Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Raul Midón, who also happens to be blind, told us about his love for his Jeff Traugott guitar.
Raul Midón: Back in August of 1992, I was playing gigs with a 6-space rack which included a Marshall Preamp, a Carver power amp, an Alesis quadraverb, a Valley compressor, and a bunch of pedals all connected together using a 7 pin XLR connector. I was rocking a rack like many other guitar players at the time.
Then we, in South Florida were hit with Hurricane Andrew, a category 5 storm. We were lucky in that we didn’t lose our roof or any windows. What we did lose, however, was our precious electrical power. We were without electricity for three weeks with no air conditioning, no ice and of course no electric guitar.
As there wasn’t much else to do, I played the hell out of my acoustic guitar for those three weeks. When the power finally came back on, I just kept playing it. I found myself in search of better and better acoustic guitars. Many. many years later I found the perfect guitar. Acoustically this guitar is unlike any I’ve ever played.
When I play it, the bass tones are huge. The sound vibrates through my whole body. The intonation is perfect from the first fret all the way to the twenty first. Even on the twenty first fret the notes still ring. When I hold it against my body the feeling is perfectly balanced and it’s as light as a feather. It’s like having a friend who is there whenever you need.
Of course, I plug it in on stage but no amp is required for beautiful sound. I love my microphones, my mic preamps, my digital workstation, my percussion instruments, however if I ended up on an isolated desert island that piece of wood would suffice.
Hail to my Traugott guitar.
Raul Midón's album Lost and Found is out now.
