Guitar Obsession
I’m obsessed with acoustic guitars.
Not ‘the acoustic guitar,’ or ‘acoustic guitar music,’ I mean I’m obsessed with acoustic guitars themselves. Not just playing them, but handling them. Not just the craftmanship, or just the beauty of the object (that too,) but I’m enchanted by the wood itself, mesmerized by the shine of the varnish. I get a thrill just caressing the curve of the side. I’m enthralled by the look, the feel, the smell of an acoustic guitar.
It would be too much information to try to describe what happens to me physically when I smell the inside of a well-made guitar. I’m just obsessed with guitars, and oh yes, and don’t forget their sound. Nice.
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OK OK, curb your enthusiasm, Casanova. This could easily end up like a video I saw recently about a woman that is in love (I mean physically, sensually, erotically) with the Golden Gate Bridge. That’s right – the same feelings: the craftsmanship, the material, the feel, the smell of the Golden Gate Bridge. Starts to sound a bit scary?
Now I’ll be the first to agree with you that the nuances in different acoustic guitars are so subtle and complex that they go far beyond comparison, let’s say, of fine wines. And there’s a kind of similarity between guitars and wines that invites an attempt to describe something ungraspable in words.
And like wines there really is a smell to some guitars. I’ve often heard Brazilian Rosewood described as smelling like chocolate. Cypress, used for back and sides in traditional flamenco guitars has a fantastic, pungent smell to it that’s hard to describe.
But what can be done about this? Every nice guitar is unique. They seem like live beings. I love them too, and love the conception and execution of a great guitar by a great luthier. But the fact is, they’re not live beings, they’re just guitars…