ksdaddy

I flipped a '93 Dove a couple years ago. It needed a tweak as part of a cursory setup before offering it on ebay. It tweaked fine but I was befuddled by it, as I must confess... I was not aware of such a beast. I think it was a '93. It was around then anyway.

I agree with these guys.

I believe I was right. It has it's original strings. I took them off, with a set of John Pearse at the ready. I oiled the board and bridge, and wiped the old strings down. If they survive going back to pitch, I'll drive them a while longer. (pics are pre-oiling...)

I will mop up. 😉

My father was adopted by a Swedish couple (hence the Scandinavian surname Englund, but the vast majority of my ancestors came over from England). He was raised with a lot of traditional Swedish dishes. My mother made lutefisk a few times and I do remember eating it and not minding it. Seems like it was some kind of whitefish in a creamy sauce? It's been 50 years probably.

One of my guitars was bought from an ebayer who (1) has a brick and mortar store with lots of memorabilia and (2) is/was some kind of promoter or otherwise involved in booking acts for various venues. As such, he had taken the opportunity to have acts autograph items as the situations presented themselves. I have no idea how this guitar came to be in his store. It's a 1998 Martin DM that appears to be brand new. Brand new in the sense that there is absolutely no marks on it, no shiny spots on the flat finish, almost no pick marks, and the fretboard and bridge are both dry as a bone. The strings are as black as a crow's armpit. It so seriously looks like it's been sitting in the corner. It has autographs all over the top. Charlie Pride, John Schneider, Marty Raybon, Mark Chesnutt, Johnny Lee(?), Gene Watson, Ronnie McDowell and some guy named George Jones. I think that's all. I am under the impression that it came to him new and it became a display item in the store once signatures began to amass. I didn't buy it specifically for the autographs. I bought it because it was a USA made Martin for $450. The fretboard desperately needs oiling, as does the bridge. The nut slots could stand a swipe or two with a file while I'm there. I've owned it a year. Problem is... I really really like the way this sounds. To the point where I'm afraid to take the strings off. It is entirely possible it has the original strings on it. Over the year I've owned it, I've polished a lot of the rust off the strings just by handling it and playing it. I know if I start loosening them , there's a high probability they will pop. They measure 11-52, which is not a gauge I would normally buy. Other than that, no knowing what they might be. I actually bought some old Martin catalogs on ebay today in hopes there will be a mention as to what they were shipped with. I will reach a point where I have to change them but if I lose that thump, I'm going to die.

If I gave up caffeine, I could probably reduce the daily dose of metoprolol, the only med I take now. Probably not eliminate it, but drop form 100mg to 50 I bet.

Lutefisk

I'm accepting the fact that the guitars that inspire me to play and bring out my best aren't the ones I expected. There's some cheap guitars here that really keep my attention for a long time and some very expensive ones that leave me cold. There are some illusions of a lifetime that are being shattered but I won't fight it. I don't need the money, I don't really need the room, and the price of used stuff isn't about to go down, so I may just hold off any major culls. The unused ones can sit for a spell.

I had some sort of vertigo some years back, and it was a blessing in disguise. July 2014 I quit smoking (again). I was on the patch. Two days into it, we had a hot day (hot to me anyways, in the mid 80s before noon). I crawled under my old truck to do some exhaust work and I felt nauseated, sweaty, and light headed. I got out from under the truck and sat for a few minutes. I took a deep breath, grabbed some wrenches and got back underneath. Boom, same thing. The only thing I could think of was the nicotine patch might be making me sick. I went in the house, peeled off the patch, laid down with the fan on and took a nap for an hour. After that I went cold turkey. Yep, cold turkey. 6-1/2 years. The blessing is that I had to have enough resolve to not smoke, knowing I had no patch to back me up. I had to do it on my own. But then several weeks later, I got under a desk at work to move one of those keyboard brackets. Same thing. Every time I lie on my back under something, I get sick. I tried the ear canal movements and even tried one of those BPPV hats. It just didn't make sense to me, because I lie on my back sleeping fairly often. Wouldn't I feel nauseated then too? I wonder if it could be because of my eyes straining?. I can't focus on anything less than a couple feet away to begin with, and it's worse with my glasses on. Next time I have to crawl under something, I will wear my $5.00 drug store reading glasses and see if that makes a difference. Not to spook you, but a friend had hearing loss that he attributed to age and concerts. He also had bouts of vertigo. Turned out to be a tumor in behind his right ear. They removed it, but the hearing is gone. Too much time elapsed before diagnosis. Footnote, mine does seem worse if I am reaching up. Even changing a light bulb can be a bit much. I suggested Subclavian Steal Syndrome to my doctor. They did an ultrasound and didn't find anything. No surprise. They never seem to "find anything".

I heard back from the person that would know of such things. He said several of these guards were made years ago in Bozeman and the variation of the model that would have sported this guard did not make it past "the talking stage". I collect stuff like this.

Looks like the mystery has been solved. I know for a fact his was made in Bozeman but I had no clue what model. No idea how it actually came to be. I may be able to flesh out the story in time. Or not.

I have no idea what this is supposed to fit. All I can tell you is that it is a Gibson product. The J200 guard is just for comparison.

I have had a love/hate relationship with archtops all my life. I can't remember how many I have owned, including L-7s, which are supposed to be just plainer L-5s. Nothing made me happy. A couple years ago I bought a 1947 sunburst non cutaway L-5 (see my profile pic). I paid less than market value because it had actually been used. I've owned it for a couple years and it has spent most of it's time with me in the case, tucked away in a closet, unplayed, until recently. I went through the standard rite of passage of finding the right strings for it. My first bit of advice to you is to ignore what anyone tells you about strings. Everyone on the planet had me convinced that all archtops need tow cables for strings. Forum rules forbid me from the expletive that I would like to type. I even fell into that trap, putting a set of 14-59 on it and going a brief period thinking I was "right" along with the "experts". Add another expletive here. Ditto for action. Unless you envision yourself pounding the strings with a 50 cent piece, go with what is comfortable. Don't let them tell you the strings need to be 1/4" off the board to get proper sound from an archtop. There are people out there that think every Les Paul should be paired with a Marshall amp that goes up to 11. The L5 has it's own "people" who know best. Lately I have been playing the L-5 pretty much exclusively. To say that it has grown on me in a very short time is an understatement. I have it strung with 12-52 John Pearse something or others, and the action is low. I can't explain the sound I'm getting other than it sounds like a good humbuckered jazz box except there's nothing plugged in. I've always tried to play like Merle Travis, and it seems like when I try on this guitar, I can pull it off. I don't know whether it's just a frame of mind I have when I play it or if we're just a good match. I'm not going to question it. I play more lately than I have in a long, long time. Mine has been used. A lot. Most "L5 guys" would turn their noses up at it because they like stuff pristine. This tells me more about their personality traits than their particular taste in guitars. In addition to it not having any finish left on the back of the neck. it also wore a DeArmond pickup for a long time, so there are screw hole sin the side of the neck and a jack hole in the rim. The pickguard is a very good repro. I have no idea where the bridge came from but it works. One tuner has been replaced with an exact replacement other than it's a lot more shiny. There have been two strap buttons installed in the heel and both holes have been filled. It was refretted and the board planed. They did a flawless job other than they sanded one corner of one of the block inlays off. It is not mint. But apparently someone thought it was a great guitar and played hell out of it. It's in it's original red line case and it fills the air with musty funk when I open it up. If they would bottle that scent, I would use it as after shave.

My L-5 is A187 and was entered into the shipping record...ledger...whatever you want to call it.. on May 13, 1947.

Not a fan but I'd take that Wurlitzer 200.

It's fake. Stay away.

Yeah, pretty much!

Last night I dreamed I tried out a new J45. Except it wasn’t normal. Stuff almost never is in a dream. This one had a uniform stain on the entire guitar, very much like the nutmeg color seen on the Ovation John Lennon style, maybe darker. Not a normal finish regardless. The finish had a rustic look, but much more subtle and “believable” than Martin’s current offering of “guitars that are new but look beat to hell”. The oddest thing was the fretboard. It was WALNUT and was heavily lacquered like a maple necked Fender. I remember thinking about a Herb Ellis I once owned and no amount of polishing would make that fretboard smooth. In my dream, I thought, well, they’ve figured a workaround for THAT. Not exactly going to call Music Villa to put in an order but it was intriguing.

I've got a piece of one...

"My grandfather died and we found a guitar in the attic and would like to know the value. It's an heirloom and we will never sell it but how much is it worth?" And the photos show it laying on top of a jewelry counter at a pawn shop.

Definitely a Southern Jumbo. Most of them around this time would have had a rectangular label inside saying "SJ Deluxe". Yours might not have gotten labeled. And the black pickguard would have been normal for this era. The one in the pic below has tortoise style but someone might have found a stack behind the Coke machine. Edit: You can see sticker residue inside your sound hole in the shape of a Gibson rectangular label.

So just sing everything in one key. Easy fix. Or I suppose you could have a bank of them like John Popper's harmonica vest.

Yeah the reanimator is a spammer and will go away anon.

Well.... you could tune it C F G and A (for Am) and just thump the root note for bass as you sang along. Most songs would be covered. Probably couldn't do any Beatles songs though. Now I wanna make one.