dhanners623
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Posts posted by dhanners623
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46 minutes ago, Paul14 said:
Hey, we’re banning plastic straws. What more do you want? I noticed they aren’t banning plastic syringes though.
There is a medical necessity for disposable plastic syringes. (You really want to re-use a syringe?) Conversely, there is no particular reason for a plastic straw since there are reasonable eco-friendly alternatives, i.e., recycled paper or metal.
And again.... Plastic is a petrochemical product. It is made from oil. You really think that guy I used to live next to needs another Maserati?
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On 8/27/2019 at 8:43 PM, slimt said:
well. hes hates everything .. hes a tree hugger or hes trying to be.. to get attention. .. and to top it all off.. he drives a Prius. only thing I like about Mr Young .. is the stash of Guitars he owns.
I'm not sure I understand why "tree hugger" is a bad thing. Don't we want to preserve the environment?
And so what if he drives a Prius? I lived in the Middle East for five years and I saw how they spend YOUR gas money. They have better cars than you do, more houses than you do and maids and nannies and cooks. They work less than you do and take longer vacations than you do. (They even have free world-class healthcare.) If Young doesn't want to buy gasoline, more power to him.
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Here's my Farida OT-22, acquired this summer. I am REALLY loving it. Great tone and clarity. Only mods (aside from a lefty pickguard) are replacing the plastic bridge pins with ebony pins, and having it set up for medium strings instead of lights. So far, it has adjusted well to Cyprus. If things turn south, I discovered a guitar-repair shop about three blocks away. I dropped by today and they seem to know what they are doing.
And then there's my '16 J-35. It is also adjusting well to Cyprus. While in the U.S. this summer, I had the Tusq nut replaced with an ebony one, and I had the pickup taken out. The guitar is lighter and I notice an improvement, and it sounded darn good to begin with.
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2 hours ago, legalbeagle12 said:
I just wanted to take a moment and say that I really, really appreciate all of the responses to this thread and they've been both incredibly kind but also very helpful. I have so much more information now and I'm in a more comfortable place as I begin to take care of this very meaningful guitar.
Thank all very much, again. It's a great community.
You have a guitar that is not just meaningful, but is (or can be) a darn-nice guitar with a powerful vibe. Besides, we're always happy to help other people spend their money.
There's no need to rebuild the thing, so no competent repair person will suggest that. There are, however, things you can do that'll keep the guitar in good enough shape so one day you can pass it along to your kids....
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I messaged a friend of mine who is a vintage Gibson owner in Chicago and asked him his recommendations for Gibson-savvy repair options there, and this was his reply:
Here's 3 options:
Chicago Music Exchange - It's a big shop. They do a lot of repairs. But I don't know who in the shop you'd get to do the work. They're on North Lincoln Avenue. They are the people who started Reverb.com.
Bruce Roper - Bruce does all the repair work for Old Town School of Folk Music. He also teaches Lutherie. www.chicagoluthiers.com/ He's the guy that built my Nick Lucas replica. Cool guy. He repaired Michael Smith's old D28. Bruce's home and studio are a block away from Chicago Music Exchange on School St.
Guitar Works in Evanston - This is the best place in the North suburbs. They handle a lot of vintage and new guitars and do a lot of repairs. -
Sorry to hear about your father. The guitar can be part of his legacy.
As has been mentioned, finish checking is just part of the deal with owning a vintage Gibson. It adds to their allure, frankly. As far as the crack goes, that's something a competent repair person should take a look at. It is generally not a difficult repair. Most Repair people charge for crack repairs by the inch. Strap button? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Leave the pin in.
The issue that would concern me (and you haven't mentioned it) is the bridge. That's the era Gibson was using plastic bridges on its LGs. (Hey, plastic was all the rage in the mid-'60's....) Generally, the plastic bridges on LGs from that era have not aged well. Replacing the plastic bridge with a rosewood (or ebony) one is a fairly routine modification on these guitars, and 99 times out of 100 the guitar will sound better afterwards. I'm not aware of any ready-made bridges that have the LG-1 string spacing, so it is something your repair person will probably have to fabricate.
Yes, such a modification changes the original nature of the guitar. But if you're going to be playing the guitar, it is something to look into.
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The highs have included opening for Tom Paxton, Bill Staines, Garnet Rogers and Ellis Paul, and once being on the same bill with Ralph Stanley.
The lows.... Back in the '80s in Dallas, a promoter named Joe Christ (he previously went under the name "Joe Danger") hired the acoustic trio I was in to play a great old supper club in Deep Ellum. What he didn't tell us was that we were opening for three thrash bands. We were the oldest people in the green room, and we weren't that old. After the show, we literally had to chase the promoter down the street to get our money.
It was shortly after that that I gave up the profit motive in music.
Last fall in Kuwait, I got booked to play a music festival at the country's ritziest mall. It was a two-hour set and paid great. The guys who booked me had booked me before, so they knew me and knew my stuff. I finished my first song and one of the guys is at the side of the stage and is frantically waving me over. I go over and he says, "We've had complaints from the mall about the noise."
"You're running the sound. Turn it down," I said.
"No. You can't sing."
"Well, that's a subjective view, but...."
"No, no vocals are allowed. The mall management isn't sure it has the correct permit from the government. So they just want instrumental music. Can you just strum your guitar?"
"You want me to strum my guitar for two hours? That'll get boring fast. Plus, you guys knew I'm a songwriter when you booked me. My songs are about, you know, words. Stories."
"Yeah, we know. Just strum."
I thought a moment and said, "I'll do it for 20 minutes and then I'm out of here. And you're paying me for the full set."
Figuring 20 minutes was better than two hours of silence, he agreed. So I strummed my guitar for 20 minutes. And I was right. It was boring. They paid me for the full set.
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You fortunate guy. Crowell is a songwriter's songwriter. He really works at the craft. It is great to see him back in fine form.
My introduction to Steuart Smith was years ago with an episode of "Austin City Limits" featuring, ironically, Roseanne Cash. I've paid attention to him ever since. You're right; Smith can do it all and he does it with great taste and style.
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We've moved to Cyprus, where my wife has a job teaching. We've been in Nicosia since Tuesday and really like the place. The weather is great and our neighborhood is filled with narrow, winding streets and is so danged quiet. Kuwait was noisy ALL the time. The most constant noise during the day here are the cicadas. Reminds me of my home in East Central Illinois.
The two guitars I brought -- the J-35 and my new Farida OT-22 -- made the trip in fine shape. But here's a yarn about that.
We flew from Dallas/Fort Worth to Doha to Larnaca (the airport nearest Nicosia) and I carried the J-35 in a Gator lightweight case as carry-on and checked the OT-22. Taking it along was a last-minute decision spurred, in part, by the fact the local Guitar Center was selling Gator ATA-approved classical/00 molded cases for $51, marked down from $160. It seemed a sturdy case and has TSA locks, and the OT-22 is a perfect fit.
We flew Qatar Airways (I’ve found them to be guitar-friendly in the past) and I had zero problems with the J-35 as a carry-on. No frowns from the gate agents or cabin crew, and it fit in the overhead just fine. (The DFW-DOH leg was in an Airbus A350-1000, while the DOH-LCA leg was on an Airbus A320.)
Now for the weird. I don’t know how they did it, but somehow, TSA and/or Qatar Airways managed to twist the OT-22’s case. The neck part is noticeably out of alignment with the body.
When I checked the guitar at DFW, the agent at the ticket counter suggested I take the case to the Oversized Luggage window; she said that path had “fewer loops” than the normal luggage conveyor. I took it to the window, where some TSA guy asked me if it was locked. I told him it was but that it had a TSA lock so he could unlock it and lock it back up. He seemed put out by that, so I unlocked it for him. The lesson here is to never assume, like I did, that TSA will go to the trouble of locking your case back up. I unlocked it and handed it to him and I have to admit he was not the least bit reassuring.
Our layover in Doha was 15 hours, and Qatar Airways puts you up in a hotel if your layover is that long. Our luggage was checked all the way through from Dallas to Larnaca so we didn’t have to collect it when we landed in Doha.
When we landed in Larnaca and made our way to baggage claim, the guitar was already in the oversized luggage area. The first thing I noticed was that it looked like the TSA used half a roll of their special tape to wrap the case shut. The next thing I noticed was the twist along the case's horizontal axis. Fearing the worst, I ripped off the tape and went to unlock the case, but it wasn’t locked. (Gee, thanks, TSA…) I opened the case and did a quick inspection. Everything was in one piece. No cracks or dings. The case did its job. But it's still has its twist and I have no idea how it got there.
I was reminded of one lesson and learned one other. I was reminded that a real flight case is going to cost you more than $160. Ron Tracy at St. Paul Guitar Repair, where I have all my work done, said a passable flight case will start at around $600. He’s repaired plenty of guitars broken by baggage handlers so I guess he would know.
The second lesson is that in the future, if I’m checking a guitar, I will gate check it instead of trusting it to TSA’s baggage people. I’m sure their job is a tough one, but I’m just not going to trust a guitar to them again. Gate checking avoids the conveyors and being battered -- and twisted -- by other pieces of luggage.Now, I just have to find out what the music scene is in Nicosia....
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Its not a square, but I string my J-35 with monels and really like the way they sound.
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11 hours ago, J185cat said:
Thanks Murph, I will give them a try. When I first received my Rosewood J45 and strummed those first few cords it was "yeah that's the sound I wanted from a RW J45." Then when it was finally time to change strings I just went to the cabinet and grabbed a set of my old standards, D'Addario EJ16's. Whoa not the same guitar at all. Not bad just not the same or what I wanted. So I began the string tests game and based on something I read here on the forum went ahead and ordered some Masterbuilts. I literally put new strings on only to turn around and take them off the same day. When th MB's got here and I put them on that was it and haven't tried anything else since. I never did try GHS though so that is good info.
I still don't understand why people would string a J-45 with lights. I've always felt a '45 needed mediums. But that's just one guy's opinion....
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14 minutes ago, Proclaimer888 said:
Gota vote for the J-35 as it is simply a great guitar. I have however, heard that the Farida 22s are very friendly to the ear.....similar to a Gibson LG2 sound/vibe. Are you taking the environment into consideration?? ie, will the guitar be in a controlled environment?? Having spent some years in the Med,.....some hot summers!! Wow, talk about the ol' only one guitar to take on a deserted island situation...I guess at the end of the day, which guitar would you miss the most?? At least you will no longer be in the "Where music goes to die".
The problem is, I'd probably miss either. The guitar will be in a controlled environment; I figure if I can take care of guitars in Kuwait, I can do it anywhere. (On the plus side, it does appear there are actual guitar-repair shops in Nicosia, where we'll be. There are NONE in Kuwait.)
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After five years in Kuwait, we're moving to Cyprus. My wife got a teaching job there and while Kuwait was nice from an economic standpoint, from a music standpoint, it is The Land Where Music Goes to Die.
We're back in the U.S. for a brief visit before heading abroad, but I've got a conundrum. I have decided to travel light, meaning I'm only taking one guitar. I'll either take my '16 J-35 or the new Farida OT-22 I got this summer. It's a very good guitar and punches way above its weight, pricewise. It's an outstanding guitar. The J-35 needs no introduction, but earlier this month I did get an ebony nut installed (replacing the stock Tusq nut) and I had the electronics taken out. Both have had a positive impact on it.
I'll be carrying the guitar as a carry-on, and both guitars have their pluses and minuses from a travel standpoint. So I'm wondering -- If you're on a Mediterranean island for a year or more, which guitar do you take? Why? What plus or minus haven't I thought of?
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I think it looks fine, or at least doesn't distract from the look of the guitar. Guitars age.
And, yeah, don't leave anything (tuner, capo, etc.) clipped to your headstock. They'll screw up a nitro finish fast.
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The strap I use on my J-35 is one I've had since my junior year of college. That was roughly 1975.
As I recall, I did have the leather ends replaced somewhere along the line. Took the strap to a cobbler and, using the old ends as templates, he cut new ones and sewed them on.
if the holes for the strap buttons get too big from wear, Fender makes flexible hard-rubber washers that fit over the strap and button and keeps the strap from coming off.
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Since I'm only in the U.S. once a year, I save up my guitar repair and tune-up work for when I'm back in St. Paul. Last week, I took my J-35 in to St. Paul Guitar Repair (a great shop with a wonderful crew) and had them replace the Tusq nut with an ebony one (ala the original J-35s) and take out the pickup and electronics. I'm going all-acoustic.
I got the guitar back today. I am very pleased with the results. For most folks, the change in tone and volume would be hard to notice, but after playing the guitar daily since I got it in the summer of 2016, I can tell you it sounds better -- and it was no slouch to start with. For one thing, the sound just kind of jumps out of it. It seems to respond more quickly. Maybe that is a result of it being lighter and not having a UST sitting in the saddle slot.
One oddity in the pickup removal.... Ron Tracy, who did the work, said it all came out ok but he discovered the tone-and-volume control gizmo attached just inside the soundhole wasn't attached with double-sided foam tape. It was actually glued in. He said the gizmos are notorious for coming loose and it appears Gibson decided somewhere along the line to just glue it to the inside of the soundhole. Go figure.
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37 minutes ago, blindboygrunt said:
Sounds great
What's the song ? One of yours or a cover ?
Thanks. The tune is "Let it Go," and it is one of mine. Wanting to breathe some new life into it, I recently changed it to first-person and liked the way it worked. This is the new-and-improved version.
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13 minutes ago, billroy said:
Sounds good to me, interesting you just flip it and keep the light strings on top... sheer craziness.
The overall impression I've developed of these (w/o actually having tried one) is they're good sounding instruments (and again yours sounded good here), but need a heightened level of care at least in humidity mgt and I'm a little (happily) surprised no one was concerned with mediums. None of this is scientific just my thoughts. Good luck with it.
Yeah, I think if I were returning to Kuwait, I'd be nervous. (That said, my other two guitars did well there, although they were constantly humidified.)
Later this summer, we're moving to Casablanca so I'll have the opposite problem. The average relative humidity there is 77 percent, and it doesn't appear there are any big monthly fluctuations. It always hovers a little above or below 80 percent. So that'll be a new challenge.
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Picked up my new Farida OT-22 yesterday. It is their take on an LG-2. I had ordered the guitar last week while I was in Texas and had it delivered straight to St. Paul Guitar Repair so they could remove the pickguard and make a lefty one, and do any other set-up work that needed to be done. I arrived in St. Paul yesterday and went to pick it up.
After playing it last night and this morning, my first impression is, "Wow!" I don't have much experience with smaller-bodied guitars but I really like the sound out of this one. It is articulate, has great tone and powerful volume. The build quality is excellent, and Farida (unlike, say, Martin...) can actually nail a sunburst.
It came strung with lights, but Elderly assures me it can handle mediums. After inspecting the guitar, Kevin at SPGR concurred that it would be fine with mediums so I had him set it up for them. Plays great. (He said it came perfectly set up for lights.) He's spent a lifetime repairing great guitars and he said he was impressed with the guitar, especially for its price -- $423.
Aside from the pickguard switch, my only mod so far is I switched out the black plastic bridge pins for some ebony pins. Would've switched out the plastic endpin for wood, too, but after fiddling with it for a couple of minutes, Kevin couldn't get the darn thing out so I told him I'd live with it.
Here's a test run:
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4 hours ago, FZ Fan said:
That is about all most of listen to here we love our Vanilla Groups. Bruce was once touted as the savior of R N R. Bruce is a great songwriter, but his stuff has bored be since about 1979 or so. Like I said before just because you say I'm in the minority doesn't mean I'm wrong. Wasn't this country started from angry people who were in the minority? As my handle states... that guy was never bland.
I'm not sure it is an issue of "right" or "wrong." The comment about being in a "minority" is merely a nod towards the popular acceptance of -- and critical praise for -- Springsteen over the years. Nobody is forcing you to like, or even listen to, Bruce, just as nobody is making me pop a Ted Nugent CD in the player, thank goodness.
The thing I'm wondering, though, is who has changed -- Springsteen or you? As I see it, the guy is still writing about the things he's always written about in one form or another. He has stayed true to who he is. You used to like him. If you are the one whose tastes have changed, why fault Springsteen?
There was a time I liked Charlie Daniels. I've seen him live and will be the first to admit the influence he's had on music; heck, the guy even played bass on Bob Dylan's "Nashville Skyline" album. Undeniably, he has a place in music history. But his anti-Muslim, anti-Arab and xenophobic rhetoric really turned me off. Springsteen may have political views, but it isn't fueled by (nor is it manifested in) hate. You can't say that about Daniels and Nugent. Both have said hateful things. (Sorry, but telling Obama to suck on your machine gun is hateful.)
Daniels is a pretty active blogger and I used to read his website from time to time to see what he was saying. I remember one time he wrote a column about how you couldn't be a Christian and believe in evolution. In the reader comments, I posted a comment (written respectfully and calmly) saying that was really a stretch and that there were plenty of people of faith who believed in evolution. I even cited the names of some scientists who had done important work in evolution who were also known for having strong religious faith.
A day later, I got an ALL-CAPS email from the man himself, saying the theory of evolution was the "biggest lie ever foisted on humans." He went on and on. While I was impressed that he would reply personally, I was saddened that he took such a wrongheaded view. It was clear he saw things as either-or. To him, you could believe in science or you could be a person of faith, but you couldn't be both.
So, yeah, he lost me on that one.
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Given that Springsteen still sells plenty of records, it would appear plenty of folks are just fine with what he has to say. Like I said earlier, you guys are in the minority, thankfully. Enjoy your bland artists. I prefer mine with some bite, spine, passion and compassion, so I'll take Bruce and Woody.
School kids will still be singing "This Land is Your Land" decades after your bland acts become a footnote in history.
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Here's the thing about the "Shut Up and Sing" crowd. Their concern only goes one way. They'll lambast Springsteen for expressing a political thought, but they say nothing when Ted Nugent says Hillary Clinton should be hung for treason and tells President Obama to "suck on my machine gun."
The SU&S crowd will complain when Steve Earle talks politics, but there's nary a peep when Charlie Daniels spouts anti-Muslim and xenophobic rhetoric.
So, yeah, when the SU&S folks start directing their wrath at people like Nugent and Daniels and, well, tell them to shut up and sing, I'll take them seriously. But it isn't really about shutting up and singing. It is about stifling dissent.
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Fine jobs, guys!
Speaking of Steve Goodman and little Gibsons....
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3 hours ago, Murph said:
I stay away from Bruce for the last 20 years or so because I know if he stops singing he might start talking and tell me what he thinks....
Not sure I understand that sentiment. His politics and worldview shape his music. You don't have one without the other. He comes from a long line of songwriters who tell stories of the world and people around them, as they are. It is what folk musicians have done for centuries.
Fortunately, your opinion is in the minority.
Fascinating Read...
in Gibson Acoustic
Posted · Edited by dhanners623
Kudos on your ability to ask a "simple" question and think it makes you look smart. I'll put this in the gentlest terms I can: It doesn't.
The whole, "What exactly is the 'correct' temperature of the Earth?" canard has been around for awhile. And just because climatologists -- you know, the men and women who get fabulously wealthy studying climate [/sarcasm] -- refuse to accept that simplistic and dumb question doesn't mean you've just scored a "gotcha" point. You haven't.
Climate scientists (when they're not counting their money, that is) say it isn't a matter of the exact global average surface temperature in 2100 that makes the biggest difference in whether some species will survive global warming or if Miami or Dhaka or Jakarta or New York City or Boston will be flooded by rising seawater. The big factor is the rate of change. The issue is climate stability.
The more rapidly that climate changes, the more significant the impacts will be. We've had study after study showing that because of the melting of the ice sheets in the Antarctic and Greenland, sea level rise is accelerating. That makes adapting to new water levels far more difficult.
Here's the deal.... Just because you don't personally understand climate science doesn't mean global warming isn't happening. Just because you don't get an answer to a question you think is smart doesn't mean the question is, indeed, smart.
The old "But what about other countries?!?" thing is tiresome, too. I don't rob banks. Does that mean I want to live in a place that has no statutes outlawing bank robbery? We have to do what we can. I'm willing to bet you don't travel much internationally because if you did you'd see how places like India and China are already suffering from their too-little-too-late approach to dealing with pollution. Spend a couple of days in Shenzhen without a mask. Take a stroll through one of the garbage neighborhoods in Cairo. Drink the tap water in Mumbai -- I dare you.
It always intrigues me that one of the leading institutions in America that a) recognizes global warming is real and b) sees it as a major threat to world stability and peace is the Pentagon. Their experts have studied climate change for decades. If you don't believe me (or a Prius-driving Neil Young...) will you at least believe the men and women in uniform who have taken a solemn oath to defend you?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-18/in-dire-report-pentagon-warns-bases-imperiled-by-climate-change