Jump to content
Gibson Brands Forums

back from the dead


j45nick

Recommended Posts

I've been off in the wilds of coastal Maine aboard my boat for the last few months, with only my CA Cargo for guitar company. Now back home in Florida, and trying to psych myself back into playing my "real" guitars on a regular basis.

 

What to do to get the juices flowing again? This bit from Mark Knopfler, one of the greats, reminds us that guitar playing doesn't always have to be complicated to sound good.

 

There are two nice Gibsons in here: a '58 Les Paul, and Mark's 1930's AJ. He knows how to play both. Note: look at the wear on the fretboard of the Les Paul, and never complain again about a few divots.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG__SwkV3wg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, guys. I've lurked from time to time when I had a decent cellular signal.

 

I also found what may be one of the best guitar stools ever. More on that later, but the guy who builds them has a beat-up banner J-45 that people told him was a 1948. I had a bit of a time convincing it was actually probably a 1945: no FON, but a truss rod and a slightly thinner neck than most earlier banners. He had never heard about "our" forum, but he has now!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Personally, I would think if all I had was a carbon fiber acoustic to play for the last few months, I really wouldn't need any inspiration to pick up a "real" (your choice of words, not mine) guitar.

 

 

The CA Cargo is a small-body, short-scale travel guitar. It's great for the boat, since it is unaffected by weather and climate changes, but it doesn't feel like, sound like, or play like a conventional Martin or Gibson. Much of the pleasure I get out of playing is the wonderful sounds that emerge from a good guitar, even if you're a mediocre player like I am. That is a quality that is in somewhat short supply with the Cargo, with its inherent limitations.

 

 

Don't get me wrong. It's the best travel guitar I own on every count. But it ain't my J-45, SJ, or L-00. A video like Knopfler's is a good way to remind yourself why you play, and that it doesn't have to be as complicated as we sometimes make it. The transition from functional travel guitar back to a full-sized, full-voiced piece of guitar art is a good time to reflect on those things, and re-think about what my goals as a player really are.

 

 

When I picked up Geoffrey Warner's battered banner J-45 and played it last month at the Owl Furniture display at a show in Rockland, I remembered just how different my little travel guitar is from the "real" thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome back, show your stool!

 

 

It hasn't arrived yet. I couldn't order it until I got home, but I tried one this summer.

 

 

Here's a link to his stool webpage. It's the musician's stool at the bottom. It looks a bit strange, but it's very comfortable and corrects your posture in a dramatic way. I hadn't appreciated how hunched over I was when I played until he sat me on this and got me to sit up. I'm now a believer. That's his banner J-45 leaning against it.

 

owl furniture

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It hasn't arrived yet. I couldn't order it until I got home, but I tried one this summer.

 

 

Here's a link to his stool webpage. It's the musician's stool at the bottom. It looks a bit strange, but it's very comfortable and corrects your posture in a dramatic way. I hadn't appreciated how hunched over I was when I played until he sat me on this and got me to sit up. I'm now a believer. That's his banner J-45 leaning against it.

 

owl furniture

 

We didn't really miss you -- unless we just did not recognize you.

All summer, we were really never more than a mile (1.609344 Kilometre/) from coast of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Maine and we never saw you. We did eight shows and ran 12 4 hr jam sessions at a farmers market on Saturdays where lots of people anchored their boats in the harbor and walked up to play music. I guess some sailors still fear Cape Sable Island -- a wise thing to do I am told.

 

I guess I don't really know how you look. At least that stool gives me a clue. What are those holes for? You don't have a tail do you?

This year we had a 54 SJ, 45 D-18, 37 00-18H, 67 D-28 and a CA guitar -- the real guitar model, Legend. That is enough to attract some guitar players.

Maybe next year -- but unlike you, we are getting old.

-Tom

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Took it for granted you read a "Rehey and good to see U back in the yard" between the lines in my previous post #8.

Then realized it had only 1 line, so here we go. .

 

 

I just thought you were being your normal mysterious self...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...