I have an acoustic guitar that I think is special. It’s so special to me that I’m still surprised it’s mine. I never in my life imagined I’d own a guitar so nice, and now I hang on to it to spite myself for thinking that. It’s funny, sometimes guilt isn’t merited. Like when owning a fancy instrument.
They are so damn expensive.
I was brought up poorer than a lot of folks although not as poor as most of the world. Nice things were scarce around the house. They’d often end up in pawn shops, or sold to buddies at discount for bills and food. When I was a kid, when we got a Nintendo, every time a friend in our circle got a game, we all rejoiced because we knew we’d all get to play it. That was because games were expensive. They were meant to be shared.
The one that got away..
I had a gold top 71 Les Paul Gold Top for a hot minute. There’s a picture online that pops up of me occasionally playing it. There’s a giant smiley face in the background. We were in San Antonio. Played all the time. 4 bandmates and my wife living in a one bedroom loft. We ate a lot of ramen. When the band broke up, I pawned the Les Paul, and an Alvarez 25th anniversary dreadnought acoustic, solid black and silver trim. Needed bus tickets, among other things. I may have gotten a fraction of what they were worth. But I was poor, couldn’t even afford to sell them right.
For a long time after that, I only bought cheap guitars. I just didn’t want to lose another super nice one. Still hurts sometimes about that Les Paul. Then I got a cool job at a guitar shop many years later.
You just have to hear it.
I eventually found myself in a position to buy a nice thing. What was I supposed to do? The Breedlove rep at the guitar store made it easy. He had two guitars he wanted to show me. I don’t even remember the second one, as soon as I heard him play this one, it was over. I needed it.
This is a Breedlove Concert Manzanita. Its best friend is the coolest mic you can afford to record it with. Right now I’m on the Myrtle from Ear Trumpet Labs. I’m also fond of the Chameleon Labs TS-2. It also does well on the SM57 and lifter thing. It’s probably going to sound great no matter what it’s hooked up to. It sounds great so..
This guitar is made from a spruce that was several hundred years old. It fell. Breedlove in Bend, OR claimed it. They made 50 of these. This is number 35. It’s dyed with the manzanita berries native to the area there. It’s actually nicer than the Les Paul was years ago. Different animal, but flawless in sound and looks. The Les Paul actually gave me fits sometimes. None of that with this.
I still love good deals.
I also paid 500 dollars not too long ago for a new Les Paul. It is an Epiphone ‘59 model. It has a baseball bat neck, BurstBuckers pickups, and a satin-like VOSS finish. I’m playin’ this guitar daily and on several projects. I actually like it more than the ‘71 Gold Top. It feels awesome to have that sound again. Also, no fits.
Some musicians will tell you nice instruments are overrated. It’s what you do with them that counts. This actually isn’t true. Many of us will never earn the cost of one instrument we love with our music. They’re probably rated about right, to me. It’s the music itself that doesn’t pay much. It’s not the instrument’s fault.
On a budget?
For a long time, I didn’t budget much for guitars. I had reasons and I didn’t have any money. Plus, I was convinced I could get a nice enough guitar on a budget to last me. I did. Not a bad way to go.
But when I heard the Breedlove, the price didn’t matter. I wanted a guitar that sounded like that. Snappy, deep, complex, soothing. It’s more than a budget sound. This doesn’t have to do with where I am musically. Anyone can hear how nice it is. It has to do with where I’m at financially. That’s a shame. So I don’t give you budget guitar folks a hard time. Been there. All it would take is a bounced check and a set of tires, I’d be selling that Breedlove and looking for a budget replacement. The way we live.
Owning a nice guitar is a responsibility to me. Sure we need to take care of these things. But we also need to play the hell out of them. Gotta’ get our money’s worth.
Return to home.