We all know the feeling of finding that new piece of gear that inspires you to try something new. However, playing music is way more than just using wobbly modulation effects (although these wobbly effects are incredibly fun). So what if, instead, you tried an instrument that lets you see all the musical elements from a different perspective? One of the musicians who keeps pushing the boundaries in this regard is Pat Metheny.
Well-known for his Pikasso guitar, which features 42 strings, as well as his old-school Roland guitar synth system, Metheny comes up with things that no one else does. The newest addition to his arsenal is a nylon-string baritone acoustic guitar, made by Linda Manzer, the same luthier who built his Pikasso guitar. Speaking to Music Radar recently, he was asked whether this new baritone changed how he approaches guitar and whether it was a “paradigm shift” in the same way his Roland and Pikasso guitars were. He replied:
“What is interesting and kind of gratifying to me is that regardless of which of the various types of instruments involved in the different things I do, most people can usually tell it is me. That kind of supports my theory that the conception behind something is more the point of it all, and the orchestration of it (in this case, the different approaches to what a guitar might be) is secondary. That was always an aspiration for me.”
“That said, what you pointed out is a really apt thing in all this,” Metheny continued. “Sometimes, there is a new set of possibilities that reveal themselves almost instantaneously with a new instrument. You correctly noted the Roland and Pikasso – in seconds, I could see a whole bunch of new things being possible.”
“And yes, the baritone nylon in this setup is exactly like that too – this is another time when once those strings were on there, I got a glimpse of a new kind of infinity sitting right there.”
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