My New Girlfriend

My New Girlfriend

My wife and I just celebrated 20 years of marital bliss ... so maybe I shouldn’t come out with this right now, but it’s true: I’ve fallen for another.  Folks, I’ve found my soul-mate.  Born in 1967, she’s just two years younger than me.  She responds to my touch like none other.  She inspires me; I’m in love!  The best part: my sweet little wife is totally okay with it.  Okay so maybe the new gal is made of wood, but hey, we all have our little faults, right?  So, let me tell you all about my new honey, read on!

Yea, okay ... all kidding aside, the ’67 Martin D-28 that recently found its way into my life has truly excited me in ways I haven’t been for a long time now.  So gang, we may be mostly electric players here, but can we take a quick little detour down the mellow road of Acoustic bliss?  This little gal (I should name her, shouldn’t I?) is the second D-28 I’ve owned, the first was a ’77 HD-28 and even though she sounded fantastic, I just couldn’t ever feel comfortable with her - she made me feel small, like a kid dressing up in daddy’s clothes.  In theory, this guitar should be awfully similar to the other, but it ain’t, not at all.  Man, with an electric guitar there are so many pieces in the "tone chain", hundreds, if not thousands actually, when you add up all the components in an amp; plus there’s pickups, cables, and of course speakers.  With an acoustic the guitar itself is the entire tone chain; just wood, glue, and a few bits of metal and other stuff.

This sweetie has me totally jazzed about playing acoustic guitar for the first time ever really.  She has inspired me to write my first song in years, and play each evening before retiring for the night.  I thought I’d have to stumble upon a ’62 Strat to find this kind of mutual love and affection; guess I was wrong.

Maybe some of you out there can help me out.  I’m not really an acoustic guy.  What is it that makes this little gal so sweet?  Is it the Brazilian Rosewood?  The 42 or so years of ageing?  Maybe the individual luthiers who produced it were uncommonly talented? She simply melts like butter in my hands.  Maybe with acoustic guitars it’s simply about finding that perfect fit between the guitar and the human that play each other.

email vaughn     About Vaughn Skow