Something different with Murphy? No; I call him my "big boy," but other than a new cat toy yesterday (catnip is involved), Murphy has a routine... and he is very content with that.
I'm talking about my "little" guitar - the Emerald X7. I have had Nashville Tuning strings on it for several months. And while I like that jangly tone with those strings, I miss having that size guitar with the real guitar sound. So, time to change those strings...
I have an emotional attachment to this guitar. It was my second carbon fiber guitar, the first Emerald. It is small in size, but doesn't sound small. 24" scale, so it is less of a reach for my aging fingers; a thinner body depth than my other acoustics, so it fits nicely against my body. It has traveled more than any of my other current acoustic guitars... from Maine to California, Tropical Tip of Texas to the San Juan Islands (between the US and Canada in the Pacific Northwest).
String change time is also a good time for a thorough neck and fret cleaning. Guitars do gunk up on the neck: sweat and skin from your fingertips... um, TMI again?
Over the years, I have accumulated gear that makes this process quicker: a small pair of wire cutters that also are good for lifting out bridge pins...
And, an electric string winder - which is really just a slow adjustable speed battery-powered screw driver with a bit that fits over the tuning keys. It makes that winding task faster and easier.
And when done, I spent some time playing with my little friend - it sounds big again. :-) If I talk about each of my guitars like they have a personality, it's because they do. Each of them has a different tone and fills a niche.
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