When I was growing up I remember my father's acoustic propped in the corner of our living room. It sat there for years. Every now and again my dad would get it out and strum and pick it. Even though he was "just piddlin'" (as he would say) I was always amazed at how good of a guitarist he was, especially for someone who couldn't read music (and I never heard him mention tabs). He was mostly self-taught, but had memorized a few hundred songs and could pick out anything he wanted to play (including my KISS songs) by ear.
I can recall holding and playing around on this guitar before I started elementary school (I started school in 1970). It seemed huge. When I put it on my lap I could barely see over it, or so it seemed. Because I showed some interest, my dad showed me how to make my first chord (I think it was a G), and eventually I learned all of the open chords from him. However, I was more interested in picking out songs note by note on it.
My dad passed away rather suddenly in February 2000. I was living overseas at the time, and about that same time, the house he and my mother were building was completed, so she moved into the new house alone. In the process, she got rid of a lot of "stuff", and I thought the guitar was one thing that had been given away or sold. I never thought much about it after that. Until mid last year, I hadn't played a guitar for several years and just wasn't too interested.
My mother passed away this past August. While preparing her house to be sold, I found my dad's old acoustic under her bed. The nut is gone, the bridge is cracked, there are no strings and three of the string pins are missing. Three of the tuning pegs are bent and two of the peg heads are cracked. Plus, it has about 20 years of dust inside of it. Bottom line: It needs some serious TLC.
I wondered just what kind of guitar it is. I know it is a Gibson, but I didn't know the model. I managed to find part of the serial number (the other part is too faded to read) and I did some research on the internet which got me nothing except a model year: 1956. Finally a friend told me about a guitar shop about 90 miles from my house which deals in vintage Gibsons, so this past week I took it there.
They tell me it's a 1956 Gibson LG-3, which has had some after-market customization done to it, including removal of the black veneer on the headstock, and addition of a custom and very large (and ugly, in my opinon) pick guard. It's considered a low-end Gibson and therefore not especially collectible.
But to me, it's priceless. I have resolved to make it playable again.
If anyone is interested, I'll post some before and after photos once I get it fixed up.
Thanks for reading,
'Nomikal
