Guitar Surgery

We've got a sick guitar! Some people might say "And how many guitars do you guys have now, anyway?" And to that we say "You can never have enough guitars." And some people would say "HOW many?" And to that we say "mumblemumblemumble." My Dad and I bought Sean this great Alhambra flamenco guitar in London five years ago, and it needs surgery... some urgent, and some cosmetic. So today we went to visit Lee, a luthier in Christchurch.

Lee's workshop is a craftsman's dream...

Lee has been building guitars all his life, but in recent years he just does repairs, mostly. You can buy a really good guitar now, hot off the factory production line, for very little money. So you won't get many craftsmen building guitars, spending a year in planing, gluing and loving. Who'd spend enough to make it worthwhile?

On our way home, we popped into a store and, um, bought another guitar. Cuz you can never have enough. Or, as Sean says, "At least it's not wimmen, babe. Or yachts."