Speaking of cheap instruments

A few weeks ago, I was driving through the town of Downey en route to my Doctor's office, when I spotted a little independent music store. Deciding I had the time, and with the available of that California rarity -- a parking space -- I decided to take a look. Nice guitars, even better prices. I'd not heard of the brands before, but the feel was good, as was the sound. Unfortunately, the guy at the counter was taking care of a customer, with another one waiting, so I saved the questions for later and headed on to see the Doctor.

A couple days later, in a posher neighborhood, I stopped in at a Big Box music store, and saw the same instruments with a BRAND NAME (Ta-daaaaaaa!!!), for only three times the price. Same feel, same tap sounds, and the only difference was better strings. But I gave them a fair trial, and left with some questions in the back of the head. A couple hours later, I'm back in Downey, giving a couple guitars a more thorough playover.

As may have mentioned, I'm spending an increasing percentage of the year down in Southern California taking care of my mother. I've been schlepping a guitar back and forth, and the poor thing is starting to show the trials of the process. So I needed something I could take to jams and song circles without worrying about it a bunch. The six-string banjo and the nine-string parlor guitar are more robust (or, in the case of the banjo have passed that point where minor damages become character ... sort of like myself), but the guitar.... not so much.

So, we have a no-name instrument who needs a home, and a part-time folkie who has never subscribed to the "price tag equals level of wonderfulness" theory.


Obviously, we should have gotten along well. This is the point where I have to fess up to a whole raft of glitches that I could have avoided for just a few hundred dollars more. Sorry. I like the sound, the shop gave me a new set of strings, and I got 75% off of the price of a gig bag. OK, the bag has the store name on the side, but as long as I don't take it to places outside of the state, I should be fine. The treble is a little weak, and the bass is a tad overbalanced, but with a name like Carter, that just has to be useful. Price: under USD150. I like the plain spruce top for purely cosmetic reasons, but it turns out to gentle the sound better than the one with a top that matched the sides and back.