carfish7 Posted July 8, 2011 Posted July 8, 2011 Back when my kids were little babies, I remember running into a jam that necessitated the quick sale of a couple prized guitars - one of which was my '66 Epiphone Texan, simply the best acoustic guitar I had ever had the pleasure of playing up to that point. Fast forward a decade plus, I'm dispatched to the Asian market for some goods and after completing my task I decide to drop in on a pawn shop that I hadn't been in in over 5 years. They had started to specialize in kicker boxes and shiny, spinning rims for your Escalade, but still had a corner filled with the usual imported firewood disguised as guitars. Amongst that collection of crap was the filthiest, nastiest guitar I had seen in some time. Fast forward a quick (and somewhat surreal) negotiation and a few days and underneath it all was this: Turns out it is also a '66 Texan. I scraped dried chewing gum off the body and neck, removed a layer of oily, gritty funk from the entire surface, shook a huge furball and a bunch of old candy wrappers from the interior and had to deal with a serious layer of dried cat piss all over the front, but she cleaned up real nice with some elbow grease and naptha. I couldn't get the sharpie scribbles off the neck, so they'll be "character" and a reminder of how neglected and abused this thing was. This one was obviously a player's guitar at one point, but likely sat in a garage or corner of a basement for quite some time. It has had the adjustable bridge removed and likely was refretted at some point. The tuners have been swapped for some odd looking Grovers - check these out: I'm pretty sure the buttons have been swapped on them, but Pat. Pend? Whatever. They work well, so I'm fine with that swap as well. I always hated the adjustable bridge on my old Texan, so I don't see this mod as a bummer at all. Had my luthier buddy examine the interior and there are no repairs or replaced things inside and it checks out solid and wail-worthy. I can't believe how good this thing sounds and it plays slick as can be. I learned that these were also a 25 1/2" scale, too! maybe part of the reason I bond so well with the Texans. I think the whole Spruce/Mahogany slope-shouldered thing is acoustic nirvana for me. It just sounds like what a perfect acoustic should sound like to my ears, and I couldn't be more stoked to have lucked into this forgotten beauty. I like to think that the amazing sound pouring forth from her is partly due to joy of being freed from a life life of no contact and neglect (not to mention the cat piss - the horror....). This one goes to the grave with me and will be passed around to my friends at my funeral so songs of my glory can be sung while the air is filled with the sweet sound of a truly great musical instrument. Thank you, Guitar Gods.
zzdat Posted July 8, 2011 Posted July 8, 2011 Nice!I love old stuff with some character.Cool Beans Gene
cmatthes Posted July 8, 2011 Posted July 8, 2011 There's good Karma headed your way for that rescue, Chris!
crunchee Posted July 8, 2011 Posted July 8, 2011 Cats are jealous animals, obviously. That is really nice! That coulda been in worse condition and STILL have been a find! Congrats on the snag! P.S. Somebody still sells spinners? I was wondering where they all went to... Another P.S.: Those Grovers are pretty old, apparently. Here's a page on 'em, probably more info out there: http://www.doctorvintage.com/tuners/grover_diffs.html
atquinn Posted July 8, 2011 Posted July 8, 2011 Great story and that looks fabulous for a 45 yo guitar!-Austin
BTMN Posted July 9, 2011 Posted July 9, 2011 Wonderful guitar tale and I hope more stories will be added.
velorush Posted July 9, 2011 Posted July 9, 2011 I couldn't get the sharpie scribbles off the neck, so they'll be "character" and a reminder of how neglected and abused this thing was. Chris, my son is alive today (kidding... mostly) because toothpaste will remove Sharpie, even from a cherry dining room table, as it were. The table Nathan autographed isn't from one of those darkly stained heavily cleared formal suites, it is a natural cherry with a thin clear coat (kind of like an old guitar ). Crest worked best compared to Colgate and Aqua Fresh (the three brands we had in the house at the time). Coat it and let it set for a second and begin to wipe (of course, do a small area first to make sure it doesn't make a bigger mess than you have). Oh, and awesome guitar... again! You're on quite a roll!
gtone Posted July 9, 2011 Posted July 9, 2011 Nice Texan and great story. May you both live long and toneful lives together...
Punkavenger Posted July 10, 2011 Posted July 10, 2011 You're clearly the recipient of good karma for going out of your way to pick up up that Takamine for me. So yes, I'm to blame for you scoring that sweet ride.
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