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2 hours ago, captainbeefheart said:

You have a Guild Artist Award I am very jealous!! I really really wanted one for an authentic jazz box guitar but they can like any full hollow jazz boxes they can be tough to pair with amps and feedback if not careful. Honestly I would play that guitar through my Roland JC-120. So amazing.

 

The Fender Princeton is a great amp! We seem to be very similar in tastes, especially with evolving into using lower wattage designs where you are in the power stages 'sweet spot', not full out power stage saturation but in the sweet spot where it's producing some nice coloration. My go to rig is a 6G15 clone reverb unit designed for lowest noise possible. The signal circuitry is essentially the same except for grounding scheme, power supply was changed to a full wave rectifier with active pass regulator. The reverb unit goes directly into a 15 watt tube power amp (single ended KT88) powering my vintage 'Ampro' cabinet. The cabinet was found at an antique shop and I was told it was from a very old film projector system. I purchased it because the speaker was original and absolutely mint Jensen 12" Alnico. I can't push too much power through the cabinet but power isn't needed like it was back in the old days where if you didn't have a loud amp you were not heard, now we are mic'd through PA even for rehearsals.

 

 

 

 

CBH I think you would be, after what you write about guitars and music and about yourself, one of the few to whom I would sell this Artist Award. (I mean this symbolically, this is not a sales ad). Because I would not bear it if a guitar that accompanies me for over 40 years in not so loving hands would come.

I had already hinted at it in the previous post, my relationship to the AA is somewhat ambivalent. In no way is it a guitar that you listen to while playing and being delighted by the rich round and colorful harmonies that emanate from it. You have to work hard for every beautiful note, to put it somewhat theatrically. It is a tool in the hands of a good player who really has to shape the tone. Even if one's own pleasure in the "beautiful sound" of a guitar could be a narcissistic weakness, it is also the case that a beautiful sound can invite new sound experiments. Unfortunately, the AA (in my case) does not. She can reproduce ideas you have in your head before but I have not the feeling that her feedback would be really inspiring.

 

I sometimes have the feeling that the tuning, i.e. the inherent resonances and the wood tone of this massive construction are more determining than the key and chords I play. Maybe I mean it a little bit like that when you hear Freddie Green sometimes in the Count Basie orchestra. He plays all kinds of chords but you always hear a single wooden tone.

 

As a solo instrument, the AA is incredibly powerful. The sound comes before the band. The single coil DeArmond has a super attack and impulse. But as you rightly say you need a very suitable guitar amp. I used to believe that a "soft" amp could be the solution, for example a Polytone. Unfortunately that was not the case. The Polytone filtered out the soul of the guitar. The 1981 Fender Concert with 1x12" worked best of what I have. Your experience with vintage amps, e.g. single ended triodes could still help here.

The AA, like the L5 comes from a time when the guitar without amp had to prevail. They were only later equipped with pick ups and electrified. Quite different an ES175 which you can not compare because it never has such a power in the sound but it has this mellowness that gives so much beautiful sound when listening, think of Joe Pass before he switched to Ibanez, but also when listening while I play myself.

Gibson had developed the ES175 as the first guitar for electric sound.

But I must also say that the Wes (L5 with just one pick up) has this wonderful mellowness. Also, the PAF helps bring that round warm but very defined tone across.
The AA remains a challenge, at least for me, and I played it for years mostly in the 80s.
Also a barrier for me is the very long neck scale. and I had to have the AA re-fretted a few years after buying it because the frets were ground very flat even though the guitar was only 6 years old. So every note and every chord buzzed if I didn't always press the strings with a lot of force.

 

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1 hour ago, Marvel said:

Grrrrr... I typed for 30 minutes during lunch yesterday, listing what I've had over the years and my browser went pooof. I usually type in a local text editor and save it often, but alas, not this time.

 

Starting in the mid '60s, I have had:

Martin D-28 ('63)

Martin 00-18

OMI Dobro

Moseright Resonator

Kalamazoo Oriole lap steel

Gibson ES-125T

Gibson ES-140 (Awesome guitar! 3/4 or so scale, with a deep body. Slightly smaller than a Les Paul but hollow body)

Martin D-18 ('51)

Guild F-30R ('74)

Taylor 615 ('96 I think)

Taylor 812C

 

I only have the Guild, Taylor 812C and Kalamazoo left.

 

 

You had fantastic pieces in your hand. I think you made a good choice with what you kept. I would be very interested in your Guild, especially since I have never played an acoustic Guild. Certainly I think your old D28 was an incredible guitar.

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6 hours ago, Invidiosulus said:

This was the first guitar I ever bought back in 1998.

It was also the one guitar that I'd told myself I would never sell.

 

Unfortunately after 21 years as my number one guitar, someone who was once close to me decided to destroy it as a result of the manic/psychotic state they were in.

 

 

20799833_761407532510_2071474906997964519_n.thumb.jpg.8ea44c2af127b5d64286946cb07e5774.jpg

 

240033945_10100108643994830_221891689422601406_n.jpg.06f31b06723e3d95ec7f58194ba0272e.jpg

 

81733490_859722623280_1721967120427778048_n.thumb.jpg.fe265acacfe4dbbff4ec8d12c22bc485.jpg

 

 

 

 

SAD , FOR SURE

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43 minutes ago, Invidiosulus said:

This was the first guitar I ever bought back in 1998.

It was also the one guitar that I'd told myself I would never sell.

 

Unfortunately after 21 years as my number one guitar, someone who was once close to me decided to destroy it as a result of the manic/psychotic state they were in.

 

 

20799833_761407532510_2071474906997964519_n.thumb.jpg.8ea44c2af127b5d64286946cb07e5774.jpg

 

240033945_10100108643994830_221891689422601406_n.jpg.06f31b06723e3d95ec7f58194ba0272e.jpg

 

81733490_859722623280_1721967120427778048_n.thumb.jpg.fe265acacfe4dbbff4ec8d12c22bc485.jpg

 

 

This is a very sad story. The picture of your destroyed guitar moved me emotionally. Of course, life goes on but this is one of the things that do not have to be. 

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27 minutes ago, KT88 said:

CBH I think you would be, after what you write about guitars and music and about yourself, one of the few to whom I would sell this Artist Award. (I mean this symbolically, this is not a sales ad). Because I would not bear it if a guitar that accompanies me for over 40 years in not so loving hands would come.

I had already hinted at it in the previous post, my relationship to the AA is somewhat ambivalent. In no way is it a guitar that you listen to while playing and being delighted by the rich round and colorful harmonies that emanate from it. You have to work hard for every beautiful note, to put it somewhat theatrically. It is a tool in the hands of a good player who really has to shape the tone. Even if one's own pleasure in the "beautiful sound" of a guitar could be a narcissistic weakness, it is also the case that a beautiful sound can invite new sound experiments. Unfortunately, the AA (in my case) does not. She can reproduce ideas you have in your head before but I have not the feeling that her feedback would be really inspiring.

 

I sometimes have the feeling that the tuning, i.e. the inherent resonances and the wood tone of this massive construction are more determining than the key and chords I play. Maybe I mean it a little bit like that when you hear Freddie Green sometimes in the Count Basie orchestra. He plays all kinds of chords but you always hear a single wooden tone.

 

As a solo instrument, the AA is incredibly powerful. The sound comes before the band. The single coil DeArmond has a super attack and impulse. But as you rightly say you need a very suitable guitar amp. I used to believe that a "soft" amp could be the solution, for example a Polytone. Unfortunately that was not the case. The Polytone filtered out the soul of the guitar. The 1981 Fender Concert with 1x12" worked best of what I have. Your experience with vintage amps, e.g. single ended triodes could still help here.

The AA, like the L5 comes from a time when the guitar without amp had to prevail. They were only later equipped with pick ups and electrified. Quite different an ES175 which you can not compare because it never has such a power in the sound but it has this mellowness that gives so much beautiful sound when listening, think of Joe Pass before he switched to Ibanez, but also when listening while I play myself.

Gibson had developed the ES175 as the first guitar for electric sound.

But I must also say that the Wes (L5 with just one pick up) has this wonderful mellowness. Also, the PAF helps bring that round warm but very defined tone across.
The AA remains a challenge, at least for me, and I played it for years mostly in the 80s.
Also a barrier for me is the very long neck scale. and I had to have the AA re-fretted a few years after buying it because the frets were ground very flat even though the guitar was only 6 years old. So every note and every chord buzzed if I didn't always press the strings with a lot of force.

 

 

I am lucky enough to have the choice to use a Guild AA where we practice as my good friend is an avid collector with quite a collection of guitars and amps. I have learned to playing with certain people that less is more, those big jazz chords are great when playing solo or a duo but with a full band I find that using inversions of chords emphasizing the melody within while keeping the inversions to 3-4 note maximum. The bass player fills in a lot so I am lucky and the wind instruments are on the melody and head most of the time, when I get a solo the AA certainly stands out. It is a tough instrument to master for sure, and I won't lie the Collings I have is much easier to master as it's so forgiving and easy to play. I still keep the mindset of less is more and stay away from jumping around chord forms blindly, I dissect each song melody and rhythm and as mentioned move my chordal rhythm inversions depending on the melody line and which voicing works best in the larger context. Get rid of the notes not needed that can 'muddy' the sound. In a duo I need to work much harder in filling in the context of the piece both rhythmically and melodically, it's really all about playing in the band your with at the moment.

 

Gibson ES175 is another gorgeous jazz box to play (which he has also), he uses that a lot though so it's hard to get my hands on. I have found laziness has got the best of me which is why I have been just playing one guitar as it gets to be second nature when you play the same instrument all the time. Same neck, same scale, same action, etc... easy for muscle memory.

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31 minutes ago, captainbeefheart said:

 

I am lucky enough to have the choice to use a Guild AA where we practice as my good friend is an avid collector with quite a collection of guitars and amps. I have learned to playing with certain people that less is more, those big jazz chords are great when playing solo or a duo but with a full band I find that using inversions of chords emphasizing the melody within while keeping the inversions to 3-4 note maximum. The bass player fills in a lot so I am lucky and the wind instruments are on the melody and head most of the time, when I get a solo the AA certainly stands out. It is a tough instrument to master for sure, and I won't lie the Collings I have is much easier to master as it's so forgiving and easy to play. I still keep the mindset of less is more and stay away from jumping around chord forms blindly, I dissect each song melody and rhythm and as mentioned move my chordal rhythm inversions depending on the melody line and which voicing works best in the larger context. Get rid of the notes not needed that can 'muddy' the sound. In a duo I need to work much harder in filling in the context of the piece both rhythmically and melodically, it's really all about playing in the band your with at the moment.

 

Gibson ES175 is another gorgeous jazz box to play (which he has also), he uses that a lot though so it's hard to get my hands on. I have found laziness has got the best of me which is why I have been just playing one guitar as it gets to be second nature when you play the same instrument all the time. Same neck, same scale, same action, etc... easy for muscle memory.

BTW CBH I sent you a private message to another topic some days ago, I am not sure if you have seen it?

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BTW it is sometimes a pity when famous guitarists change brands. Sometimes it goes well. The great sounds George Benson had when he played Guild guitars on his early CTI albums. I also liked him on his Super 400. When he started playing Ibanez...I wasn't so sure. Of course, Benson is an outstanding guitarist for me who is as at home in jazz as he is in pop. I just think of an album (in the 90's?) with McCoy Tyner as an outstanding jazz album. Of course he also sounds good on the Ibanez because it's GB, his fingers make the sound.
For me it was a big disappointment when Eric Clapton switched from Gibson to Stratocaster. His sound and playing on the Beano album with the Lespaul is unforgettable, and his ES335 in the time with Cream was also great. Shortly after that he played Stratocaster. Sorry this is just my personal opinion but EC sounds absolutely awful on Stratocaster and that for many decades. I love the sound of a Strat in the right hands but EC and Strat is for me a big disappointment to aversion.

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Not long after I lost the Taylor 310 I started looking for another acoustic.

See, there are a number of nights as I put the kids to bed where I will sing and play songs with them.

I'm not a great singer or guitarist by any means but it brings us a bit of joy and when their mom destroyed my guitar she took that away from us for a time.

 

So I found this Fender F310-12 just down the mountain over in TN and went and picked up one Friday afternoon.

The moment I walked in the door with it, my younger daughter exclaimed "Boys, it looks like we're getting the band back together!"

 

71956259_848584409350_499375886160625664_n.thumb.jpg.4fe3b0a9eb00752db39a9dde7b0d4f52.jpg

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5 hours ago, captainbeefheart said:

 

I am lucky enough to have the choice to use a Guild AA where we practice as my good friend is an avid collector with quite a collection of guitars and amps. I have learned to playing with certain people that less is more, those big jazz chords are great when playing solo or a duo but with a full band I find that using inversions of chords emphasizing the melody within while keeping the inversions to 3-4 note maximum. The bass player fills in a lot so I am lucky and the wind instruments are on the melody and head most of the time, when I get a solo the AA certainly stands out. It is a tough instrument to master for sure, and I won't lie the Collings I have is much easier to master as it's so forgiving and easy to play. I still keep the mindset of less is more and stay away from jumping around chord forms blindly, I dissect each song melody and rhythm and as mentioned move my chordal rhythm inversions depending on the melody line and which voicing works best in the larger context. Get rid of the notes not needed that can 'muddy' the sound. In a duo I need to work much harder in filling in the context of the piece both rhythmically and melodically, it's really all about playing in the band your with at the moment.

 

Gibson ES175 is another gorgeous jazz box to play (which he has also), he uses that a lot though so it's hard to get my hands on. I have found laziness has got the best of me which is why I have been just playing one guitar as it gets to be second nature when you play the same instrument all the time. Same neck, same scale, same action, etc... easy for muscle memory.

Seems we think similarly

I use a Fender Super Champ, or s Marshall Reverb 12

The Marshall is an incredible SS amp

Rumour has it that Billy Gibbons mainly recorded all ZZTop albums with one

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10 hours ago, Invidiosulus said:

So I found this Fender F310-12 just down the mountain over in TN

That reminded me that I also had an Eko 12 string back in high school. It's an Italian brand, they still make guitars, but I haven't seen them in the US much.

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On 1/12/2022 at 4:52 PM, KT88 said:

I would be very interested in your Guild, especially since I have never played an acoustic Guild. Certainly I think your old D28 was an incredible guitar.

The D-28 was indeed a great guitar. The Guild is  the Jumbo body shape, with the round lower bout. It probably should have been listed at a JF model, but the label was an F body shape. I had to have the bridge re-glued in the mid '90s, and the guy who did the repair said the intonation was about as perfect as it gets. EDIT: just took these pics this weekend 01/20.of it.

 

f30R_front_sm.jpg

 

f30R_sm.jpg

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4 hours ago, Marvel said:

That reminded me that I also had an Eko 12 string back in high school. It's an Italian brand, they still make guitars, but I haven't seen them in the US much.

That was my first guitar as well. I ended up trading for a Vox Student Prince when a former band mate decided he was done with rock and roll and wanted to be a folk musician. It was 1969 and Simon and Garfunkel were very popular.

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4 hours ago, Marvel said:

The D-28 was indeed a great guitar. The Guild is  the Jumbo body shape, with the round lower bout. It probably should have been listed at a JF model, but the label was an F body shape. I had to have the bridge re-glued in the mid '90s, and the guy who did the repair said the intonation was about as perfect as it gets. These pics are about 10 yrs old... I need to get better ones of it.

 

 

P1010421.JPG

P1010417.JPG

 

Is that a Cedar top for the Guild? The back is gorgeous is it Koa?

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7 minutes ago, Marvel said:

The top is spruce, the back and sides are indian rosewood. The top was nearly white when I bought it, but has mellowed into a nice color over the past 47 or so years.

 

I love the timbre of a Sitka Spruce top and is what I use myself, I would certainly say it has mellowed out I thought it was Cedar from the picture. My buddy uses a Cedar top for rhythm when we do duets and it has a nice warm tone where as my Spruce top just cuts right through.

 

Indian Rosewood is beautiful, I see it now, don't know why my first thought was koa which I also really like as a tone wood. I almost picked up a full hollow body electric with small cavity that was all Koa but the Luthier wanted $10,000 for it and it was just too expensive at the time for me. I need more Koa in my collection which is probably why I had it on the brain.

 

Lovely Guitar!

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5 hours ago, Marvel said:

The D-28 was indeed a great guitar. The Guild is  the Jumbo body shape, with the round lower bout. It probably should have been listed at a JF model, but the label was an F body shape. I had to have the bridge re-glued in the mid '90s, and the guy who did the repair said the intonation was about as perfect as it gets. These pics are about 10 yrs old... I need to get better ones of it.

 

 

 

P1010417.JPG

was the pickguard  replaced at some time  , I actually really like the larger shape as it protects more of the top of the guitar ,

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On 1/11/2022 at 12:05 AM, Travis In Austin said:

I will find those posts and move them over here Bruce @Marvel

 

In the meantime, can I post "and more."

 

I saw this documentary and thought of you.

 

Can you spot and name the studio monitors during the documentary, Ocean Sound, etc., etc.

 

 

 

Sitting here smiling knowing my $3k digital mixer can do 90% of these behemoths. It is NOT as impressive looking.

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