One of my first missions, when we arrived back in August, was to buy a new guitar. It just so happened that my birthday fell on the same day as our first organised shopping trip to Songtan, a very westernised (US style) shopping district near the Osan military base. I had my heart set on an Epiphone Casino style guitar, and I found a few of these in the first guitar shop at fairly reasonable prices. Then I discovered that in Korea, they basically make the guitars and put whatever name they like on them. This would explain why a Korea made Ovation is only $400, compared to the US made version which sells for about $1000 in Australia. I continued my search and found a little shop (called Mr Potato Guitars) off the main street which had a good selection of accoustic guitars, and a few electrics. This is where I found the "Marvel"
- a cheap nock off of an Epiphone Casino. The guy who owns and runs the shop, also makes the guitars, so the prices are very cheap and the qaulity is good. This particular guitar looks great, and sounds awesome. The tone is very rich and I have never heard a guitar bend a note like this one. I am very surprised at how good it sounds, as I never thought a cheap guitar would sound this good. The main reason for choosing a semi accoustic was so I could play it in our apartment without making too much noise, once I put it through my effects board and plug the headphones in that is. However, something was missing. Harper was not playing this guitar as much as he used to play my guitars at home. One day he said, "Dad, can we buy another guitar that isn't electric so I can play it. I miss playing the guitar." This was more than enough reason for m
e to head back to Mr Potato and pick up one of his original hand made accoustic guitars. I went for a classical (nylon string) accoustic cut away with pick up - which means I can plug it in and play through an amp. It is a lovely sounding guitar and Harper didn't leave it alone for the whole weekend. He actually came into our room early one morning and said, "Can I play the guitar now?" How can you refuse such enthusiasm? Even though it meant that we all had to get up then, the answer was yes. Notice the unique design of the headstock - Mr Potato's emblem is an eagle, so he tries to represent that in the carving. This is a unique guitar and one that will hopefully stay with us for some time, perhaps it could be Harper's one day - although I think he believes it's his already.
- a cheap nock off of an Epiphone Casino. The guy who owns and runs the shop, also makes the guitars, so the prices are very cheap and the qaulity is good. This particular guitar looks great, and sounds awesome. The tone is very rich and I have never heard a guitar bend a note like this one. I am very surprised at how good it sounds, as I never thought a cheap guitar would sound this good. The main reason for choosing a semi accoustic was so I could play it in our apartment without making too much noise, once I put it through my effects board and plug the headphones in that is. However, something was missing. Harper was not playing this guitar as much as he used to play my guitars at home. One day he said, "Dad, can we buy another guitar that isn't electric so I can play it. I miss playing the guitar." This was more than enough reason for m
e to head back to Mr Potato and pick up one of his original hand made accoustic guitars. I went for a classical (nylon string) accoustic cut away with pick up - which means I can plug it in and play through an amp. It is a lovely sounding guitar and Harper didn't leave it alone for the whole weekend. He actually came into our room early one morning and said, "Can I play the guitar now?" How can you refuse such enthusiasm? Even though it meant that we all had to get up then, the answer was yes. Notice the unique design of the headstock - Mr Potato's emblem is an eagle, so he tries to represent that in the carving. This is a unique guitar and one that will hopefully stay with us for some time, perhaps it could be Harper's one day - although I think he believes it's his already.
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