Delight inside.
Passion and temptation come in many forms, but strings have been involved for me this week.
I have neglected my guitar playing for quite some time now. I started playing in my teenage years and you can find my various tracks on this site. I fell out of love with it all for some reason although other interests have naturally filled the gap. However, getting the chance to play on a nylon-strung acoustic at a party made me realise that I still really, really enjoyed it.
Being in an acoustic mood I popped down to Nevada Music to grab some new strings as my acoustic has been out of action for a while due to string breakage! Nevada is pretty much the SHOP OF DREAMS. There are so many shiny objects of musical desire that a musician would need a cold, cold heart to not even be tempted.
My acoustic is very old and was in fact my first ever guitar. Old, battered and attempting to mic it up was always an exercise in feedback-frenzied pain. Next thing I know, I’m surrounded by string-clad siren acoustics: “Look at me! Shiny! I’m an electro-acoustic! Quality pre-amp! Listen to how BRIGHT I sound! Mmmmm!”.
MINE. Not yours. MINE.
Needless to say, I bought the guitar. A lovely Takamine with integrated tuner (They think of everything these days).
In mitigation, I have always wanted a quality acoustic guitar of this nature. I have plenty of lovely electric guitars but the non-amplified side of things has been lacking! Back in the day, the sort of thing I was after was prohibitively expensive but it is great how quality is seemingly much cheaper nowadays.
I am very much out of practice but it is amazing how everything is coming back so quickly. However, it isn’t just about the knowledge: It is the sheer enjoyment of playing and coaxing a wide range of emotions from the instrument that is striking me.
Just in case though, next time, I think I should take a chaperone…
I’d love to hear about any musical purchase impulses that have struck you, be they ultimately good or bad!
At the London Guitar Show a few years ago with a keen musician friend – he was really taken with the only Rickenbacker bass on show but knew he would never have enough money to buy it. So, spontaneously, I bought it for him.. majorly expensive impulse buy, but he loves it and still plays it in his band today.
Emily, that is a lovely story. Clearly you are the best friend ever! I’m not sure I have a dream guitar or bass at the moment. That would quite possibly change very quickly if I became brave enough to start playing on the high-end models. I’ve always ‘felt’ the difference each time I have upgraded up a tier…