The New Guitar

If I look extra happy here it’s with good cause. I just got an Ibanez EW20BGN; used and oh so pretty! Notice the graceful look of no “dots” on the fret board, and the lack of a pick guard which gives the guitar a fuller and more natural look. I don’t even use a pick except on the rare occasion when I play a bit of melody, so it’s no real big issue for me.

With its suede strap and muted tone I fell in love with this guitar about 10 years ago, but passed it up for a Washburn D-11 in Ash. A great guitar for the price, but I always felt I had passed on the Ibanez too hastily. That one was in blue, but the color of this just about makes up for the wait.

The Exotic Wood series of Ibanez guitars feature a wide variety of woods found in Asia and the Pacific areas where the guitars are made. They are lighter than the woods used here in the States, but retain all the vibrancy and tone of our own native woods.

This guitar is made of babinga wood which grows in the forest of Cameroon, a small country in Central Africa, roughly the size of California. The weather is hot and humid; rainfall there averages about 400 inches a year. At 100 feet tall and 8 feet in diameter the average full grown babinga weighs an astonishing 56 tons!

In addition to the babinga wood top, back and sides, the guitar has a mahogany neck. The fret board is, of course, rose wood. This is my 4^th guitar. I don’t really deserve more than 2, but each one is unique and irreplaceable. Each one brings out different music from within me, and in consequence they are my best friends.

The serial number on the guitar tells me a lot of things; such as where the guitar was made, when, and how many as of that date. Mine was made in China at the Saehan location on November 9, 2005 and was the 46^th one made that month. I’m not sure yet how long that model was produced, so I don’t yet have an idea of how many there are out there, but you can bet that mine’s extra special. Thanks, Sue!