2 year wait for NGD!!!!!

[analogwarmth]

So basically I started saving money for an acoustic guitar 2 years ago. I had most of the money when Gibson came out with the Alex Lifeson ES-355AL, and I wanted a white 355 from childhood. Needless to say I own AL183 now. So I had to start scraping my pennies together again for an acoustic. Well I search all around the Austin area, and there are a good many stores and even more guitars than I ever expected to find. About a month ago I went to see what was out there and seriously shop. There were a few guitars I liked but only one that just blew me away. But I was holding back on impulse buying and glad I did, because that same guitar lacked the mustard it had when I heard it the first time.

I went yesterday to shop again and play the ones I took mental notes on last month. I started out from between Kerrville and Fredericksburg Texas; where my folks live, and my trip took me over 200 miles around the area in one day leaving fritz-town at 8am. Here is a brief synopsis of my journey yesterday broke down:

Leaving Fredericksburg toward 'Hill Country Guitars' in Wimberley I traveled through Luckenbach and Blanco on the little farm to market road running 75-80 mph because: A) it's fun to drive fast B) I pretend my Chevy extended cab is an Italian sports car c)the gps told me it was the quickest way there and I was trying to make up some time from having to stop and get gas. I got 21mpg too!! So I get to Wimberley in enough time to get some coffee and an apple fritter from a Chinese donut place that also serves lunch from 11-330 and I think uses the same oil for the donuts and the fried pork! At least it tasted like it.

So the guys are cool and get there at 10am just for me. Honestly they need more guitars, but what they had were exceptional items. I will say this they had a black PRS SC-J that was amazing, and a Froggy Bottom Parlor that was the loudest small bodied acoustic I have ever heard. Sounded good too. Just not what I was looking for.

I left there because I was looking for either a 00 or 000 body sized guitar. Heading back to Dripping Springs to go up 290 and check out the stores at the South Lamar area. I avoid GC because the south one Sucks with a capital S, and have not ever really been impressed with Strait Music. I headed on over to 'South Austin Music' to see what they had. Not anything acoustically like what I was looking for, but they do have some nice pedals and amps. Played the Swart STR mkI (personally I like it better than the mkII) and had to talk myself out of it again for the 4th time (Damn you Bob-not the owner. There are 2 Bobs). Also the guy said Malekko pedals come with toys inside them!! Rubber cockroaches and wooden nickels!! Ha ha ha!! And since Japanese companies try to make their stuff look as American as they can, they try to make theirs look as Japanese as they can. SOLD brother. You had me at wooden nickel. Going to have to wait, I was on a mission.

Left there and turned into 'Austin Vintage' just a block down the road. I think every time I go in there I have an amp-gasm. Is that a technical term? Anyway, went there because they had an all mahogany H13 Santa Cruz, three SJ-200 Gibson's, and Goodal OM that is top notch. Now I know I said small bodied, but an SJ-200 is another childhood dream. The SJ's were very boomy and I may be back for one of those. Great prices too. All those guitars were amazing, but I still had more stops to make.

Headed over to Quincy's on South Congress. I must say this is a fine example of how to run a high-end acoustic shop. Elegant and very tasteful. Pat is a swell guy, super nice, and never felt like I was being pushed or "sold" at any point. He heard me out, inserted his ideas and wisdom, and let me play and feel for myself. There are some stupid and I mean stupid nice guitars at this place. All the Collings there are the cream of the crop bar none. 01, C10,000, couple of D1's and more. Just superb. Well there was a Froggy there too that I had to call the wife on. It was used (3 months. Ha!) but was everything cosmetically I wanted in a guitar: small body, 12 fret, slotted headstock, fleur de lis inlays (my family has french-cajun heritage) and Adirondack top. So Pat says if I will go upstairs to the Sweet Leaf offices they will let me have a tea while I go outside to call. Got a peach and a mint flavor, and talked to them for a second. All organic (except for the diet) which after the article in TIME we all need to do. So outside talking to my wife and this crack head comes by just as Pat comes out to smoke a cigar. Asked if we had any money, and I told him I was broke but there were some people around the corner and to go ask them. Then he says he is thirsty, so I gave him my mint tea. Pat and I talked cigars and wine, and he even gave me one of his cigars. We talked for about 10-15 minutes and that crackpot came by again asking for cigarettes. I pointed to some refries behind the butt canister and he took them while he kept calling me a life saver. I asked Pat if he minded if I thought about it some more, and tried some other guitars. He said he would rather me do that than jump into something.

So I headed towards Guitar Resurrection. When I got there I asked if I could try the Santa Cruz 000 they had. I really liked that guitar last time, but it was missing something now. So since originally I had my eye on a 00 for about a year, I asked to try that one. The one they have is cedar top with Australian Blackwood back and sides. It is a wonderful instrument, and while it did not have much low end, I was drawn to the softness , or rather gentleness of the timbre it was sounding. I asked to try the H13 with the same back and sides but with a Sitka top. Nice guitar. The same woody tone, but with more low end, volume, punchiness, and sustain. Sustain for days (actually more like a good 30 seconds.) After much deliberation with myself outside, I called my wife to see what she said about the whole deal. Now let me digress a minute. All this time I think, "she doesn't really give two $hits about guitar stuff other than what color it is and how much it cost", she comes out with "Well I know you have been saving your overtime and lawn job money for a while. And you have researched a lot and talked to the owner (Richard Hoover) of Santa Cruz. I say go for it. Decide which of the two you like better and get that one. You deserve it, and it's not like you get to go to Austin very often anyway." WTF? Wives aren't supposed to talk like that unless the kids are all grown and out of college, not while SHE is in college if ever!!

Well boys after much research, saving of the coinage, and soul searching I bought my first acoustic guitar. It's a beautiful Santa Cruz H13. I waited a long time for this one, and it's getting insured next week.
The drive to the folks could not have been any longer. Plus the Austin traffic did not help at 430, and starting to rain. All the stores I stopped at had something to offer, if only money was not an object. My apologies to Fiddlers Green for not stopping by. The guys in Wimberley said it was a cool store, as well as Jared at Guitar Center north of town for standing you up. It was going to be late when I got home, and I found tonally what I had been searching for in the H13.

Any recommendations on humidifiers now?

[denniscox]

Love the story - never been to Quincy's, I think I'll have to stop by this weekend and check it out

[Peppy]

analogwarmth: Got my first real good acoustic several years back...a Santa Cruz H. Spent literaly five seconds with it and knew I was going to buy it. Went to the bank, withdrew the amount and bought it that day....haven't looked back since.

One suggestion...humidify it carefully as needed the first several years. All the time actually but so important when new. (I use Planet Waves in-the-soundhole for mine...one in the guitar, one at the headstock.) Hopefully you will enjoy yours eight years down the road as I am doing with mine now.

[Jahn]

I swear an H13 plays and sounds like it's a Dread - but it's a smallbody! Dunno how they do that, maybe it's the depth, but yep, nice score, congrats!

[Ogre]

Sounds like a great trip, with a happy result. Those are the places that I frequent. Jim & Dave at Guitar Rez are good friends. The guitar you should have played at Hill Country is the Huss & Dalton TOM. It is everything a great OM18 should be.

[mburton]

Originally Posted by denniscox

Love the story - never been to Quincy's, I think I'll have to stop by this weekend and check it out

Quincy's is a great place to shopfor/check out some nice guitars. You should definately check it out.

[royd]

great story and it sounds like a wonderful guitar but...