If you have known me a while, you know I have gone thru hundreds of guitars. In fairly recent posts, I have spoken of my Guitar Aquisition Syndrome. Well, my Harmony Stratotone (aka Alden Tuxedo) will soon be on eBay, to make room for a new/old guitar!!!!
Recently, I tuned my Harmony H-72 to DADGAD for fun, to see how the material I wrote in that tuning would sound on a distorted electric. I liked it. On the Stratotone, which I have tuned in Open G, I've been playing a lot of non slide country blues.
After some thought, I know I'm not going to be playing out live anytime soon. Sorry Ralph, it just doesn't seem to be in the stars at the moment. My love for Michael Hedges, Robert Johnson, Rory Block, William Ackerman and simply, the acoustic guitar, has me wanting something cool and more importantly, old. I want a period piece from the Depression era. Something with solid wood. Something Gibson.
Gibsons from that era are expensive. Real expensive. Fortunately, for today's guitar players on a budget, Gibson, to stay alive during the Depression, they built less expensive guitars and sold thru cataloges like Montgomery Wards. Mainly, they were the same guitars as that era's Gibsons, but they weren't as fancy looking, had different top bracing and no truss rods with fatter necks. The most known brand name is Kalamazoo. Robert Johnson is know to have played these guitars. I found one of these guitars under the name "Carson J. Robison," and it was made in 1933. Essentially, it is the exact same guitar as a Gibson L-0 or a Kalamazoo KG-11.
This is a photo of the actual guitar I purchased...
No guitar from this era is pristine and this is not an exception. Has repaired cracks, etc. But, this guitar was at a bargain price. Normally, it still would be well over the thousand dollar mark, but this one had a neck reset, that was done sort of funky. It doesn't affect the guitar, but the person that did it inserted a bolt/nut and washer and replaced the neck's heel. It's a "player's guitar" not a museum piece. I certainly plan on playing it!!!! Who knows, maybe now I can finally get Robert Johnson's and other's tone!!! The guitar is solid mohagony, with rosewood fretboard and bridge. The tuners have also been replaced. But, this guitar is QUALITY. Hopefully, since I play mostly fingerstyle guitar, which this is perfect for, this will be the guitar I've always been searching for. I can't wait until it arrives mid next week!!!
As I mentioned, my Stratotone is going to go. Do I need an electric? I mainly play at home for pleasure and don't really need to be amplified. The H-72 is a blast to play and sounds incredible. But, do I really need it? Who knows.
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