Guitar Fest Today! UPDATE.

[zombywoof]

We will be heading up to the Akron Guitar Festival this afternoon. The spring shindig is not all that and a bag of chips but the fall edition is pretty good. I am planning to bring along some trade bait. The afternoon of the last day is usually pretty good when it comes to buying but not the best time for trades. Hey who knows. Maybe I will stumble on a Jackson Browne Model 1 or that ever elusive pre-1957 Harmony big box Stella 12 string. Hope springs eternal.

[kelly campbell]

Sounds fun..Best of luck in your quest.

[62burst]

Hopefully you will run into a Jackson Browne Model 1- then, you'll be able to give it a play and reconfirm that there's more to a proper 1.802" neck than just the nut width. That slightly increased width on the JB1 only exacerbates how flat the profile feels. You can then exorcise the gaseous demon, and put it into your category of a post '65 non-starter. .

 

Enjoy the show.

[zombywoof]

No Jackson Browne nor nary a Bozeman Gibson to be seen. I did run across a 1941 J-35 and 1942 J-45. But the one I would have bought on the spot was a Banner LG-2. The top was refinished and pretty much everything that could have been replaced was. But the price was right. The kicker though was it has a maple body. It has a small Made in the USA stamp on the back of the headstock so I assume it was meant to be an export. Problem was the seller was not set up to do anything but a cash deal and it being Sunday the banks were closed so that was not going to happen. But I did get the storeowner's card so if the guitar does not sell at the show he told me to give him a call during the week. One of those leave it up to fate things.

[62burst]

When I was trading off the Jackson Browne Model 1 even up for Gary Burnette's '49 LG-2 at one of his guitar shows, I had a chance to play maybe a half dozen old LG's from a number of different shops. Nice thing about these sorts of events- it would be fairly impossible to audition several old LG-2's in one place. We got to talking about LG-2's. . . he didn't currently have one to sell, but he said if you ever get the chance to play one of the maple versions of these little guitars, you'll be in for a treat.

[zombywoof]

When I was trading off the Jackson Browne Model 1 even up for Gary Burnette's '49 LG-2 at one of his guitar shows, I had a chance to play maybe a half dozen old LG's from a number of different shops. Nice thing about these sorts of events- it would be fairly impossible to audition several old LG-2's in one place. We got to talking about LG-2's. . . he didn't currently have one to sell, but he said if you ever get the chance to play one of the maple versions of these little guitars, you'll be in for a treat.

 

LG-2s are all over the place. I once had a 1946 and 1947 in the house at the same time and they were so different sounding you would not think they were built by the same company. I could not make out the FON on this one but the maple body would make it out to be a 1945. Problem was between the band playing at the end of the hall (which seemed to only know Fleetwwod Mac songs) and the guys around me blazing away on electrics it was tough to hear much of anything. All I could get were snippets here and there. But I liked what little I could hear and the thing sure felt good.

[Jinder]

A Maple LG2 is one of my absolute bucket list guitars. Would love to be able to find one and for the stars to align financially to make it happen. One day!

 

If your deal ends up coming together Zomb, would love to hear your thoughts!

[62burst]

"... Problem was between the band playing at the end of the hall (which seemed to only know Fleetwwod Mac songs) and the guys around me blazing away on electrics it was tough to hear much of anything. All I could get were snippets here and there. But I liked what little I could hear and the thing sure felt good."

Seems like the electric/acoustic guitar ratio at shows such as these is about 65+ % electric. I've had good luck arriving early Saturday afternoon, narrowing my sights down to a few contenders, and later on, as the crowd thins out, things begin to quiet near closing time, then you can hear. Of course, if you're serious, a vendor will most likely allow you to take the guitar to a quiet corridor for a closer listen. These shows are fun- good people watching, and there are always surprises.

 

"What's in the case?" : hilarious; brought a '36 Kalamazoo KG-31 archtop once with beautiful original case- it was like chumming for sharks; a feeding frenzy almost broke out just from the looks of the case.

[zombywoof]

Seems like the electric/acoustic guitar ratio at shows such as these is about 65+ % electric. I've had good luck arriving early Saturday afternoon, narrowing my sights down to a few contenders, and later on, as the crowd thins out, things begin to quiet near closing time, then you can hear. Of course, if you're serious, a vendor will most likely allow you to take the guitar to a quiet corridor for a closer listen. These shows are fun- good people watching, and there are always surprises.

 

"What's in the case?" : hilarious; brought a '36 Kalamazoo KG-31 archtop once with beautiful original case- it was like chumming for sharks; a feeding frenzy almost broke out just from the looks of the case.

 

Oh yea, I would say this one was probably 85% electrics. In addition to the two Banners and J-35, I did run across a cool Gretsch Rancher and a 1930s Oahu "Tree of Life" deep body Hawaiian Guitar. There was one booth with a bunch of high dollar boutique acoustics but these are the guys who run the music shop above my repair place so I can drop in any time.

 

Back in the 1980s I used to go to the Dallas Guitar Show. They had what was called the "Snake Pit" which was a herd of dealers who gathered at the front entrance watching for anyone carrying an old case in the hopes of snagging whatever was inside before you ever got through the doors. The guys who ran the show finally put an end to it.