Yesterday was a big day for Rita and me. We went to Santa Cruz, to Rick Turner Guitars, where I picked up a new instrument and Rita met with our luthier friend, Zack Jones, to discuss the ukulele he is going to build for her.
My new guitar is a Renaissance RS-6 “Deuce,” similar to the one I have been playing since 2012 but without the MIDI pickup (which I have rarely used) and with a neck that is 1/16″ wider at the nut. Redwood top, sycamore back and sides, mahogany neck. Larry Robinson inlaid my logo at the 12th fret.
Rita has been deeply into the ukulele since we visited our friends Josh and Roberta in Kernville three years ago. They host a uke jam at the Pine Cone Inn every Tuesday. They sent Rita home with a uke, and a few months later she bought one of her own (and I returned the loaner on my next trip south). She has been taking lessons for a while now. It has been wonderful to hear her becoming a musician! And now she will have a ukulele built by a master, to her specifications.
Why did I buy a new guitar that is more or less identical to the one I already have?
I own a couple of normal electric guitars and two proper acoustic guitars, but none of them is capable of doing what the Renaissance does. The Ren is a hybrid guitar, combining “acoustic” and “electric” properties. I keep the blend control in the middle position, which allows me to build arrangements in real time with my looper: strumming lightly yields a more “acoustic” sound for the accompaniment (“rhythm guitar”), and when I want to (e.g.) play a solo I just dig in a little bit and it sounds more “electric.” Some of my loop pieces have as many as seven or eight layers, and the amazing tonal range of this guitar helps to keep things clear as the music becomes more dense.
I wanted to have a backup instrument in case something happens to one, and I also wanted to take advantage of some advances in the technology since I got my last Ren ten years ago.
The first song I played on the new guitar, down there in the shop, was “That’s Real Love,” a song I wrote for Rita around 20 years ago.
The new guitar made its debut Tuesday, October 4: Miss That Car, Norwegian Wood, Pancho and Lefty, Box of Rain, Do You Believe in Magic?->Here Comes Sunshine, Eleanor Rigby, Sovereign Soul, Summer by the Bay, If I Fell, High Guy, Silvio
I play a live set online every afternoon at 4pm PT
https://youtube.com/user/dgans
https://facebook.com/dgansmusic
https://streamstock.tv
With Zack Jones, production manager at Rick Turner Guitars. This guitar was built under his supervision!
