[Johnson] Keep it old?

[W5HTW at att.net]

Now for the question: been looking at Willie Nelson's guitar. It's a worn item just below the acoustic hole. Also, there are many hot rods that seem to be going to the primer/beat up look. After I sent off my panel to Dee Almquist and installed a substitute panel that was slightly rusted up, that had a hole in the front panel, and wear marks on some of the rotary switches (not to mention a rusted in call sign of a previous ham "W4HOP"), I was rethinking my decision to put back in a refinished panel. Hmmmm....what about leaving it "historically" alone? Whaddya think?

Wille has been making music and writing hits for a good many years with that old Martin.  And that isn't just a worn area - it is a major hole.  I've heard various reasons about why he continues to use it, but certainly one of them is "it works."  Another is it is "well seasoned" and with a guitar that can be very important. To me, 'the sound is right' will do. 

Most of the ham equipment I have had in my nearly 48 years in this hobby has had someone else's name and/or call sign on it.  It worked, it did the job, and 'the sound was right.'  Depends upon what you want, I would think.  If you want 'restored like new' then you need the new panel.  If you want "working good and operating" then it really doesn't matter, but a flavor of history and nostalgia can be a warm friend on a winter night.  As a teen, my parents bought me a brand new, factory built Viking II.  I hardly got to use it, as we moved, I never got up antennas, and then I went into the military, so I sold it.  Couple or so years later I wanted another one, and bought a well-used one from a friend.  It was marked, his name, his call, his fingerprints.  I think it worked better than the new one, at least in my mind! 

Today my Viking II (a different one, yes!) has a history the size of a weathered West Texas rancher's face.  And I ain't runnin' it to be purty!  It works, and I can sit and wonder how many countries it has worked, or messages it has handled, or nets it has enjoyed.  

It has a face. 

Ed




--
Ed Brooks, W5HTW
http://w5htw.home.att.net/index.html
Active since June 1956 Extra since
Jan 1970