Well worn gypsy guitars?

wildfire

I have an affinity for guitars, in general, that at well worn and/or fixed in a "gypsyish" way. Such as Mondine Garcia using packing tape to hold his Stimer onto his favino. I also heard about Django using a matchbook under the bridge of one of his guitars. Anyone have any good pics or videos or various beat up guitars?

Shawn

I'll upload some photos of one of mine as soon as I get home from work. Needless to say I have a pretty heavy attack and it's a pretty worn guitar. I'm thinking about getting a clear pickguard for my new Gallato Noire I have coming, as I really don't want to scratch it up as much as I have my other guitars.

Craig Bumgarner

Shawn wrote:

...I'm thinking about getting a clear pickguard for my new Gallato Noire I have coming, as I really don't want to scratch it up as much as I have my other guitars.

You might want to consider a Rokkomann removable clear pickguard. There is no adhesive used, just a specially treated surface and air pressure. I have been using one for about week, works very well. Stays put, thick enough to protect and comes off very easily. The manufacturer recommends taking it off after each use and warns that long term contact may damage finish, but so far, that just seems like legal boilerplate.

I got it in order to test the often asked question of whether a pickguard affects tone. With a removable guard I could A/B with and w/o repeatedly. And yes, it does make a difference, but very slight. Not enough to make it worth wearing a hole in the top like Willy Nelson's guitar. (did I see a picture of this here recently or was it somewhere else? anyhow, if you are curious, google it, talk about well worn).

CB

Shawn

Thanks for the info Craig, I'll definitely be checking those out; it being removable and having no adhesive is a huge selling point.

Thanks a bunch!

Craig Bumgarner

It was elsewhere, so here is a picture of a well worn guitar, albeit not a Selmer style. Check out the hole under his right hand. That's nuts, I'm callin' the guitar abuse hot line on this one! 8)

CB

redblues

How about Glen Hansard from Once at the Oscars

Craig Bumgarner

Dang, it's a trend! Don't get left behind, go punch a hole in your guitar, NOW. Those silly little oval holes may be cute, but they really aren't big enough any way. The added "ports" just gotta help the sound.

CB

sfishman59

This reminds me of when van halen popularized (people were doing it earlier of course but the kids didn't care) the cigarette in the headstock and you couldn't find a kid who wasn't doing it.

Craig Bumgarner

Yeah, Jimi Hendrix used to skewer the filter end of cigarette on one of the string ends at the head and it would bounce around as he played. Course, I had to do that too. 8)

Craig