Technically My Third Guitar

 

My mother was also an artist.  Although she gave the guitar a try, she was not as interested in playing as I was.  Somehow this became part of our story.

 

A guitar that reminds me of my mother!

What I come to consider my “third guitar” was also my mother’s guitar. I have to admit that I coveted it from the very first time I saw it. By this time, I had already commandeered my mother’s first guitar and of course I had my very first electric guitar. But for her birthday, my mother wanted to rekindle her love for guitar. There used to be this gigantic music store in Fort Lauderdale where I lived at the time. This store was called “Mars Music Store” and it was huge. It was much like a guitar center, with a bunch of instruments from beginner to very high end. There was a guitar center, but it was too far away from our home.

Some of those instruments were so far off my price range, or so I thought. Despite the fact that I have been playing guitar for a few years by that time, it was not like I could just go and buy anything I wanted. I didn’t feel my skill level was that great to justify the cost. Still, sometimes I would just go and pick up a guitar, especially those very expensive ones and just dream about hopefully owning one of those, sometime. Now it turns out I have a bunch of professional level high end guitars, even much nicer than those in the store… and I love them. So, kids, yes dreams come true if you’re awake to follow them.

 

The guitar we ended up buying in that store for my mother was this beautiful acoustic Ovation Celebrity CS 257 guitar. It was all black, and it was stunning. The color, the fretboard, the binding, the golden accents. This particular model has the top wood with these little sound holes in on either side of the guitar near where the neck meets the body. It sounded awesome; it was not the most expensive of the Ovations they had in stock. Not that I knew the difference. We really liked the color. The more expensive guitar was a different color but now I understand very well what was actually different about each guitar. It didn’t’ matter this was perfect for our skill level. Particularly mine.

My mom never actually ended up playing this thing on a regular basis. Her catch phrase remained “I’m busy” – and she was.  Also, the steel stings were very hard on her little hands (my mom was tinny). So, after a lot of back and forth, I ended up inheriting this guitar as well. I loved it, even composed several songs on that particular guitar. I also did a lot of jamming with this guitar.

I even took this guitar with me during one of my trips to Lithuania. Unfortunately, the guitar case got essentially chewed by something between Amsterdam and Vilnius, but the guitar made it ok. So hard cases, good investment. The guitar did come with a hard case anyway. This guitar much like my other two guitars ended up staying in Ecuador for several years.  But this was the first one that my brother brought back with him to USA in one of his many trips.

Through the years, the guitar will need actually some repairs to the pre-amp, but acoustically still sounds amazing, which I like it better with an external mike than the original piezo pick up. It just brings up the sound a lot more. I did get a new hard case for it. And I lowered the action, so it is a lot more playable than what it used to be. Also, I use a different string gauge so it does not punish the fingers like it used to. In addition, I tune that instrument one ½ step down so it is more akin to some of the normal ballad’s keys you would play on that type of guitar. With that said, at some point I will send it to get the pre-amp repaired to its back original glory. Afterall this guitar is one of few tangible reminders I got from my mother. In either case, when I play it is unplugged, and specially my daughter enjoyed me playing for her even from the time she was a baby. Sammy would “drum” on my leg as I played along when she was a baby.

 

© J. Marcelo Baqueroalvarez  | Ovation Celebrity CS 257, 2013 Hampton Roads, USA

My mom passed away several years ago, and it is through these instruments that I can revive a lot of our memories together. Although she used to yapper a lot about this being HER guitar, and that she was only allowing me to play it, I know she loved it when I played for her. My mom was a good person, even though she could be quite difficult to deal with at times. But just like any imperfection that we all have; it does not matter. Something can be as beautiful even with imperfections. And this imperfect guitar to me is an extension of ourselves. I love it as it is, even if it has a quirk here and there. And hey, don’t we all have a quirk of some kind?

Much like my older guitars, this one also lives along with her guitar-sisters in my home studio collection. I don’t play this one often either, and just like with the previous ones, it is because there is a lot of nostalgia and sadness that overcomes me when I have this guitar in my hands. Even though I do have many good memories playing with my daughter. But still, I don’t think I’ve been able to fully grieve this sadness, and I don’t want too either. There will be a time and a place when I’ll be able to do so. But right now, it almost feels like I am a lot like my mother. My catch phrase does seem to be “I’m busy” – and that is a statement of fact. Yet I know these emotions and memories will come to flourish every time I’ll strum this instrument. Somehow the sound will remind me of her voice.  I was just strumming in her today, and all these emotions came rushing back. HLC