It finally happened! I got my new guitar that you made possible for my 50th birthday! Here’s the video to prove it, with footage of the show I brought it to just a few weeks ago. This search took me all summer long, as I live many hours from any big metropolis and picking out a new guitar is quite a process. I’d played all the guitars in the local shops and they were texting me each time a new one came through but eventually I needed to take several trips to the Bay Area. There were a few Craigslist encounters and a lot of researching and time spent in big, corporate retail stores but in the end, I found a place in San Jose called Guitar Showcase where she was hanging on the wall. This guy, Jack, let me and Aiko hang out for, I think 5 hours? 6? I was certain by this time I wanted the Gibson J45 Standard Sunburst but I kept returning to the J45 Studio model with the walnut sides and back. It’s thinner and it just sounded better. Aiko encouraged breaks, closing my eyes, having Jack play it and she was incredibly supportive and patient. I wouldn’t have thought she would have come up with this idea in the first place! And I’m forever grateful that you are a part of this journey; I hold a piece of everyone involved in this walnut and sitka spruce, gorgeous instrument! The pickup sounds amazing too. You can’t tell in the last clip on the video but it really outshines anything I’ve ever played through. That clip at the end is from the show the other week. The other guitars are just a fraction of the ones I fell in love with along the way. They were all great guitars but this one wanted to come home with me and I couldn’t be happier! Thank you so much for your love and care! You’re a part of every song that comes next from here on out! Love, Johnny