for a bit less bass. Its similar to the difference between the D28 Authentic 1937, and its 1941 counterpart. This particular guitar just blew me away, and to this day is probably the only mahogany dreadnought I've played that I liked better than my Crosby. And just as light as the 1937 that was at Guitar Center. But then there was the $6K+ price...

Well lo and behold, a D18 Authentic 1939 just came up for sale for an almost too good to be true price, and I bought it. It won't be here until the end of next week all going well, but if it's anything like the other one I played, it's going to disrupt my herd a bit. And hopefully inspire me to play a lot more guitar. I've been pretty busy with bands lately, and have been mostly playing bass.
A D-18 Authentic is in the top five acoustics I have ever played.
 

banjomike

Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2022
Messages
190
Reaction score
433
Guild Total
1
I definitely notice the differences between a new guitar and a familiar guitar, and there have been times when the new guitar will hang me up at first when I'm playing something that's difficult.
But I never buy a guitar that didn't attract me. When they're new, I tend to play them exclusively until they become familiar feeling.

Not all of them ha I ve been difficult to adjust to. Some have made a hard tune easier to play immediately, even if they feel different.

I've purchased a couple more for their action and ease of play than their tone, but I've also purchased guitars for their tone above all and have never liked the way they've felt in my hands. Even if they're difficult to play, I tend to use them a lot when the guitar fits the music I'm chasing at the moment.

But I do have one that's always been my overall favorite in both tone and action. Months can go by when I don't play it at all, but as soon as I pick it up, it's like Old Home Week for me. Every time. It's the one I always use when I know I'll be sketchy with the music when I play a pick-up gig or if I'm being a paid side-man in a recording session. Since it always feels so familiar, I can fake my way through a gig the best on it.

I don't own many guitars of the same brand or type. Or size or shape. And I dabble in a lot of different musical genres. I really enjoy all the differences a lot. The challenge of the new tends to keep my interest in playing strong, but my aging bod won't allow me to be the hot rod I once was 40 years ago these days. I've noticed that lately, I'm choosing comfort over tone more than I ever did in the past.
 

Br1ck

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2014
Messages
1,661
Reaction score
1,401
Location
San Jose, Ca
All a good guitar does is up your enjoyment. You have to decide to up your game all on your own.

You can't buy what you really want. You have to earn it. You can have more fun doing it however.
 
Top