Eisboch wrote:
"D.Duck" wrote in message
...


Have fun with your guitars.

The fun part of the guitars is the people you meet and the education I am
getting from the
luthier I work with.

The people fall into three basic categories. The first are "players"
meaning people that actively gig publicly and are, in their minds, one song
away from becoming famous. Some make it. Most don't. But it's enjoyable
to witness the passion they have in trying.

The second is the one that amazes me the most. There are more decent, very
talented closet guitarists around than I ever imagined. They come from all
walks of life ... from plumbers to doctors. They don't play publicly but
have highly developed playing skills from years of casual practice as a
hobby. Some are better than the ones gigging every other night at clubs.

The third is the occasional pro that walks in the door and proceeds to blow
you away. Haven't had many, but the few that have come in the shop quickly
demonstrate the difference between a professional musician and us amateurs.
There's one old guy that comes in fairly regularly. He likes playing
traditional, wide necked classical guitars, so I found and purchased a
fairly decent one that I keep at the shop for his visits. When he shows
up, the amps are all turned off and he entertains whoever happens to be in
the shop at the time with some of the most beautiful classical guitar
playing I've heard. It's one thing to watch a video or listen to a
recording. It's quite another to watch someone live playing flawlessly and
with expression. This guy also plays jazz guitars using traditional chord
melodies and occasionally a Fender Telecaster.
One day I finally asked him, "Ok .. *who* are you?" Turns out he used to
play in the Louie Armstrong band.

Then there is the luthier I mentioned. Before meeting him a guitar was just
a device with strings that you plucked to me. From him I've learned the
history and some of the aspects of what makes a guitar work, from physics to
the tone woods that are used. A guitar is one of the most unique musical
instruments in existence when you get into the mathematics of the fretboard
and formation possibilities of chords.
For example, there's only a few ways to play a "C" chord on a piano, yet
there are at least half a dozen ways to play it on a guitar. I don't know
why, but it's interesting to me.

It's a fun hobby and keeps me off the streets and out of bars.

Eisboch


All very interesting. And it not only keeps you off the streets and out
of the bars, you don't have time to muck the stable.