It has arrived.
As I opened the box around 4:30 this afternoon, anxious to see what my new Johnson JG-535-S guitar was like, I was filled with hopeful yet restrained anticipation. What would the future hold for this ambitious Asian? Would it be a bust, merely waiting to be rejected and sent back down to the minors from whence it came? Or would it take the town by surprise, impressing the cognoscenti with its quickness and strong fundamentals as did another recent Asian import in Seattle, one Mr. Ichiro Suzuki...
As the box finally opened and revealed its contents, my initial impression was mixed and somewhat uncertain. Upon first look, the guitar was not boasting the "vintage sunburst" promised in the online photograph and product description. Instead, it was more along the lines of the less seen "black cherry burst", which I had not anticipated and which I have not given much thought to in the past when I saw it on other guitars. Hmmm...if the finish isn't even correct, what does that hold in store for the rest of the instrument I wondered, and still, the finish was not without its merits, nor was it unattractive in any way...As I tuned the guitar up to my customary "open D", I looked over the rest of the features: expectedly cheap yet temporarily sufficient tuners, frets that would need dressing if I decided to keep the guitar, and in place of the aroma of fine wood was the smell of glue; a common feature of less expensive guitars. Then I took a look under the hood and peered into the sound hole...it wasn't pretty. Fairly sloppy work on the inside of the box; glue drips, crooked braces across the back, crooked kerfling along the inside edges. Hardly a picture of textbook git-tar making according to ol' man Martin. Still, I refrained from making any hasty snap judgements even though I was leaning towards doing so. Having finally put the guitar into a civilized and proper tuning, I was about to find out what this "L" sized novice was capable of. Of course the strings were corroded and dull and would not offer the clearest of tones, still, I would be able to at least decide if the thing held enough promise to warrant even thinking about stringing it up with new wires.
The first strum of the guitar was productive enough to lead to another and then another. I played a few chords and single note runs. I picked over the soundhole and back close to the bridge. I fingerpicked and flatpicked. Hmmm...I set it down and came back five minutes later to begin round two. It was the same process again, only longer and more involved this time with trying to find the sweet spot volume and tone wise. As I continued the audition, I was still thinking about how the guitar was not quite what I had expected to receive, and how it not only looked different but that it wasn't the most cleanly constructed piece of woodwork on the inside. And still, I continued to play and to hear something that I thought I would be able to work with and improve upon. The tone was there, hiding underneath the rotten strings and masked by the scruffy appearance, and it had volume too considering its size and pedigree. And that's when it got me: I was going to keep this guitar! Why? Because this is an honest guitar that knows where it comes from and ain't ashamed of its humble origin. It never tried to pass itself off as something it isn't, which is an expensive hand-made guitar. Instead, it volunteers to step up and do the blue-collar stuff without any hype or complaints. It shows up on time and gives you and honest day's work; that's just how it struck me. It reminded me of when you want a dog. You start thinking about what kind you might get; a Black Lab, Norwegian Elkhound, Border Collie or Blue Heeler. But then one day you go to the pound for some reason that you still don't know, and you walk up and down the aisles past the cages and you see some fine dogs that will have no problem getting someone to take them home soon. But every time you pass by a certain cage, there's one little guy that doesn't bark or jump up and down or howl, but he just looks you straight in the eye. He looks like he's had a rough time before he got taken to the pound, but there's till something about him no matter how many times you try to go and look at the bigger, good-looking dogs. Every time you walk by, he looks straight at you and then you realize that he is telling you that he is going to be your dog. He is telling you. He ain't trying to act like a German Shepherd or an Irish Setter, nope. Instead, he just looks straight at you with those part beagle, part collie, part dachsund, mostly mutt eyes of his and you realize that even though you might have come to look at the "cool" dogs, well, this one was going back to the house with you because he is your dog! And that's how it is with this cheap, scruffy, mutt guitar. And that's what I'm going to call it from now on: "Mutt".
So, to wrap it up, I'm keeping it. I put some new Elixir strings on it this evening and heard a whole new side to it. Volume, tone, overtones, easy playability, room for improvement with a few select parts, and mostly just an indescribable vibe that makes it fun to play. Like the other cheap guitars I have, this one just seems to try harder. It doesn't have a reputation to lean on, so it's cheap to feed, and it never gives you an attitude, it just works. And that's why I will keep this guitar that I bought for $150, just like I kept the Blueridge that cost $350 and the Simon&Patrick that set me back $175. I feel like I have something in common with them, after all, I also am an inexpensive mixed breed mutt that doesn't look so hot either. So onward we all go towards better, cheaper, funner, better music here in the RGNC. Hope to see you all soon as possible.
be good.
As I opened the box around 4:30 this afternoon, anxious to see what my new Johnson JG-535-S guitar was like, I was filled with hopeful yet restrained anticipation. What would the future hold for this ambitious Asian? Would it be a bust, merely waiting to be rejected and sent back down to the minors from whence it came? Or would it take the town by surprise, impressing the cognoscenti with its quickness and strong fundamentals as did another recent Asian import in Seattle, one Mr. Ichiro Suzuki...
As the box finally opened and revealed its contents, my initial impression was mixed and somewhat uncertain. Upon first look, the guitar was not boasting the "vintage sunburst" promised in the online photograph and product description. Instead, it was more along the lines of the less seen "black cherry burst", which I had not anticipated and which I have not given much thought to in the past when I saw it on other guitars. Hmmm...if the finish isn't even correct, what does that hold in store for the rest of the instrument I wondered, and still, the finish was not without its merits, nor was it unattractive in any way...As I tuned the guitar up to my customary "open D", I looked over the rest of the features: expectedly cheap yet temporarily sufficient tuners, frets that would need dressing if I decided to keep the guitar, and in place of the aroma of fine wood was the smell of glue; a common feature of less expensive guitars. Then I took a look under the hood and peered into the sound hole...it wasn't pretty. Fairly sloppy work on the inside of the box; glue drips, crooked braces across the back, crooked kerfling along the inside edges. Hardly a picture of textbook git-tar making according to ol' man Martin. Still, I refrained from making any hasty snap judgements even though I was leaning towards doing so. Having finally put the guitar into a civilized and proper tuning, I was about to find out what this "L" sized novice was capable of. Of course the strings were corroded and dull and would not offer the clearest of tones, still, I would be able to at least decide if the thing held enough promise to warrant even thinking about stringing it up with new wires.
The first strum of the guitar was productive enough to lead to another and then another. I played a few chords and single note runs. I picked over the soundhole and back close to the bridge. I fingerpicked and flatpicked. Hmmm...I set it down and came back five minutes later to begin round two. It was the same process again, only longer and more involved this time with trying to find the sweet spot volume and tone wise. As I continued the audition, I was still thinking about how the guitar was not quite what I had expected to receive, and how it not only looked different but that it wasn't the most cleanly constructed piece of woodwork on the inside. And still, I continued to play and to hear something that I thought I would be able to work with and improve upon. The tone was there, hiding underneath the rotten strings and masked by the scruffy appearance, and it had volume too considering its size and pedigree. And that's when it got me: I was going to keep this guitar! Why? Because this is an honest guitar that knows where it comes from and ain't ashamed of its humble origin. It never tried to pass itself off as something it isn't, which is an expensive hand-made guitar. Instead, it volunteers to step up and do the blue-collar stuff without any hype or complaints. It shows up on time and gives you and honest day's work; that's just how it struck me. It reminded me of when you want a dog. You start thinking about what kind you might get; a Black Lab, Norwegian Elkhound, Border Collie or Blue Heeler. But then one day you go to the pound for some reason that you still don't know, and you walk up and down the aisles past the cages and you see some fine dogs that will have no problem getting someone to take them home soon. But every time you pass by a certain cage, there's one little guy that doesn't bark or jump up and down or howl, but he just looks you straight in the eye. He looks like he's had a rough time before he got taken to the pound, but there's till something about him no matter how many times you try to go and look at the bigger, good-looking dogs. Every time you walk by, he looks straight at you and then you realize that he is telling you that he is going to be your dog. He is telling you. He ain't trying to act like a German Shepherd or an Irish Setter, nope. Instead, he just looks straight at you with those part beagle, part collie, part dachsund, mostly mutt eyes of his and you realize that even though you might have come to look at the "cool" dogs, well, this one was going back to the house with you because he is your dog! And that's how it is with this cheap, scruffy, mutt guitar. And that's what I'm going to call it from now on: "Mutt".
So, to wrap it up, I'm keeping it. I put some new Elixir strings on it this evening and heard a whole new side to it. Volume, tone, overtones, easy playability, room for improvement with a few select parts, and mostly just an indescribable vibe that makes it fun to play. Like the other cheap guitars I have, this one just seems to try harder. It doesn't have a reputation to lean on, so it's cheap to feed, and it never gives you an attitude, it just works. And that's why I will keep this guitar that I bought for $150, just like I kept the Blueridge that cost $350 and the Simon&Patrick that set me back $175. I feel like I have something in common with them, after all, I also am an inexpensive mixed breed mutt that doesn't look so hot either. So onward we all go towards better, cheaper, funner, better music here in the RGNC. Hope to see you all soon as possible.
be good.
posted by mwc at 7:52 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home