George Gibson in Bold Life Magazine!
Added 2020-03-12 20:23:40 +0000 UTChttps://www.boldlife.com/open-tuning/
George Gibson is a prolific vintage-string-instrument collector from Hendersonville. Portrait by Rachel Pressley.
Gibson HG-22 ca. 1931 (left) and an 1845 German guitar (right). Both instruments collected by George Gibson. Photo by Rachel Pressley.
Rare finds make up a significant part of the display, Burnette promises. And Gibson — whose personal collection of instruments numbers between 150 and 200 — is well acquainted with the allure of those older guitars. “[The] appeal, in part, [is] because of the people who played them,” he says, “and also because of their sound. Some of them sound incredible.”
Gibson notes that there’s been a resurgence of demand for vintage instruments. For quite a while, he says, “it was hard to find new instruments that were really good, so people started looking for older guitars.” Even today, when both mass-produced and handcrafted instruments are available in high quality, interest in classic guitars is stronger than ever.
Another trend that Burnette has noticed is an increased interest in the ukulele, the tiny four-stringed instrument first designed in 19th-century Hawaii, popular today with quirky folk acts and beginning players of all ages who might be intimidated by delving straight into guitar. “Go figure,” he says with a laugh. “I can’t play one.”
Comments
I've got a luthier friend who specializes in those types of guitars. I’m always impressed by the wild designs crossing his bench, especially the double necked versions. All lot of those came out of Russia as well as Germany. An interesting detail consistent in the Russian models is they all had necks that were adjustable with a clockwork key. What’s notable about that is that the necks have only two points of contact. One near the fretboard and the other at the key mechanism. It undermines the popular theory that necks need full contact for good acoustics.
Nomad Boatbuilding - Mark Reuten
2020-04-10 15:11:22 +0000 UTCThat's it. I gotta move south.
David Steel
2020-03-16 12:27:52 +0000 UTC
