2004-12-12 - 6:29 p.m.

I'm typing this without the aid of my left index finger, the tip of which I sliced open in a freak dishwashing accident last night (the handle of a POT!).

This afforded me a great deal of opportunity for stress, as today was the day I picked up my new guitar, which I had placed on hold, although I really wanted to have another chance to play it before forking over the dough, having made a mental list of ideal-guitar scenarios to try out on it before purchase.

A couple of things--the first being that there's a different kind of band-aid available, I learned today, that looks like nail polish and is applied like nail polish, but which is actually a sort of combination of hydrogen peroxide, rubber cement, and melted and then hardened candle wax. It works great and I strongly recommend it, especially if the wound is some place weird where band-aids are tricky, like a fingertip.

The second thing is that although this product does protect well, it's NOT going to hold up if you're playing guitar. Eeew.

The third thing is that the Cambridge Music Center in Porter is the BEST music store I've ever been to. The difference between them and, say, Guitar Center in Allston or Daddy's Junky Music is that although Cambridge Music might be less likely to have EXACTLY what I want, they're way, way, way more likely to know EXACTLY what it is that I want when I go to ask, and then they go out of their way to find it for me. The difference between Cambridge Music and other local independently owned music stores (which I REALLY try to support even though I often get screwed and often have to go far, far away just to spend money) like, say, Allston's Mr. Music, is that Cambridge Music isn't a joke, and that the ratio of people in the store who are genuinely shopping as opposed to just fucking around with the instruments, showing off and in my way and getting their greasy fast food hands all over everything is much, much better at Cambridge. I TRUST the people there so much that I suspect that they wouldn't sell me a really good guitar if I admitted that I was planning to smash it onstage, and furthermore, they'd probably ban me from the store. These guys are good people. I miss the old Boston Music Company on Tremont (I wonder if there's a relation?), and these guys remind me of that kind of shopping experience--they're not there to rip me off, they're just there to help, offering advice if asked, shutting up and staying away if not. If Daddy's opened up next door, I'd STILL go to Porter, even for things that everybody has, like capos, strings, and even picks.

Anyway, I got a Guild D-25, from the late 70's. This guitar isn't made anymore, and I got a pretty good deal on it (I've seen it listed online for less, but I've also seen it listed online for double). There are some cracks in the lacquer (which got magnified in my memory--I first saw and played this guitar about two months ago), but they're not serious and it sounds soooo good. The action is great and I can play tough songs with lots of barre chords without my hand cramping up (I'm assuming), and I can play a friggin' F (and even an F7) on it without having to clamp my hands down. I can play this...

E x
A O
D O
G 12
B 13
E 12

...with ease because the action is great up on the fretboard as opposed to a quarter-inch up like on my other guitars.

I've always wanted a dreadnought, I've always wanted a guitar that color, I've always wanted an old guitar, I've always wanted a guitar with a nice, fat neck, and I've always had a great deal of respect for Guild guitars. I couldn't be happier about this--I mean, THIS is my guitar.

I miss my Seagull--I can't sell it, I don't think, because I've played it onstage so many times, and my Yamaha is still great for picking up and just playing.

But my Guild D-25 is GOING to be my guitar, barring any horrible, traumatic circumstances, for the next ten or more years.

Thanks, Christmas Bonus. Thank you very, very, very much.

Oh yeah, the clincher? Having paid for the guitar, and I brought my gig bag, the guy remembered that the guitar came with a case, and ran back downstairs for me and got it. When I bought my Paul McCartney bass from Guitar Center, the salesperson SOLD me the case, which was specifically made for that particular bass (the ONLY one they had in the store) for $50. I mean, what a rip-off! Marking a bass for one price and then not throwing in the case, which I probably could have picked up for free if I had come back after hours and searched their dumpster.

But these guys threw in the case, which reminds me for absolutely no reason of Neil Young, and that�s one more reason why that�s my music store.

One last thing--when we met, my Guild and I. The Roommate and I were in that music store because I needed some cables, and I was browsing the guitars, casually, and I wanted to demonstrate to the Roommate how there was a measurable difference in quality between high-end and cheap-o acoustics. I didn�t take anything down, mind you, but I did strum the open strings of a cheap-o and had her listen to the difference, and the one I picked to show the difference, the very one I bought today, had a big, fat tone, and obviously she got the difference. I had to play it, and I came back to the store several times, just to make sure it was still there. When my Christmas bonus went through, I called the store that day, and now it�s mine. No ninjas, unfortunately, but my guitar already has a story.