AnneS

Ach…I’m sad. Race Among the Ruins and The House You Live In are always candidates on any set list.m of mine. Lord, but he left us with some fine, fine stuff. Gord was indeed Gold. RIP.

Dang -missed it? Love that song but didn’t get a chance to listen, I’m afraid…😕

It never hurts to put in writing something like “I believe many states have consumer protection laws that provide for treble damages when a warranty is breached or misrepresented, but before I contact my attorney…”

Crappity. Love the vid…glad she made you this gift. 52….

Yep, it’s the right guitar for popping out to open mic —great size, fine stage presence, imo. BK, even thru a friend’s old iPhone, I think you can hear that the house set-up is very satisfactory. (McKinney-Elliot—ye can barely see the wee thing.) And note the intonation and clarity, even capo’d at 6, on my soft finger-picking on this one: https://www.dropbox.com/s/0pm5gjd6hrlbbc0/Sweet Return-WhiteHorse2023.MOV?dl=0 And no issues with reg’lar strumming, either: https://www.dropbox.com/s/aeqavlaurl5uiyp/My Sudden Death-WhiteHorse2023.mov?dl=0 Thanks, all, for walking through this little experiment with me. I believe I did good with my choice.

Capos are cool. I use whichever is hanging around, including of late the McKinney-Elliot that Buc sent me a number of years ago after amusing him with a limerick—about capos. I like that I can store it above the nut, and I love how light and slim it is. But I need to replace the tubing and have to first figure out how to get the old one off. Probably a blow dryer to loosen it. I like the rear-grip spring loaders, too, which work on all my necks—I’m not a string bender, though, so I’m not picky. Except I really don’t like the forward clamping styles. I think it’s a visual thing. I have an early-model G7 laying around, which is too chunky-looking also. (Okay, I lied—I guess I am a bit picky…)😇

My open mic spot is quite a listening room, with a great house system operated by an employee, not a rando off the street, so their DI set-up works and my man Josh dialed me in just fine. I’ve moved the L-00 off to my local store for consignment, so, alas, I can’t run the experiment. Unless I run down to the shop and try it there…hmmm, maybe…. But capoing beyond 2 was exactly my issue. I play to accompany my croaking, and I almost always gotta be up the neck. In fact— true story—I had tuned it down a full step a month or so ago (when all you guys were touting the same), and boy-howdy, did she sound fabulous! I mean, goose-bumpy stuff. But ‘twas in vain, as I can’t sing down there (without transposing every damn thing, which is its own pain in the arse), and so the capo issue was exacerbated and I became, I think, even more downcast. In the end, it was not just the right fit; it was me, not her; she belongs with someone who will love her for who she is and not give her the cold shoulder for not being someone else. Now, to be sure, my J100 ain’t ever going anywhere—the higher up the neck the capo goes, the more like a piano she sounds. Jumbo, maple, long scale—that IS a fit. Turns out, the little RW short scale is a good companion for me, too. Thanks, BK…

So I did 4 sets of quick A/B comparisons between the 2021 Taylor 412ec and the 2015 Custom Gibson L-00. If you’re interested, you’ll have navigate around this Dropbox folder: 412ec v L-00 A= Taylor; B= Gibson (Recorded to Voice Memos via iPhone, so headphones/earbuds recommended.) As we all would expect, the differences are subtle but evident. This wasn’t an endeavor setting out to prove a point and isn’t meant to be a contest of better/worse, etc. I just wanted a snapshot of what I thought I was hearing, and it accomplished that for me. Took the Taylor out to open mic this week and was very happy with it. So far, so good.

If you are looking to add an insurance rider for this, be sure to use the higher “sold” prices, as those may be closer to the current cost of replacement.

Donovan…

I believe Taylor doesn’t use nitro, which is what the nose knows. No sweet vanilla-ish scents here—no scent at all, really.

Alrighty, then—NGD is fun, though it didn’t arrive until early evening and I haven’t had a chance for a good try-out yet. But… so far, so good. It’s roughly the same size as the L-00, and heavier (b/c RW), but it definitely as a more open, ringing tone. I hope to record a couple of A/B clips tomorrow, for posterity, and I’ll post them if they turn out okay and if anyone is interested. You know what was unexpectedly weird when I opened the case? No whiff of nitro. My brain is apparently hard-wired to expect it once the last latch snaps. I am having feelings on that score, to be honest…

Thanks, everyone—it’ll be NGD tomorrow. Good notes above, esp Dave’s advice to register and BK’s thoughts about the ES2 (I always go thru a DI at my local open mic, and never have had to go directly into a PA.) And, yes, it has the V brace. I think the only differences between the 2021 412ce and the 2022/2023 iterations are cosmetic only. (Though I will say the sunburst on the the 414ce I played the other day was impressive.) As always, I sure do appreciate the support and good humor. I’ll report back soon! 🤩

While standing on my head, perhaps…

Today, I pulled the trigger on a used (mint, they say) 2021 Taylor 412ec. After lugging the jumbo around in Nashville last weekend, I came to realize how much I really want a small-sized strummer for stage stuff. It didn’t hurt that I heard a few nice Taylors whilst there, either. In fact, I paid a visit to Carters and played an older Taylor 614, which felt quite good…and got me to thinking—and researching. So today I went to GC to test out what I could, but they only had the next-size up-grand auditorium, in rosewood. Loved it, really, and now feel confident that the 14-fret grand concert size RW will be the ticket. I will be selling (insert sad face) my 2015 Ebony L-00, which is a lovely finger-picker (and beautiful guitar) but a too-tight-sounding strummer for what I want now. My jumbo is, of course, not going anywhere, and I think a maple and a rosewood are a good combo for me. We shall see! Stay tuned… (And being the kind folk you are, I know you won’t hate. 😅)

I like it, too. I have given up trying to figure out your upside-down picking so I’m not about to watch your chord hand. Freaks me out, man! (In an admiring way, though.)

I enjoyed the song, Lars—love your playing and really enjoy the immediacy you capture with your recording technique. Nicely done.

Well done!!

Thanks, Dan -it was a riot, and that just inspired everyone to turn their nobs up to 11s. Hey, I saw that Jackson is playing somewhere with Tom Paxton. Is that with Don Henry and John Vesna (aka, the Don Juans)? Regardless—it was good to see that he’s still out doing it. Hope you and he are still picking together.

Thank you, every last one, for your very kind words and for your support. As Sal noted, this can be a pretty special place, for sure. The workshop was very fun—Suzy Bogguss is a generous, competent soul and is wickedly funny. The group (of 12) bonded, and that helped us all put on a good show for the people who stood in line in sub-freezing temps and were able to get in. It’s said you can feel the history in that place, and it’s true. We most of Sunday in the place and had a visit with Amy Kirklund, the woman who started it all. Among other interesting things, her father was a studio musician who played on tons of records, including—get this—the violin on “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” Gawk! So, yeah, one feels the history, just being there. And you know what, it was the opposite of intimidating—it was elevating. When you belong, you just belong… The most fun…ever. (G—I didn’t introduce the first song by name because I didn’t want to step on the punch line😋—it’s called Died Young.) Again, thanks, team!

Well, it happened, and it could not have been more fun! Suzy Bogguss was a delight, and it might be a while before I grasp that I got to do this…

Really looking forward to it, Murph—esp now that I’ll be following in your footsteps! Maybe the In Parting Link is fixed? If not, I’ll move it over to soundcloud later. The edginess of Tribe is kinda why I’m intrigued by putting it out there. I remember the lively discussion we had on this very board, back when I first wrote it. Hmmm…

Next month, I’m doing another workshop in Nashville, this time with Suzy Bogguss, and it culminates in a Sunday evening songwriters showcase at the Bluebird Cafe. We’ll each get to perform 2 songs. In a couple of weeks, I need to send her my songs, plus one alternate. I think I have my first choice locked in (Gravity—and hoping she’ll add harmonies!), but I’m flitting back and forth among 3 other choices for the No. 2 and alternate selections. So…if you have nothing better to do and are interested in weighing in, I could sure use some help from you folks, who have been such a helpful sounding board over the years. (I was going to set this up as a poll, but I couldn’t figure it out.) You could: rank the options (1-4); give me a 1 and a 2; or tell me which one to leave out. Of course, helpful comments are welcome. (At this stage, song selection is key—we’ll be working on performance aspects during the workshop, so you needn’t make that a criteria here.) Here are the songs (which some of you will recognize): 1. Gravity https://song.space/3p6tq9 2. Tribe https://song.space/3bgyfq 3. Died Young https://song.space/3rmtda 4. In Parting https://song.space/3l456j All of these are well-received when I play them live, but which do YOU think are best suited for my turn at the famed (gulp!) Bluebird? Ready? Go! 🫣

Gawd, that is FINE, all the way around! Thanks for letting us in on the fun. Mission accomplished, sir. 👍🏻👍🏻

Think I’ve posted this clip before, but if this doesn’t hint at what the OP’s daughter aspires to… https://www.dropbox.com/s/3c96x8r91zuniha/Video Jan 12%2C 10 48 09 PM.mov?dl=0