|
|
“Planets. It remains for us to speak of the five stars which many have called wandering, and which the Greeks call Planeta ... The second star [Saturn] is that of Sol [Helios]; others say of Saturnus [Kronos]. Eratosthenes claims that it is called Phaethon, from the son of Sol. Many have written about him – how he foolishly drove his father’s chariot and set fire to the earth. Because of this he was struck with a thunderbolt by Jove, and fell into the river Eridanus, and was conveyed by Sol to the constellations.” – Hyginus Astronomica 2.42 |
|
Whammy Sun Child |
|
A month ago, sprang for a custom retrofit of a Gotoh tremolo bridge in my Strat. It took three weeks, something about how the original screw-holder casings were larger than the new ones, requiring drilling-out of the body, plugging with hardrock maple, and then drilling those plugs out to the proper dimension. Two days ago, got the guitar, but the whammy bar was a bit loose against the bridge plate. So last night went to "Beatnik 80" a "known-only-to-locals" music store in Kumamoto, about the size of three large closets (but with several soundproof rehearsal rooms located on the second and third floors). There resides Hiroyuki, a highly skilled electric-guitar craftsman; precise, kind, accurate, patient, a perfectionist—a quiet laid back guy. Worked for Shecter guitar for a number of years, before quitting in disgust. Gave him a call at 8:30pm, after a long sultry day of teaching, sweating, writing, meeting, and additional discomforts. Slung my slightly stove-up butt into the car with guitar in tow, and ended up at his workbench, which has come to increasingly resemble the altar at Apollo's delphic temple. When attending the Gods, details are important, the necessary modes of attention, intention; there is little talking. Imagine extremely small and lightweight micrometers, searches among several sizes of hex wrenches which cannot be told apart by eye, the sudden dropping of a 9v battery on the floor causing surprise. Separations: strings, bridge, body; guts. Several stages of testing; bar height, stiction through angles of movement, play (the original problem), string height (action), tremolo tension (snapback and initial hand-pressure requirements). Hiroyuki's dirty blonde hair at one point unavoidably carressing the small markings of his straightedge as he moves his eye to within an inch of its meniscus, flipping an elastic blue hairband from lower forehead halfway up his skull, flattening his hair—Mercury's unconscious craft, plying earth and heaven. In my gig bag, returning home: a floating bridge: a one-whole-tone up and infinite-down whammy bar cradling my hand like it was born to bend sound. Perfecting the intonation, Phaethon's chariot drives deeper into night. Richard Gilbert |