Joined: September 2018 Posts: 11
| Yes, the name is too accurate. I’ve had lessons from the greats, and the delusional, and I still don’t really play guitar at all. I think it’s my lack of talent, and my inability to play enough.
I traded my first ‘real’ guitar, an Arbor Strat replica, for an Applause Celebrity brown burst. I was taking lessons from a local teacher, who asked why my chording was not coming along well. He finally tried my guitar, and said, “that’s unplayable”...I figured I would be able to pass a stack of quarters under the strings...he said, “it needs work”.....so Stephens Stringed Instruments in Seattle fixed it, and made it much more of a player, even if I still was not...
That guitar went to India as a gift for a missionary to offer music to his flock. I bought a great guitar, and still was a terrible player, though that guitar still sparkles in competent hands.
A decade later, I’m at a guitar show, and see an old Ovation silver label for sale...dead strings, and benign neglect. After a spirited haggle, I get it for a fair price with original case and a fresh set of strings. After a scrub, and a clean with fresh strings it sounds SO much better than the Applause ever could...and the neck is very playable.
So I finally have the guitar I wanted, but couldn’t afford when I bought the Applause all those years ago.
Thank you all for your work in keeping an American icon relevant and current. I might just practice!
Notalent  |