An email I received yesterday made me realize I hadn’t posted the pivotal event here, so I’m going to make up for that with this post, and tie everything into a nice bow.

On Friday, July 20, 2018, my friend Nick surprised me by giving me a guitar!  He told me his sister had purchased it from the guitar-maker in 1977 thinking she was going to learn to play.  According to Nick, she never did, and he wound up with the guitar, which was put away in his basement.  During a recent clean-up, he and his wife came across the guitar and said to themselves, “We need to find a home for this instrument.”  Knowing I play guitar, Nick said, “I know just the person.”

The first impression I had when he pulled the guitar case out of his car trunk was that this was no “eBay afterthought” guitar.

Opening the case, I spotted a nicely crafted classical guitar.

I couldn’t do much in the parking lot, so I took it to work with me, where I examined it (and took these pictures).  It was out of tune, naturally, but it tuned up nicely, and held pitch.  I noodled on it a bit and was impressed with how straight the neck was, and how rich the sound.  I laughed when I saw that someone (Nick’s sister?) had placed masking tape at the 5th, 7th and 9th frets, as the fingerboard has no fret markers.

(I have since removed the tape, as I don’t need fret markers).

The workmanship of this guitar is undeniable.

The tuning machines are nicely done.  I don’t know their make, but they aren’t “plain.”

I did notice some small cracks in the barrels of the tuners.  Probably not something to worry about, but I’m going to watch them.

By any estimation on my part, this is a quality guitar, and not a basement-dweller for 41 years.

Did I say 41 years?  Yes, the guitar’s date of manufacture, and the maker, is listed on the interior label.  James D. Fellows, April 15, 1977.

Now, here’s the kicker:  James D. Fellows learned of my obtaining this guitar and contacted me! That’s the email I mentioned at the beginning.  He told me this was the seventh guitar he’d built, and the first since he’d returned from Spain.  Nick’s sister was his first customer, and he built this for her.

James is still a custom guitar maker, located in Connecticut.  He plans to build two guitars a year.  I promised him I’d get him some photos of the guitar, and this is my first effort at doing so.

And now that I know more about the guitar and its maker, it’s become a keeper, and a prized addition to my collection!