Here?s a guitar with a story? I only know the last twenty-five years of it.
To start with, I found this guitar in a trash can on a Wednesday. I know it was Wednesday, because the guy who drove the town trash truck radioed me where it was... that particular address was on their Wednesday?s route. I was the town?s water meter reader, and I knew it like the back of my hand. The guys on the truck knew I worked on musical instruments, and brought me anything interesting, but this particular Wednesday, they were ?packed out? and going to the dump. It was getting ready to rain, so the driver called my radio number, (cell phones hadn?t been invented yet) and sent me over to rescue it. I didn?t think much about it at the time, didn?t even look very close. I remember it was filthy and mildewed, and smelled very much like a goat barn. Don?t ask how I know what that smells like.
Skipping forward, the guitar stood in a dusty corner of my shop for another couple years. Then I met this girl who said she wanted to learn to play guitar. I liked her a little bit, and since she could sing like an angel, I kinda? wanted her to like me back, so in a fit of hormones or something, I totally went off the rails and set about putting the old guitar in playing condition.
It was a mess, both inside and out? tuners were shot, many cracks, loose braces, plus the center seam of the back was separating. And it was still dirty, and still smelled a little like a goat barn. I knew that wasn?t gonna? score me any points, with the cold-hearted singer with the beautiful voice, so I started by a good cleaning. What? You didn?t seriously think ^that^ part was gonna? have a happy ending? (it kinda? did, but that?s later... MUCH later) After cleaning the years? worth of scuzz off, this charming feature appeared? someone, sometime had scratched the name ?Peggy? into the top, and carved a heart shape around it. I thought - awww? ain?t that sweet! Dude probably had about as much luck with Peggy as I did with the singer, but whatever. Hint guys ? never, ever scratch your love interest's name into a guitar? it doesn?t work, at least not the way you think it will.
Anyway, that?s about when I started to realize just what a gem the trash truck guys had saved. This little guitar I had assumed was a run-of-the-mill, catalog guitar was actually a hand-made instrument, that didn?t bear much resemblance to any known maker. The back and sides were walnut, the back was even quarter-sawn and bookmatched. It had a spruce top, a mahogany neck, and a rosewood fingerboard, even rosewood binding, and an inlaid endpiece to hide the joint. It had the strangest bracing pattern I'd ever seen, something between a A-frame and an M... it was very rigid to say the least, but in all the right places. It had an odd shaped bridge clearly made to resemble a Stauffer style one but without points, and a straight uncompensated saddle. It even had homemade wooden bridge pins. Based on how sturdy it was built and how wide the string spacing was, I?m pretty sure it was meant to be played lap style, like a Hawaiian slide guitar. This much is certain - it was definitely not the first or only attempt at instrument building, whoever had made this had obviously advanced skills. Upon disassembly, I found the name I presume to be the maker, and a date scrawled inside on the treble rib, deep inside where it would never be seen? M. Jade ~ 1927. Don?t bother googling, nobody knows.
So I fixed it, and gave it to the girl. She quickly gave up playing, and stopped talking to me after a lengthy discussion on how diverse our priorities in life were. I don?t think she ever appreciated what a cool little guitar it was, or how much love it took to put it back together. Whatever? I honestly missed the guitar more than her, but foolish pride won out, and I didn't ask for it back.
Years passed, like maybe 12 or 13? the singer and I got on speaking terms again, and I got the ?Peggy? guitar back. After a little tweaking, she was back in good order, this time with some new faux tortoise pins, and a brand new set of Stew-Mac?s ?Golden-Age? vintage replacement 3-on-a-plate tuners, in relic?d nickel finish. I even replaced the tattered wooden pickguard with a faux tortoise one to match the pins. Peggy was ready for another home, so I gave her to the young man who plays fiddle in my band when he went off to college. Peggy saw him through a degree in Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. (better known as Virginia Tech in the world of collegiate sports) Recently he came into a very nice old Martin 0-21, made in 1921, which he was able to afford due in part to being gainfully employed by virtue of that Engineering degree - and sent Peggy back home for some bridge work. I?m almost done with her? glued the new bridge on last night actually. Might see if he minds me keeping her for a while? I?ve enjoyed looking back at some of my early work, and thinking about what Mr. M. Jade would think if he knew his guitar was still around.
