dhanners623

Uh, there was much in your post that had absolutely nothing to do with the price of guitars or any other good or service. Admirable attempt at deflection, though.

And all of that nonsensical screed has exactly what to do with guitar prices? I’m trying to follow the “logic” there….

The aesthetic considerations of guitars are quite different from automobiles. Prized vintage cars are usually prized because they’ve been kept up to — or restored to — a like-new condition. Vintage guitars are kind of the opposite. While it is nice to find one in pristine condition, most vintage guitars are prized not just for their sound but also their beat-up appearance; it represents age. If folks want to pay for that look on a new guitar, that’s their business. Pre-War Guitars offers a range of instruments (and you can choose different levels of distress) for a lot less than $7,999. As I said, I don’t understand why people buy Taylors, but so what if they do? It’s none of my concern. Similarly, if people want to buy a new guitar that has been made to look vintage, it’s really not your concern.

Thanks for the kind words. As far as songwriting goes, just tell the story and throw in a few words that rhyme. Most folks can do that if they try. Just keep in mind you won’t be John Moreland your first time out, but you’ll get there.

To re-purpose a saying I’ve heard applied to farming, “You can make a small fortune in the music industry. Unfortunately, you have to start with a large fortune….”

Thanks. I’m originally from East Central Illinois (Casey, home of The World’s Largest Rocking Chair®…) and it is an area that has seen more than its share of that plague. It is largely rural, so there is little police presence. It is also mostly farmland, so meth cooks had ready access to anhydrous ammonia, one of their key ingredients. I’ve got buddies I grew up with who farm and ammonia theft was an issue they had to deal with, so they took various precautions. Meth cooks are an industrious lot, though, and most have moved on to a new process (sometimes known as “one-pot” or “shake-and-bake”) in which the anhydrous ammonia is created via a chemical reaction. The area is close to I-70 and I-57 (which intersect in Effingham) so you’ve got easy access to east-west and north-south shipment routes.

⤴️What J45fan said…. You’re not being a “clown” or a poseur if you buy a relic’d guitar. You’re just going for a certain aesthetic and we all do that. For the life of me, I don’t understand why people buy Taylors but I don’t begrudge anyone who does.

I had sworn this song was done and I was ready to move on, but the more I thought about Murph’s black dust/white dust comment, the more I realized that not only was he right, he was really right. It was something that needed to be pointed out in the song. So here’s the rewritten version, re-titled “Dust.” Is this version “better”? I have no idea. Do I like it better? Yes. So, thanks, Murph. Guys from Illinois gotta help each other out….

To each his or her own — and we all have our own tastes and styles — but I gotta admit that sound doesn’t do a lot for me….

I figure if folks want to spend their money on it, fine. Yeah, we want guitars that sound great, but most of us also care about our guitar’s aesthetics. I’ve got one guitar that had three different pickguards before I found one I loved. Another is on its third set of tuners; I just didn’t like the looks of the original equipment and the set I put on after that. I’d love to go out and buy a used guitar that had well-earned “honest” wear on it. But I play upside down and left-handed, not changing the strings around. You might find a vintage lefty guitar with wear (but you probably won’t) but you’re not going to find a vintage lefty with wear that is strung right-handed. You can’t remove the pickguard because if it’s a vintage guitar, it’ll have a stark “suntan.” Your chance of finding a lefty pickguard that exactly matches the existing pickguard is pretty much zero. And getting back to that aesthetics issue, I find double pickguards butt-ugly. So, yeah, if I had the dough, I’d spring for one of Pre-War Guitars’ J-35 copies, and I’d have them do some distressing on it to make it look old. Folks can scoff and take the attitude that I should “age” it honestly by playing it (as if I don’t play my guitars…) but at my age, I’m not going to be putting 20 years’ worth of wear and dings on it.

I guess somebody is paying that kind of money because Gibson keeps offering guitars with price tags that are arguably hefty. When I bought my J-35 in 2016, I thought its price of $1,600 was relatively affordable. At Sweetwater, an SJ-200 will set you back $5,299 (£4,368). The average American monthly salary is $4,422 (£3,645) and keep in mind all that comes out of that, like healthcare, rent/mortgage, food, taxes and cruises to the Bahamas. So if you want an SJ-200, it is going to cost you more than a month’s pay. Some people are comfortable living with debt. I’m not, so I don’t. If you’re a pro, I understand the need and desire for pro gear. But I think there are some really nice and affordable instruments available today that are both “pro” and roadworthy; they just don’t say “Gibson” or “Martin” on the headstock. We just have to come to terms with how we feel about where they are built.

Not sure why folks complain. If you don’t like the looks, don’t buy it. If you feel the price is too steep, don’t buy it. If you don’t like Gibsons, go somewhere else. If you think you know better than Gibson, buy the company or start your own guitar company. Or drop them an email telling them what they’re doing wrong. I’m sure they’d love to hear from you. I’m also sure your email will make James Curleigh put down his spreadsheets, market research reports, etc., and say, “By gum, the email IS RIGHT! We’re doing it all wrong.” Folks are making life harder than it already is.

Read them. Works for me! Excellent job.

I took that paragraph out of my comment after thinking about it. Every songwriter wants to re-write others’ songs, and you don’t need that from me. You do fine on your own. That said, were it me, I’d just sing, “They quoted something ‘bout rules and what would the townsfolk say”. For the other line, what about, “Hauling bags of equipment she’ll need through the day”? We know from the context it is sports equipment. Or, “Hauling bags of equipment she’ll need on game day”? The kid probably hits better than I ever did….

I’d say that’s a definite winner. A great story and the chorus is killer. This is a wonderful song. Powerful, even. It makes a great statement in an inviting way. It shows, not tells. Excellent job.

Thanks for the kind words. I may have to steal the black dust/white dust line….

Excellent job! I’m of the opinion it is hard for mere mortals to pull off a Guy Clark song well — he was so distinctive in how he phrased things — but you smacked it out of the ballpark. Great picking and your voice has a weariness that really serves the song very well. You’ve recorded a winner.

Thanks. Actually, I’m the product of a solidly middle-class family from rural East-Central Illinois and save for a hiccup or two, I’ve had a pretty normal and decent life and really have no complaints. I almost never write about myself because it would bore people to tears. When I lived in St. Paul, I knew a local blues guy who lived (quite comfortably) off a sizable trust fund. I always wanted to ask him what the hell he could have the blues about, but never did. The maddening thing was he was pretty good.

Here’s a new tune called “Leatherwood,” based on my years of mining coal in Southeastern Kentucky.* I mixed those experiences with a few insights from oral histories I read online. The song was written for a Facebook songwriting challenge I’m taking part in. Every couple of weeks, you get a prompt, then write a song inspired by the prompt and post it to the group. The prompt here was the word “well.” That word was in an early draft of the song (“A miner’s life rarely ends well/You know they’re in heaven ‘cause they paid dues in hell”), but that line was subsequently edited out. The song is played on my J-35, a guitar built for singing songs about coal mining in Kentucky. * I have never mined coal, in Kentucky or anywhere else. I have, however, seen the coal mine at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

I guess as per my comment on your other thread by the same title, it isn’t the LG-1 I once owned because the plastic bridge on it had been replaced with one made of ebony, thank goodness.

Where are you? In the mid-‘90s, I owned a ‘65 LG-1 and I know it sounds weird, but that serial number sounds vaguely familiar although I could be wrong. (Blame the years and/or the miles….) Bought it at Elderly in ‘91 or ‘92 and removed the pickguard. As I recall, after I moved to St. Paul in ‘94, I sold it or used it as a trade-in for a J-45ADJ (a ‘66 or ‘68; I can’t recall) at Willie’s American Guitars in St. Paul. As best I can remember, anyway. By the time I got it, the plastic bridge had already been replaced with a wood one. This could very well be a completely different guitar, of course. Of the various guitars I’ve owned and then sold through the years, it is one of only two I now wish I had kept. At the time, I was solely a dread guy, but my tastes have refined since then….

I’ve been trying to find any website or YouTube videos (or anything…) of the OP’s music. My search so far has been unavailing. Out of curiosity, I’d like to hear the kind of music he’ll be making with his newfound guitar. While I’ve never quite understood the collector mindset, I can, up to a point, understand a desire to own a piece of history or a guitar owned by someone famous or a guitar used on an iconic recording. The OP’s original list of criteria was quite specific, and my question to him — why that particular year? — went unanswered. So I have no idea what his thinking is, and for that matter, it’s none of my business. I’m not sure what music I’d make with a ‘43 J-45 that I can’t make with one of the three (non-vintage) guitars I own. I’m sure his guitar will have a heavenly sound.

There’s a Facebook group for Gibson Banner Heads and this is what he posted (along with photos): I came to these groups looking for a ”White Whale” (a 1943 hog top J-45 with a huge three piece laminated maple neck, no truss rod). Instead I found a Unicorn. A near-mint, all original, one family owned, 1944/45 hog top J-45 with a HUGE three piece laminated maple neck, with truss rod). First, this is by FAR the best sounding J-45 I have ever owned or played. I think it’s in part due to the huge neck. The neck measures over 1 inch deep at the first fret. The biggest neck I have ever played incuding on any banner. I can’t believe the condition. Never had a neck reset either. Even though I was lookin for one without a truss rod and this one has it, I feel grateful and lucky for having found it. I instantly connected with it. The search may be over. He found it at Elderly. Like I said, I hope he finds fulfillment in the guitar. If you can’t find fulfillment (and lots of it…) in a $16K (no typo) guitar, I’m not sure you’ll ever find it in anything. It is his dough so he’s free to spend it any way he wants, and I don’t know the guy from Adam but I’m glad he found something he wants. I’d love to hear the music he makes with it. But I dunno. If you’re the late Tony Rice or Billy Strings or Norman Blake or Tommy Emmanuel, I could maybe see spending that much on a guitar. But those guys don’t even spend that much on a guitar. Even if I had a spare $16K (which, now that I think of it, I do) I wouldn’t spend it on a guitar, but that’s just me.

I see on Facebook that the OP found a ‘43, albeit one with a truss rod. Says he spent $16K on it. Good for him. I hope he finds it fulfilling….

I’m curious — Why that particular year and those particular specs? There are lots of great guitars out there just looking for good homes….