Been a while since I've posted, dropping in for an update.
Recently got my hands on a Limited Canadian Edition Larrivee D-03R, 1 of 12 made and sold in Vancouver before Larrivee consolidated their Canadian division and moved most of their production to California with the rest of the big shot guitar manufacturers. Canadian spruce top, Indian rosewood back & sides, African ebony fretboard & bridge, Mahogany neck, and Bubinga maple leaf inlays and binding. The 12 of them retailed for $1600 back in 2010, I stumbled upon this one in near mint condition (original receipt, packing, and case) for $1000 on Craigslist, the guy barely played it for 5 years, kept it more as a collector's item. I've been learning fingerstyle blues on it, a genre I've always adored but have been too intimidated by to learn, after playing rock and roll with a pick for 10 years it's very difficult to rethink the way I use my right hand. It's coming along, though.
Here's a short recording of what I've been learning, Day 2:
Fingerstyle Blues - Day 2 - EPOCH6 - picosong
And this is a Phin, possibly from Thailand, that I got off some crazy old lady for $30 (she thought it was just a fancy kids guitar from Walmart, I didn't tell her otherwise). The fret spacing is diatonic but kind of inaccurate, which is interesting because it seems like the people who make these just fret them to sound nice to their ear, rather than following what musical theory would dictate. It had some nasty strings on it when we got it so we threw a few mandolin strings on in their place hoping they'd be similar gauge but it kind of backfired and now the strings are way too tense and it's very difficult to play / keep in tune, but I'll find some proper strings eventually. Every Phin out there has an ornate hand carved dragon headstock, it's pretty bizarre.
