It came. I got it. I'm pumped.

I had cold feet right at the last second -- concerned that I was investing a good chunk of money in a new pursuit, but I realized that if I want to play guitar, I need a guitar, and this was the one for me. For those of you who care, I got a Yamaha FG735S. It has a solid Spruce top, Rosewood back and sides, and Rosewood fretboard and bridge.

Here are some pics. It's kind of hard to capture without a stand and in the poor lighting of my living room, but I think I got what matters.

Yup, I'm ridiculous, I know. I went to Guitar Center this afternoon after watching the Amazing come-back victory by the Twinkies and cleaning my entire apartment -- even though it was a gorgeous day outside, I know. Filled with my extensive new knowledge gained from ONE day of shopping, I strutted into Guitar Center with a little more 'tude than previous visits. I decided that I would play as many different guitars as possible and get a feel for what was out there.

I played a more expensive version of the guitar posted yesterday, I played some higher-end guitars, I played acoustic-electric, I played straight acoustic, and I even played (for a very confused moment or two) a lefty.

Let me back up for a second -- while I cleaned and such today, I thought more about the guitar I liked yesterday. And I kind of realized that most of what I liked was the look of it and the feel of it, rather than the sound. I mean, it was way better than the $75 guitar, but still. Something was nagging at me that I since I didn't play it against other guitars, then I didn't get a true feel for the sound.

Back to today -- I played that guitar, or at least a slightly more expensive version of it, and then I played this one. And quickly fell out of love with the other one, and fell in love with the Yamaha. Deep, warm sound. Ok, yeah, not as flashy as the last two. But when I was looking at the $3,000 guitars (I didn't yet have the courage to play one of those) none of them were obstentatious. I still like the cutaway body-style that the other two had, but this sound. Whew....it actually made me sound half-way decent. I even got a compliment, albeit after the person found out I have only been playing for like 3 months...but still. That was nice. Especially since I can only stumble my way through Dylan's Knockin' on Heaven's door, and then something original I made-up.

I'm a little confused on the "folk" tag on the guitar, though, because it's not small like a folk guitar. Kind of weird. I'll ask about that when I go back again...hopefully to buy it...

So that's my latest thought. My ignorance shines through when I change my mind on the be-all-end all guitar every single day, I know. But it's a learning process.

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What I'm drinking: Tecate

Latest guitar update -- I went shopping today at LaVonnes in Savage and MusicGoRound in Burnsville just to get a feel for some different guitars. MusicGoRound was basically a bust. I did find one guitar that was actually quite decent, but the E string had fret buzz and that annoys me too much, so that was out. LaVonnes was the best. It's this little Mom & Pop shop off of Highway 13 in Savage that has a decent selection, though mostly higher-end stuff. More importantly, though, I felt comfortable asking all of my stupid questions and the dude helped me out a lot.

Of course, the guitar there I fell in love with was on the upper-end of my budget, but sometimes you have to go with your gut. Here's a link to what I think is the same guitar, but for some reason I think the coloring isn't quite the same. Obviously a beautiful guitar once again, but this one plays much better than the $75 one.

I'm going to Guitar Center tomorrow to play a few more, but I think I've just about made up my mind. Booyeah.