The Search is On

In the past, I must confess, I've been quite a slacker when it comes to guitars. Most guitarists usually seem quite titillated when it comes to the prospect of (cheeky smile and small gasp) another instrument! I always felt like I had to fake interest just to not look like a slouch, but the fuss always seemed overblown, just like most of our cravings for more more more things are.

But I'm about to embark on a search for The Next Guitar. My 000-15 Martin guitar is a sweet little number--for acoustic music. I had a pickup drilled into it so that it can be more easily amplified at shows, but it's just not a guitar that's designed to be amplified. I got it before I regularly played with a drummer, at a time when I was even more ignorant about what goes into a guitar (or even what to call parts of the guitar) than I am now.

But as I start looking over the possibilities and options before me, I feel a strange and unusual excitement in my belly that is not merely the accustomed glee of "Weeee, more Stuff!"

I think it must be a feeling that comes from knowing that the instrument I choose is going to open new doors up for me and this band, musically speaking. We'll be able to do what we do now, only better, and do more sorts of other things, like sneak in a teeny bit of distortion for numbers that need it...

It's past time for a new instrument, because I've got sounds in my head that my noble 'ol Martin just don't make. The possibility of having a guitar that's more versatile--that can stand up and speak for itself in between the aural raucousness and delicious savagery of a trombone and a drum kit and a big ol bass, that's a gratifying prospect. After consulting with my friend and mentor, the great Steve Boden, I'm inclining towards a flat-top, round hole guitar of some sort or another.

Let's just see what I can find.