The date for choosing my new guitar is approaching. Right now it's a toss up between a Martin Smartwoods Birch dreadnaught,
The Gibson J-185
And the the Larrivee LV-09FM
The Martin goes for about $1200, the other two around $1600. The Larrivee is classified as a "blem" because of a slight curl spot on the on the spurce top. Otherwise this is a $2400 guitar with Flame Maple back and sides. It has a booming base and clear distinct treble notes. The Gibson, a quilted maple jumbo, lacks the distinct noting but has excellent character. The neck is thin and the instrument responds vigerously. New strings would make this guitar boom. The Martin is of course the most mellow of the three, with very warm tones throughout. I think it will come down to the Larrivee and the Gibson and right now I'm leaning toward the blemished Larrivee. It clearly is an upper case instrument. I'll have to put my money where my mouth is in just a coupla' weeks!
:: Tom 2:58 PM [+] ::
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I'm heading to the North Carolina Piedmont to visit my good friends Pam and Don McMahon. They are throwing a minor shindig for our good friend Jay Hayes who, after wandering homless through the California desert for a number of years, went back to graduate from San Diego State and will be getting his MSW in Psychology next spring. He plans to counsel other Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, substance abuse, and the kinds of problems that have plaugued us since the days of Vietnam. Jay and I did a bunch of acid back in the dark days of 1971 and find ourselves surfacing from all of that with a mission to help others who were caught in that same trap.
That's one of the things I'm going to look into when I retire, volunteering at a psych ward for a few hours per week. My aunt Beth (86 and still sharp as a tack) gave me that bit of advice when I visited her in Tennessee in January. "Make sure you have something to do," she said. "You retire, you wake up with nothing to do, nowhere to go, and pretty soon you're driving yourself crazy." Aunt Beth delivered Meals on Wheels to seniors for years and I plan to follow in her footsteps.
:: Tom 10:11 AM [+] ::
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