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And these are my guitars:

Collings D3A

Gallagher G-72

I was once a semi-professional musician, but found my career cut short by injuries and familial responsibilities. I suffered nerve and tendon damage in my fretting hand (mostly from ignorance and over-work), and broke a few bones in the right during a car accident. I spent most of the last thirteen years taking care of my elderly grandmother, who passed from a stroke at the age of 92, and my mother, who died young from breast cancer at the end of '08. It was a form of stasis, as if my life was on hold, with the only temporary freedoms being a quick trip to the grocery store or pharmacy. I had to take classes and become a nursing assistant, so I could have the know-how to provide them with adequate care. The kind of things one must do to help the people you love.

The last instrument I still had in my possession was an old, sweet-natured Westerly, RI Guild. It had been damaged in the accident, and had several top and side cracks, plus an ugly hole in the lower 'bout. If it hadn't been in a hard-shell case, it would have been utterly destroyed.

I did eventually get it repaired, and gave it to my brother, who had decided to learn to play, and it is now his pride and joy.

This did leave me without an instrument, but considering that I was fairly sure I would never play again without sweating through some pretty excruciating pain in that left hand, I decided to resign myself to the inevitable; leave those days behind, and move forward with my life.

But ... then I got on the Internet, and found, to my surprise and delight, thousands of people actively involved in learning about guitars and playing them. The temptation became much too difficult to resist, and so, I turned a corner, determined to give playing one last shot. This involved saving every thin dime that I could scrape up, contacting a doctor about getting physical therapy, and beginning a search for a guitar. And not just any guitar, but the best I could ever hope to play, without winning the lottery.

It took about a year to locate this small boutique shop outside of Weaverville, NC called Dream Guitars ... nestled up in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I had never seen such an amazing collection of fine instruments in all my days, and I had a ball walking through, and playing, whatever extraordinary instrument that happened to catch my eye (within reason, of course ... some of those guitars would have taken a new mortgage to acquire!)

These two guitars were just barely within my limited budget, and I was thankful to find them, as they were the best of the bunch in the under-five-grand-bracket. I started to take home the Collings - only ... but the Gallagher rankled and bothered me in my sleep for a solid month, until I had no recourse left but to go back to the shop and bring it home, as well.

A few weeks later, I met the woman who would become my wife, and she was the greatest about all of this, especially about insisting that I get back on track, and recover my old skills ... and perhaps, if I was lucky, go even beyond that.

It's been over two years now. I play twice a day, after always taking the time to thoroughly warm up and stretch in advance. I've developed a real taste for Bluegrass, flatpicking, and my native mountain music(s). I can see slow, but advancing development in my skills, week-by-week, and it is a major thrill. The guitars really are the best I have ever played, and because of the 'Net, I not only got to find out what it was I had bought (I had never heard of either company or brand at the time), based entirely on the tone and feel, but a whole lot more about all kinds of guitars and musical styles ... most of which I would have never been exposed to, if it were still the good 'ole days, pre-'Net.

I'm a lucky man, and a fortunate one. Every day is a new learning experience, and despite a short spell when I had to adjust to a minor cardiac anomaly (which I have firmly under control with diet, medication, and exercise after having lost over 30 pounds), everything is copacetic.

Life is good. And it's nice to make your acquaintance .. all of you!

... JT

Well JT I sure enjoyed reading your introduction. Now let's see you PLAY those bad boys! (When you are ready to show us of course). Welcome from Australia, glad you found us.

thanks for letting us get to know you. a truly inspirational story! welcome to the tg community jt! keep on strummin/pickin! we look forward to your contributions, posts, and playing

Welcome JT i to enjoyed reading youre intro,you will thouroughly enjoy youre time here,it has got some of the most helpful and genuine people here,all the best in youre progress.
Tommy (scotland)

Hello JT and welcome to TG. A couple of real beauties you have there, I particularly like the Gallagher G-72. Great introduction, I am really glad you decided to join us. Your tips, tricks, opinions, and questions are always welcome here.



Bill

Hi JT, welcome from Montreal Canada. Thanks for sharing your story. I am lookingt forward to have a low budget below 5 grand . I am sure you will have a good time discussing guitar with people who really enjoy the same hobby.

Marc

Wow JT
That was an impressive introduction. With a love of guitar music such as yours you really fit right in. I'm moved by your devotion to caring for your family and glad to hear that things are working well for you these days. Stick around.
Tom

hey jt - nice guitars too btw. was wondering though why two spruce/rosewood dreads? what do you find significantly different about them that would have you pick up one vs the other on any given day and/or for any given song? did you look at taylor, martin, maton, santa cruz, gibson, etc as well when you were looking to buy?

Hello, all!

Thanks so much for the friendly, warm welcomes and responses ... it is greatly appreciated!

6stringbostic, why two spruce rosewood dreads? Wow, that's a good question.

Hmm, let's see ...

First off, let me start by saying that I have no brand bias. I'm just as likely to appreciate a good Martin as I am a Taylor. It all depends on the tone, the neck profile, the resonance and projection from the body, and how the guitar sounds from in front of the sound hole, as well as behind it.

I played a lot of guitars, the year of my search. I played new guitars, and went to vintage guitar expos. I played some guitars that were hard to put down, and only the price might have pushed me one way or the other. Two examples that stick out in my mind; I recall a Gibson AJ made in the early '90s from the custom shop that was handmade by Ren Ferguson and John Walker. Perhaps the most perfect neck angle on a guitar that I have ever felt; the ultimate in outstanding playability. Beautiful bird's eye maple back and sides, and superb tone. But out of my reach, at fourteen grand.

I played a sunburst Santa Cruz mahogany slope-shouldered dread so good it would make you slap a relative. But again, just a little too rich for my blood.

The ones that I ended up acquiring are not very much alike, not even from the first moment I saw them. The Collings was a rather austere guitar, except for the sound hole rosette. I was kind of suspicious of the grain width of the top wood, even though I had heard that this was not really a deal-breaker with Adirondack.

I had never come across a Collings before, and was startled by the amount of volume that was came out of the box, and the definition of the notes. It was a little tight, despite being used, but it looked like it had almost never been played, and I figured that with some luck, a few years, a good set-up, and regular play, I could use that guitar for flatpicking. I like guitars with strong harmonics in the mid-range and ringing trebles, so ... combined with the excellent neck profile, the unusually good fit and finish, and price being less than half of a new one, I was satisfied with the purchase.

I didn't originally intend to buy the Gallagher, but it snuck up on me. When I saw it in the store, I thought that it might be a little too flowery for me; too much bling. It didn't look like anything special. Up close, it was really dirty, with some kind of hard, brown, nasty, sticky film all over every inch of it, and spots that appeared to be mud from someone's shoes smeared on the sides. The nut slots were worn, the frets had some moderately bad divots, and the neck felt too wide and meaty. It was very heavy, and when I ran through some scales, it was obvious the intonation was way off.

At the time, I was auditioning a thirty year old Martin D-42 that was somewhat boomy in the bass, but I figured I could learn to live with it. After all, it was a Martin, and what could be better than that?

This dirty Gallagher, that's what.

They gave it to me for a great price, since it was the second guitar I was buying from them. But "AS IS" ... any repairs would be on me.

Since the neck joint angle was still fine, I got the nut and saddle replaced, and had the saddle slot filled in and re-routed to help with the intonation issues. I spent hours carefully cleaning it, as not to further damage the finish. Amazingly enough, all that brown mess finally came off, but not without some serious effort on my part. I got a fret job (on both of them actually), and chose stainless steel, for better durability. I had the extra hole in the Gallagher's lower 'bout filled with a new pickup system, and the regular end pin hole fitted with a strap lock.

The differences? The Collings is an exceptionally loud guitar, with great cut to the trebles and deep, clear bass. It has the faster, slimmer neck.

The Gallagher is almost as loud, but has a warmer, much wider projection that is not as focused as the Collings. It holds that kind of tone much higher up the neck, making it very versatile, especially when fingerpicking, and when using a capo, as the wider neck has more room to maneuver. The Sitka top has a completely different tonality, and resonates more in the lower registers, making it the more suitable of the two guitars against my voice for songwriting.

I think they are both fine guitars, but have very little in common. The wood types seem to only play a partial role in the sound ... it is more about the bracing, the neck joints, the age difference, the density, thickness, and looseness of the top. The top on the Gallagher is almost floppy, while the Collings is lighter-braced, but has more cross-grain stiffness.

And finally, it has a lot to do with how these guitars made me feel while they were first in my hands. The Collings made me picture community events, jams with fellow Bluegrass enthusiasts, blazing leads, and moments when I could play with aggression without causing the notes to run together in a blur of sound. A great deal of transparent headroom.

The Gallagher simply brought tears to my eyes, because the tone was so incredibly lovely, warm, lush, and emotional. Never before had a guitar grabbed me so hard that I had to make a manly effort to keep from making a silly fool of myself in public, like I was a teenage girl watching the end of Titanic or Sleepless in Seattle.

These days, I use John Pearse Pure Nickel medium gauge on both, and if you haven't ever considered checking out nickel strings, I highly recommend that you pick up a pack, and be prepared to be blown away.

Oh, and by the way, if you haven't already noticed, I'm rather long-winded. Just be glad that I'm only typing! :laugh:

Later ...

... JT

Hey JT,

This is a really great post. It’s a good example that guitars (and probably other instruments for that matter) are like clothing on the rack. You always try to find the one that you like and suits you, but there is always a bit of alteration that can be done to get the truly best fit.

I have never played a Collings, but, like you, have some experience with Gallagher. When I was first learning to play (in the 70s), I took some basic bluegrass lessons from a schoolmate. One day, he said “take a look at this” and pulled out a brand new Gallagher dreadnaught. He had ordered it two years before and just got it. He was very proud of it and actually let me play it even though I wasn’t really worthy of the opportunity. Later, I would play many nice guitars. At that time, there were not as many small brand makers as readily available as there are today. Long story shorter, I have fulfilled a dream and now have two Gallaghers; a dread (used) and a grand auditorium (new). No regrets. No customization was needed only a simple setup was done on the dread and the GA is scheduled for the same.

Very recently, I was looking for a guitar that I would feel comfortable letting anyone else play, but it needed to be of good quality. Then I discovered an old road worn, banged up, and repaired Charles Hoffman dread of late 1970s vintage. It’s a bit clunky (large), has had a neck reset, refretting, side cracks repaired, new bridge, new bridge plate, new compensated bone saddle (intonation done), new bone nut, new end pin, new bridge pins, and a few other things that I’m probably missing. The finish is checked and missing in many places. One brace inside is cracked in two places but holding well and a deep gouge in the headstock has been repaired. This is a true 15-footer (definition - something best viewed from further than 15 feet away) and was exactly what the doctor ordered. When I tuned-up and strummed the first chord, I couldn’t believe the wonderful noise that came out of it. It’s very humbling to see what this “ugly duckling” can do.

About two years ago, I decided to revive my interest in playing and got back into it. Shortly after that, I developed a terrible pain in my left hand that sidelined me for about a month or two. This was a big disappointment, and, like you, I thought it was the end of my guitar playing. Fortunately, the pain went away and hasn’t come back. So, it is very interesting to hear your story. Hopefully, this old guy still has a few good years left.

Stick around. This is a pretty good site, and it keeps getting better.

Hydroman52