The art of being struck by the foot of another whilst already laying prone

The alternate title of this post was, “Why can’t we have nice things?”

Or possibly even, “Damn, this sucks.”

Finally just, “!&@#,” was considered.

The genesis of my dismay actually comes from something rather nice. In strokes of absolutely incredible generosity the combined efforts of my classroom teacher and the second grade class netted me eighty dollars in gift cards to Guitar Center. At this point I honestly have just about everything I need in terms of musical instruments, the amp being my last piece, and that fell lovingly in to place this Christmas with an awesome contribution from my father and family. I mean, maybe I could pick up a distortion pedal to be ironic but once I checked with store to make sure repairs could be paid for via gift card I made a point to have a nagging suspicion I had about my acoustic guitar checked out.

That’s how I learned that if my guitar was a car… it’s effectively been totaled.

Scratching, cracking, warping, burning.

The iPhone doesn’t make it abundantly clear but I had noticed small cracks in the finish around the saddle and the saddle itself was rising slightly from its edges. To make matters worse, in the harsh glare of the repair shop, the situation is clearly causing the body to bow out just below the saddle and its even caving in near that top right corner. The humidity is ripping my guitar apart.

It can be repaired. The saddle can be re-glued and fancy innards can be surgically installed. The problem is that the “conservative” estimate I was given sits at least 350 dollars. That would be my best guess as to what my guitar would get in good condition if I was going to try and sell it used (Check that, it’s precise!) and it’s clearly no longer in good condition.

That’s rough.

I thought I was going to have to wrestle over what I was going to do but given I could replace it for the same amount of money or less the cost to repair it seems the way is clear. Enjoy it while it holds itself together until eventually one day it becomes unplayable.

Is there a hospice for guitars?