MissouriPicker

Today has been pretty good (as most days are). Got a call from my seven-year gig and they want to get things going again next Wednesday. They are good people and I drove over to talk with them. I enjoyed the Music in The Park venues, but this coffeehouse is like a second home for me.

I had enough trouble teaching myself! 😫

Interesting conversation about hand exercises. Strong hands make it easier to play guitar.

I’ve got a 2016 J100 Walnut. Excellent guitar. Big sound! Great fingerpicking guitar. .....These super jumbos are big guitars, so be sure they are comfortable for you. If you have shorter arms, they may be hard to play for an extended time......I hope you find the guitar you need.

My coffeehouse and winery setup consists of a good mic/cable. Don’t recall the mic name., but it ran $80 or so. Anyway, my amp is a 50watt Roland XP Street Cube. For music in the park gigs I have a Yamaha StagePas with 150watts. I never use any effects. I try to stay as close to a straight acoustic sound as I can while still being heard. If I have a unique sound, it’s probably my playing technique. My music is almost always a mix of partial strums, bass runs, single notes, arpeggios, slides, hammer-one and pull-offs. I half-mute a lot of the notes and end-up with a kind of hallow sound.. I mix-in instrumental versions of the song as I’m singing it. I’m likely just below being adequate at what I do, but I have a lot of fun doing what I do.

Damn nice, Sal! If Lightfoot heard this, he’d also approve. This song is a sweet walk down memory lane. Folk music (especially when written by someone like Gordon) is great at showing real human emotions. Reminds me of a girlfriend back in the 60’s. We’d dated about 3 months when she and her family flew to California for a vacation. ShE never came back!....lol....All I got was a postcard telling me to have a good life....so I did. Good music, bud! I admire how you keep going.

Today was a meloncholy day for me. My mom and dad's house is now owned by someone else. They start moving-in on Tuesday. I went up there earlier this evening to leave them all the keys and the garage door openers. I sat on the floor where my dad's recliner was and just talked out loud for a few minutes. My mom's recliner used to set right next to his. I never expected the stress that accompanied selling my parent's home. It sold pretty quickly and the paperwork is handled by others, so all I had to do was sign my name several times, but the process takes 4-5 weeks and that gives you a lot of time to visit the house and your memories. I think I said something in another thread about it being like the Bob Seger song, "Turn the Page," and that's what I've done. I'm sure my memories will conjure-up a song about the house or my folks. I can see their house from our driveway. It's250-300ft up the street....lol.....Anyway, time marches on and I'll continue marching with it......and keeping an out out for a J200.

The AJs are awesome guitars. Ideal for gentle fingerpicking, but made for a loud and clear sound. My AJ is not the traditional one. Mine is Koa and short scale and as I said numerous times before, "I'm not sure what model it actually is." Whatever is it, it's a truly super guitar. I had a rosewood AJ, long scale and my son has it. He's had it for several years now and it's a gentle beast. I still play it now and then and it's a different feel and sound from my Koa AJ. If I remember correctly, I think the rosewood is a 91-92 model. I don't know that I'd say one is a better guitar than the other. Both are really fine guitars. If I had to choose, I'd likely say that the rosewood is the better AJ...................Anyway, I don't think that lots of people outside of guitar folks know what an AJ is. It doesn't have the notoriety of the Hummingbird, which is quite possibly the most well-known guitar in the world. The AJ, aside from its enlay on the neck is a kind of plain-looking guitar and tends to blend-in with the looks of a million other guitars (to the general public). Like the Martin D28 and D35, it's a monster, but also like them is typically not very flashy in the looks department. A Hummingbird or a Dove in the hands of "Roy Clark" level picker will likely be remembered more than an AJ or D28......because of the bling. People want to be entertained, and a Hummingbird/Dove add to the entertainment. Folks like us listen to and look at guitars differently......Just my view. Doesn't make me right and someone else wrong.

I've been lost for the last few/several years on what Gibson is doing with its lineup. I'm pretty much a purist----Birds are mahogany, AJs are rosewood, J200s are maple, J45s are mahogany, etc. I understand the occassional hybrid model, but often Gibson strays far from what I consider its traditional path. Today we has literally dozens of variations of each model. Many I wouldn't even consider buying at a great price. My AJ is Koa and shortscale. To me it's not a traditional AJ. BUT, it is one hell of a guitar. Yes, I still prefer the traditional models, BUT AGAIN, lots of these hybrids/mongrels/mutts are awesome guitars. I wish Gibson would give them a different name, but I understand the marketing side of it. This particular guitar in the OP's video is a real beast. For myself, I wouldn't care if it had 19 or 20 frets. To be honest about it, I don't think i've ever paid much attention to if a guitar was long scale or short scale. i just kind of went by how it felt to play and how i like the sound. I wouldn't care if this guitar in the video was supposed to be a copy from 1946 or 1938, etc. It still sounds great........... Besides, no one watching me perform has a clue (aside from folks like us) about what Gibson or Martin are trying to do with every variation in their models. While I'm still drawn to the traditional models, my AJ (or whatever it really is) has convinced me that the variations can be real killers. My guitar buying technique is a lot like my playing: pretty basic. If I like it and can afford it, I buy it I'll find out all the details about it later on in here.😀

I have no association with Gibson, aside from playing Gibson guitars. The answer to the other questions is that I feel my Gibson’s are an extension of who I am as a person. Once I bond with them, they’re part of me.

Come back soon. My friend! We all enjoy your thoughtful comments. The forum needs people like you.

Another one gone. He had his own way of rockin’. One of those special people who walked their own musical path in the high tide of The British Invasion, psychodelic music, MOTOWN, The Beach Boys, etc. RIP Trini!

Sweet way to honor a good man. We don’t hear enough about people like him.

Never had one of his albums, but I’ve enjoyed a lot of this guy’s music. In particular, I find his voice very soothing.

Absolutely beautiful guitar! Let us hear it!

Since I’ll very soon be ready to buy a J200, I’d grab the newer of the two. As far as “duds’ go, I wouldn’t worry about them much with Gibsons.. Besides, just what a dud is depends on the ears listening. Whatever guitar you buy, get a good setup so that it is very-easy-on-the fingers. If the guitar is comfortable to hold and play you will spend a lot of time with it. Also, be sure the J200 is a good match for you. As already mentioned, it’s physically too big of a guitar for some people. My J100 (same size as the J200) is a very comfortable fit for me, but I’ve got a friend who loves the guitar, but he’s not as tall as me and he can only play it for a short time before his arms get sore. .......If the J200 is a good match for you, don’t let someone else talk you out of it.

Amen!................................I agree on Ringo also. Personally, I think he got better after The Beatles split and he started doing his own thing. He was able to highlight his skiils. He was more than a drummer. He was a writer, an arranger, a teacher, a band leader. Kind of like George. He wasn't in the shadow of Lennon and McCartney anymore and didn't have to play the role of the loyal sidekick.......I recall an interview where McCartney was asked something about why they kept Ringo to be their drummer when there were a lot of great drummers available. McCartney said, "Because he's a Beatle,."

Yeah, it's tough getting-rid of gear we've had around for a while, years, decades. I'm always hesitant to sell something because "What if I need it one day?".......A couple months ago we had an estate sale at my dad's house. I decided to sell a bunch of stuff I've had, but rarely ever played anymore. Sold eight guitars, two banjos, four ukes, one mandolin, dozens and dozens of music books, two old speakers. I'm glad I did it now. Frees-up some space in my music room and my head. All i've got left now are ten guitars (seven are my Gibsons), two dobros, two banjos, three ukes, probably hundred or so music books, and a bunch of other "odds and ends." I was surprised at how much I got for the instruments. Definitely more than if I'd traded them in on something. I'd always thought that an estate sale was pretty much a fancy name for a garage sale, but in reality it a professional event run by people who have contacts with collectors of many things. It turned-out well............The only downside is that now my wife is pushing me to finally get the music room organized.....

I was too busy chasing women to go to a protest. Woodstock would have been fun, but in all sincerity I had a job to go to.. Besides, in Kansas City we had Volker Park and every Sunday at the fountains was a mini-Woodstock..........And of course, "the potency of marijuana" was always an influence. Just had to be careful not to show-up at work "high."

There was some hard to hear stuff on some Beatle songs. I forget which song it was, but supposedly they were saying something like "Paul is dead." I thought I heard it a few times, but I don't know if I really heard it or if it was the power of suggestion telling me I heard it.....lol.......Makes me think of how me and my buddies used to play Louie Louie real slow trying to catch the dirty words.....lol.......I was so damn disappointed later when I learned the song was an old sea shanty and not a sex-filled ode for teenage boys to lust over.

Got the news today that my dad's house is sold. The buyers got their loan. We sign it away a week from today. He passed away on 4-5-20 and we only had it for sale for a few weeks. Takes longer for all the paperwork crap than it did to sell it. Anyway, one less thing to worry about now. It's not like I won't be going by it anymore----it's three houses up the street from us. I didn't grow-up there, but my kids and grandkids spent a lot of time running back-and-forth between houses. Kind of like that old Seger song "Turn the Page.".......The rest of the day was a "honey do" day............Read in the local news that there was supposed to have been a anti-police march here, but it didn't take place. They said about twenty-five people showed-up with their signs, but they chickened-out of marching. Someone must have talked some sense in to them. Independence is still a Cow Town in a lot of ways. Destroy property and your immediate threat will be local citizens. Lots of flags on houses, on cars, on businesses, lots of black, white, and hispanic rednecks. The funny part is that they asked for a police escort in an anti-police march. The mayor said "No,." I thought the guy was a wimp, but I'm glad he proved me wrong..........I don't care if people want to peacefully protest, but these stupid college-age kids better pull their heads out of their butts, wipe the crap out their eyes and take a good and long look at whats going to eventually come down on them.....Anyway, that's my life's history for today.

Reminds me of an old joke...................Him: You been gettin' any on the side? Me; Hell, it's been so long, I didn't know they moved it.

I bought my Walnut J100 new and there was a Gibson guitar pick inside...lol....I figured that one of the Gibson folks gave it a test drive and that was a good thing in my view.

Yeah, Gibson has some nice straps. There right in the price range of a lot of straps. They do have some high-priced ones and I likely won’t pay $100 for one, but they are pretty cool and I can’t say “Never!”

Welcome back!