dhanners623 Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 In early 2005 at a guitar get-together at Gabe’s in St. Paul, MN, I met this tall guy from the backwoods of Browerville, MN, named Denis O’Neill. He was playing a cool dread he’d assembled from a StewMac kit. I liked it, so I asked him if he could build me one and he said “yes” and quoted me a ridiculously low price. So I commissioned a guitar, with a few personal tweaks. I wanted a mahogany dread with the old style “V” neck. I wanted an ebony fretboard devoid of inlay. I'd provide the pickguard, tuners and bridge pins. A few weeks later, we met at a coffee shop in St. Paul and he presented me with a guitar. As he took it out the case, he said words to the effect of, “This guitar didn’t turn out like I had hoped. Let me build you another at no cost.” He was right; the neck/body angle was just wrong. But, hey, it was the second guitar he’d ever put together so I tried to be understanding. So three months later, we met at the coffee shop again and he had the replacement guitar. I picked it up and the first thing I noticed was it was light as a feather. You could send it airmail. Nearly every great acoustic guitar I've played or owned was amazingly light. I strummed a G chord and knew immediately this was A GUITAR. It was a cannon. Great tone. Sustain to die for. A deep resonance that made it a banjo killer. Excellent action. He knocked it out of the park. I’ve gigged with it, recorded with it and when I put together a bluegrass band in the summer of 2016, this was the guitar I played. When I’d go sit with my ailing father in the VA hospital and play a few old tunes for him, this was the guitar I took. Months later, when he was in hospice care at home, this is the guitar he heard. It helped get me through a divorce and was there when I found new love. But when it came time to move to Kuwait in July 2014, I had concerns over whether Jane (the guitar's name) would survive in he harsh environment that is Kuwait, Where Music and Guitars Go to Die. The guitar had already had a couple of neck resets and the bridge had been replaced. I just didn’t know how it would react to the desert. Some of the Twin Cities’ best repair people have had their hands on this guitar at one time or another: Kevin Schwab, Ron Tracy, Marty Reynolds and Leo Whitebird. And there isn't a single acoustic guitar repairman in all of Kuwait. When we headed abroad, I left the guitar with a friend, and he kept it humidified. I picked up the guitar when we came back to the U.S. for a visit in 2016. That summer, I played it with my bluegrass band at my hometown’s annual Popcorn Festival. When it was time to head home to Kuwait, I gave it to Leo in return for repair work he had done to keep it alive through the summer. He uses it as a “communal” instrument when he teaches. I saw Leo Saturday and saw the guitar. He’s loaning it to me for my trip to Illinois next week. I brought it to our AirBNB and Sunday morning, as the coffee was brewing and a gentle rain cooled off St. Paul, I strung it up with Martin Monels, and the guitar’s magic flooded back. Jeez. I love guitars that inspire and motivate and Sunday morning, it was telling me I had left some songs in it that I needed to write. It's showing it's age. It's got a top crack (that Leo expertly repaired) and a ding on the bass side of the upper bout. There are nicks and scratches galore. A couple of popsicle braces fell out. When we head back to Kuwait in August, Leo will get the guitar back and his students will get to learn their own songs on it, but I’ll cherish the month’s worth of music I’ll get to create with it. Life is good and guitars help with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuestionMark Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Very cool guitar story. Thanks for sharing. QM aka Jazzman Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bayoubengal1954 Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Glad you and the guitar are getting reacquainted. Great story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars68 Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 Never part with that guitar, and keep it alive whatever it takes. I started playing as an adult and have not had enough time to achieve that kind of sentimental attachment to a great instrument. So I envy you. Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle fester Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 Great story! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirNed Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 Love that story. Glad to hear you're sharing the guitar with others so they can experience what you've felt. Is Mr. Oneil still making guitars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 I am not sure how I would feel about a guitar that has needed to be resuscitated as many times as yours in less than 15 years. But it is a really great story and again brings home that it is this kind of a personal history with an instrument that makes it uniquely your own. The repairs as well as every nick and scratch are all memories. And this is what Mojo truly means. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scriv58 Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 where you be in illinois next week? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoSoxBiker Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 Nice story! I looked twice - no pics? I'm curious to see what she looks like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhanners623 Posted July 4, 2018 Author Share Posted July 4, 2018 Love that story. Glad to hear you're sharing the guitar with others so they can experience what you've felt. Is Mr. Oneil still making guitars? I think he built some more and last I heard, he had moved to the Pacific Northwest. Also, last I heard, his house had just burned down (he frequents another guitar forum I'm on) and had lost virtually everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhanners623 Posted July 4, 2018 Author Share Posted July 4, 2018 where you be in illinois next week? I'll be in East Central Illinois and I'm playing some places you have probably never heard of. The schedule: July 6 Heritage Park, Mattoon, IL Double bill with John Crouch 11:30 a.m. July 14 Oilfield Store, Oilfield, IL Solo 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. July 19 Bandstand, Fairview Park, Casey, IL Solo w/Kendall Scott. John Crouch opens 7-9 p.m. July 20 Moonshine General Store, Moonshine, IL With Karl Burke 11:15 a.m.-noon July 20 Jackson Avenue Coffee, Charleston, IL Song swap with Karl Burke, John Crouch and me 7-9 p.m. July 22 Pinky’s, Effingham, IL Karl Burke, John Crouch and me, separate sets 2-4 p.m. July 27 Oilfield Store, Oilfield, IL With John Crouch 6-7:30 p.m. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirNed Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 I think he built some more and last I heard, he had moved to the Pacific Northwest. Also, last I heard, his house had just burned down (he frequents another guitar forum I'm on) and had lost virtually everything. Sorry to hear about the fire. Hope everything works out for him. BTW I have heard of Effingham. My wife used to go on business trips there. I always joked about making a t-shirt that read, "My wife went to Effingham, IL and all I got was this Effing T-shirt" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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