Silence Kid
New member
I was worried something posted here might come across as "Hey my dad died, look what I got!" Yet I'm compelled to make this post anyway; because my dad is important to me, so his guitars are important to me. I never wanted to think about any of these things, but I suppose this place is the best outlet in my life for anything guitar related.
I can't bear the thought of taking them to my home yet, so they're all still where my dad left them; I feel guilty to even turn the knobs in all honesty. There are five guitars I'm now custodian of:
Pictured as he left it. Dad developed a desire to try electric only in the last couple years. He became interested in Dire Straits/late Clapton; a lot of my recent interactions with my Dad were basically daring each other through text to buy stuff on eBay so that's where this came from. I also pointed him toward the Orange Crush- I had one too and they actually do sound good clean (how he played) even if the overdrive tone is pretty hilarious. It has a really beefy neck that has a good amt. of birdseye (why I suggested it to him,) and in all honesty it's been so long since I played through a small solid state amp with stock ceramic Fender single coils I was humbled it sounded as good as it did.
One thing- There's a pretty decent ding on one of the high frets that pretty much prohibits bending (Dad never played that high.)
I last saw him maybe a month and a half ago. We met for burgers and he gave me this for no specific reason. Dad was a G&L fan. The week before he died I ordered new plastic toggle tips for this guitar (now reproduced by G&L; ) I meant to text him about it, but was ultimately not able.
Tribute ASAT Deluxe (didn't bother with pics.) One day he texted me excited about the below video and told me there was a sale on Musicians Friend; when the guitar arrived it was completely un-intonated and the saddles were sky high. I first played it in the dark and felt like an idiot when I couldn't stay in tune; only the next morning did I see the arrangement of the saddles. Took allen wrenches to it to make it playable; after that I think it was the guitar Dad liked playing the most.
There are two acoustics, neither pictured. He has a cheap Mitchell in his house in the desert; the neck basically folds itself in half depending on the season in the harsh climate. Last I saw it it was back-bowed and had fret sprout that led to a lot of blood spatter on the sofa.
In Christmas of 1999 dad bought two guitars and told me to pick one; he'd take the other. I'm not unhappy to say I screwed myself over
I was a stupid fourteen year old and took the Takamine Jasmine because it had a cutaway; he took the Takamine G-240 . The G-240 isn't high end, but sounds pretty great for a laminate; after a couple more years I recognized my mistake. It's still on a stand with the original plastic over the pickguard. The Jasmine, on the other hand, led a rough life; I took it everywhere, it developed a loose/rattling brace, the electronics quit, it got thrown into campfires etc. And it never sounded decent.
Dad bought the Takamine(s) so we could in theory retire the guitar on the right, below:
1976 Takamine F430 . This is the guitar I remember him playing when I was two; Gordon Lightfoot, Kris Kristofferson, Cat Stevens etc. It still smells as it did; the case still has the same corny old strap, capo, and pitch pipe I used to "play" along with his singing. When I took an interest in guitar this got handed to me, and I've had custody since (so unlike the above mentioned, this one is actually with me now.) I would still tell you this guitar is not ideal for me- the neck is deep and almost v'd (I'm a 'thumb-behind' person so this is almost painful,) and between a repaired crack in the laminate top from when it was dropped decades ago and the cheesy adjustable bridge, it's not the most complex sounding acoustic.
...But more than any other guitar, I feel like I *know* this one; it might be as uncomfortable as hell, but it's just so familiar it can't help but feel like I'm at home to play it. So it never quite retired or got replaced by the Jasmine (the Jasmine, on the other hand, reached a point where it was unplayable rather quickly.) I've been playing this guitar a decent amount lately, even though I'd been preserving it in its case for the most part.
Next to it in the pic above is a 1968 Japan Yamaha FG260 he bought new, and maybe played for ten whole minutes by him; it survived in basically mint condition with the exception that it's quite bellied, and the neck at one time had a pretty dire amount of relief. I accepted it from him basically as a dare; then shaved the bridge saddle down, ramped it to give the strings break angle and shimmed the truss nut. Dad was pretty impressed at the improvement; still difficult to play by any standard though.
...
I have no clue what I'm going to do with these guitars, but I'll have to collect them eventually. I'm going to keep them and play them, of course; pretty much mod-exempt though. Again, obviously I've been thinking about a lot of things other than guitars lately. As much as I've written here, I could fill a book with everything else. Make good memories while you can.
I can't bear the thought of taking them to my home yet, so they're all still where my dad left them; I feel guilty to even turn the knobs in all honesty. There are five guitars I'm now custodian of:
Pictured as he left it. Dad developed a desire to try electric only in the last couple years. He became interested in Dire Straits/late Clapton; a lot of my recent interactions with my Dad were basically daring each other through text to buy stuff on eBay so that's where this came from. I also pointed him toward the Orange Crush- I had one too and they actually do sound good clean (how he played) even if the overdrive tone is pretty hilarious. It has a really beefy neck that has a good amt. of birdseye (why I suggested it to him,) and in all honesty it's been so long since I played through a small solid state amp with stock ceramic Fender single coils I was humbled it sounded as good as it did.
One thing- There's a pretty decent ding on one of the high frets that pretty much prohibits bending (Dad never played that high.)
I last saw him maybe a month and a half ago. We met for burgers and he gave me this for no specific reason. Dad was a G&L fan. The week before he died I ordered new plastic toggle tips for this guitar (now reproduced by G&L; ) I meant to text him about it, but was ultimately not able.
Tribute ASAT Deluxe (didn't bother with pics.) One day he texted me excited about the below video and told me there was a sale on Musicians Friend; when the guitar arrived it was completely un-intonated and the saddles were sky high. I first played it in the dark and felt like an idiot when I couldn't stay in tune; only the next morning did I see the arrangement of the saddles. Took allen wrenches to it to make it playable; after that I think it was the guitar Dad liked playing the most.
There are two acoustics, neither pictured. He has a cheap Mitchell in his house in the desert; the neck basically folds itself in half depending on the season in the harsh climate. Last I saw it it was back-bowed and had fret sprout that led to a lot of blood spatter on the sofa.
In Christmas of 1999 dad bought two guitars and told me to pick one; he'd take the other. I'm not unhappy to say I screwed myself over
I was a stupid fourteen year old and took the Takamine Jasmine because it had a cutaway; he took the Takamine G-240 . The G-240 isn't high end, but sounds pretty great for a laminate; after a couple more years I recognized my mistake. It's still on a stand with the original plastic over the pickguard. The Jasmine, on the other hand, led a rough life; I took it everywhere, it developed a loose/rattling brace, the electronics quit, it got thrown into campfires etc. And it never sounded decent.Dad bought the Takamine(s) so we could in theory retire the guitar on the right, below:
1976 Takamine F430 . This is the guitar I remember him playing when I was two; Gordon Lightfoot, Kris Kristofferson, Cat Stevens etc. It still smells as it did; the case still has the same corny old strap, capo, and pitch pipe I used to "play" along with his singing. When I took an interest in guitar this got handed to me, and I've had custody since (so unlike the above mentioned, this one is actually with me now.) I would still tell you this guitar is not ideal for me- the neck is deep and almost v'd (I'm a 'thumb-behind' person so this is almost painful,) and between a repaired crack in the laminate top from when it was dropped decades ago and the cheesy adjustable bridge, it's not the most complex sounding acoustic.
...But more than any other guitar, I feel like I *know* this one; it might be as uncomfortable as hell, but it's just so familiar it can't help but feel like I'm at home to play it. So it never quite retired or got replaced by the Jasmine (the Jasmine, on the other hand, reached a point where it was unplayable rather quickly.) I've been playing this guitar a decent amount lately, even though I'd been preserving it in its case for the most part.
Next to it in the pic above is a 1968 Japan Yamaha FG260 he bought new, and maybe played for ten whole minutes by him; it survived in basically mint condition with the exception that it's quite bellied, and the neck at one time had a pretty dire amount of relief. I accepted it from him basically as a dare; then shaved the bridge saddle down, ramped it to give the strings break angle and shimmed the truss nut. Dad was pretty impressed at the improvement; still difficult to play by any standard though.
...
I have no clue what I'm going to do with these guitars, but I'll have to collect them eventually. I'm going to keep them and play them, of course; pretty much mod-exempt though. Again, obviously I've been thinking about a lot of things other than guitars lately. As much as I've written here, I could fill a book with everything else. Make good memories while you can.
