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Old Neil

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Posts posted by Old Neil

  1. On 2/1/2024 at 5:13 PM, Red 333 said:

    Sounds wonderful, both the recording and the arrangement. 

    Red 333

    Thank you. It was great working with the other two musicians who just "got it" so quickly and can work in their interpretive playing in one or two takes. For my part I don't consider myself much of a player but love the songwriting process. I play and sing on my tracks because, well, someone has to show the other musicians how they are laid out(!) It is a particular pleasure to take songs out of my loungeroom and out in the wild as it were to meet what I would consider "real" musicians. Strangely, a lot of these same musicians don't necessarily write original material so it becomes a mutualy beneficial arrangement. That's more than fine by me.

  2. Nice balance between guitar and vocals. Agree with others about the rich, warm tone. Not often on the forum and others may already be familiar with your guitar but it is new to me. A custom Southern Jumbo? AJ?

  3. I find myself in this situation sometimes too. Usually, it's with changing pickups on electric guitars but sure, been down the rabbit hole with different pins/saddle/tuner/string/pick combinations. Only occasionally is there a noticeable improvement - sometimes it's worse!

    Anyway, good call on the Monel Retro strings. LOVE them on my AJ - and they seem to last and last with consistent tone. Maybe the first day, like many new string sets, they can sound too metallic or "stringy" but after playing, putting it down, picking it up later and re-tuning, it great and stays that way for ages.

  4. Thanks Murph,

    An interesting piece of trivia was, that although most of the album was recorded in a friend's studio, the AJ was recorded in my office at home just using a medium distance positioned Shure Beta 57A cardioid mic. I have a condenser mic but didn't bother as this sounded fine. No special sound damping or room baffles needed. A little compression, EQ and reverb was added at the studio and that was it.

  5. It's been a while but I've been busy getting an album release happening amongst other things. This track from it is the most "unplugged" of the lot in that it just features my beloved AJ and a contrabass (double bass played with a bow) and some lovely violin work. I wrote it, sang the lead vocal (obviously not the female backing vocals though...) and played the AJ (well, that part is obvious as that's why we come to this forum...) and put in a few subtle synth parts at the end but it is mainly an all acoustic instrument song. It's good to have something to post here about.

     

  6. Congratulations. I agree with others here that a sunburst on a mahogany top looks beautiful - and 'serious' for some reason (or is that just 'seriously beautiful'`? But I digress...)

    I suspect that a hog top might take a bit more breaking in - or at least warming up each session - to really show its voice. We all look forward to your thoughts in comparison to the stock L-00 sound. My guess at this stage is that it may be similar to Koa guitars. More mellow and pretty with good sustain. In any case, enquiring minds wish to know...

  7. I had a Martin dread with Madagascar back and sides a while back. That long, vertical 'ripple' in the grain on the outer edges of the back of yours reminds me of how a lot of the Madagascar tops of that era at least shared that characteristic. So, it's possible...

  8. 14 hours ago, Red 333 said:

    Yes, exactly.

    In terms of dryness, the 1942 J45 Legend > FVG 1939 J35 > SJTV > J45 TV.  

    The Legend has a beautiful tone. It's also the darkest of the four, but by no means muffled.  It's balance just tips toward the bottom. The low end is very strong, possibly in part due to the substantial neck. 

    Hope that helps.

    Red 333

    Yes it does. Serious necks on the Legend series too. I remember having the good fortune to play an L-00 Legend and a 30’s something L-00 side by side. Both had huge, V-neck profiles, especially considering they were attached to a small body guitar. Wonderful sounding. The actual vintage had that magical quality where you can hear new song ideas spring out of it while you play thing going on. Unfortunately it had a price tag to match that, by today’s standards, looks like a bargain but that’s life.

    Thanks for the “review”. It sounds like you have an enviable stable of Gibsons there. More power to you. 🙂

     

     

  9. As it turns out, my J-45 standard is a 2014 model. Just the year in itself doesn’t guarantee anything of course. In my case, I was fortunate to be able to compare and choose from six examples at the time. They were spread out over various guitar shops so I had to use my memory a little in the process but after several rounds of this, plus a few signature and TV models thrown in for comparison, I kept coming back to the one I eventually bought.

    in regards to your question, standards begin life as relatively brighter and more “string-ey” sounding than their darker, mellower “pre-vintaged” brethren but mellow and deepen themselves with time and playing. 

     

  10. Thank you,

    Yes, I have a very good standard J-45 (and a 12 fret AJ) but have played a few True Vintage models and a Sheryl Crow Southern Jumbo (I think that's what it was at least). Some sound bites I recall on Youtube at the time seemed to show a very dark, dry version of the J-45 tone but you are obviously better placed to comment on that.

  11. Yep, the Roy Smeck model I played at a store 18 months ago was that in sunburst. It was expensive but someone snapped it up fairly quickly anyway. Those specs are like a magic ratio for a guitar sound that works for me at least. Great for arpeggios mixed with strumming. When the strings start to dull it can be great for that Nick Drake Pink Moon sound as well. Add easier playability than a dreadnought both in the perceived scale and actual physical distance the arms need to travel and it’s a winner. 
     

    Never heard of the M2M model but deep-body small guitars are special.

  12. Lovely guitars. I see this has turned into a 12 fret love fest 🙂 Nothing wrong with that, mind. 
    I got to play a Roy Smeck 12 fret AJ a while back. Very similar sound (unsurprisingly). Right now I have being watching a movie with my wife (who bought my AJ as a surprise present by the way) and softly picking a new song idea with “Nick Drake tuning” and capo at the. Second fret. Like a cross between a harp and a piano.  

  13. I am sure many here have had this experience at some point. Went down to my local guitar shop on a snowy cold day to strum a few guitars and see what the new harvest for the year might be (haven't visited in quite a while). Firstly, what happened to new guitar prices? Yikes! 🙂 

    Secondly, played some nice guitars like the new Martin Modern Deluxe 000-28 (great neck); An old Guild mahogany Jumbo (warm, balanced strummer); even a Rainsong with graphite B&S and spruce wood top (another solid feeling neck). Soundwise they were all good but..."meh. I've had better" was the smug feeling after a session with my own guitar back home. That guitar is a Custom Shop (whatever that really means in Gibson World...) 12 fret (Adi top, hide glue joins etc). The only change was to put on butterbean Waverlys just because I prefer them on all my acoustics over the years. The original Grover butterbeans were OK, just not as tightly accurate. 

    Anyway, just wanted to show a little love for a rarely featured guitar (14 or 12 fret varieties) in these parts. With the overall shorter feel /sound hole brought up slightly and of course, shorter neck to the body, it feels like a rounder Triple Oh. Such a lovely combination of sound qualities I appreciate. Focused, deep, but not 'flabby' bass; thick, musical trebles and (maybe it's a 12 fret thing) the feel and comfort of a short scale even though it is technically long scale like its 14 fret brethren.  Just my favorite combination of features, feel, and sound. 

    Just sayin'...

    AJ Custom 12 fret Thumbnail.jpg

    • Like 1
  14. 6 minutes ago, jedzep said:

    Hey Neil.  Is the AJ something your ordered up, or just a fortunate find?  It would be nice to see, if you feel like fighting through the pic post maze.

    Hi Jedzep,

    It was more than just a fortunate find. It was a VERY fortunate surprise gift from my wife. I was tossing up between it and a Hummingbird Vintage at the time. I came back to the guitar shop to find it had gone and felt a bit sad I had not pulled the trigger on such a captivating and rare instrument. Little did I know my wife had bought it and swore the sales staff to silence. 🙂 For both the fact that it is an incredible guitar both in playability (think: "chunky OM/000") and sound and the fact that it was a loving and generous gift from my wife means that it's a keeper. 

    I beleive Wildwood did a run of these too. Here is one Youtube review: 

    That is, Adirondack top, IR back and sides, hide glue, 12 fret neck, butterbean tuners (I swapped them out for Waverly's) and a high quality internal pickup. I always mic up my guitars through decent mics and preamps for recording but if I played live that would be very useful. 

  15. J-45's are great for everything, period. Having said that, I Have the very good fortune to also own a 12 fret Custom Shop AJ. That has a level of single note projection that is just lovely for fingerstyle or pick arpeggiated stuff. It is only because of that that my J-45 is used mostly for rhthym on my recordings. Could it all be done with just a good J-45? Of course. As others have said, it mostly with the player anyway. I would add for those who record, a good producer can make the best of whatever you are playing - not only its individual sound but how it fits in a mix. But that is a whole other art...

  16. Rambler wrote: "Less boom and overtones than an HD28v. Loud, clear and punchy. Its a good sound..."

    Yep. Completely agree. Had a Martin HD-28V and AJ side by side in my collection every day for many months. The Martin left (and it was a great guitar) but the AJ stayed. OK, it's a little unique in that it is a 12 fret to the neck, Adirondack over Indian rosewood but it sounds (and records) wonderfully.

     

    Oh, and I also have a great J-45 and a Hummingbird Vintage at home for comparison and agree they are also very different beasts tonally and 'vibe' wise. Both worth their place alongside the AJ.

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