I stopped in and visited Wildwood guitars on Wednesday. A pal was checking out a Mexican Strat for his son,
and I was hanging around BSing with Steve and Bruce.
I also brought in my refinished goldtop for Steve and Bruce
to see, and got a great compliment - Bruce told me that it looks much
more like a real 'burst than Gibson is doing in the Custom Shop! Steve
also loved it. And these guys have seen a few guitars in their day - I
was completely flattered.
While I was there, I asked what was new and cool. Bruce
said that I just HAD to see these guitars they were getting in, made by
Johan Gustavsson. They had one (I believe it belongs to Steve), and got
it out for me to see.
I'm stunned... These guitars are absolutely stunning. The
neck carve, the tops, the finish work, the materials. I'm just blown away.
They use old honduran mahogany for the necks, 50 year old Brazilian for
the fingerboard, Eastern maple (some of the most beautiful tops I've ever
seen - without being gaudy) for the tops. The workmanship is absolutely
amazing.
I didn't even plug it in. I only played for a second - I
mainly held it and inspected it very closely and picked a couple of notes.
That's all I needed. The guitar is light, resonant, extremely well made
from the best of materials, and beautiful.
What can I sell? I'd LOVE to have one, but it's not in the
cards. Nevertheless, it's great to see that real craftsmanship still exists! |