Have any of you ever had a guitar which you hardly played, stuffed away somewhere for several years and then rediscovered it and found that it's actually a fantastic guitar? I had some free time today so I decided to dig my Mom's old guitar out of the closet to see if I could get it playing again. My Dad and I got it about ten years ago for her birthday. She played in high school, but her first guitar was destroyed Pete Townsend style while she was away at college and was therefore unable to keep it away from a massive destructive force known as "the little brother".

The guitar we got her is an Ibanez AW300, solid top with bubinga (fun word to say) back and sides. It hasn't really been touched for several years, but it was what inspired my Dad to pick up the bass again which consequently inspired me to start playing guitar (I played around on this one a bit before I had my own). It was missing an A string because the bridge pin broke, but I had a spare along with a couple of spare strings. So I went ahead and got it strung up and tuned and I've got to say I'm blown away by it. It actually sounds amazing. We did pretty good considering we had no idea what we were buying. For once a Guitar Center employee actually steered us right. Despite the fact that the strings are a hodgepodge of replacements from over the years (I don't think I'd ever changed them all at the same time) and half of them were dead, but even so it really has a great tone. If I had realized an acoustic guitar could sound like this before, I would've played it much more.

So I'm pretty happy. I've been wishing I had a nice acoustic guitar for a while, and I found one buried in the closet. It's like a new guitar day, but free!

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Sounds like a real cool find Tex, bubinga bubinga bubinga your Mum and Dad both players eh mmm there has to be more treasure hidden away, dig deeper in that closet I say, turn that house upside down there must be more, think Tex think, try to think like they would

That's a cool find TGS,maybe that guitar will get even better sounding the more it's played.I don't know anything about that bubinga (kind of rolls off the tounge) but I've been told by some really good acoustic players here in Nashville that wood "opens up" after some time and sounds better.
Some have told me of putting a guitar in front of speakers with music playing 24/7 to help it to resonate more.
As usual,I'm sure there's opposing ideas to that,but I don't know that much about acoustics,but I do have a Martin I play some.

Great story, cool change from other ngd threads, so fun to read. Thankyou for posting Texas.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

Great find in the old hall closet, sounds like a round of polish and new strings is in order. Give the Martin Bronze Phosper SP Light (12-54) a try,crisp sounding and very finger friendly.

Bubinga !
John.E

How hip is that?!

Good on you.

They don't have any interments left from when they were in high school, my Mom just has that one guitar. And my Dad has a few basses, but they're all accounted for. I actually really like the Peavey T-40 he's got. It weighs a ton but it sounds really good.

But come to think of it, they do have a Mandolin buried somewhere, but I'm not sure if it's real or just decorative. I should find out...

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It's a great feeling that.........about five years ago I was looking for a 12 string but just couldn't settle on any that I tried in my budget.

After a while I was round at my uncle's house and mentioned that I quite liked one like my dad had years ago, an old 60's EKO thing but it had been sold many years ago. AT which point he told me to hang on while he checked something and appeared with an identical one!!! My dad and him had bought them on the same day from the same shop. It had sat in the loft for about twenty years so he said if I could get it up and working I could have it.

Got it home and apart from the strings.....and dust it was perfect!! Neck and sound board were in perfect condition!!!

Finds like this are rare and you will now waste hours trying to 'find' more bits of gear!!!!

Enjoy!

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speak slowly I'm a drummer too!!

And I proudly lack a stick or a kazoo up my arse...........

I'm going to take it into work today and give it a restring and clean. Actually, I was going to put those exact strings on it, but maybe 11's if that matches the gauge(s) on the guitar now. I'll find out. The frets could also use some light steel wool. They aren't really worn at all, they just aren't shiny anymore so I'll just polish them up.

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Cool Find!!! How about some pics?

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Chet Feathers

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

Hopefully I'll have some pics soon. There's something wrong with our computer (the video card is giving out) so I've been using my phone to get on the Internet.

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Actually, this is how I acquired my first guitar 10 years ago. My dad took lessons when he was 10 years old, but never really got into it, so the guitar was stored in the attic. 30 years later, I was 10 years old, and wanted to take guitar lessons. He somehow remembered the guitar in the attic (untouched for 30 years). We took it to my first guitar lesson, and my instructor immediately told my dad to buy me a different guitar to learn on. Turns out, the "attic guitar" was a '63 les paul junior (sg). I still have and play it, although it has recently not been played as much because I went on a guitar buying spree (its addicitng)