E-minor7

I been hovering around them both. Due to an irresistible offer, eventually got the TV Bird. But the Firebird Custom - which was new to me - really impressed. It had more sound, better projection and simply was Gibson maple at its best. I'd love to try another, but they are rare. Someone told me it's basically a Dove – I don't know. Besides the maple-factor, being a Dove means longer scale length = 25,5 opposed to 24,75. Now that my Bird is developing, I'd like to compare the 2 again. I'm not sure the result would be as in the shop just described. You need to play both and get yourself into the differences, then imagine how they will progress. Not the easiest task, but heavy fun. When it comes to looks (not to mention echoes of rock history), the Bird of course takes the trophy.

Where did you see that one ?

I guess I'm the odd man out here. I've been comparing guitars, new and old, strings, saddle, nuts, -- even bridge pins -- for 40 years, and I have some pretty well formed opinions. Appreciate it - 1.Old instruments sound better in general than new instruments -- if sound is your thing, buy old. There is a clear difference. A 20 - 30 - 40 - 50 year old instrument has something indefinable. You feel/hear how much the instrument has come together. The different pieces of wood really know each other and vibe as a whole. 2.Construction materials (woods) are important -- not necessarily better, but tonally predictably distinctive. Some materials are known to work better for different styles and genres. Wood is one of the main keys to tonal identity. 3.Top/bracing, bridge, bridge plate geometry -- there are the major determiner for guitar tone. Be conscious about scalloped or non-scalloped braces and the bracing pattern itself. A long lasting deeply interesting riddle. 4.Setup -- neck pitch, saddle height, etc., etc. Incredibly important-- setup is where the money is to be made. Optimize these, you optimize power. The right set-up makes you go from struggling over playing to flying. 5.Strings are mostly a matter of taste. I agree that coated strings last longer but lose some power. Once you have the right guitar with the right setup, cheap strings will work fine and will be really hard (impossible?) to beat.. Older strings can like grow to be a part of the guitar as they fade. If that happens, don't change them before they no longer stay in tune. 6.Finally, there is saddle materials, bridge pins, and nut materials. I suppose if you used chewing gum, you might have an effect. What we have found is that the geometry of these are very important -- the materials (within reason) are not. Bridge-pin and saddle material affects sound. I'm not heavy enough to talk about nuts and bridge plates. There it is -- sad but true. What is the sad part. . . Let's pick, What key ? -Tom E-minor7

This is good news. I had a suspicion that brass would sound metallic. Hard in some way – overdefined or too distinct. All I dared up till now is a brass t.r. cover.

This excellent performance had just as excellent sound in my cans. Most of these Music Fog clips are simply excellent. Only thing I can't agree with is the Dylan's overrated line, hehe - Tangled Up In Blue is over-excellent. And by the way, what kind of orange label 45 is this. Notice the severe back-stripe -

Talking McCartney, I recently ran across a newly released S. Martin album. Admit I can't help wondering if he plays a Bird on this one. . .

I'm sure several of you remember McCartney's black Everly. But are you aware he played another Gibson before that !?! - A mix between a square shouldered J-45 and a sq. sh. J-160E. Cherryburst with 2 knobs, pick-up and the 45 Deluxe pick-guard. Upside down. . .

I continue to be impressed by his massive sets. Juniors Farm, , , aha. Saw him do a groovy live version of I'll Get You on the Tube. Wonder if it's time to lite up What You're Doing ?

The link above leads to a rather sloppy UMGF thread, but the story about Paul receiving a D-28 a few years back is probably true - why not. However he already used a Martin live as early as the beginning of the 90's. I saw him at a smaller concert round then – just after the unplugged album – and he played a straight blonde lefty 28 that night for sure. At one point he was solo on stage and said - "Bob Dylan has a stative around his neck, , , I have this". Then he called a guy out in the light who held his harmonica during an intire folksong. Can't remember which. By the way he also introduced us to his secret hobby : DRUMs ! Some night. . . .

Fine video - Guess the D-28 is 'just' a terrific sounding ex. Never saw a 28 with a label, my 35 have non, but my Custom D.18 has a paper label asymmetrically placed below the sound-hole. Your 45 looks convincing BigK; nice warm hue. I'm sure there's a lot of tone inside that box. Yeps !

My then close friend C bought one MK something around 1980. He did study architecture and the lines of the guitar kinda fitted his image. It sounded rather good by the way. I was just out of my Norlin tunnel and had a solid skepticism about acoustic Gibsons. The MK changed that considerably. I don't recall it as a rock/folk guitar at all. But it had a pretty grand sound and automatically called for respect. Admit I didn't play it much – he did. Some time later, we started a garage or should we say bigcitydampcellarband and he traded the MK for a sax and a tape-loop-echo-machine – maybe also a black copy LP and a green-eyed Teisco amp. We spent a hard working year, maybe more, getting' a very fast loud original rock repertoire together. Had one success and one failure then began to corrode. He zoomed back to the academy. Is an up'n'goin' architect now – own business and stuff, , , , but no Gibson. Funny coincidence between wily and pbailiff there – short-storyish. . .

Let's hear what you hear -

Oouuhh, the wild Mister Patton, , , ! Believe it or not, I went to Belgium to follow his trails in the Ardennes during The B. of Bulge a couple of years ago, carrying fuel for a Sherman in a vintage M3 half-tracker (that Joachim Pieper sure was a severe opponent). Unfortunately we broke down in the woods. A bit off theme here, , , apart from my theory that the WW II US-campaigns through Europe might have been first chance for these geographies to hear/see ringing Gibsons ever. (Btw only brought my Lee Oskar harp)