ya never forget 'yer first....

Written on 6/09/2008 09:03:00 PM by Miles

guitar.

I was stringing this old thing up tonight for a friend to take to San Diego for a youth camp, and I must say I had forgotten about how good this thing sounds. It's an Art & Lutherie Wild Cherry model. Apparently they don't make this model any longer. I'm not sure if this is a cool thing, or a we've moved on to something different sort of thing. Either way, that's the model I have. I actually got it as a trade for my first true guitar. My dad got me a starter guitar for my birthday. I'm pretty sure it wasn't made of any real wood except for the neck. Long story short: I left it overnight in my car in the middle of winter and the neck didn't stay in the same place that I remembered it being the day before. So, I took it back to the place where my dad bought it.

There were a couple of teenage guys working at the music store that day. I walked it in and asked if I could get it fixed and, after giving it a quick once-over, they laughed (pretty hard I might add). They walked me over to a rack of guitars and said that I could pick any guitar on it and trade it for the warped guitar, even Steven. They were delighted that I had brought the other one back, as it meant for them an afternoon of busting the guitar against a tree outside (their words). So, I picked this one. I liked how it looked really natural with the cherry top, back & sides. No fancy frills or inlay, just some fake pearl dots and an etched rosette around the sound hole. I loved it.

It currently has a not-so-straight neck, as it was this way when I got it. But, it's not enough to really hurt it unless you play way up on the neck (which I don't). I couldn't believe the sound it had tonight after putting a new set of strings on it. I haven't even thought about this guitar since I bought my new one recently. It's just been sitting on a stand here in the apartment. But now, I think I'm about going to play it more when sitting around the house, or if I want to take it somewhere outdoors just to noodle around with. It's the guitar I learned chords on, and the one I played when I realized I could play and sing at the same time without sounding like a total dweeb.

The point of this post? Heck, I don't know. I guess it's this: You don't know whatcha got 'til it's gone.....to San Diego for a week. :-)

Be good to it and stay classy San Diego (founded by the Germans in 1904, of course) .