Monday, March 09, 2009

Things I love

I love fenders, rain covers for my panniers, and a camera that doesn't mind a little bit of rain:


I love dumpster diving and I love music. I found this Washburn D-100M (just the guitar) in the trash at my apartment complex over the weekend. I had to at least give it a closer look. Here it sits with my Washburn XB-100 Bass guitar (in its case) and my practice amp. Actually those are both on long-term loan from my dad since I'm the occasional bassist for our praise team. The body is in great condition but the strings it had on it were ragged out badly. The high E string was broken. The bridge appeared to be broken, too.



I love my dad. He is one of my best friends, a patient teacher, a loving father that's stern when he needs to be, and he's also a musical guru. His favorite instruments? Guitars, by far. I knew he could do minor repairs, but I learned a lot from him today while watching him fix it up. He knows seemingly all the intricate minutiae of these instruments, as he told me some of the myriad tricks he knew that could get this guitar working 100%.


He didn't really need any fancy tricks, though. He re-seated the bridge (it wasn't broken, just messed up by the previous owner), threw a whole new set of strings on it, tuned it up and it was ready to go. The action is good and the sound is very lively when dad plays it. It's actually a pretty nice guitar. It sounds like crap when I try. My wife and I just need to learn how to play it, and dad gave us both a quick guitar lesson. I can do basic stuff on the bass. This thing is a completely different beast, no matter how similar and easy Dad says it is.

I swear, if you hand him an instrument he's never played before, he'd probably be able to learn it in a few days. He has lots of musical instruments. If he's not shooting at something, he's probably writing music or playing it...

6 comments:

Matthew said...

Nice find! You'd think whoever tossed it would at least have had the resourcefulness to sell it on craigslist (considering these economically grim times).

Anonymous said...

Dude, I love the way you talk about your dad. That is so awesome!

And how did you get your camera out so far from the front of your bike while riding?!

Steven
Indiana

Anonymous said...

Wow... nice dumpster find! That's a decent looking guitar. Hope you enjoy it as you learn to play better.

Joshua Kriegshauser said...

The thing that most impressed me about this post was your line "I love my dad."

Too many sons and daughters these days aren't saying things like that. I applaud you, sir.

Oh, and nice guitar find :)

Sirrus Rider said...

Nice Dumpster score! To toss out any kind of instrument that only needs a little TLC is bordering on the criminal. To grab it and return it to use is definitely worth some good Karma points.

Anonymous said...

Your dad sounds like my kinda guy. Guitars and guns!

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