Thursday, July 19, 2007

FREE the mind and you will end up buying another guitar... on the California Coast!


Aloha... I'm on the road in California visiting family and friends. Chillin' out on the land in a cool set of wheels... I'm off the cruise ships for a much needed breath of fresh air. Northern California to the Oregon coastline is a great place to take that breath. Sporadic jamming, recording, and the search for the Holy Grail guitar. Found a Martin CEO-5 in Napa Valley at ALL STAR GUITARS (2522 Jefferson St., Napa, CA. 94558). Mahalo to Dan "da man" Howard". What a cool shop! Called Uncle Mike and he checked it out on the internet... told me the price was gonna save me big bucks. It's a special edition 12-fret dreadnought, solid bearclaw spruce top, herringbone top trim, tortoise pick guard, old style small abalone dot inlays, old style logo, gloss body, satin finish neck, signed by Martin CEO, C.F. Martin IV... look it up at http://www.elderly.com/new_instruments/items/CEO5.htm
Way cool!!! Maybe, just maybe... this axe might be THE ONE. Let's see... to get it back to the islands I'll carry it on the plane in a nice gig bag and stuff things that might make my suitcase too heavy in the guitar's hard shell case. Gonna leave my sound reinforcin' gear in Fremont and my very ornately inlayed Johnson guitar with Uncle Mike. I put medium gauge strings on dat buggah and tuned it down a full step so when you play an open G chord, its actually an F chord. E = D... etc. Now my Johnson sounds like it cost 4 times as much. Way cool, schwing! If you do something like that, ya might have to have the neck slightly adjusted or even the nut filed. I was told that the nut on a guitar bought with LIGHT gauge strings will accommodate a MEDIUM gauge. I think its a good idea to tune down at least a half step due to the extra tension imposed with a larger gauge string. All my guitars and music gear live mildew-free in a secure, air-conditioned storage unit halfway between Waikiki and home. Convenient in case I forget something while out on the road, but very, very expensive... ugh! Gotta play to pay...