Tondeleo: When you visit a rural American who plays music, at first he or she may only let you know about one or two instruments that are in the house (or cabin). After you get to know them, and they stop thinking of you strictly as an outsider, they may show you some of their other treasures.
But even then, they will not let you know where they keep them. They will disappear into the back of the house or even go out the back door, only to return a few minutes later with another guitar, banjo or whatever instrument it is. It may have been kept in a shed, or out building, or even in the camper shell on the back of the pick up truck, or in the boot of one of the cars sitting on blocks out in the back garden.
Doc has agreed to talk about some of his guitars and other equipment, as you could read from the earlier two postings. One of the guitars that I know he keeps in the boot of an old Ford in the back garden is a three string acoustic. I already had pictures of him with this guitar, so I guess it was the most natural one for him to want to talk about.
Doc: Ok Tondy. This guitar is a Colgate guitar
...
Tondeleo: Actually, Doc, the brand name on it is Collegiate...
Doc: But I don't know what that means, and it looks like Colgate...
Tondeleo: Collegiate means "having to do with college," like this was a guitar that a college student might play.
Doc: Well, ain't no college student ever owned this one! But someone who brushes his teeth owns it, so it is a Colgate guitar for sure now.
This guitar cost about $10 when it was new. It is from about 1958 or 59. Belonged to a boy down Gate City, Virginia what gave it to me cause he was gonna throw it in the trash which is where it belongs. It's been played by a lot of people so the finish is wore through. It's cracked in the front and in the back. Aint had no bridge or that thing up the top of the neck for the strings to go through [the nut].
It only had three strings on it an' it still does, because a lot of people down there just play with what they got. It ain't the same three strings, it's got some strings left over from another guitar on it now. I'll play it for you to put on that yourtube if you want, but not right now. Later.
I play at places where everyone's got a new guitar that costs like more 'n 500 dollars, and the cases look like you could eat off of them, but they ain't never get that right "down home" sound 'cause people playin' roots or blues ain't got the money for guitars like that. We got hand me down guitars an' guitars we could buy off someone else who needed money for rent or bail or whatever.
It ain't the guitar what makes good roots or blues music, it's what's inside the person playin' 'em. If you got the music in your heart, you can make your music touch other peoples' hearts even if it's on a $25 guitar. Or a three string $10 guitar like this.
It's got a bolt for a nut and a piece of molding for a bridge and a 'lectric pick up what I put on it. It still sounds like crap, and is a piece of crap and is now worth about $9 I think. But it plays pretty easy. Twice as easy as a 6 string cause it only got three strings.
Tondeleo: Is it tuned like a regular guitar. Doc?
Doc: No, it tunes like this: The bottom string and the top string is the same note but the top one is higher, and the middle string is like the ... it's somethin' you just hear. Like, if you were playin' the intro to "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" and the bottom string was the first two notes, the middle string would be that third note.
You imagine playin' it, and tune the second string to it (Doc hums the guitar part, and demonstrates how to tune it. To me it sounds like, if the first and third string are an "E", the middle string would be a "B").
You tune it like that Tondy and you can play most any song in the world. You can use a slide with it, or just pick it, it don't matter, it'll sound good. I done heard boys down in the mountains play Jimi Hendrix's songs on three string and it sounds just fine. I just play blues on it.
If it's all you got, you can make a lot of music on it. I got a couple of home made guitars what I made a long time ago - electric ones what was made from wooden boxes and parts of off other broken guitars. Once I got some real guitars I ain't played 'em too much in public, but I will get them out and show you some time.
Anyway, that's a three string guitar.This one right here.
