In mid August 2010 my wife (Ann) came home and said she had something for me. Given that I knew how she felt about my ratcheting guitar obsession, I suggested “oh, maybe you got me a guitar” knowing full well there was no chance whatsoever she would do that.

Turns out the answer was yes. And no.

Ann had been visiting our friends Stephanie Ellis-Smith and her husband Doug. They were about to move to London for the year and Stephanie asked if I would like to use her guitar while they were gone. Stephanie had won it in a contest at Seattle’s Folklife Festival in the mid -90′s — just after they’d moved to Seattle. There was one wrinkle, Stephanie didn’t (and still doesn’t) play the guitar. So, perhaps knowing that a guitar gets better with age and playing, she began loaning it out to her guitar-playing friends. I think I’m the third or fourth to have the pleasure of caretaking it.

It is wonderful. I wanted to share with you the journey. What I’ve learned about this guitar — and what it’s like to play a truly special guitar. Hopefully Stephanie and some of the other caretakers will join in the discussion and share their stories — the stories of this traveling gift — of the Gibson J-60.