Well I found her in a pawnshop
somewhere up in Ohio
where I guess some rounder came up short
and he had to let her go
It cost me ninety dollars
but it’s worth much more by far
cause I never had a better friend
than that old beat up guitar
Jerry Jeff Walker
This old Jerry Jeff Walker song has always had a soft spot in my heart as it reminds me of my guitar. I have a 1961 Gibson J-45 acoustic guitar. Although I did not find her in a pawn shop, I did buy her used in the early 1970s from a used musical instrument store. (And it was not actually in Ohio, but Fond du Lac, Wisconsin). But, I digress…
| It looks like this: | |
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It is the only guitar I have ever owned. I have never wanted to replace her in large part because her sound has gotten richer and richer over the years. The older it gets, the better it sounds. A new product has been developed by a couple of entrepreneurs out of Florida that might change my thinking. I first heard about it when a colleague of mine attended a business plan competition in California with one of our students. The company is called ToneRite, and it rapidly speeds up the “aging” process of musical instruments to create an old sound out of relatively new instruments. Cool idea! |