About a year ago I decided (and successfully convinced Ali) that collecting guitars and holding them as assets would be a good thing. The agreement that we settled on is that I can buy one instrument, uh I mean asset a year. I also got her to agree that my first purchase would count against 2007 even if it occurred in 2008 — quite a coup!

My first purchase came in March. I had wanted a hollow bodied guitar ever since I played around with one that John Jetmore had. I think he picked it up from a boutique dealer in Louisville. I was talking to “Uncle” Kenny about them at Thanksgiving and he turned me onto the Gibson ES-335, which is a semi-hollow body. I was really keen on one I found online which was a custom shop model with an “iced tea” finish. I picked it up in March and have been pretty happy with it.

My second purchase just occurred about a week ago. I have wanted a Taylor acoustic guitar for most of this decade. I have been eying the 800 series for a while and was pretty sure I would end up getting one of those. Then in late August I stumbled across the Fall Limited edition guitars. The 2008 model hadn’t been announced yet, but they would be in a couple of weeks. I eagerly checked the Taylor site every couple of days until they were announced. The 2008s came in two flavors: Cocobolo with Koa trim, or Koa with Cocobolo trim. I was smitten. I identified three Taylor dealers in Alabama for our annual trip, and we went to each one only to be disappointed — no one had them in yet. When we got back I contacted the nearest dealer in New York and was told they didn’t have any either.

One of the dealers we visited in Alabama was located in Huntsville and a week and a half after our vacation in Alabama I was back there to meet with Adtran. It just so happens that Adtran’s headquarters is in Huntsville. On a whim I called the dealer to see if they had gotten some in during that time — Score! They had one of each model I was interested in.

This guitar is beauty incarnate. The craftsmanship is simply amazing. The sound is much brighter than I expected and it has a nice tone.

After checking it out, I knew I had to have one. When I got back home I got in touch with “Uncle” Kenny who has contacts in the business from a prior life. He was able to setup a sweet deal through Mandolin Brothers. The guitar arrived late last week and I absolutely love it! Thanks, Kenny!

2009 is just around the corner … what to buy next?

In other news, I photographed all of my equipment and posted pictures in the photo album. Try not to drool on anything.