This is my problem:
http://languedocguitars.com/
When I was younger, in my Phish Head days, I had a goal. That goal was to one day play the guitar of Trey Anastasio, a custom built archtop by his sound man, Paul Languedoc. I hoped to one day achieve this, but never thought it would actually come to fruition. Well, last year, rumors started to surface. Paul had retired from the road, Trey got arrested, I stopped listening to phish…..And just like in the days of Willy Wonka, the factory once again opened.
The closest I had come before this, was on ebay. A guitar surfaced from Time Guitars in Vt where Languedoc worked, which was supposedly built by him. It had the signature jagged headstock, but was a weird Explorer type (think Metallica). But now, the whole game has changed. I dont know what made me look there today, but on the site, he claims that eventually a cheaper model will come out….but perhaps i’m getting ahead of myself.
Click the link up there, go ahead, I’ll wait.
Ok. If thats not the most beautiful piece of genius you have ever seen in an instrument, you can go straight to hell, and play an ESP while you’re there. He is asking $10,000 per guitar. Now, while this is a TON of money, its not that unreasonable. Each component is built by hand, including the tailpiece, crazy stuff. It takes him around 100 hrs to build, and 100$ an hour for a master craftsman is not outrageous. My problem is, I’m calculating. As eric tarn said recently in a blog post…When you have a real job, and no kids or family, you can by fun things (not a direct quote but close). So, if I save 500 dollars a month towards this, neglect going out to eat, pack a cheap lunch every day, I could have it in about 2 years.
I mean, I could invest this money, try to buy some real estate or something, or even buy something crazy but which could make me money, like a pro tools HD rig…..but lets be honest. how fun is that? not very. This thing would be one of a kind. It would sound like angels singing “You Enjoy Myself” over a chorus of different angels singing “Holy Diver” by Dio. Imagine that, and get back to me.
But for now, I must be content with my $400 tokai les paul Jr, my Japanese strat, and my Eastwood 12 string. But mark my words Languedoc, one day there will be a showdown. We’ll meet at sunset in the woods of VT, I’ll hand you a golen briefcase containing my soul, and you will hand me an All Koa guitar, with a pearl inlay of me giving the metal sign on the 12th fret. And it will be a glorious day.