2006 Cordoba 55R Classical Guitar
"Champaign Classical Taste on a Beer Budget"
Or...
An Interesting Vacuum Cleaner Repair Trip
Guitar players, stay with me here.
February 26, 2008
We took our 17 year old Eureka commercial upright vac in for service Saturday. The impeller disk (the fan) disintegrated and was ejected all over creation the other day. Oh well. There were other problems, but understand that this vacuum was used daily in my wife's house cleaning business for six years, several times a day. It owes us nothing, and for a few dollars, it will soon begin another life for us. Amazing. The same old guy who sold it to us and promised it would last and last will be repairing it.
But that's not really what this is about. We transported the vac in my wife's car because it is easier than taking it in my MINI, so my wife was driving. When we finished, we piled back in the car and I said, "Where to next?" My wife said, "That's a surprise." She took me to a neighboring guitar store for a fun visit. While we were there, she asked me to go into the classical guitar room to see whether a particular guitar we've been watching was still there, and it was. It's a Cordoba 55R, a nicely-priced classical with a solid German spruce top, laminated rosewood sides and back, and an ebony fingerboard. This particular instrument has been in the shop for a while, and we've noticed that it sounds quite a bit fuller and more articulate in the high end and projects better than the other guitars in the store, and that includes a couple that cost twice as much. I pulled it down and played it for her again, then compared it to the others by playing the same piece across the bunch. You see, my wife prefers the sound of classical guitar to steel string ones. After about four lessons at the start, the only guitar lessons I ever had were classical guitar lessons in college. That was thirty years ago. Since then I've played my old classical guitar into the ground and haven't been able to play it seriously for years.
So, back at the store, I played a few pieces, including one I wrote for her. She says, "I am afraid this one will get sold. How much does it cost?" I show her the tag. She says, "Gimme that," takes the tag, and marches out to talk to her favorite salesman. After about ten minutes, she comes back and says, "I got them to drop the price to $XXXX (a much lower figure)." I play a few more minutes and she leans against the wall with her eyes closed. She asks me to compare the other guitars again, but this one clearly is a better -sounding instrument - more fullness and a delicate upper end. She says, "I'm afraid this one will get sold. Let's buy it." I say, "We can't afford it right now and I don't want the family to go into debt for me." She says, "Then we'll do it for me. You can play it when you are sitting next to me on the couch. Let's go." And so we go buy the guitar. Just like that. No particular event to celebrate. I've already played it to her on the couch.
As we leave, she says, "Oh, I suppose we could call this a Valentine's gift." Hooo, boy, what do I do for her now?
By the way, she has no available sisters.
With thanks to my lovely wife for another fantastic gift, this one entirely her own idea.
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