ksdaddy Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 This was touched upon at last year's homecoming and should be on everyone's mind. Two thumbs up to Gibson for being part of it. Click on MUSICWOOD, THE INDUSTRY SPEAKS I'm in the process of building a Seeger long neck banjo out of one piece of birch stair tread from a 100+ year old house (see my website) and I plan to build others from completely reclaimed lumber and as little plastic as possible. Not on a crusade, just my own little deal... learn to build instruments, reclaim junk lumber, and save part of a tree somewhere. They made guitars out of the Ryman, and KT Turnstall has a guitar made from a whisky barrel, so why not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoss Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Banjos, Huh? Let me know how that goes- - I've got a very nice banjo now, and am thinking about a fretless. SHortneck, open back old timey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 Hey Scott, that is an awesome story and a very cool tribute to you grandad! Ultra-cool that his name and date are on the tread. I am amazed at your skills and tenacity at getting something made with what you have available. Your grandads house (arts and crafts style) is my absolute favorite style of home...! Would be cool to see a pic of it, as it is today. If it IS a Sears home....it would be a testimony to what they USED to sell...as opposed to what they sell today! I have read about the sears homes. This one looks a little more substantial. Too bad it didn't stay in the family, eh! Sorry if this is off-topic to some, but , oh-well. Nice job on the banjo and let us see the finished project..RRod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPDEN Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Pete Seeger just did a concert in Beacon, NY for the Clearwater . Pretty cool he's still around and playing his music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted April 18, 2008 Author Share Posted April 18, 2008 I just read his biography. Hard to imagine he's kept a (mostly) positive attitude with all the stuff he's seen. He's always come under attack due to his affiliation with the Communist Party (which, in the 1930s bore little resemblance to our collective impression of the CP in the Cold War Era, so much so that he quietly dropped out in the 50s) and the fact he was forever rallying for things he viewed as unjust or unfair, often to an unappreciative audience. National Lampoon even had a spoof song, "The Middle Class Liberal Well-intentioned Blues" that was obviously Seeger satire. Pete always had the nads to stand up for what he believed in, lived a simple life, didn't live beyond his means, shared with others, and was (is) working toward goals that are for the good of the people, not necessarily just for his own interests. The Clearwater would never have happened if not for Pete Seeger. For his efforts to motivate people to stand up for themselves and right some wrongs, he has had fires come suspiciously close to his home, been blacklisted and harassed by the HUAC (which drug out over 7 years resulting in a prison sentence that was ultimately revoked), and shunned by his own neighbors, the very ones he was trying to help in his Hudson cleanup efforts. The book also gave a much different account of the whole Selma to Montgomery marches. Sometimes unsolicited help and support is very much unwelcome. I do find it sad and ironic that one of the basic tenets of Pete's career has been to be able to sing or speak what is on his mind particularly if it helps inform or motivate people. His song "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" was cut from the Smothers Brothers Show because of it's anti-Vietnam War sentiment... and now songs such as these sound so innocuous when compared to Eminem, Public Enemy, NWA and many others. Songs that once were too hot to handle are now harmelss campfire songs, or at least that's the general perception. The pendulum has swung way too far in the other direction and the very thing Pete has risked his career and life for has now resulted in him being largely dismissed as part of a brief Folkie movement in the early 60s. Side note, Pete didn't really care for the whole folkie thing, as he knew it was being castrated and sugar coated so it would be more palatable for the buying public. Reading that book spurred me into rooting through my record collection and I found a couple Seeger albums and some Weavers albums, one of which was Live at Carnegie Hall, Dec 24, 1955. Good stuff. I don't care for a lot of their studio stuff (too much orchestration) but the four of them on stage with maybe an upright bass backing them up... oh, man, the harmonies! I also found a small promo sheet of the Weavers signed by Lee Hays, Fred Kellerman and Ronnie Gilbert. Erik Darling had replaced Pete by then. One of Pete's old long neck banjos was the inspiration for this one. I've got an old album of his done live and all he has to do is hit a low 'c' on that thing and I'll drop whatever I'm doing and crank it up. If I could click my ruby slippers together and have Pete play this banjo when it's done... well, that would be the high point of my musical life. Ain't gonna happen though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
degle28 Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 From what I've read at the UMGF, Chris Martin discussed the same thing at their annual gathering in Nazereth last year. All guitar manufacturers will be hit by the lack of traditional tonewoods and it won't be too long from now. We can expect a significant price increase when buying guitars made of traditional tonewoods. Just look at Braz RW prices now and mahogany is becoming increasingly scarce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarstrummer Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 PBS had a special on PS the other week. It was very interesting. He's done a lot of good things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry K Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 In '69 I got a Bacon 5-string banjo and learned to play most of the pieces in Seeger's banjo instruction book. It was actually a pretty great instruction book and covered a lot of banjo techniques, frailing, various kinds of pickin, etc with excellent sample pieces. I still remember the wonderful little variations and styles of playing Skip to My Lou. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 Bravo, bravo, Scott. I see too much 'stuff' heading to the land fill that could otherwise be used. Lord knows I try to scrounge what I can to re-use and re-use, but I if I gathered up every worn out but not used it item, My back yard would be 10' high with stuff. Simply refusing to let a guit tar, that no one would offer you a plug nickel for, wind up in the dumpster is what we should all strive to do. Currently, I'm designing, in my cluttered head, a stand to hold a brace of guitars from wood rescued from a curb. It began it's life as an oak futon. Apparently it's former owners, college students, were a bit hard on the furniture and broke a leg. ALL THAT OAK GOING TO WASTE!. Keep fighting the good fight Scott. Thanks for reminding me to stop by 'your place.' I am fascinated every time I look at your projects. Who'da thunk to make an arch top from scrap pine? Scott would. Who'da thunk to do his grand daddy proud to by making a Seeger banjer with a stick of wood so important to him that he singed his own name to it. My guess, it was the last piece of wood he nailed upon completing his Sears and Roebuck house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted April 21, 2008 Author Share Posted April 21, 2008 I went to "the house" on Saturday to get a pic as of 2008 (it's only 4 miles from me). There were vehicles in the garage so I thought it prudent to knock on the door and introduce myself, tell them what I'm doing, "You don't know me but my grandfather built this house..." type thing. Nobody was home so I snapped a pic anyway. Below is an old pic taken at an unknown date along with 2008. All the while I'm thinking lottery lottery lottery let this house come full circle.... I had hoped to tell my story locally through the local paper. It's not promoting a business, as I don't sell these things. I guess I'm just proud of my persistence in recycling if nothing else. I emailed them and got no response. Wrong last name in this town I guess. I mailed a letter with printed pics to a local magazine that thrives on local history and culture. At least they shot me back a postcard saying they'd contact me in the future. Part of me feels guilty about trying to get myself into print, but how would it get there otherwise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 ... Part of me feels guilty about trying to get myself into print' date=' but how would it get there otherwise?[/quote'] Sounds like a very 'Seeger' thing to do. Doing the 'right thing' (green in the current vernacular), then telling people about it so maybe they get the hint too. Keep plugging away at it. Somebody will pick it up as a side story to the inevitable story about 'Going Green' or global warming. You gotta toot your own horn, as they say, 'cause no one else will do it for you. (at least not till they can boil the mouthpiece). I see a common theme here. People built beautiful homes, with an expansive deck so they could spend time visiting with family and friends in the beautiful out doors. Then.... "We need more floor space!" so they enclose the porch.... Then..... they build a deck out back to be able to spend time with family and friends outside. I fully expect our grandkids to start enclosing the decks! Good luck on the Lottery thing. I read a signature line, "Lottery: A tax on people who are not very good with math." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Thanks Scott, for the picture update! I'm with TommyK on the porch enclosure scenario. I am sure it was great to add that 'heated space' to the house(especially where you are located)....but it takes away from one of the main structural defining elements that is appealing to me. The house looks to be in great shape....and the double door garage/barn could make a great guitar/instrument workshop!! May the circle be unbroken...RRod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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