I’ll have a “new” guitar with me this weekend. It’s really quite far from new but I have never performed with it so in that way, it is new.
It’s a 1967 Gibson C1 Classical guitar. There is a wonderful story behind this guitar. Many years ago I was at my parents’ house and my dad had a friend over. They asked me to play a few songs so I did. My dad’s friend got quite emotional and said that his brother used to play. His brother had passed away several years earlier and he said listening to me reminded him of hearing his brother play.
He told me that he had an old guitar of his brother’s and he wanted me to have it. I was quite moved by his story and touched by the generous offer. I told him that if that’s really what he wanted, I would give it a good home.
That was a Saturday night. The following Monday he met me back up and my parents’ house and gave me his brother’s guitar. This super cool old Gibson! It was in pretty tough shape. The strings were of course shot, the finish was all checked, some of the tuners were (still are) bent and the bridge was coming off of the guitar.
I took it in and had it fixed up, got a new bridge and a new nut, had the neck reset and put some strings on it. It’s come with me as I’ve moved around over the last couple of years and every once in a while, I’ll get it out and strum a few songs.
Yesterday I pulled a pickup out of one of my guitars. I was going to try and sell the pickup when I came up with a plan. What if I put the pickup in the old Gibson? Could I play that on stage? That would be so great!
So today I got out my tools, poured some coffee and got to work. The install was a success and this old Gibson sounds fantastic! I spent quite a while with this guitar today, just thrilled to finally have him stage-ready! I feel like I’m finally doing this guitar justice and I’m honored to have it and I can’t wait to play it live! What a treat!
So there you have it! Just thought I’d share the story behind this great old guitar.
Enjoy the day!
Matt
