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Old Cowboy

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Posts posted by Old Cowboy

  1. It wouldn't be a difficult choice for me because the 'mellow' HB feature isn't my favorite response from a dread. You can always get all the mellow you can handle from any of the current 15 series Martins at a fraction of HB price. I'd stick with the rosewood as a nice companion for your D-18 with a good, albeit different, sound and response. 

  2. I was officially named Cowboy in USMC boot camp, after telling my DI that I'd rather be working with horses. Expected worse, coming from him (use the profane side of your imagination), but Cowboy has stuck with me all my life.

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  3. Still a Gibson man after all these years. Was doing an early autumn maintenance last week - going from one to the next - and rediscovered the '51 sisters - SJ and J-185 - all over again. Have never owned or played a Martin that made me as happy as the older Gibsons. Keep looking for one, though....

  4. My '51s - a J-185 and a Southern Jumbo, both "rescue/restore" guitars which I had the opportunity to watch for years as "road warriors" before being able to (not quite literally) pry them out of their original owner's arthritic fingers. They can shout, whisper, sing, flatpick, fingerpick, and as my fingers grow more arthritic their empathy has seemed to increase (fancy way to say they respond more easily). Ever adopt or rescue a really good dog? It's like that.

    • Upvote 1
  5. Typically, there are a few considerations, and some of those will arrive with their own considerations in tow. If you want to preserve the instrument as a collector's piece, the less done to it the better. A mid '60s LG-1 isn't exactly uncommon, so most would, I believe it to be a better vintage player than collector's piece. Losing the plastic bridge and the adj hardware should ideally improve the tone unless you attach a really oversize rosewood replacement which could decrease volume and lend a 'mashed potato' tone that some like, but most don't. Make sure the bridge plate is intact and well-glued, and likewise the transverse brace in that area. All guitars should exhibit a little top belly - it's a flat-top in name only, and excliding such causes issues. A good luthier should be able to give you a good idea of needs and prices for work involved in about 5 minutes. All in all, you should come out with a nice little player. 

  6. Tusq sounds different to me and not in a good way. That means nothing, really, because many claim to hear no difference with pin changes, and those of us who distinguish a change are pretty subjective. 

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