Let’s see, what’s happened since I last wrote anything here?
I got a new guitar: The TOD10N, my third Ibanez ever (after my first electric, an RG440, and my AG86 archtop). This is also the first nylon-string guitar I’ve ever bought for myself - I’ve had nylon-string guitars before, but they were hand-me-downs that I didn’t take very seriously, very much guitars where people thought things like, “You like guitars, I have this thing I found, why don’t you take it?”
This one’s interesting: it’s very much a hybrid design. Nylon strings, wound like a classical or Spanish guitar, but with a fretboard radius (i.e., slightly rounded) like an electric - plus it’s a thinline body, so it’s hollow but shaped like an electric guitar, and it’s got pickups and a standard output jack.
It’s probably ideal for someone like me: I don’t play classical guitar, but I like the responsiveness of the nylons.
Stringing it is a pain, and I’m not sure I’m doing it properly yet. I don’t know if the strings just take a long time to settle in, or if I wound them poorly; I restrung it with Henson’s custom gauge (“it’s better for electric guitarists, since it’s a light custom gauge”) and I don’t know if I should have chosen a more standard gauge, or if I should just expect that my first restring is done as if it’s the first time I’ve ever restrung a nylon-string guitar. Maybe both.
It’s fun integrating it, though; it’s a very percussive guitar (nylon strings!) and I’m discovering that my right hand isn’t as good at fingerpicking as I’d like it to be. It’s good to know, if jarring. The guitar’s soundscape is definitely taking some getting used to; I’m used to using lots of vibrato and sustain in my playing, so having a guitar that resists heavy vibrato and emphasizes the initial attack of the strings is quite fun. Challenging, but fun.
Not a lot else, although I have some things in the works, I think. Not enough developed there to talk or write about, but hey, it’s there.
Incidentally, I love my Ibanez guitars - it’s wierd, because I’m a little bit of a snob when it comes to Ibanez, but every Ibanez I’ve ever had has been excellent.
That RG440 was my daily driver, the first guitar I ever bought for myself - yes, my first guitar had a Floyd Rose on it - and it lost value when I replaced the original Floyd Rose, and the installation was slightly offcenter. The intonation on the guitar never recovered. (I didn’t do the installation; just an accident of history, I think.) The guitar was finally lost forever in a fire.
The AG86 - which is in my small collection today - is one of the best sounding guitars I have. It’s not quite easy to play - floating bridge, and the strings are very sensitive - but it’s a joy to use. (I don’t have a problem playing it - if you’re heavy-handed as a guitarist, it tends to go sharp very quickly, but I’m not exactly one who squeezes the neck as he plays.) It’s a comfortable guitar with beautiful sound.
And now the TOD10N joins the set of Ibanez guitars I’ve owned, and I’m happy for it.