This here's Charlene.
Ain't she pretty?
I found Charlene in Oklahoma City. I found her in a pawn shop, which-if you know guitars at all-I highly recommend as an avenue for shopping for instruments. You just never know what you'll find.
When I found Charlene, I was searching for my "forever guitar"...because a few months earlier my previous "forever guitar" had been lost by an airline. It was my Takamine...one of the nicest guitars I had ever played, with onboard electronics that just couldn't be beat. I was also partial to it because, when I bought it, the neck at some point had been completely severed. This is usually not a good sign for a guitar, as one without a neck is...well...really short. But, in addition to that, it would be pretty unlikely that a decent repair could be made after an injury like that. There is a lot of tension on the neck, it has to be adjusted just right for intonation. Even on guitars with perfectly intact necks, once things get out of adjustment, it takes someone with knowledge to get it back in balance, without intonation issues, fret buzz, messed up action, migraine headaches...
Ok. I made that last one up. I just started to think I was sounding like an ad for a chiropractor.
Anyway, somehow, this guitar was perfect, even with the broken neck. It played like a dream. And, to me, it's injury just gave it character.
What happened to my Takamine is still a mystery, but I can tell you that my first mistake was checking it with my luggage. I didn't realize at the time that you didn't have to check musical instruments, and I pretty much knew it wouldn't fir in an overhead compartment. So, I checked it, and had my name and address tags all over that sucker.
My second mistake, I am guessing, was not placing it in a generic guitar case-but leaving it in it's lesbian, feminist, rainbow, pink triangle, peace sign, vegan, hemp loving, leaping liberals sticker collection covered case-and then flying into the deep south. I mean, one of the bumper stickers on the case read, "Sorry I missed church. I was busy practicing withcraft and becoming a lesbian."
I'm not into victim blaming, by any means. But, I think my guitar might have been asking for it. Just by the way it was dressed.
Needless to say, my guitar never arrived in Belt Buckle, Georgia. Or Antler, Arkansas. Or wherever the hell I was going.
I filed my loss report, and they spent a few months (hahahahaha) "looking" for it. Finally, they issued me a check for $800.00. I went guitar hunting in Oklahoma City, totally prepared to spend about $1200.00 to find my therapist, my best friend, my companion, my sanity, my perfect forever guitar.
The very first pawn shop I walked into had this beautiful thing hanging on the wall. I noticed her right away, and asked to play her. The brand is a Dean, which I had heard of only because of the awesome electric Dean Warlock. I didn't even know that Dean made acoustics. Oh, but they do!
I fell in love INSTANTLY. First guitar I tried....it was meant to be. I plugged her in, and WOW! The electronics were wonderful. Full EQ, on-board tuner, great, mellow and full acoustic sound, great response. The action is glorious. And the piece of wood on her face has the most BEAUTIFUL patterns. It's just a solid piece of wood, not painted, but the grain is incredible. I just LOVE this guitar!
So, that is the story of Charlene, my forever guitar. I will never, ever, EVER check her with luggage again. Oh, and I am often asked, why did I name her 'Charlene'...and I have no idea. It just seemed to fit. 'Ralph' was a close second, but I like Charlene much better.
No comments:
Post a Comment