My Eternal Love!
My Love for Gibson J200
At Tokutake-san’s live show on Wednesday, I brought out this beauty for the first time in a while—my Gibson J200 Blonde.
Lately, the body’s been showing some serious cracks, so everyone keeps asking, “Is it vintage?” Even on Wednesday, Ritsu Murakami asked me, “Vintage?”
I think I started playing acoustic guitar about a year after I began singing…
I was completely smitten by the bold, masculine sound of the Gibson J200. I wanted it so badly. But my bandmates and even my mom said, “You might not stick with it, so why not start with a guitar you can buy in Japan?” 😂 (Back then, only vintage ones were available.) It was expensive… 💦 So for the first two or three years, I played a Takamine.
Then in 1988, I went to California and started calling every music shop near my house, asking, “Do you have a Gibson J200?” Every single one replied, “We have a Takamine or Yamaha.” 😂 I thought, “No, no, I can get those easily back in Japan!” (lol)
Finally, the last shop I called said, “We have one.” 😍😍😍 I jumped in the car right away (well, I wasn’t the one driving 💦), and that’s how I met this brand-new beauty ♥️
She’s been my partner for nearly 40 years now 💕💕💕
It’s probably time to send her in for maintenance… 😭
水曜日の徳武さんライヴでは久しぶりにこの子、Gibson J200 Blondeを使った。
最近BodyのCracksが凄いからみんなにVintage？って聞かれます。水曜日も村上律さんにVintage?って。
アコギを弾き出したのは歌を歌い出して1年後くらいかな……
Gibson J200の男らしい音に惚れて欲しくて、欲しくて。 当時のバンドの仲間やママに長続きしないかも知れないから
先ずは日本て買えるギターにしたら？(当時はVintageしか無く)高かったぁ
そして2、3年はTakamineを弾いていた。1988年にCaliforniaに行った時に家の近所にある楽器屋さんに片っ端から電話をかけ、Gibson J200はありますか？するとどの店も”We have a Takamine or Yamaha”と言ってくるいやいや、日本帰ったらいっぱい売ってるし(笑) 最後に電話をかけたお店に1本あるよとの事
直ぐに車走らせて(運転私じゃないけど)新品なこの子に出会ったのでした
それから40年近い相棒
そろそろメンテ出さなきゃなぁ……