Restringing Life.

Wow. I really dislike my acoustic guitar. It is a rather cheap piece of wood and the intonation is out, and it has a few good notches in it from the careless bustling about it does in the back seat of my car. The sound is decent at best, but the lack of a solid top gives the resonance away before it has time to build and project like the ideal acoustic sound would. Possibly the worst thing about it is how that B string goes out if it is strummed with any more than the force of a passing breath. The constant tuning becomes a hassle. The pickguard is peeling off... plus I continuously drop my pick in the sound hole and have to fish around for it, shaking the whole guitar violently. This thing doesn't even have an input jack or, for that matter, a cutaway, giving me no access to the upper frets. My eyes wander every now and then and see the beautifully crafted guitars of those around me; each is unique and seems to always stay equipped with a fresh set of lights, is preset for the prefect tone, boasts solid sides for the most incredible acoustic noise you could get from a guitar, and is polished to look brand new. Focus back to my piece of junk. The transition isn't pretty. Focus back on the others.

Then there are times when it shines. Outfit my useless slab of rosewood with a fresh set of strings and something changes. Get it tuned and take that first strum and you know what I'm talking about. Hear those new phosphor bronze strings echo in that body and put out a sound of shimmer and warmth and you'll get it. It lets me fall in love with this silly little guitar time and time again. The intonation magically rises from the grave and each of the six strings stays in tune, even when played with the most cascading of emotions. Suddenly I find myself polishing the strings more often and taking a little more care of the body. Other guitars lose their appeal as mine seems to suit me just fine. It doesn't need the bells and whistles to make it sing. And yeah, the strings will wear and rust. Eventually it will be time to restring my guitar yet again. But until then, the sound is all too enjoyable. The tone is all too clear. But until then, until then...

Wow. I really dislike my acoustic guitar... then there are times when it shines. It took a change on all six strings to realize what I was missing. It took a complete breakdown and then a complete restoration. And MAN, does this thing sound incredible.

It's all in the perspective.