Plugged In to Acoustic Sound : Jamie Findlay Isn’t Picky, but He Prefers the Classic Touch When Strumming Guitar

Jamie Findlay makes guitar music the old-fashioned way: without electricity.

“Hey, I’m not knocking the electric guitar,” says the 35-year-old, who plays at Mucho Gusto in Costa Mesa tonight. “But there seems to be more than I can do with the classical instrument. It’s been my choice for several years.”

Before that, he’s quick to note, he spent plenty of time playing electric, including the eight years (1976 to ‘84) when he made a good portion of his living on the road with Top 40 cover bands. “But even then,” he recalled on the phone from his home in La Crescenta, “I always looked for places to play my classical guitar. I’d work with, say, a bass player. But I didn’t do it often enough.”

Findlay, who’ll be joined tonight by trumpeter Tony Guerrero, bassist Derek Oles and drummer Joel Alpers, said he likes the softness, subtlety, and broad spectrum of notes he can get from an acoustic.

As late as last year, he said, he was thinking about switching back to an electric. “I’d hear someone like Scott Henderson, who sounds great, and that made me battle with the idea of getting a lot of electronic gear. But I don’t want that now. Playing the acoustic feels more like my spot, where I belong. And since there are not that many people doing it, I feel like I’ll be more successful.”

He purveys his repertoire of mainstream jazz, Latin and neo-classical (or New Age) pieces on three basic instruments: two six-string guitars--one strung with nylon strings, the other with steel--and a steel-stringed 12-string. He said especially enjoys playing the nylon-stringed model.

“I don’t use a pick, and I like the way the nylon strings feel on my fingers. It’s like I have more control of the sound that way. And the tone of the instrument is so soft, it’s perfect for ballads or Latin pieces.

“With the nylon,” he added, “I won’t bend the strings too much, because it takes a longer bend” to get to the center of a note, where the intonation is accurate and true.

Give him his steel-stringed six-string and he’ll bend notes all day. “We guitar players like that stuff,” he said with a chuckle. “The steel-string is great for playing the blues, and for tunes that cook more. If I want an electric guitar quality, I’ll play the steel-string. But it comes out sounding different.”

Findlay always includes a few solo pieces in his programs. “It’s exciting to try to play all the instrumental jobs of a band with one instrument,” he said. “So I’ll go from chords to basslines to single-note runs, trying to keep the same energy level as the band.

“Also, I can do whatever I want to do in the moment and not worry whether one of the players is going to respond to that idea with a complementary one.”

A native of Seattle, Findlay first picked up the guitar when, at age 7, he first heard the Beatles. He took lessons with Al Turay, a noted teacher in the Northwest, and began playing professionally in 1975 when he moved to Newport Beach with his family.

He studied jazz with Charles (Doc) Rutherford at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa and guitar with Ron Eschete, who he calls one of the “deepest musicians I know. He still floors me when I hear him.” (A review of a performance Tuesday by Eschete is on this page).

Findlay never got himself a college degree, but he serves on the faculty at USC, teaching guitar ensemble and the history of guitar. “The students are really into music,” he said. “They make it happen, and I learn a lot too.” He also teaches at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood.

He has released one album, “Wings of Light,” on the Fine Arts label. It’s available locally at such stores as Tower Records in El Toro and CDs Unlimited in Costa Mesa. Findlay is hoping to have it distributed nationally.

Meanwhile, he says he’s delighted with the way his career is shaping up. He thinks playing music for a living is a great way to go. “If I can help people get in touch with the higher nature of themselves, I’m a happy person.”

* Jamie Findlay plays tonight at 8:30 and again July 23 at Mucho Gusto, 263 E. 17th St., Costa Mesa. No cover or minimum. (714) 631-4009.