The Surprising Things a Guitar Can Teach You

For over a year, stuffed in the back of my closet, I've had a co-workers guitar sitting in its case, languishing in solitary silence. Did it crawl in there itself? Hardly. I'd put it there after promising its owner that I'd change the strings, polish it up -- you know, a little TLC for a beat up guitar from the 60's.

So why has it sat dormant for so long?

The Prejudged Guitar

Last year, when I first brought the guitar case home, I'd pulled out the guitar and took in the disappointing sight and feel. The strings were covered in rust that would have made a junkyard proud. The tuner gears were open and exposed -- they were way, way old-school, almost like a classical guitar. I don't like tuners like this... they never stay in tune!

The string tree (if you want to call it that) looked antiquated and hardly functional. Along the headstock the strings bent painfully downward then spread out abruptly like fingers on a hand. The wood on the body had places that were cracked and broken. The back looked bowed, almost warped, like someone had filled the cavity with water and let it sit for a dozen years. No way this thing could sound or play good. Never mind that it was from a manufacturer I'd never heard of -- Framus. Of course, had I done any kind of searching on the web I'd have learned that Framus has been building guitars in Germany for longer than I've been alive.

So there you have it. The prejudged guitar. It was to sit quietly in my closet... for over a year...

Until two days ago.

The Guitar Emerges

As part of getting ready for an upcoming garage sale, I found myself thinking about various items I could sell. And that's when I noticed the case again. No, I wasn't going to sell my friend's guitar, but it did strike me that I really should get this back to its owner. No sense in it just sitting around collecting more rust. (As though that were possible!)

So, before I could procrastinate for another moment, I started to work, unwinding (and even cutting) off the old strings, massaging the fret board with lemon oil, polishing off the buildup of grime and dirt from the body, and finally stringing it back up with fresh, acoustic, nanoweb-coated Phospor Bronze Elixir strings. (and, yes, if you're wondering, I did use the string tying technique found in my posted video!) A quick tuning and I was done, closing the case and putting it by the front door so I could return it to its owner the next day.

And there it sat. Kind of looking back at me as if to say, "Well, aren't you going to at least play me?"

And I answered back, "Of course I'm not going to play you. You're not a Taylor or a Gibson... A Fender or a Zion. You're a no name brand. You're not worthy of being played."

(Have you already figured out how this story ends?)

A little while later, I picked it up and decided to check the tuning once more. It was still in tune. That surprised me. Bad guitars don't usually stay in tune; especially having just been restrung. How could such ancient tuners hold this thing in tune? And then I put my fingers on the frets, nestled the body up close to me, and strummed a G chord.

The wood thrummed. Alive. Resonant.

I stopped for a moment... a definite "Whoa!" moment!

I tried an E major, moving into a barred A chord at the 5th fret, first two strings open and ringing. The Framus responded, singing, the Elixirs' tone melding into the harmony.

Next thing I knew, I was strumming through different chord progressions, just lost in the experience. What a beautifully sounding guitar!

Things that a guitar can teach you

There's part of me that now wishes I'd put new strings on this guitar a year ago and then kept it around to enjoy. That didn't happen, of course, because I was too caught up in that prejudging goop.

Several times this week God has gently reminded me of this experience in regards to the people around me. How often I make snap judgments based upon what I see on the outside, rather than taking the time to see and know the inside. Like the Framus guitar, it's the song within that matters. And as the guitar's voice washed over me, the outside began to change, becoming beautiful too.

I'm noticing something here. There are unsung melodies and stories inside of people everywhere. Perhaps you should take the time today to hear, to listen...

The music may surprise you.

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Other Guitar Resources

► Web: Framus' Website - Click Here

► Web: Elixir Strings Website - Click Here

► Article: The Story of my Zion Guitar ... and the 20 Year Search to find it - Click Here
► Video: How to Tie Guitar Strings - A Proven Method - Click Here
► Slideshow: Close-up Photos of my Zion PowerGlide Electric Guitar - Click Here