Guitar Gear

Since I haven’t written on this blog very often for the last couple of years, I haven’t shared much about where I’ve been playing. Well, after about a 2 1/2 year hiatus from playing music in church, I decided to go back to doing a weekly church gig again. But this time, it’s at another church, and I’m happier than ever. It’s like making a fresh start, and that’s a GREAT thing.

So it was with a bit of nervous anticipation bringing my new acoustic-electric setup to church yesterday. It sounded fine at my restaurant gig, plugged into a board. But the real test was going be using it in the church where I’d plug it into my SWR Calfornia Blonde, then out to the board. With this setup, I run it through a small board that has Chorus, Delay, and Reverb, then into the amp, then out to the board. My big concern was maintaining the natural character of the guitar. Some guitars when plugged into an amp, sound a bit funky.

But all my concerns were laid to rest from the very first strum. I had the same visceral reaction I had on Friday, but it was even more intense this time because I was right next to the amp. The sound was absolutely sweet! Even my bandmates just smiled and said how good the guitar sounded, and one commented that he could tell how well-seasoned the wood was as the guitar just resonated. I have to say that with the guitar being almost 30 years old, it has a very special character due to its age. It reminds me of how my very first Yamaha FG-335’s wood aged so nicely. Before it had its accident and its neck snapped off the body, it had developed a gorgeous, woody tone.

The tone of my S&P PRO is deep, but with shimmery highs. But that wood not only projects the sound incredibly, it resonates. I can actually feel the vibration in the body – even with finger-picked notes. It’s pretty incredible.

Then to have it amplified with a great pickup like the MagMic, well, it’s a match made in and for Heaven. I’m the type of musician that needs to feel what I’m playing. It’s the emotion that comes from my guitar that inspires me. When I don’t feel I sound that good, it’s hard to get inspired. But when I’m playing something whose sound shoots to the core of my being, I become one with the sound. It’s hard to explain… And that was exactly what happened yesterday. I was completely lost in the sound of my guitar. 🙂