From Howard Rose (Seattle, WA, USA)

George,

I received my PB guitar two days ago. It's been less than 48 hours but I absolutely love it.

I have been playing guitar since I was a teenager, I'm 46 now, starting out playing ragtime and blues. When I was in high school a friend gave me a cassette of Pierre's music (don't tell him we pirated his LP, he'll never forgive me!) and I fell in love with his music. His music has always been a great inspiration for me to play and compose my own music, even though he's always been out there at a totally different level than I knew I'd ever be. For me, I have played in bands, duets and occasionally performed solo some over the years, but these days I play for the joy I get from playing and share that with folks when I can.

The guitar I have been playing for the past 30 years is one I built. When I was seventeen l I left school for a while and went off to learn to build guitars outside Nashville. Learning to be a luthier was an amazing experience on so many levels. I had never really done any serious woodworking before that, and through the whole process I just prayed that I would actually come out with something that had 6 strings and was at least functional. One thing I did learn is to understand guitars and how to tell the bad from the good from the best. Thanks to my teacher and a lot of luck I actually came out with at least a respectable guitar, a dreadnaught, which has since been my main guitar ever since. I have grown to love it through the years and have made lots of music with it, but I have always felt it had it's limits and have thought about getting another guitar to go along side it for many years.

My friendship with Pierre actually started about 20 years ago in Japan under interesting circumstances. He was playing a gig at a temple in Kyoto, where I was living and had a part time thing writing articles for the Kyoto city newspaper. I think I was the only person in the audience who actually knew Pierre's music. It was mostly monks! I talked to Pierre after the show and asked if I could do an interview for the paper (nice pretext, eh?). He accepted and came to my house the next day on my motorcycle, incidentally trodding all about the tatami mats in my house with his shoes on! It was great to finally meet Pierre, and get to know him as a person behind his music. Over the years we have stayed in close touch and our friendship has grown. I've helped Pierre on building his web site and setting up his online sales for many years, though he's now able to handle most of that on his own these days. So I've been very closely following the phases of Pierre's various signature guitars. I've talked to him many times about my desire to get a guitar and was thinking seriously about getting a Ryan, but Pierre said "Wait. Sometime I'm going to do a guitar with George and that is the one to get." So I waited, patiently (right Pierre?!) for what turned out to be many years.

Which brings me to this guitar. I want to thank you for building me a really a fantastic instrument. The neck feels great, the action is wonderful, and it plays like it was built for my hand and my style. But what is really impressive is the sound. It is so responsive, it literally sings. The sound is very well balanced across the range, with a nice full low end a fabulous resonance to the high end. The overtones are all there and very prominent. It's clear but warm. It's amazing that you have achieved all that in a brand new guitar. I can't wait to see how it ages! Somehow you've also captured that spirit of Pierre and his sense of musicality. I don't want to get overblown, but I actually feel like I've found a new voice in my playing with this instrument, which is really exciting after 35 years!

And it's beautiful. As someone who has put in the time building my own guitar I definitely appreciate fine craftsmanship. The detail and the touches are wonderful, especially the eased edge in ebony. I'm so jazzed that my arm does not have to fall asleep any more when I play! I love your choice of rosewood and spruce, and the maple on the neck. It all comes as a single package that makes it look easy, but I know comes with years of experience and attention to detail.

I have to tell you I was a bit uncertain about ordering a guitar and getting it sight unseen. Yes, I had a chance to play Pierre's when he was here in Seattle on his IGN tour, but only for a very short time in the green room. Not the best place to actually get a feel for the instrument. I can't even count the number of guitars I've picked up over the years of searching for an instrument I'd like to have. This has included a lot of hand built guitars that were very good instruments. Many were fun to play, but they never felt like mine. This guitar really feels right. Thank you.

Howard

PS. I should mention that I have not had a chance to plug it in to a good amp yet so I can't comment on the pick-up, but I'm really looking forward to discovering that dimension of the guitar as well. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Orange vous informe que cet e-mail a été contrôlé par l'anti-virus mail. Aucun virus connu à ce jour par nos services n'a été détecté.