This is the first guitar I ever bought (when I was 17) and is the one I learned to play on. The original sunburst finish was in perfect condition then and it was a beautiful instrument to play, but I’d seen worn out old stratocasters and telecasters that had been played for endless thousands of hours over many years and must have soaked up so much energy that they took on their own unique personality (Eric Claptons “Blackie” is a perfect example). I started thinking about really going to town on my guitar and take well used and well loved to an all-time extreme, and load so much of my energy into it over a long period (not just playing and carving it, but setting it up technically) that it would represent a credible fusion between music and art, and exist as a magnificent object in the universe in it’s own right.
I bought a $10 set of carving knives in Cairns when I was 20 and then spent thousands and thousands of hours over the next 20 years carving it, through many different stages of my life, in good times and dark times. It was my first substantial foray into subconscious art (don’t design it first, just start and let something other than your waking conscious guide your knife). I’m very happy with how it turned out.
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