Strumming, 60's style

So, I got a call from Claudia, my mother-in-law who, through this story will obtain legendary status. She had seen an add in a newspaper about a guy who buys old Gibson Guitars, had contacted the guy, and found that he would be willing to pay $300 dollars for an old Gibson acoustic guitar in the basement. I was a little taken back. I had no recollection of any Gibson guitar sitting in her basement. I told her to hold off until the weekend when we would be staying with her for a few days.

When we got to Salt Lake, I immediately went into the basement in search of this guitar. As I found it and opened it up, I realized this guitar could be something special. It had ancient strings on it, and was obviously out of tune. I strummed lightly, and was impressed by the sound even with dull old strings (acoustic guitar strings start to sound bad within 3-4 weeks).

Rather than risk damaging the guitar by changing the strings and tuning it up, I talked to Claudia and she agreed to let me take it to Acoustic Music, a really good acoustic guitar shop in Salt Lake. When I took it there, we looked up the serial number, and determined that the guitar was a 1965 Gibson B25 Natural. I left the guitar with them for them to make sure that the truss rod (a rod that goes down through the neck) was still working, and to make adjustments if possible to obtain optimum playability. They called back a few hours later to report that the guitar was in near mint condition, that everything worked great, and it sounded great.

When I got the guitar home and began to play, I was so impressed with the sound. For those who don't know, acoustic guitars are like wine, they improve with age. The wood on an old guitar will vibrate with better clarity and sustain. This guitar certainly did that.

The estimated value of the guitar was much higher than the $300 dollars that Claudia had originally been quoted. I told her that she could sell it for much more. She asked me what I would do if it was mine. Of course if it was mine, I would keep it and play it, but if I was her, I would sell it because she wasn't going to play it, and I couldn't see it just sitting in the basement anymore. She responded that she didn't want to sell it to someone else, and asked if I would like it for Christmas. I responded as calmly as I could that I don't deserve such a nice gift. She asked, "well, would you want it?" I told her it wouldn't take much arm twisting to convince me to take it. And so with that, I received the second best Christmas present of this year, and perhaps my life time. The only Christmas present better than the guitar will come from my Wife and Heaven in the form of baby Bethany, who we can't wait to meet.

To conclude, I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed playing this guitar. It is amazing how a guitar can inspire you when it sounds so good. It is a joy to play. Thank You Claudia for an amazing gift.

I was helping heather work out some issues with her studio photography lights, and took this image of the guitar that I wanted to share.