Why So Many Guitars? Acoustic Edition: #1 The Gibson Dove

Why So Many Guitars? Acoustic Edition

I didn't get my first acoustic until I was 30.  It was a 1990 Gibson Dove.  I chose it over everything else I'd played at the time because of the price ($1000) and that it was the loudest of the all the guitars I tried.  I was going to be leading worship for a Sunday school class of about 100 without a PA so that was my criterion. At the time I couldn't tell much of a difference between acoustics.  I was an electric player.  

Five years later, I purchased my next acoustic. A Lowden F-22.  As soon as I played it I loved it’s tone.  But mainly because it was different than the Gibby.  Way different.  Brassy, not as woody.  Still my ears were relatively inexperienced.  I bought it to take on the road for some clinics I was hired to teach starting that Spring.

I didn’t have the guitar two weeks when I got a call from Taylor guitars asking which model I would like as they were one of the sponsors of the clinics and wanted me to have one.  I didn’t know anything about Taylor models and they told me everyone else was getting an 814-ce.  Sure.  Two days later one arrived at my door step.  And it was very different sounding from my Lowden and Dove.  The 814 was definitely brighter than my Dove but not as brassy as the Lowden.

It was about this time in my mid-30’s I started to notice the difference between Martin’s and Gibson’s on recordings.  Getting to the point, where I’m sure so many of you are at, where I could listen to a record and say “that sounds like a Martin.”  Or Gibson.  Taylor’s were rarer on recordings and harder to pick out. 

Then when I was working on a session for a major Latin artist, the producer, whom I’d never worked for before, grinded me on my guitars.  One after another he told me my acoustics were too bright.  Isn’t that what EQ’s are for?  I thought.  Self-conscious I powered my way through the session thinking I need to get a dark guitar.

It was beginning to make sense what my teacher in the 80’s, Carl Verheyen, told me… “You can’t have too many acoustics.”  I didn’t have any at the time, and remember thinking… really?!?!

I determined that I needed a Martin.  So the hunt began.  At the local Guitar Center, of all places, I spotted a tattered, abused, orphaned 70’s Martin D-35 for $1100.  It played great and had a familiar tone.  But not flashy.  Subtle.  Serious.  And dark.

Now I had 4 very different guitars.  Plus a Taylor 655 12-string that I had gotten from Taylor from their B stock.

The Martin has been my go to guitar for sessions.  One thing I noticed, over years of playing on records, is that when I use the Martin, my guitar is hotter in the mix when I get the final product.   The Taylor sounds like a Taylor. The Dove definitely sounds like a Gibson.  The Lowden is very unique sounding.  But the Martin just sounds like a guitar.  Like a guitar we’ve all heard on recordings from the beginning of time.  My Martin at least, doesn’t demand too much attention and shares the sonic landscape with singers quite generously. 

I’ve since acquired two more Martins, a new Baritone, the prototype actually, that is serious times ten, and a 1924 O-28k, a small bodied, koa instrument that is so tender and sweet.  Great for fingerpicking and soft strumming.

I also acquired a 60’s Gibson Folksinger in trade for playing on a friends record.  It has a decidedly “boxey” quality that I’ve found is useful for that “hipster” sound.  Whatever that is.  You know like a Target commercial.

A Recent Session - Justin Bieber - "Flatline"

One of my favorite tunes of his. The melody on this track are amazing.  I played high-strung guitar, acoustic guitar and my G&L Legacy Special.

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Recent Session - Justin Bieber's Yellow Raincoat

Co-wrote and played this song with Justin. 1990 Gibson Dove and AKG 451 mic.

One Session, Two Lessons

I use to carry a little black book around with me to all my gigs and sessions. And no, not to register phone numbers of groupies (that book was blue). It was my log of things to work on or get or just something that I could learn from the job I just finished. I try to make everything be a teachable moment for me. So not only am I getting paid, I'm getting a self-prescribed lesson.

For example, I might write in my little black book... "practice playing over Imaj7-VII7 progression" or "listen to some James Brown to get some rhythm ideas" or "tighten up the bottom end on patch 298". Something to work on on days when I didn't have any work.

This one particular session was for a major Latin artist at a major studio with some major session pros. I was already feeling like the low man on the totem pole. I was playing acoustic and was an overdub after the other musicians had already laid down their tracks. The song wasn't a song, but a medley of this artist's greatest hits. A dozen pages of music. The producer was one of my best friends, so on that I rest my confidence. The engineer I didn't know but more importantly, he didn't know me. For some reason he had it out for me. Some people build themselves up by tearing others down. This engineer was one of those people.

I had brought 3 acoustics and my nylon guitar. He set up the mic and went into the booth. I pulled out my Taylor 814, strummed a little, and into my headphones I heard, "Do you have another guitar? That one is too bright." I grabbed the Lowden F22. "That one is even brighter." Uh-oh. Last chance. The Gibson Dove should do the trick. "Nope." "It's the last one I have." I confessed and received a dismayed look and... "I guess it'll have to do."

I hadn't played one note and I was already feeling like a rank amateur. But with the Dove in my hands I forgot my insecurities and began tracking. Often I don't think I can play until I have the guitar in my hands, and then I know I can. We worked our way through the chart. My friend the producer knew the songs very well and is a good guitarist himself so he told me the feels and grooves for each section. After we tracked the steel string we took a break before tracking a little nylon. I headed into the booth, sat down exhausted on the couch, turn to the man on my left and said, "hi, I'm Tom, what's your name?" It was of course the famous Latin artist. Hey, I'm really bad with faces.

There are so many lessons that I could pull from this one session, I could probably fill up an entire black book. But here are a mere two...

1. I needed a darker guitar. Maybe the engineer was just exhibiting his insecurities or maybe he had a point. From that day forward I was on the hunt for a guitar darker than any of the ones I currently owned. And thus I found my 70's Martin D-35, which I love and is now my main acoustic.

2. Know who you are working for. I didn't even know what the artist looked like, let alone know his catalog. I should've known all of his hits at least. Then I would've known every song in the medley I was tracking that day. From now on whenever I get called to work with a new artist I research them. I especially study and memorize their face! I have worked for that artist since by the way.

Epilogue - I hadn't been in that studio again until just last week, five years later, when I was tracking acoustics for Justin Bieber's new record. I had a flashback and recounted the above story to the amazing engineer and friend on the other side of the glass. He was mad and wanted to know who this guy was. I wouldn't tell him. Every one in the room thought this unnamed engineer was crazy. "Oh I don't know," I said, "that session is why I got this Martin I'm playing right now." Then I took a break and sat down on the same sofa. I knew who was sitting on my left that day.

One of my latest sessions...

Justin Bieber - All I Want Is You

(Under the Mistletoe)

I played my Gibson Dove (double tracked), my Larivee Parlor strung high-strung (also double tracked) and G&L for the power chords in the choruses (oh, double tracked).