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Dalton
Roberts |
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Tom Morgan and I have
been playing “history of Appalachian music” shows in schools for
many years and encouraging children to adopt a musical instrument as a
lifetime companion. You simply cannot find a better one. My longest love affair
has been with a 1947 Epiphone guitar. My first wife Shirley gave it to
me and I suppose she had heard me play so many years that she had a feel
for what would suit my hand and ears. She hit it right on the nose. It was not one of the
most expensive guitars. The first lesson you should learn as a guitar
shopper is to completely forget price and go for the sound that suits
you best. You are hunting for one you can hear deep in your soul and one
that feels good. Soon after you buy a
guitar, chances are you will name it. B.B. King calls his blues guitar
“Lucille.” She may be the best-known guitar in the world. I simply
called mine “Epi” until I played the Grand Ole Opry. Al Harvey then
named her “Epi of the Opry” and that sounded good to me. Epi had a mellow sound
from the start. It sounded better than any guitar sound I had ever
heard. But I craved one that projected more sound and bought a Martin.
After less than a dozen gigs, I went right back to Epi. Nothing wrong
with the Martin but it didn’t feel right to me. It didn’t have
Epi’s sweet sound. Actually, I bought two Martins, two Gibsons, a
Fender and several less-known brands and each time I’d go right back
to Epi. The second lesson I
would urge on beginning guitar players is to never part with your first
guitar. My father worked like a dog in a hosiery mill at the time he
bought me that first guitar. Yet, he bought me the highest priced one in
the store – a Martin. Those old Martins didn’t have neck-adjusting
rods so when it warped and became hard to play, I traded it on another
guitar. As I got older and
appreciated family values more, I just got a sick feeling that I
didn’t keep the first guitar my father gave me. He had told me he
would buy me a guitar when I learned to play and I knew a neighbor, Pop
Adams, had an old Stella. The strings sat up so high they would dig
deeply into my fingers. First, I got blisters, then calluses and then
blisters under the calluses but I persisted until I could play enough to
coax a box out of Dad. I now have an old Stella I am going to make
playable for the memories of all the times I drove Pop Adams to drink
learning on his old Stella. The third lesson I
would offer to a new player is to keep your instrument adjusted. Most
music stores have a person on staff that knows how to adjust a guitar
for maximum quality sound. Sonny Thomas is the best one I have ever
found and when he adjusted Epi for me a few years ago, it made at least
a 50% improvement in her sound. If he had known how thrilled I was, he
might have charged me twice as much. Maybe that is lesson number four:
never tell an adjuster how much you like his adjustment. Wait until you
walk out the door to yell, “Wowee!” These thoughts apply
equally to any other instrument you may want to learn. If you want the
easiest instrument, buy an autoharp. They sound heavenly and all you do
is push in the chord buttons and strum. Mandolins and banjoes are not
hard but learning a banjo can drive off a loving companion. I once had
one and I named it “Homewrecker.” Still, if I had my
life to live over, I’d live it over a music store.
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