Guitars in My Life
Continued (Go to the beginning)
In about 2010, I moved into a spare room in the house Alison was renting in West Brunswick. There in the lounge room, propped on a stand next to the electric piano, was the Kimbara, in perfectly fine shape. I was happy to leave it with Alison.
In about 2010, I had a motorcycle accident which resulted in a broken right arm. Once that had healed enough for me to play guitar, I found it quite difficult to get my arm around the dreadnought. I settled on a Larrivee parlor guitar, which I could play comfortably. It was lovely for some things but didn’t entirely suit my playing style. I gave the Hummingbird copy to Davy, who could play it much better than I ever could.
In 2012, I did a weekend course to be a funeral celebrant. Here’s the relevance: I went to Maryborough to buy a suit to wear if and when I ever took on the role of funeral celebrant. I used to work in Maryborough, and was prompted to see if the CD shop still sold musical instruments in the back room. On display was a dreadnought shaped guitar, but with a thinner body. I thought, “I could probably play that,” and the sales assistant got it down for me. I sat with it for a little while and was quite taken by it. It was a Cort, which is a low end guitar, but within my price range.
I didn’t buy it on the spot. I like to go away and think about thinks like that for a while before committing. In any case, the clothing shop had to order the pants I wanted so that meant another trip anyway.
When I went back the next week to pick up the suit, I did that and went over to the music shop, pretty sure I wanted the Cort. I played for a while, just to be sure, and finally made the decision to buy it.
I couldn’t get home fast enough to try out my latest purchase.
As I pulled into the parking spot in front of the house, the mobile rang. It was the sales assistant from the music shop.
I had left my suit in the instrument room!
I still have the Cort but it doesn’t get a lot playing now.
Russell had bought a Martin guitar, which I got to play when I stayed over with him when I was working in the city. It was beautiful to play. In 2015, I made up my mind to buy a Martin for myself. I went to the Acoustic Centre in South Melbourne and tried out a couple of different models, and took note of the prices.
Then I went to GB Music in Travancore (now Macron Music, I believe) and checked them out.
The prices were comparable. A week later, I returned to The Acoustic Centre, ready to fork out $2,000 for a Martin OM or triple-O. The salesman unlocked them for me – oe spruce top and one solid mahogany. I played them both for a while, then finally settled on the mahogany. I left the playing room and stood near the service counter. There were two sales assistants, both young men, and one other person at the counter, who seemed to be engaging both of them.
After more than 5 minutes of being ignored, I left the shop empty-handed and made my way back to Travancore, where I purchased the mahogany OM.
Let’s go off piste here. Micki had a violin as a child, but she never really got into playing it. I borrowed it from her in the mid-eighties and tried to teach myself fiddle. In the early nineties, at the Maldon Folk Festival, Tom Walsh was at a session but he hadn’t brought his fiddle. I scooted back to Newstead and picked up Micki’s, which he kept during the weekend.
About ten years later, he asked me if I still had that fiddle. He wanted to buy it because his was developing a buzz. I told him I couldn’t in all conscience sell it because it didn’t belong to me. However, I would lend it to him. Tom was about 30 years older than me, so I figured I was safe in saying that when he died, I would reclaim the instrument. So he took possession of it, and gave me his in return.
Ten or fifteen years later, Tom Walsh died. After a considerate amount of time, I asked Phonse, a close friend of the Walsh family, to please ask for the fiddle back, and I gave him Tom’s to give back to the family. However, by then, the fiddle had gone to Darwin with one of Tom’s sons. Word was sent to him, and the fiddle was returned to Trentham. Phonse finally was able to make the swap, and returned Micki’s fiddle to me.
Last year, I had another go at playing a few tunes on the fiddle but I found it physically difficult so I let it lapse. When I first started the project which is this web site and the booklets which are its offshoot, I didn't plan on recording any of the songs. However, a couple of friends who I had asked for comment reckoned I should. The first draft of the site is largely songs I’ve known since I was quite young. Naturally, they put me in mind of the Kimbara.
I contacted Alison and offered a swap – her mother’s violin for the Kimbara.
Done deal. When Micki came up for a family day about a week later, the swap was effected.
The guitar features on Halleluja, I’m a Bum and Marvelous Toy.
