Ever since I was a young child, I’ve wanted a custom-made left-handed guitar. Being a lefty, very few of the guitars I saw in my local music shops were playable, and some flat out didn’t sell lefty instruments. Walking into a musician shop is still, to this day, like walking into a candy shop where every piece of candy is a delicious jawbreaker that won’t fit into your mouth. I was on the search for a custom lefty guitar for a few years before I found Alexander James Guitars and his small team, owned by Alexander James Colarassi. Despite wanting a custom, I didn’t put aside money for the occasion since I assumed it was out of my budget and couldn’t give me much more value than my current collection of low-end Ibanez and ESPs. I found Alexander James Guitars on LeftFretz.com’s blog, a website dedicated to left-handed guitars and basses, and within moments of seeing his Macassar Ebony Ursa, I fell in love with his guitars and was writing him an email to enquire about prices, details, and endorsements. It’s been a few weeks and a year since I’ve owned my Ursa and about two years since I placed the order, and I want to share why I think anyone who loves exotic wood guitars should consider buying one of his instruments.
As many of you know, I’m getting a new hand-built custom guitar forged by Alexander James Colarossi, exotic wood luthier. Being left handed, I’ve always been stuck with sub-$500 black or grey guitars. After 12 years of playing, I felt I finally deserved a nice guitar that would get me through the next decade of adventures.
I've finally released my first electronic/rock album. Yay! This album is available for free on SoundCloud and for very cheap on BandCamp. You can also download it in nice little ZIP file. The album is for sale on several stores for those who want to support my musical endeavors. I truly enjoy writing and producing music, so any support I can get for this album will help me dedicate more time to doing what I love.
A little over a year ago, my girlfriend and I attended a study-abroad program in Italy. What an experience. It was adventurous, fun, tough, exotic, and delicious. Here are 21 pictures (out of thousands) of our journey. Enjoy!
Cinque Terre. Absolutely beautiful. Took this picture on a hike.
Staying warm in the winter, staying cool in the summer.
I have mixed opinions on these seven and eight string guitars that are all the rage these days. Today, many guitar manufacturers are producing more seven and eight string guitars than ever. There are even some companies who are commercially selling nine and ten string guitars. This is nothing new, but the extended range guitars have hit the mainstream allowing musicians to easily purchase them in any music shop. Before, these guitars had to be custom designed by companies that specialize in making personalized (and very expensive) guitars. Are standard tuning six-string guitars becoming extinct within the heavy metal music genre?
