Whose Guitar is it Today?
11/04/2024
It's my oldest son's birthday, today. I've been slow in finishing and posting this article, but for the last two months I've been slow to do just about anything, for reasons you'll soon learn. I do apologize, however. Some of the events are telescoped over the last two months because my write-ups of those events happened as the events occurred and added a particular flavor to the story. And with that, upward and onward.
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Back when they were teens, my sons, Ian and Trevor, started getting into guitar. We got them matching Takamine GS330S acoustic guitars for Christmas and they started learning. Our older son, Ian, quickly became enthusiastic about electric guitar, so we decided to try to buy him one for Christmas and his birthday. Being 6’4” tall, he felt a certain kinship to tall, stringy Allen Collins (RIP) of Lynyrd Skynyrd and loved the way a Gibson Explorer looked on him. In the Fall of 1999, Epiphone came out with nice-looking ’58 Korina Explorer and Flying V repros, so my wife and I went to check out the Explorers. The Explorer was indeed pretty cool for a mid-priced instrument but was more than we could afford on our cash-only budget. We asked the salesman if they could come down on the price. The manager said the only way he could give a discount was if we bought both a Flying V and an Explorer. I had a little personal savings account squirreled away and decided I'd buy a V so that with the discount, the family could afford the Explorer for my son. We gave it to him that Christmas and he was delighted. I liked the Flying V – it was light in weight and offered a spanky and sweet tone like a V should. It had a little problem with feedback from the pickups but I learned to work around it. I had loved the art deco lines of the Flying V since seeing Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash play his '67 Flying V that went on to be a trademark of the band.
A few years later it was Christmastime again and our cash-only Christmas budget ended up a little short of cash. Right about that time my son let it slip that he had always loved my Flying V more than his Explorer and he wondered if I would sell it to him. I did, and everyone was happy - he had the Flying V and I had some more cash for the family’s Christmas. Marvy!
The next year as Christmas loomed, my son wanted to propose to his lovely high school sweetheart but was a little short of money for the engagement ring. He asked if I would be willing to buy back the V from him. I was absolutely thrilled to do so and to contribute to their future. Two days later I tuned it up to open E and used it as my bottleneck slide instrument to open a gig. Once again, everyone was happy. During this period a TV producer friend approached me and asked if I could let him use the guitar as the main set piece for an episode of his television show. I agreed, so while I live in quiet obscurity, this guitar has literally been seen around the world via that TV show.
Video still from the TV show
A few years later my son and I developed the habit of playing together weekly and we really enjoyed it. One time when we finished and were putting away the guitars and gear, my son wistfully mentioned to my wife and me that he still loved that Flying V and wished he hadn't sold it back to me. Without a second thought my wife said, "I'm sure dad would love for you to have it. It’s yours. Go get it out of the guitar room." My jaw dropped and my teeth just about fell out of my mouth as it walked out the door because by then, I, too, had developed a soft spot for the guitar due to our many exchanges. But to be truthful, it was a spare and I did know how much he loved it. I let it go and my son was thrilled to have it again. He bought a classic Vox AC15 amp and loved the combination. I bought an inexpensive '67 V-Factor Flying V with a faded finish so we played together on our Vs. You'd think that would be the end of the story. But no!
In fact, a while later he called me up and asked about better pickups for it. He was having the same problems with feedback I’d had and wanted to squash them. I suggested he look into Seymour Duncan pickups. He did some research and ordered a pair, a JB SH-4 hot but sweet humbucker for the bridge and a sweet SH-1 '59 "Patent Applied For" style humbucker for the neck.
When they arrived, he showed up at my door with the guitar and the pickups in tow. "Wanna help me install these? I've never soldered." That was about the only mechanical skill he didn’t possess. So, we cracked open a couple of cold drinks, put on some Joe Walsh, spread things out on a quilt on the dining room table, and replaced the pickups while I showed him how to solder. Fun! Once we got the guitar buttoned up I set it up for his choice of strings and set the pickup heights for a good sound. WOW! It sounded great! I mean really, really great. At that point he had a first-rate guitar with a really great sound. I chronicled the pickup swap HERE.
So, today, over twenty-five years from the day the guitar first entered my world, it has come back home again under the worst possible circumstances. A relative brought over the guitar and dropped it off to me with some other stuff. You see, a few months ago my son began a period of his life with some extreme challenges and heartbreaks. Three months ago, he received some really bad news. He shared it with his mother and me and we began meeting with him, comforting him, and counseling him. He went to a professional counselor as well. Then one night, six weeks later, he received some really, really bad news of a final type, and it broke his heart. That night he took his life. It was and is a terrible loss to us and we are still reeling from it. It has taken a couple of months to find motivation to do much of anything.
The relative who came by and dropped off the guitar was helping clean out my son’s house. He told me that no-one else wanted it and that he remembered that I had some history with it. True. A week later I got up my nerve and opened the case.
Sure enough, there it was, as yellow as Skut Farkas' eyes.* My son loved the guitar and kept it in really good shape. I cleaned it up, changed out my son’s favorite Ernie Ball Slinky strings for .009 Super Slinkies, and adjusted the relief and bridge height to my specs. Later, I plugged the V into my rig and played it for a while, remembering my son and rediscovered why I loved the guitar: it has a bright, spanky sound, just the right amount of snark, and a sweet tone with plenty of sustain when you need it. There are a couple of maintenance jobs I’ll probably need to do when I get around to them, but it is ready to go and a pleasure to play. I will think of my son and friend Ian every time I open the case.
So, I guess this is going to be the final chapter of the father/son Flying V exchange saga. Requiescat in pace, Ian Robert Womack. Loving son, friend, father, husband, Renaissance man. Nov 4, 1983-August 18, 2024. You are missed.
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The name of this article comes from the real-life experiences of my father. When he returned, absolutely broke, from serving in the Navy in WWII, he immediately went to college on the GI Bill. He was so broke that he would often run oout of money between paychecks to eat. He developed the practice of pawning the only item of value he had, a clarinet, at a local pawn shop. On payday he would go back and redeem the clarinet. It happened so often that the shop owner and he developed a cordial relatonship. When he saw my faher come in the door he would smile and ask, "Whose clarinet is it today?"
* Skut Farkas was the antagonist in the movie, A Christmas Story
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