Geni Swing Guitars

Guitar Inlay

This article is not about whether you should buy a Les Paul or a Fender Stratocaster.

Nor is it about buying a guitar that suits your budget, musical genre or penchant for a particular color. This article also has nothing to do with body-woods, fret size, neck shape, pickup configuration, or the age-old tonal debate of the tremelo versus a fixed bridge.

It goes slightly deeper than that.

On a Saturday afternoon in 1981 I decided it was time to get my first 'good' electric guitar. Heavily influenced by the jazz-rock guitarists of the day and given the limitations of my student budget, I decided on the Ibanez line of semi-hollow body electrics. I even had a model in mind -- the Ibanez AS100. And preferably in a sunburst finish.

Accompanied by two of my guitar playing buddies, we made the bus journey to the guitar shop downtown. Needless to say I was excited.

At the guitar shop another teen, slightly older than I, was trying out a small-bodied sunburst Ibanez AS50. He was playing a few funky rhythmic ideas that I thought were pretty cool. A local professional drummer of some repute was standing nearby. After listening in for a few minutes he exclaimed, "This boy's got rhythm!" The kid put the guitar down when he was done and I asked the gentleman who ran the shop if I could have a go.

I picked it up, plugged it in and the first thing that struck me was how comfortable it felt in my hands. It had a low action, a really smooth, slinky feel and it sounded great. I proceeded to noodle on it, playing some rhythms and lines.

And I started to realise that I was playing some things that were beyond my level of development. To my ears, my playing sounded effortless and professional, bearing in mind that up to that point I had been playing for only 4 years . Even the man who ran the shop, who had seen me play in his store more times than he probably cared to remember, commented at my drastic improvement. My two buddies were staring at me, agog with disbelief.

The guitar was perfect except for one thing. It was not the AS100 model but a slightly cheaper lower-end model in the series. I put it down and asked if I could try out the AS100 which was also on display.

It was a gorgeous instrument with a transparent red finish that showed the grain of the wood beautifully with a symmetrical pearl inlay design on the headstock. I plugged it in, tuned and started to play. And I sounded like my old self again.

Gone was that magic I had felt coursing through my hands just moments before on that other guitar. I rationalized that it was some sort of strange fluke. I was also sure that now that I had experienced that magical feeling, I could work toward experiencing it again and with some practice, make it a permanent feature in my playing.

And I put the money down on the AS100.

Don't get me wrong. The Ibanez AS100 I had purchased -- and still own -- is a fine instrument. But I can't help but wonder about the musical direction I would have taken because of the leaps and bounds I might have made in my playing, if I had gone for that 'magical' guitar all those years ago.

Since then, I've experienced this phenomena several times over the years -- that strange connection with an instrument for no apparent reason. About 20 years ago I played a beat-up early 70's Stratocaster that belonged to a rehearsal studio. It had ridiculously high action and rusty strings and was difficult to play, but it too had that magical vibe. It was then that I also realized that the physical setup of a guitar had nothing to do with this connection I was feeling with certain instruments.

In a 1983 Guitar Player magazine interview, Frank Zappa succinctly stated, "If you pick up a guitar and it seems to scream 'take me', then that is the guitar for you."

How true.

I never go guitar shopping anymore. Not deliberately. I prefer to let myself naturally discover instruments that I truly feel a connection with -- guitars that are so inspiring that I feel a sense of joy and freedom playing them. These instruments are few and far between.

Clinton Carnegie is a music educator, jazz-rock guitarist, composer and recording artist. He has produced two jazz fusion albums under his own name, 'Say What You Mean' and 'Santiago'.

His guitar blog can be found at http://guitarcolumn.blogspot.com

Gibson Custom Es-335 Plain '60S Block InlaySlim Neck Electric Guitar Antique Tea Burst $3499 Gibson Custom ES-335 Plain '60s Block Inlay"Slim Neck" Electric Guitar Antique Tea Burst

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Gibson Western Classic 3-Piece Back & Crown Inlay Acoustic Guitar $6249 The Gibson Western Classic Acoustic Guitar offers just about every luxurious touch Gibson's luthiers could think of. The Western Classic captures the guitar's vintage feel perfectly. The exotic woodsincluding a premium solid Sitka spruce top, solid Indian rosewood back and sides, eastern curly maple neck, and ebony fretboardare just the ground work. On top is built one of the most brilliantly ornamented Gibson guitars ever with 4-ply top and back binding, multi-ply fingerboard binding with birdsbeak, moustache bridge, mother-of-pearl graduated block fretboard and bridge inlays, Grover tuners, multi-layer SJ-200 shaped pickguard, 3-rope marquetry, and nostalgic torch headstock inlay. Gibson builds fewer than 30 Western Classic Prewar 200 guitars each year.Solid Sitka spruce topSolid Indian rosewood back and sidesEastern curly maple neckMultibound ebony fingerboard with mother-of-pearl graduated block inlaysBirdsbeak bindingGrover Imperial tuners4-ply top and back binding3-rope marquetryMultibound headstock with historic torch inlay

Gibson J-185 Custom Quilted Maple with Vine Inlay Acoustic Guitar VS $3699 In addition to the great features of all Gibson J-185 models, this special edition features a custom rose vine fingerboard inlay and quilted maple back & sides. The first Gibson J-185 was introduced in 1951, giving players a broader choice of flat-top acoustic guitars. It quickly became a hit. With a slightly smaller body than Gibson's fabled Super Jumbos, the J-185 offers an excellent alternative for players seeking a smaller body style without sacrificing acoustic power and projection. Traditionally, the J-185 features a body length of 20-1/4", a width of 16", and a body depth of 4-7/8", producing an big sound with clear acoustics, making it equally impressive for powerful strumming or delicate fingerpicking, and everything in between. Nickel Grover Rotomatic Tuners Grover's original Rotomatic tuners are an engineering marvel, with style and performance exactly suited for the J-185. With a gear ratio of 14:1, the Rotomatics deliver precision tuning in a durable housing that provides maximum protection for the gear and string post. All moving parts are cut for exact meshing, eliminating the possibility of slippage. A countersunk tension screw lets players regulate the tuning tension to any degree. A special lubricant inside the gear box provides smooth and accurate tuning stability. Crown Peghead Logo Gibson put the first crown peghead logo on an ES-300 back in 1940, and it has graced the headstocks of many legendary Gibson guitars ever since, including today's J-185. Over the years, it has also been called a "thistle" because of the group of flowering plants with the sharp prickles, though Gibson has preferred to call it a "crown." Pickguard The tortoise pickguard for the J-185 is Gibson's standard 1950s-style Jumbo shape. As with all of Gibson Acoustic's pickguards, the coloring, inlay, and binding are all crafted by hand. Rosette A rosette is the beautiful, hand-crafted circle around the soundhole, and can be one of the most ornamental elements of any acoustic guitar. It is also one of the most subtle and complicated woodworking decorations on any acoustic guitar. The rosette on the J-185 is a double-ring rosette, with the main ring consisting of seven-ply binding, and the second ring three-ply binding, adding a stylish, understated elegance to the J-185. Rosewood Fingerboard with Rolled Edges and Custom Rose Vine Fingerboard Inlay The fingerboard of Gibson's J-185 is constructed from the highest grade rosewood on earth, which is personally inspected and qualified by Gibson's team of skilled experts before it enters the Gibson factories. The resilience of this durable wood makes the fingerboard extremely balanced and stable, and gives each chord and note unparalleled clarity and bite. The J-185's rose vine inlays are made of genuine mother of pearl,

Martin Bridge And End Pin Set In White With Abalone Inlay $8.99 Martin includes seven Bridge Pins and one End Pin in this acoustic guitar bridge and end pin set. Pins are white with handsome abalone inlay.

Gibson J-185 Custom Quilted Maple With Vine Inlay Acoustic Guitar Vs $3699 In addition to the great features of all Gibson J-185 models, this special edition features a custom rose vine fingerboard inlay and quilted maple back & sides.The first Gibson J-185 was introduced in 1951, giving players a broader choice of flat-top acoustic guitars. It quickly became a hit. With a slightly smaller body than Gibson's fabled Super Jumbos, the J-185 offers an excellent alternative for players seeking a smaller body style without sacrificing acoustic power and projection. Traditionally, the J-185 features a body length of 20-1/4", a width of 16", and a body depth of 4-7/8", producing an big sound with clear acoustics, making it equally impressive for powerful strumming or delicate fingerpicking, and everything in between.Nickel Grover Rotomatic TunersGrover's original Rotomatic tuners are an engineering marvel, with style and performance exactly suited for the J-185. With a gear ratio of 14:1, the Rotomatics deliver precision tuning in a durable housing that provides maximum protection for the gear and string post. All moving parts are cut for exact meshing, eliminating the possibility of slippage. A countersunk tension screw lets players regulate the tuning tension to any degree. A special lubricant inside the gear box provides smooth and accurate tuning stability.Crown Peghead LogoGibson put the first crown peghead logo on an ES-300 back in 1940, and it has graced the headstocks of many legendary Gibson guitars ever since, including today's J-185. Over the years, it has also been called a "thistle" because of the group of flowering plants with the sharp prickles, though Gibson has preferred to call it a "crown."Pickguard The tortoise pickguard for the J-185 is Gibson's standard 1950s-style Jumbo shape. As with all of Gibson Acoustic's pickguards, the coloring, inlay, and binding are all crafted by hand. Rosette A rosette is the beautiful, hand-crafted circle around the soundhole, and can be one of the most ornamental elements of any acoustic guitar. It is also one of the most subtle and complicated woodworking decorations on any acoustic guitar. The rosette on the J-185 is a double-ring rosette, with the main ring consisting of seven-ply binding, and the second ring three-ply binding, adding a stylish, understated elegance to the J-185.Rosewood Fingerboard with Rolled Edges and Custom Rose Vine Fingerboard InlayThe fingerboard of Gibson's J-185 is constructed from the highest grade rosewood on earth, which is personally inspected and qualified by Gibson's team of skilled experts before it enters the Gibson factories. The resilience of this durable wood makes the fingerboard extremely balanced and stable, and gives each chord and note unparalleled clarity and bite. The J-185's rose vine inlays are made of genuine mother of pearl, and are inserted into the fingerboard using a process that eliminates gaps and doesn't require the use of fillers. The fingerboard also sports a rolled edgeinstead of the usual right angle where the finge

Guitar $10 Guitar