About a year ago I was walking around downtown and went into Vermont Folk. I'm kind of a regular in there, I would stop in about once every couple of weeks to play around on some guitars and pick up some strings. I picked up this really unique looking guitar that I hadn't seen in the weeks previous and started playing it. It had all of these different colored woods for the top, back, and sides. I immediately fell in love. Doug, the manager, told me it was a handmade guitar by a local luthier named Craig Anderson and Craig had named it the "Don't Kick The Dog" guitar because it was made from scrap woods he had around the shop. Needless to say, I came back two weeks later and it was gone.
Last week I thought about that guitar for some reason and decided to get in touch with Craig to see if he had plans to make another one or if maybe he had one laying around the shop. He e-mailed back saying that he didn't, but it was ironic because he had a guitar of similar specs with a very unique story that I might like. He linked me to the Craigslist ad where he was selling it. It was $1500 and I knew I couldn't afford it. I got back to him saying that my budget was $800 but that I was rounding up to $1000. Later that day he sent me a message back saying that he'd sell it to me for $1000 and that he was looking to sell it soon because he was about to begin construction of his newly designed guitars. He had promised this guitar to some other guy who he played phone tag with for weeks but eventually told him to go ahead and sell it to someone else. The guy never even played it. So I emailed him back and was set to go play it the next night.
I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about the black because I was slightly weary of it in the picture, but when I saw it in person it was gorgeous. Craig called it "Blackened bearclaw" because of the markings you can see when you tilt it in the light. It was exactly what I was looking for in the physical aspect, smaller body, unique looking, not your average guitar. Then he started telling me the story behind it. The bracing on the inside was all made of wood from covered bridge wood beams throughout Vermont. The top of the guitar was a Martin guitar top that he had acquired from a fellow luthier that he did some work with a few years back. I noticed that there wasn't his signature CA logo on the headstock, and instead was a pearl-inlayed B. He explained that he made this guitar under the name "Burlington Guitars" as a tribute to the city that he's lived in his whole life because he loves it so much and it's been so good to him. All three of those things are just so cool to me. I love that this guitar has a story. I walked out the door that night and told him it was sold. I paid $1000 flat and it came with a lifetime warranty and a surprisingly nice hardcase.
The sound is a whole other level of love. It's bright, loud, crisp. This guitar screams. It has a sound port on the top, which I had heard of but never experienced, and I really, really like the advantages of it. I'm going to try and post a sound clip in the next day or so. Most likely a YouTube video.
Finally, some pics:
