Hailing from the San Francisco Bay, Paul Manousos, is just about to release his third solo record, C'mon, C'mon. Manousos was a sideman in a few other bands before he started releasing his own music in 2005. When Gearwire gets a chance to talk to singer-songwriters the topic is usually acoustic guitars and this time is no different. Manousos plays a Guild D45 NT6 from 1995. Guild, now owned by Fender, has made pretty consistently decent guitars for many years. Occasionally they even pull a great one out of their sleeves and Manousos believes the D45 is one of those. He called the guitar a "prized posession" and there is always a story behind something so prized.

"It was 1996 and I was living in Alameda, California. It was a small craftsman bungalow and my girlfriend and I had just moved in and were ready for a party. I was fronting a band called Sway playing mostly electric guitar and playing some piano. I had an epiphone acoustic guitar at this time but there was nothing special or nostalgic about it. Just wanted to make that clear! As the party progressed more and more folks started to come through the door along with more party supplies. At one point during the evening my guitar player grabbed his guitar and started singing with his girlfriend, then I joined in on piano and eventually the whole house was rockin," he says. "There was so much going on in the house I didn't notice the anger and bad emotion that was building between my girlfriend and and ex of mine that was visiting from out of town. All of a sudden I see my girlfriend waving my acoustic guitar over her head and with the flick of her wrist and a hearty 'I'll by you a new one' the guitar came crashing to the ground and the sound of smashing wood resounded in a 'Get the fuck out of my house!!!'. The next day I walked out of Guitar Center with my new 1995 Guild D45 NT 6 string acoustic. The guitar I have been hammering on ever since."

All musicians should have an angry girlfriend with a checkbook. Of course if it were a pre-war Martin she smashed it might be another story. This guitar is not that but it is a gem for a working musician according to Manousos.

"I have played a few acoustics in my life and what I love about my Guild D45 NT 6-string is it's ability to carry medium gauge strings. I love the high mids and the bass that come from this guitar. It works well for my style of playing and has the resonance that works very well with my vocal stylings," says Manousos. "I also have a Gibson J45 that I love to play as well and it sounds great, no doubt. I use it more for solo gigs because I find I get a bit feedback in the mid-range from the kick drum when I am playing with the full band. I'm sure this is an issue that can be easily addressed but I find a simple solution is going back to my Guild."

The Guild works with band or solo so if the J45 gets smashed Manousos has an acoustic option. He does do things a little differently depending on if he is with band or without.

"With the band I have to throw in the sound hole cover, but I don't notice bit of muffling and it still has a great range of tone without a lot of feedback from the drums and bass. When I play solo it adds a great bottom end and for a solo performer it has a way of filling in gaps of sound," says Manousos. "I have actually had folks come up to me after shows and ask where the triggers for the canned music are, you sound like a duo or trio. I just sit back and smile and say it just me and my guitar!"

For his after-market pickup Manousos went with tried and true acoustic-masters, Fishman.

"I used a Fishman Rare Earth Humbucking pickup. I know there may be something better, but I love the way it picks up the strings. It is very clean and really give me what the guitar sounds like unplugged.," he says. "I originally had the Fishman single coil, I loved the tone, but the hum was annoying and sound folks would always spend way to much time trying to get rid of the hum and not worry enough about what I am sounding like on stage. So I decided to switch it out."

Manousos says his Guild D45 has held up well, and taken a licking over 15 years of live and studio work. He hasn't had any significant problems beyond ordinary wear.

"I will need a fret job and a small amount of bridge work done in the near future, but overall I have not needed to change much." he says.

The guitar was used for all the basic tracks on the new record, C'mon C'mon.

"I recorded up in Seattle at my producer Steve Fisk's home studio we used the PPA NT2ube and ran it through a long chain first hitting a Summit Audio TPA-200-Mackie Onyx-Joe Meek C2 Photo Optical stereo unti-then compression loads of compression and EQ," says Manouosos. "Steve has a way of making my Guild sound really amazing in studio. Just one of the reasons I like working with him, and we have recorded four albums together."

In addition to playing some solo shows Manousos is working on the soundtrack for a film--a film he has a small part in.

"I'm actually in the movie ironically I play a street musician, and yes I am playing the Guild!" he says.

In addition to C'mon C'mon, Manousos has released two other discs: For Better or Worse and Common Thread.