Contemporary Music Instruction and Mentoring
Irv's Guitars and Basses
all the cool guitars I have owned and played
I
bought my first guitar on a whim, in a shop in Spain,
when I was 16 years old, for $15. It was a
Contreras nylon string classical guitar (below). I
didn't know anything about guitars and didn't know the
difference between it and a steel string.
In my late teens I bought a 12 string (steel string) dreadnought guitar (they were a fad in the late 1970s) and it sounded nice but it was very difficult and painful to play. I didn't know enough to change the string gauge and adjust the action, I just thought that's how steel string guitars were. So I didn't play it much, and about 10 years later I finally sold it.
For the next thirty years, I didn't play the guitar much. When I started playing in bands, I was strictly a keyboard player and singer. It wasn't until I was almost 55 years old that I finally got serious about guitar. I had purchased a restaurant, and decided to have live music on weekends. I invited all the best musicians in the valley to play there, and that's how I got into the Logan music scene. I decided I would like to play at the restaurant sometimes. That's when I bought my first Taylor, a ten year old 310ce (below). I loved the sound, and after I had a luthier lower the action and put on 11 gauge strings, it was also easy to play. I started practicing and playing like crazy.
Since
I owned the restaurant, I could play as often as I
wanted.
Playing in my restaurant
When I formed Relic Acoustic Band, I decided to purchase an acoustic bass guitar to go along with my Taylor 6 string. I was in Guitar Center trying out an inexpensive one that I was thinking about buying, and the salesman said "Try this one" and he handed me a beautiful Breedlove Studio BJ350/SMe4 (below left). When I saw the price tag, I told him that wasn't in my budget range, and tried to hand it back to him. But he said, "just try it." The second I played it, I was immediately hooked. I bought it on the spot.
After that, like many guitarists, I developed a bad habit of buying more guitars! When I started teaching guitar lessons, I purchased an old Fender CD220-SCE (below center) that I got for cheap, for teaching and practicing. Then I decided to get a higher quality performance instrument, and replaced my Taylor 310ce with my first top-tier performance guitar: a gorgeous Taylor 914ce (below 4th from left). It had East Indian Rosewood back and sides, an Adriondack Spruce top, and gorgeous mother of pearl inlays. Wow, what a guitar! The resonance was so strong that I could feel it through my chest. A few years later, I sold the Fender and replaced it with a cute little Taylor GS Mini for teaching and practicing (below right). It is nice for hauling around because it is small and light. I also pulled an old Hohner 12 string guitar out of the basement that my wife had purchased decades ago at Deseret Industries, and fixed it up, gave it a set-up, and added electronics (below, 2nd from left).
In 2019 I purchased my second top tier performance guitar: a Taylor Grand Pacific 717e Builder's Edition (below). It was a new model that had a tone unlike anything Taylor had ever produced before, and was revolutionary in many ways. It has an all-new round-shoulder design, and sounds much like a vintage Gibson from the 1960s, but without the Gibson's sonic problems. The sound is warm, blended, and smooth, but with great volume and dynamics. There is plenty of low frequency, but no woofiness. It also has a new type of internal bracing (V-class) that greatly improves the intonation of the harmonics. It has a torrified Sitka Spruce top, and Indian Rosewood sides and back. With the wild honeyburst coloring and satin finish, it is elegant but not flashy. With the rounded edges and compound carve neck, it is extremely comfortable to play. It has become my main acoustic guitar that I use for acoustic rock music with Relic.
In 2023, I was in The Book Table checking out the various Martin, Gibson, and Taylor acoustic guitars, and picked up a pretty Taylor 324ce Builders Edition. When I strummed it, I heard a sound I had never heard before. It had a flavor different than any other guitar. I was blown away, and asked the store manager about this new model and he told me it has a mahogany top and ash sides and back. I was surprised, because I have never cared for the sound of mahogany top guitars. I have always preferred guitars with spruce tops and rosewood back and sides. But this one was different! It was smooth and warm and has a slightly compressed sound, but it also had cool overtones... a special musical spice that no other guitar has. I came back the next day with my two performance guitars and spent a couple of hours alternating between playing them and the 324ce. I found that my 717e was better for rock songs and for playing with a pick, and my 914ce was best for guitar solo work, but the 324ce was best for playing mellow songs and finger picking while also singing. But it also sounded great on other styles as well. So I sadly decided to sell my 914ce and happily decided to buy the 324ce (below). I cannot play this guitar without a smile on my face. It is the best all-around guitar I have ever played in my life. I will use it for solo gigs, gigs with Cristina, and gigs with students. I will continue to use the wonderful 717ce for gigs with Relic.
In addition to those performance guitars, I own a tiny 2018 Traveler Pro Series that I take on trips (below)
I
loved playing that guitar, but nylon string was the
wrong instrument for the songs I wanted to play, and
I never progressed far enough to perform in
public. But I took that guitar everywhere,
played it a lot for my own enjoyment and for friends
and family, and beat it into the ground. Ten
years later, it was in bad shape. So I decided
to overhaul it. I stripped it to the bare
wood, repaired the hole that was in the side, filed
down the frets, moved the bridge to fix its
intonation problem, stained the back a pretty
reddish color, coated it with urethane, and
installed new tuners. I even stained my name
into the headstock. I still own this guitar,
but it almost never gets played anymore.
In my late teens I bought a 12 string (steel string) dreadnought guitar (they were a fad in the late 1970s) and it sounded nice but it was very difficult and painful to play. I didn't know enough to change the string gauge and adjust the action, I just thought that's how steel string guitars were. So I didn't play it much, and about 10 years later I finally sold it.
For the next thirty years, I didn't play the guitar much. When I started playing in bands, I was strictly a keyboard player and singer. It wasn't until I was almost 55 years old that I finally got serious about guitar. I had purchased a restaurant, and decided to have live music on weekends. I invited all the best musicians in the valley to play there, and that's how I got into the Logan music scene. I decided I would like to play at the restaurant sometimes. That's when I bought my first Taylor, a ten year old 310ce (below). I loved the sound, and after I had a luthier lower the action and put on 11 gauge strings, it was also easy to play. I started practicing and playing like crazy.
Playing in my restaurant
When I formed Relic Acoustic Band, I decided to purchase an acoustic bass guitar to go along with my Taylor 6 string. I was in Guitar Center trying out an inexpensive one that I was thinking about buying, and the salesman said "Try this one" and he handed me a beautiful Breedlove Studio BJ350/SMe4 (below left). When I saw the price tag, I told him that wasn't in my budget range, and tried to hand it back to him. But he said, "just try it." The second I played it, I was immediately hooked. I bought it on the spot.
After that, like many guitarists, I developed a bad habit of buying more guitars! When I started teaching guitar lessons, I purchased an old Fender CD220-SCE (below center) that I got for cheap, for teaching and practicing. Then I decided to get a higher quality performance instrument, and replaced my Taylor 310ce with my first top-tier performance guitar: a gorgeous Taylor 914ce (below 4th from left). It had East Indian Rosewood back and sides, an Adriondack Spruce top, and gorgeous mother of pearl inlays. Wow, what a guitar! The resonance was so strong that I could feel it through my chest. A few years later, I sold the Fender and replaced it with a cute little Taylor GS Mini for teaching and practicing (below right). It is nice for hauling around because it is small and light. I also pulled an old Hohner 12 string guitar out of the basement that my wife had purchased decades ago at Deseret Industries, and fixed it up, gave it a set-up, and added electronics (below, 2nd from left).
In 2019 I purchased my second top tier performance guitar: a Taylor Grand Pacific 717e Builder's Edition (below). It was a new model that had a tone unlike anything Taylor had ever produced before, and was revolutionary in many ways. It has an all-new round-shoulder design, and sounds much like a vintage Gibson from the 1960s, but without the Gibson's sonic problems. The sound is warm, blended, and smooth, but with great volume and dynamics. There is plenty of low frequency, but no woofiness. It also has a new type of internal bracing (V-class) that greatly improves the intonation of the harmonics. It has a torrified Sitka Spruce top, and Indian Rosewood sides and back. With the wild honeyburst coloring and satin finish, it is elegant but not flashy. With the rounded edges and compound carve neck, it is extremely comfortable to play. It has become my main acoustic guitar that I use for acoustic rock music with Relic.
In 2023, I was in The Book Table checking out the various Martin, Gibson, and Taylor acoustic guitars, and picked up a pretty Taylor 324ce Builders Edition. When I strummed it, I heard a sound I had never heard before. It had a flavor different than any other guitar. I was blown away, and asked the store manager about this new model and he told me it has a mahogany top and ash sides and back. I was surprised, because I have never cared for the sound of mahogany top guitars. I have always preferred guitars with spruce tops and rosewood back and sides. But this one was different! It was smooth and warm and has a slightly compressed sound, but it also had cool overtones... a special musical spice that no other guitar has. I came back the next day with my two performance guitars and spent a couple of hours alternating between playing them and the 324ce. I found that my 717e was better for rock songs and for playing with a pick, and my 914ce was best for guitar solo work, but the 324ce was best for playing mellow songs and finger picking while also singing. But it also sounded great on other styles as well. So I sadly decided to sell my 914ce and happily decided to buy the 324ce (below). I cannot play this guitar without a smile on my face. It is the best all-around guitar I have ever played in my life. I will use it for solo gigs, gigs with Cristina, and gigs with students. I will continue to use the wonderful 717ce for gigs with Relic.
In addition to those performance guitars, I own a tiny 2018 Traveler Pro Series that I take on trips (below)
After five years of playing steel string acoustic guitar, I decided to try electric guitar. After carefully researching, I decided on a Les Paul style. After more researching, I chose a pretty Agile AL-3010SE:
A couple of years later, I decided to sell that guitar and upgrade to a 2015 Agile AL-3200MCC (below) which has a very strong and comfortable-to-play through-neck design. I modified it with custom coil cut and phase reverse switching, which allow it to sound both like a Les Paul and also a Fender Stratocaster. I added audio taper pots, "speed" knobs, Pyramid hand-wound, round-core, pure nickel strings, and a few other small but effective modifications. And I adjusted the action quite low so it plays like a dream.
I play it through a Fender Mustang III V.2 digital modeling amplifier that I have programmed to very accurately imitate many different classic tube amplifiers.
In addition to all these guitars, I have owned six electric bass guitars in the last 20 years, of which I still own three. My first was a black and white Fender Jazz, which sounded and played great. The Fender Jazz is a great bass with bright, articulate single coil pickups.
When I formed The Fender Benders, I decided I needed the big fat sound of a humbucker coil bass for classic rock, and made a big mistake by selling my Fender Jazz and replacing it with a five string Ibanez SRX505TK with humbuckers (below left). The Ibanez had a great sound for many songs, but I really missed the bright, clear tone of the Jazz on other songs.
And then (of course), I caught the disease and started buying basses. For the bright sound of single coil pickups, I purchased a Danelectro Hodad (below center). After a few years of fighting with that bass (unbalanced feel, and not that great of tone), I sold it and replaced it with another nice Fender Jazz (below 4th from left) (every bass player should have a Jazz bass in his collection!) And for a smooth sound like an upright bass, I bought a fretless Ibanez SR400FL (below right). There's nothing quite like playing a fretless bass with flatwound strings! Eventually, I decided to get rid of the 5 string Ibanez and replaced it with a Yamaha TRBX-304 with humbucker pickups (below, 2nd from left). It is a very nice, balanced bass that is a joy to play. It is my go-to bass that I play more than all the others.
So right now, I own 12 total guitars: 1 classical nylon string, 3 Taylor steel strings, 1 twelve-string, 1 electric guitar, 1 acoustic bass guitar, 3 electric bass guitars, 1 travel guitar, and 1 ukulele. (I know, it's crazy!)