Heh. It’s always amazed me how a French horn is classed as a “wind” instrument, rather than a brass instrument. It’s even one of the 5 instruments of the standard Wind Quintet.
It’s like, sure, it’s made of brass, and it has valves, and a mouthpiece you have to make a Bronx Cheer into, and operates by creating standing waves with only the openings at the ends of the tube – like every other brass instrument in existence – but don’t call it a brass instrument!
Apologies. I didn’t even think of it beyond the fact that it isn’t stringed. Most of the folk I play with play fiddle, cello, upright bass (me), guitars, tenor guitar, ukuleles, banjos, mandos… All very different, but I consider them all strings. Every once in a while someone brings harmonica, squeezebox, tin whistle, and one guy plays flute. But I’m far removed from the time I had any awareness of band instruments.
My kids played flute, trumpet, and bassoon. And my son’s best friend played French horn. If I had tried to be precise, I imagine I would have called it a brass.
Accordion? Wonderful background tones. An essential to Mexican Norteno music, introduced by Eastern European polka-playing labor brought to northern Mexico in the 19th century, and the Mexicans fell in love with the instrument.
In 1994 my grandmother passed away. I was moving at the time and had my rig stored in her garage. Some asshole figured out the little old lady on the corner died and broke in and stole tons of stuff, including my entire rig.
A little later I went to Grandmas Music in Albuquerque to get a new guitar. I started taking lessons there when it was Music Strings N Things around 1980. I only took lessons for a little bit but knew the owners well, I hung out there a lot. Anyway, I picked a black LP standard. The owner, who had heard the story about my rig, said ‘I saw you playing the 1960 Goldtop. You want it?’. I said ‘I’d love it but it is way over my price range.’.
Then he proved he was even more awesome than I thought.
He said ‘Tell ya what, considering the situation I will give it to you for the same price as the standard. Deal?’.
To which I replied ‘Fuck yes’.
It is hanging in my office/studio. It has a little damage, the finish has some spider cracks around the tone knobs and I need to take it in for a tune up. The volume knob for the bridge pup fell off somewhere along the way (I searched for that thing for the longest time, I suspect it fell off and a cat hid it somewhere).
The original case was destroyed in an apartment fire. The guitar wasn’t hurt.
It sounds awesome, plays awesome and won’t ever leave my home. I verified the serial number when I got my home owners insurance. I don’t know what it is worth. I really don’t want to, actually. I won’t sell it and knowing mlght make me think about it.
I kinda think of it as, in a strange way, the last gift from my Grandma D.
Slee
First of all, cool. Second of all, so it’s a 1960 Reissue?? I think there was a run of those. There were no 1960 Goldtops, so I am noodling this.