ALL THINGS BIG AND SMALL 2.0

2014 D'Angelico NYSS 3B FM (flamed maple) 2013 Fender American Vintage Telecaster Thinline 1967 Gibson ES-330 as advertised for $520 on AliExpress After more than 3 years, I had a relapse of the Guitar Acquisition Syndrome (GAS). I thought I was cured. Why would a 67- year old man with probably less than 15 years of life left, and with more guitars and amplifiers than he can play with, want more guitars? But succumb, I did, to GAS. So here is a blow-by-blow account of my latest attack of GAS.   It began with a sudden craving for a Telecaster Thinline, though why I would want a Thinline when I had, during my lifetime bought and sold three Thinlines I don't know. So I bought the Thinline.  Then I saw an ad in AliExpress to sell a 1967 Gibson ES 330 for $520. I could hardly believe my eyes. I convinced myself that this anomaly in price was due to the ignorance of the seller. Alas, how true the adage that if its too good to be true, then it probably is...

Believe it or not, guitars breathe, and they do need to breathe if they are to sound good. Take out a guitar that has been kept in its case for ages, especially an acoustic guitar, and pluck the strings. It will sound muffled and stifled. The ringing sustain with clear overtones that you expect from a good guitar will be absent. But leave the guitar outside its case for a few days, in a place that's not so humid, and there will be a difference in the sound. Good wines breathe, and so do guitars. The type of finish (paint) used on a guitar is a very important factor in its ability to breathe. Many vintage guitars sound great because they do not have thick coats of paint but were au naturel, or had only a thin coat of paint followed by a top coat of nitrocellulose lacquer. The ban on nitrocellulose lacquers (for health or environmental reasons I think) and the fashion for guitars to have custom colors like Shell Pink, Pacific Blue, Candy Apple Red, etc resulted in guitars that could...

* photo shows a collection of jazz archtops, seen through the locked grill door of GuitarsNJazz, a shop in Summit New Jersey, that sells only jazz archtops and jazz guitar amplifiers. If you are a jazz guitar player, I suggest you pay him a visit. He's a great guy and he gives great advice . Fact: 95 % of guitar players own more than one guitar. This is because many guitarists suffer from a disease known in guitar-playing circles as GAS or Guitar Acquisition Syndrome. GAS manifests itself as an itch which can only be temporarily relieved by the purchase of a guitar. Severe cases of GAS can make the patient accumulate more than 100 guitars. GAS has been known to be the cause of broken marriages, financial bankruptcy and unemployment. Nevertheless, there are sound reasons why guitar players have more guitars than drummers have drums, piano players have pianos and sax players have saxaphones. 1. A Steinway sounds different from a Yamaha piano. But A Fender Stratocaster sounds even mor...