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Pretendito
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 After playing countless
gigs, you start to hear the same comments or questions over and over again;
not to mention the same song requests. One question that always makes me
laugh is "What kind of guitar is that?"
While some of the
folks who ask this question are truly asking to better their knowledge of
good sounding brands in the Classical Guitar world, most are just on a
misguided search for something that will make them sound better without having
to practice.
Almost always I do gigs on a cheap Japanese Classical Guitar
called an "Aria". Anyone who knows guitars would know that this
guitar is nothing special. I put a great pick up in it and I have the
best sound equipment so compared to most amplified classical guitarists I sound
above average.
In addition I play with very good tone production which
includes filing the nails properly and years of practicing technique correctly.
So when someone asks "What kind of guitar is that?", I respond by saying
that's a cheap Japanese classical guitar I picked up used for $100 bucks. It
always throws them off guard. They are always expecting to hear that I
searched the mountains of Spain for the ultimate orgasmic guitar.
Furthermore the best Spanish guitar on earth wouldn't sound much better
amplified, and may in fact sound worse than my current set up.
While I would much rather be playing a fine hand made Spanish or
American guitar to a quiet audience, I will continue to play my cheap
guitar with the pick up when I need to be amplified.
One of these
days when someone comes up to me and asks that predictable question I
just may say I traveled to Spain on a freighter, hitch hiked to Cordoba
and met an old man in a little shop next to a brothel. There he
heard me play and gave me the guitar for free. I cherish this
guitar and sleep with it next to my bed every night. The old man
died and there are very few in existence; it is called a "Pretendito".
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