"Mojo"

[Rosewoody]

On the old forum we were talking once about "brushes with greatness," that is, any connections with fame that might have passed through our hands. My own experience was running into an old SJ natural, back in the seventies, changing hands for $50 among a few friends. The distinguishing feature was a case that was stenciled "Bill Haley and His Comets."

 

I was looking at current "Vintage Guitar" magazine, and in an ad for a dealer out west is a "54SJN, mildly Willie Nelsoned, w/case that says 'Bill Haley and the Comets' on it," $6750.

 

 

Well, what are the odds? No one is going to counterfeit Bill Haley. It would be cool to reconnect with that old guitar. There is real mojo in that axe for me, a forty year old encounter.

[Johnt]

 

Okay' date=' I feel my own rant coming on. While I agree that the word “mojo” is frequently misused in the sale of instruments that are in some state of disrepair, the concept that a guitar can’t have mojo unless it was owned by someone famous or have some sort of historical significance is just preposterous. Therm’s definition of “Mojo” as a magical charm is almost dead on. A guitar with mojo is one that’s played a million tunes. It’s been picked on a front porch on the Delta, played by a family band in Appalachia, or strummed in a honky-tonk in Texas.

 

I’m always amazed by musicians who can’t see their instruments as anything more than just an object. Something whose value can only be described in dollars. As artists, I would expect they could see the beauty of a well worn, well played and well loved guitar. Willie Nelson calls his N-20 “Trigger” because to him it’s not just an instrument, it’s a faithful old friend. And that’s why it’s got mojo.

 

[img']http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk305/rscott4079/48_sj_3.jpg[/img]

 

And that's the point I was kinda making and why even when my ship comes in and MY custom SJ310 TV, VS, Turbo is is sitting there looking at me I will always go back to a 1979 Norlin J45, A factory reject with the hole in the back of the headstock to prove it.

 

It also has belt marks, when I lent it to my son, a few dings, one of which was caused when it fell from the pulpit on a Sunday morning ( No I am not a priest)

 

It and I have history I am probably still paying off the £600 it cost me in 1981!

[Johnt]

Around 1974 there was a family owned grocery/clothing store here in town (still here actually) that built a little side room exclusively for used jeans. It was dark with a stereo thumping' date=' incense.... they would take used jeans in on trade and then re-sell them. Some would sell for 2X what a new pair would go for.

 

I'm just happy I can find a pair my ****** can fit into nowadays.[/quote']

 

D'ya know I seem to remember spending time in a cold bath filled with a bleach mixture shrinking Levis on!

 

These days , I am with KSD I have to buy dungarees now!

 

ANd they have a bib built in to catch the slobber!

 

Mind you the good thing about buying Levis in the US is the size on the label is one less hence a US 38 is a UK 40 so I don't have to look quite such a fatarse.

 

Why do we Brits sound "American" when we sing??

 

Who gives a flying fig!

 

Sorry but what a pointless observation!

[rscott4079]

Why do we Brits sound "American" when we sing?? Who gives a flying fig! Sorry but what a pointless observation!

 

Actually, I think it's a pretty interesting observation. People do tend to lose their accent when they sing. I noticed it before with the Beatles. Singers I couldn't understand even if I had one of those Star Trek Universal Translators when they speak, I undertand clear as a bell when they sing. Odd.

 

That includes Americans as well. I can't understand a word that Tom Waits says.

[ajsc]

"That includes Americans as well. I can't understand a word that Tom Waits says."

 

You don't know what you're missing!!lol

[jefleppard]

To each his own I guess. My instruments are more than just hardware to me.

 

 

very nice. one of the most beautiful things i've seen....

[gearbasher]

 

Actually' date=' I think it's a pretty interesting observation. People do tend to lose their accent when they sing. I noticed it before with the Beatles. Singers I couldn't understand even if I had one of those Star Trek Universal Translators when they speak, I undertand clear as a bell when they sing. Odd.

 

That includes Americans as well. I can't understand a word that Tom Waits says.

 

 

[/quote']

 

I can't understand Dylan, talking or singing.

[TommyK]

...the word “mojo” is frequently misused in the sale of instruments that are in some state of disrepair' date='.... A guitar with mojo is one that’s played a million tunes. It’s been picked on a front porch on the Delta, played by a family band in Appalachia, or strummed in a honky-tonk in Texas. [img']http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk305/rscott4079/48_sj_3.jpg[/img]

 

Like the saying goes, "You really can't PLAY the Blues unless you've owned a pawnshop guitar out of necessity."

 

i.e. Mojo= can't be had for more than a couple hunnert bucks.

[brundaddy]

I have some chewed-up beaters of my own that are near & dear to my heart -- and I don't see any guitar as a mere piece of hardware. But they don't make me play any better. No matter how cool the equipment is, the music just does not come from the equipment, it comes from the player.

[onewilyfool]

Other words and expressions for "MOJO":

 

old, misused, careless, oops....beltbuckle, played while drunk, should have been more careful while removing guitar from case, should not have left guitar leaning against wall with golden retriever in same room, oops... spilled my drink, worn out, shouldn't have put my cigarette under the E string, etc. etc. Someone might say,"Wow, I'll bet that guitar has a lot of history, a lot of stories to tell...." Yeah, history of misuse and abuse and stories of neglect. What's the big deal????

 

I don't remember one guy in here saying something like this: "I can wait til my brand new (Dove, J-200, J-45 you fill in the blank) gets here from Sweetwater so I can ding it up, cover it with bumper stickers, buckle rash it, go after it with sandpaper, nick it, wear off the finish, scratch it, hit it with chains and really give it some great MOJO!!!"

 

A guitar can look like it might have belonged to Robert Johnson, and still sound like crap. If you can't play a 50 year old vintage guitar, you can't play a brand new one either. This whole vintage/mojo stuff is FAR over rated in my opinion....