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I've been playing the guitar since July 10th, 1999. I do my best to play every single day, though I have missed a couple. I love playing, and because of this, I've improved a lot in a short time, through lots of practice. Since July 1999, I've owned (or borrowed) five guitars and four ukuleles. My first guitar was borrowed from my sister:
I found it easy to learn to play on an electric guitar. The action is very low and it's quiet unplugged so the neighbours can't hear your embarassingly crappy playing. I kept Eugene until I got my own acoustic guitar:
This is Milla, she was my first guitar. She was purchased at Musicstop in Halifax in late November or early December 1999. She has served me well for eighteen months. She has her own webpage here.
I sold her on July 21, 2001, and bought a Raimundo Spanish guitar. I had gotten very attached to Milla and it was hard to see her go, but I couldn't play her anymore. My fingers had gotten used to playing my 12-string which has a wider neck and lower action. I hope someone gave her a good home.
Stats:
solid spruce top
rosewood sides and back
gold Grover tuners
abalone inlay
Dean Markley under-the-saddle pickup
I wanted a smaller guitar to carry with me on field trips and such, and thought a uke would be ideal. It's great because it fits in my backpack. You should hear me play Ozzy's "Crazy Train" on it. I bought it at the Folklore Centre in October, 2000.
Stats:
mahogany body
nato neck and bridge
rosewood fingerboard
geared tuners
nylon guitar strings
14 3/16" scale length
A or open-D tuning
Every couple of weeks I need to get my "guitar fix." So on one of my frequent trips to the local music stores, I picked up a twelve-string Gibson electric. I expected it to be difficult to play, but to my surprise, I found it quite easy. I picked up an acoustic and found it wasn't very hard either. So at the Halifax Folklore Centre, on May 14, 2001, I bought a very reasonably priced Seagull S12. I love the wide neck and low action, which brings us to my next purchase:
Stats:
solid cedar top
rosewood fingerboard and bridge
cherry back and sides
mahogany neck
semi-gloss laquer finish
I had played a Spanish guitar before on one of my shopping trips and fell in love with the sound of those nylon strings. The wide neck makes for an easy transition to and from the 12-string. I had to sell Milla to buy the Raimundo at a clearance sale at Musicstop on July 21, 2001. The widely-spaced strings make finger-picking a breeze. Metallica has never sounded so sweet.
Stats:
solid cedar top
mahogany back and sides
mahogany neck
rosewood fingerboard and bridge
In the spring of 2003 I had borrowed my sister's Yamaha electric (see above). I played it a lot and thought it would be nice to have an electric of my own. But money was against me, I simply couldn't afford to spend a few hundred on a new guitar. I feel that guitars deserve to be played, and the Raimundo just wasn't getting enough "hours." So off I go to the Folklore Centre to ask about a trade. The owner seemed excited about getting his hands on a mint Raimundo 123, so we traded for the guitar I had had my eye on for a week or two.
Stats:
alder and maple body
mahogany neck
chrome hardware
On July 6, 2006 I saw this uke at Strings and Things in Yarmouth. I just loved it, and the price too. I couldn't pass it up. So the very next day I bought it. It's tuned in the standard uke tuning of GCEA and I'm keeping it that way. Gives me more options to have two ukes in two different tunings. The downside is now I have to learn a whole new set of chords.
Stats:
spruce top
rosewood back and sides
mahogany neck
rosewood fingerboard and bridge
geared Grover tuners
abalone trim
C tuning
14¾" scale length
In July of 2007 I purchased a solid body electric ukulele from Jupiter Creek Music in Australia. Jupiter Creek is one of the few makers of solid body, steel string ukuleles, which is just what I wanted. Turning up the distortion on an acoustic just results in a loud feedback loop. The solid body and coil pickup prevent this. It required a couple tweaks, most notably changing to a higher string gauge. This one is in the shape of a Washburn Idol.
Stats:
fijian mahogany body
eucalyptus neck
acacia fretboard
p-bass pickup
Click here for a detailed description.
Stats:
Engelman spruce top
flame maple back and sides
mahogany neck
ebony fingerboard
rosewood headstock
cocobolo finger rest
Gotoh tuners
A tuning
18" scale length
Angel's Lullaby(0:42) A clip of a song I wrote for a dear friend who was pregnant with her first child. Recorded using Audacity.Jonah's Story(0:49) A clip of my latest creation. Quite possibly my best work to date. Described as "Impressive." Recorded using Audacity.Midnight Swim(1:03) A short song inspired by German group Einstürzende Neubauten. It's a ukulele, fed through a delay pedal. This song was recorded directly on the computer, using Cool Edit Pro.