New Silent Guitar Day!
The tracking had those three lovely words this morning: Out For Delivery! Of course, there is no knowing exactly when it will be delivered. We went on with our routine until it was time for me to head to Steph's school to do the guitar lesson today... I checked the tracking as I left, because their house is right on the way. Nope.
The guitar lessons went as expected: if anyone practiced during spring break, it didn't show. I gave them a fun little riff to learn individual string picking, the opening to the song Secret Agent Man... it was met with open mouths and "How do you do that?" questions. It is easy to learn, and within a few minutes (OK, closer to a half hour), most of them had it. I had hoped to teach them a real song today, but we were pretty much starting over with learning the chords they already knew. I had given them one assignment over break: come in with a song you want to learn, and make sure it is chords you already know. Most of them had a song in mind, none of them had any idea about the chords. So, being the swell guy I am, I will work up those songs and have chords and lyrics ready for them at the next lesson.
No, it does not seem right that I am the only one putting time into this outside of class. But, I am doing my part. I was surprised that most of them showed up today! ;-)
When class was over, I checked the tracking again... yep: Delivered!
I left school and headed to Steph and Dan's house, hoping the box would still be there. Fortunatly, it was. And, a couple other packages for them. I put their packages inside the house and headed for the motorhome.
The unveiling...
I didn't have to be concerned about letting the box and guitar acclimate (above) - it had been siting in a hot UPS truck, then out on their front landing in the 81º heat. Life in the desert.
Inside the first box, another box...
The case looks like it should be holding a fly fishing rod...
That piece is designed to go on and off to fit in the case. The thumb screws that hold it on are also the strap buttons; I didn't bother with a strap today. I got a chance to try it out a bit, and then Steph and Dan showed up. We did some "show & tell," but mostly visited.
When they headed for home, I got the guitar out and played for a while...
First impressions: it is WAY different from my steel string guitars - that neck is wide and the strings are spaced further apart. This isn't going to be a "few minutes" to get comfortable with this guitar - I am guessing I'll need a few days to really get a feel for it. The nylon strings, likewise, feel much different: I think I am over-gripping and over-strumming them. It sounds good. Oh, I still prefer the sound of steel strings, but I think this guitar will add another tonal pallet to some recording. The electronics that are built into this guitar give a nice range of tones.
I've heard that nylon strings are easier on the fingers than steel strings... my fingers are not convinced of that, just yet. The muscles in my hand and forearm feel like that got quite a workout.
As you can see, there isn't much "guitar" to it, other than the outline. That said, that curvy piece on top has a cut-away in it, making it fit nice against the body. And, it sits nicely on my lap.
Another path on this guitar journey. :-)
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