Members jamesp Posted December 10, 2012 Members Share Posted December 10, 2012 ... with your guitar. Research from Finland finds that musicians who consider their instrument an extension of themselves are more confident, and feel less performance anxiety. http://www.psmag.com/blogs/news-blog/the-benefits-of-bonding-with-a-musical-instrument-50265/ More "well, duh" science, but still fun to think about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Opa John Posted December 10, 2012 Members Share Posted December 10, 2012 I believe it. About three years ago when the music web sites were blowing out the Alvarez MD-60 and MD-80 guitars, I bought one of the MD-80s. All solid woods, mahogany and Englemann spruce....played like butter......sounded great.......everybody I knew loved it......but, for some reason I never bonded with it. Actually, it sounds petty, but I think in my case it was the design of the bridge and the fact that it had an Englemann top instead of Sitka. And.....I never felt right when I played it. I got that guitar with a beautiful rigid foam case for a final blow-out price of $239.98!! Fantastic deal for an all solid wood guitar. I kept it for a year and a half and kept trying to love it, but it never happened. This, after quite a few of my friends told me I'd have to pay big bucks for a nice Martin to get anything nicer than that Alvarez. After 18 months, I sold it to a man who fell in love with it at first site. Actually sold it for almost twice what I paid for it. I got $450 out of it when they were already selling for about $500 on Ebay since they were no longer made. I used the money to buy a used (but pristine) Martin DM that felt like it was "mine" from the first time I picked it up. I still have that one and intend to keep it until I die. And........it makes me feel "good" when I play it! It's not that this DM sounds any better than the Alvarez..it's just that it feels more like a guitar that was meant for me. I'm a whole lot more comfortable when I'm playing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members poppytater Posted December 10, 2012 Members Share Posted December 10, 2012 Yeh, I've got a fork that I can eat up a storm with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EdBega Posted December 10, 2012 Members Share Posted December 10, 2012 Can't say that I've ever bonded deeply with any guitar, the right neck and a good set-up go along way though ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OldTwelver Posted December 11, 2012 Members Share Posted December 11, 2012 A lot of guitars have passed through my hands, staying various lengths of time..... I never actually set out to become a 12 string guy, but it just sorta happened. My D12-20 probably qualifies as an extension of me far more than any other. I know what she can and cannot do. She accepts my shortcomings as a player, and tries to cover up for me, when she can. We've been together a long long time and have a lot of shared memories, both good and bad. While it didn't happen overnight, I became quite comfortable performing with her in my hands. Yeh, it sounds a little weird to people I suppose, but that's the way it is, and I'm too old to worry about how the relationship came about. I enjoy playing other guitars, but I wouldn't dream of performing without her close at hand. Never gave her a name, but I know her gender, as only a female could affect me the way she does. I even owned another D12-20, one with the sexy German machines, but it wasn't even a contest for my affection. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kujozilla Posted December 11, 2012 Members Share Posted December 11, 2012 Old 1967 (I think) D28 top on cocobola back and sides and neck. Built by a close family friend especially for me. The top was off my grandfather's first Martin he ever bought. It's lovingly known as "The Rag" in music circles. And "Archie". My first guitar I ever worked on and fixed up. It came to me unfinished with the sides neck and back separating. My grandfather and I made a nut for it and did all the repairs needed. I play it sitting at home (it doesn't love the great outdoors.) Whenever he comes out someone always seems to do their best Edith Bunker impression "Oh Ahchy!!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted December 11, 2012 Members Share Posted December 11, 2012 I never really bond with a guitar until it's had its first ding. At the first crack the guitar is truly mine. I guess I'm abusive or something but it's refreshing to not have to handle the guitar with kid gloves quite as much once the damage is done. It releases my inhibitions. For instance, I have a Martin D-16GT that I bought with the idea that in a couple of years I'd upgrade to a higher end Martin. Well, a couple of years passed and I just wasn't bonding with the guitar and I decided to try my best to rectify the situation. So I took it out of its case, put on some fresh strings and tied the strap to the headstock one day while I was home alone with both my young sons. I was happily strumming and singing away yet still mobile enough that I could roam around the house and keep an eye on them. Well, my younger one starts asking for juice so I head to the refrigerator and sling the guitar over my back so that I could both hands to work the child lock. That's when the end pin slipped out... KABONG! The guitar swung free like an axe coming down and landed on the black plastic binding on the edge of the treble side of the lower bout. I was sick. Once the kiddies had their juice and were happily guzzling it down I inspected the damage. The top had three two inch long cracks in the finish and at least one that went all the way through. The top had also broken free of the kering beneath and the adjacent binding. A light rap of a knuckle in the area confirmed it and I wondered how much such a repair would cost but I elected to watch it to see if the cracks would lengthen. Well, it's been a few months and things seem stable enough. Oddly enough now I feel free. Before it was a case queen but lately I've been playing it more and even used it in church as I'd intended to when I bought it. The tone that had grabbed me in the store is not inhibited in any way and there's not even a buzz. I had thought of selling it previously but now I feel like such damage would greatly affect its resale value anyway. BTW, a similar thing happened to my Larrivee but I had already bonded with that guitar and the KABONG was less traumatic. In addition to the mark I left on it, my younger son went at the maple binding when he was teething. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members garthman Posted December 11, 2012 Members Share Posted December 11, 2012 I'm very fond of my old BM Espana classical guitar. I bought it new - my first guitar - in 1968 for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DCS Posted December 12, 2012 Members Share Posted December 12, 2012 Old 1967 (I think) D28 top on cocobola back and sides and neck. Built by a close family friend especially for me. The top was off my grandfather's first Martin he ever bought. It's lovingly known as "The Rag" in music circles.... That dread and the bottle of booze are a bonding experience if I ever saw one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DCS Posted December 12, 2012 Members Share Posted December 12, 2012 Old 1967 (I think) D28 top on cocobola back and sides and neck. Built by a close family friend especially for me. The top was off my grandfather's first Martin he ever bought. It's lovingly known as "The Rag" in music circles.... That dread and the bottle of booze are a bonding experience if I ever saw one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stomias Posted December 12, 2012 Members Share Posted December 12, 2012 I bonded the {censored} out of these two...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FretFiend. Posted December 12, 2012 Members Share Posted December 12, 2012 I've bonded nicely with my old D-28. I'm still waiting on the "more confident, and feel less performance anxiety" part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JasmineTea Posted December 15, 2012 Members Share Posted December 15, 2012 I've bonded nicely with my old D-28. I'm still waiting on the "more confident, and feel less performance anxiety" part. ...Musicians, public speakers, actors, and professional dancers have been known to use beta blockers to avoid performance anxiety, stage fright and tremor during both auditions and public performances. The application to stage fright was first recognized in The Lancet in 1976, and by 1987, a survey conducted by the International Conference of Symphony Orchestra Musicians, representing the 51 largest orchestras in the United States, revealed 27% of its musicians had used beta blockers and 70% obtained them from friends, not physicians.[21] Beta blockers are inexpensive, said to be relatively safe and, on one hand, seem to improve musicians' performances on a technical level, while some say the performances may be perceived as "soulless and inauthentic."[21] Since they promote lower heart rates and reduce tremors, beta blockers have been used in professional sports where high accuracy is required, including archery, shooting, golf[22] and snooker.[22] Beta blockers are banned by the International Olympic Committee.[23] A recent, high-profile transgression took place in the 2008 Summer Olympics, where 50 metre pistol silver medallist and 10 metre air pistol bronze medallist Kim Jong-su tested positive for propranolol and was stripped of his medal. For similar reasons, beta blockers have also been used by stutterers[citation needed] and surgeons.[24] [edit] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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