Guitar Gear

I know that some folks think naming your guitars is stupid. But I’ve always named my guitars. It helps me connect with them and even subliminally affects how I play them.

For instance, I had a ’59 Les Paul copy that I called “Ox.” Ox was a workhorse of a guitar. Though I never abuse my instruments, I admit, that at least while I had him, I played him hard. On the other hand, “Amber,” my ’58 Les Paul Historic Reissue is an intoxicatingly beautiful and strong woman who demands respect. You can’t force her to do anything. You let her do her thing and she’ll reward you with sounds you’ve never heard.

I know… it’s a little weird. But by personifying my guitars, I connect with them. I feel as if they have a soul and that soul comes alive when I play them.

And it’s not always easy to come up with names for my guitars. I’ve had a hell of a time coming up with a name for my new Taylor T5z. When I got it, I felt a definite female presence, so I knew I’d name her a female name. But every time I tried to give her a name, it just didn’t stick.

Then last night I had a dream that I was playing her at a club. Someone came up to me and asked me what I call my guitar. I remember looking at her and the variegations of the mahogany grain reminded me of a tiger, and immediately the words “Tiger Lily” came to mind. But as soon as they did, an image of my mother flashed in my brain. Her name was “Lilia.” So that’s now the name of my T5z – “Lily” for short.

I’m not making that up. The name came to me in a frickin’ dream! And the more I thought about the name, the more it fit. My mom was a beautiful woman and kind and gentle. In the months before she passed away, I would travel to her house a couple of hours away and spend a couple of days a week with her.

We didn’t talk about much. But when we did, we reminisced on all sorts of things while I was growing up. We laughed. We cried. We got closure on things that were swept under the rug. And through it all, I came to truly understand and appreciate the incredible woman my mom was.

I saw the struggles she went through throughout her life; raising her brothers and sisters during the Japanese occupation of the Phillippines; raising a family (though my dad worked, his salary paid for the mortgage and food, while my mom’s work as a seamstress enabled all us kids to go to college). And in the twilight of her life, dealing with a weak heart. She was fighter with the focus and strength of a tiger.

So to call my T5z “Lilia” is a tribute to that great woman. That guitar is a way for me to remember her spirit.