Chris Pappas of the band Everyday Visuals has a solo project record out using the cheery moniker Forest Fires. A while back he did something near and dear to me: he bought an old guitar and had it fixed up. It is akin to rescuing an old mangy dog no one will adopt from the pound. You get special Karma points for doing it in my book, and Chris gets even more than usual. Anyone can rescue a pre-War Martin but it takes a special guy to save a 1957 Silvertone.

Tell me about yer gee-tar: model, year, etcetera.

To my knowledge it is a 1957 Silvertone acoustic arch-top. It was completely acoustic when I bought it, yet I knew I wanted to be able to play it live, so I brought it to an amazing guitar guy in Winchester, MA named Jim Mouradian. He put the pickup and tone knobs into it.

What led you to this particular guitar?

This guitar was something that I had been searching awhile for. The original spark for me was in my constant dislike for the way acoustic guitars sound live. I had always hated that "pure" acoustic sound, it always sounded so thin and bland to me, I had always felt an acoustic sounded best as, well, an acoustic instrument. However, a lot of our music called for me to play acoustic, so I began searching for something that had that acoustic flare but had the edginess and the dynamics of an electric. Around that time I saw Thao and The Get Down Stay Down open for Rilo Kiley, and Thao was playing a Gibson (I think) archtop. I came home from the show and emailed the band to ask what kind of guitar it was, and how she amplified it and such, but to my dismay never got a response.

I found a YouTube video of her playing the guitar I had seen live and forwarded it to my friend Eliot. He told me it was an archtop and that she had mounted a pick up under the pickguard. So I started searching for something like that, and found one that I loved, and that (with the advice of my friend) looked like it was in great condition. I brought it to Jim Mouradian and. . . the end!

Tell me about this guitar's tone? What does it sound like?

I am so happy with this guitar's sound. It really is the 'acoustic' sound I had in my head for so long. It's dark and full, and can really have a nice light crackle when you play it electric, but it also has a real nice warm sound when you play it acoustic. I joke sometimes that the guitar just plays like it's already on vinyl.

What are some of the drawbacks, the bad things (and all these old low end arch tops have badness about them, in addition to their goodness!)

Well, it being so old, it definitely has some quirks when it comes to tuning. The band sometimes teases me that the guitar is never 'actually' in tune, that it's usually just approximate -- ha -- but overall I love it, and can overlook its shortcomings, intonation-wise.

How do you use it live? how do you amplify it to get a good sound?

I play through a modified tube screamer pedal (not a vintage one, some cheaper new one) into a Fender Deluxe 1x12. The guitar can be really bass-y, so I tend to crank the tone and turn the drive basically all the way down so it doesn't really break up unless you slam the chords. It's just got this light 'air' of distortion.

How about in the studio. How do you record this guitar? What do you do to get the best out of it?

I've recorded it a few different ways, especially on my forthcoming solo project Forest Fires. That guitar is basically the star of that record. Sometimes I went direct, sometimes I mic'd my amp setup, sometimes I just set an omni in the middle of the room and just play the guitar in the room. The record really features the different sounds the guitar has, and I find that it really works in a bunch of different formats.

Tell me about what you are up to -- recording, shows, etc.

Well, my main group The Everyday Visuals have been resting for a bit, getting ready to do some more dates in January and February in 2010. For me I have been mostly working on the aforementioned solo record. I'm gearing up to release that soon, probably not before this year but certainly early next year.