Thank you all for your words here!
It does hit me every once in a while, how amazing to have a factory one-off...the realization seems to come in waves.
As you can imagine, Gretsch has come to mean a great deal to me. I always knew of the brand, of course (no guitarist of my age could not), but I didn't discover how its characteristic tone and response worked for me till a few years ago.
Suddenly, I felt musically home – like I'd been evolving for years toward a style that just SOUNDS better on a Gretsch. I sounded more like me than I ever had; the guitars have been a catalyst to evolve further in my own direction, taking in Gretsch influences like Chet/fingerstyle, rockabilly/roots, and rock/pop for sure - without being a purist in any of them.
First and foremost, Gretsch has become THE vehicle for my musical journey, and would be whether I was "associated" with the company or not. You guys all know how that is, at first the hook of the sound, then interest in the guitars, then burgeoning passion (verging for some of us, some of the time) toward obsession.
The rest of it has all been completely unscripted and unintentional, the by-product of "following one's bliss." The GDP is the hub of a lot of activity for many of us – here's where I learned about Gretsch, was drawn along to learn more, and posted ... shall we say voluminously?
There was no intention to do that either; writing is my way of learning, of processing information, of structuring it. The GDP has given me a place to do that, and quite often the inspiration as well.
Through that, I came in contact with FMIC - at first the great Mike Lewis (a better friend to us than we usually acknowledge), then Joe, whose passion for guitars and for this brand we all recognize. I was lucky enough to meet Fred and Dinah, and get to know their family a little.
This is all incredible stuff. I mean, almost literally unbelievable. If you'd told me three years ago anything like this would happen I would have asked what you were smoking.
The opportunities they've given me, the people I've met, the worlds I've glimpsed, the new music I've found, the friends I've made and continue to make are priceless. In some ways it's been like a journey through the looking glass, like pulling aside the veil. I'm grateful for all of it.
It's also been a way to come to a deeper appreciation of a classic version of the American dream. Not so much in my own experience, but in getting a glimpse of the family behind a great historical brand. It's a common - nearly universal - story here, that our ancestors came from somewhere else. That someone wrenched themselves from their family and were driven to the land across the sea where, with hard work, they might have a better life.
So much of what is great about America - particularly its productive industry, its material culture - has come from families with that experience. From Germany, from Italy, from Ireland, from anywhere. That's not "corporate" history, or the story of business - it's OUR story, that we can produce something of value to someone else, and trade that for our daily bread and maybe a little ahead.
I'm a sucker for that aspect of our creative industrial past, and seeing a little closer just gives it more dimension.
It's also an incredible honor to feel just a little connected to at least the current chapter of Gretsch's rich musical legacy.
Yes, these events (and I suppose some of the stuff I post) represent a lot of effort, a lot of "work." You go sleepless, you stretch yourself to the limits. It can be so involving, so absorbing, that you lose yourself in it, sometimes to personal cost and sacrifice.
I've often observed that you can pay a man to do a job, but you can't pay him enough to do a good job. He has to want to. He has to love it. It has to be passion. That's where everything of value in life comes from. It does not come from cool disengagement, cynicism, or negativity.
I know that's how this has happened for me, and I know the FMIC and Gretsch people I've met have their own versions of something like the same driving passion.
To have this dream guitar in hand, a gleaming white reality, is amazing enough on its own – and I can tell you it's a wonderful instrument, splitting the Country Club-Dyna continuum as I imagined. There's no way I can thank Joe, Mike, Fred, the guys at Terada enough. Sometimes when you get something you've dreamed about, it's like there's a spotlight on you, and you suddenly wonder "what am I doing here", and feel very small and humble.
And again I thank the GDP and you all here, because here's where it all came together.
But beyond the reality of the guitar, it also represents an apparent underlying principle of The Way Life Works: that wild bluesky dreams can come true, but only if you follow your instincts with conviction and abandon, almost without any regard for the "outcome." For me anyway, it's less about "eyes on the prize" than "hands on the work." And then the incredible happens, far beyond what you could ever reasonably have planned or expected.
In other words, I didn't have a plan – who would really make such a plan? I threw myself into what came naturally, and now I'm playing the embodiment of a dream.
But OK, enough of all that! You want more pictures!
And I'll have more pics, and, yes, sound clips soon enough.
Maybe I'm amazed!