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milod

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Everything posted by milod

  1. Actually my wife made quiche. Nice and easy to eat while working on the computer so tomorrow at work won't be so drastic. And decent coffee, but I'm only on my second pot for the day. m
  2. Nothin' fancy today... Monday and Tuesday were snacking... Wife made a pork roast... Usually on a "let down day" like today it's traditional Northern Plains beef 'n' beans, today it was roast pork and beans. Gotta go make another pot of coffee and write something about the guy who was rescued after the blizzard and shouldn't have made it. m
  3. BTW, as Rob from Oz noted, welcome to the forums!

    Minneapolis has something of a tradition of interesting pickers, so there should be a luthier-setup guy to do what you want - but it may cost as much as a campfire acoustic.

  4. Hadda suffer through a ribeye and beans - beef and beans being kinda a tradition in this part of the world. m
  5. The shark I've had access to was good, but I don't have a clue if it's similar to the critters available in Oz. m
  6. today was kinda a reversal with Thanksgiving when we had ribeye steaks etc., and today it was turkey, dressing, potatoes and gravy and corn. (Maize, I guess, for some of our Brit-English variation speaking friends.)
  7. I guess there's some differences in our own minds that count for some of us and not to others. To me the big likeness of the Epi Dot and the Gibson is not the pups, but the main construction overall and the scale. Yup, "plywood" in both cases and the same scale and bridges, body block etc. on the same shape. I guess I always figured playability first and let the amp and amp settings worry more about the "tone" than the pups or string choices. Then again I never really thought in terms of copying whether the guitar or the music itself. So functionally... the dot is a less expensive close copy of the 335. m
  8. RCT.... I'd disagree on at least some of the "lawsuit" guitars. Gibson in the '70s didn't have all that good a rep for quality. Ibanez at their higher end came in with stuff that was as good as, although slightly different, from Gibson designs and were quite clearly marked as "Ibanez." I've got one myself, and frankly wouldn't trade for a current model Gibson of the same configuration. It's that good. Were you closer, I'll wager you'd agree. I also have an excellent Eastman single pup ES175 clone from a couple of years ago that is an exceptional instrument I'd play anywhere it would be practical or appropriate, but not in the class of either a current Gibson or some of the old Ibanez offerings in the "lawsuit" era. I'd suggest that Guild also had some instruments in the '70s that were of equal or better quality than similar Gibson models. I'd not trade my old 1970s S100c "SG" type for a current similar Gibson, either, and at that point of time, the S100c was IMHO preferable to Gibson SG models. Some 40 years later she still plays as if moving to make our music as a duet rather than she as only an instrument. m
  9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X-UAq21K5Q Lowe is an example to all of us if you figure his life and life in music. It's worth a bit of research. I got into his pickin' on an old Ruby Braff Stereocraft album a bit over 50 years ago regardless that it actually was before I left trumpet for folkie guitar. Some players simply have class that transcends style.
  10. well... gettin' ready for a trip across the rangeland... so this sorta thing fits... m And I did this one for a cowboy poetry and music gathering in Montana a year or so ago...
  11. only 4 on these two - take your pick of lower or higher register. I love the piece. Segovia did it indredibly well too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q-Zqz7mNjQ
  12. Right now, it's late late late in the office and I've another cupla thousand words to write... So... Bach Cello Suite No.1 in G. Perfect for the circumstances. BTW Dig... had a cupla folks from NSW visiting up here Sunday checking out ranch vacations here with European travel agents. I asked why Australian tourists would be interested, since a lotta similarity to cattle ranching there and here. The response was so they could see the country, the mythos and realities of the American cowboy they'd seen so often on television and in the movies. Okay... Whatever. I guess at a certain point I take it pretty much for granted. m
  13. Take yer pick. I really like to see how the same songs can be so differently interpreted...
  14. duane... you heard this one? Ain't quite what Bunny Berigan did, but... these guys lived a lot longer. <grin> m
  15. Mr. Nat... More folks should listen to Fred Neil; some interesting material that I guess some might call "fusion" nowadays - and he was a pretty decent 12-string fingerpicker. But I'm at work... and background music... m
  16. Listening to this one... I've done the "song" for years, but it's only kinda boring "elevator music." Trying to figure what I can steal in two months, whether or not to do with a vocal... I do it in a different key with only 10 percent of the "stuff." Sheesh. I can't even think the runs... m
  17. If the ding really is from shipping, that cost should be covered by the shipping firm, not the retailer. I'd check with the retailer as to how to handle that if returning it is your wish. Me, I'm pretty well beat up over the years so frankly, my concern is more whether a "new" guitar is playable. The last instrument I got was a flattop 12 AE that I got almost at theft prices. All the electronics were perfect, etc., and the actual playability was very good. But there was a bit of a bash on the top. Nothing big, although bigger than our OP's experience. The instrument actually was in better shape than I expected. So... some superglue to hold the little bash from becoming a big one... I gigged with it on an afternoon "cowboy music" outing and nobody noticed anything about the guitar except that "Hey, is that a new 12?" and I had a blast. So... maybe if I were a cupla decades younger I'd have a different perspective. But now? Even the minor cigarette burn where I've stacked a smoke gigging in saloons of the good old days on my old early '70s Guild simply makes me appreciate her more. m
  18. Ian... Yup... I'm guessing that were the new versions in the store/web store I would have gotten the new version 'stedda the regular Dot, but mostly as you noted for the upgrade/added electronics. But... they weren't. I'm actually pretty happy with the way the Dot works. I'll add that it's a lot "cleaner" to me than other brands I tried, not to mention more comfortable. m
  19. I dunno about "identical" with a Gibson. Should be a lot more handwork on a Gibbie that would, if anything, result in a bit more variation on the necks - as noted by HenryJ himself. Somebody also didn't mention lacquer vs poly for finishes. On the other hand, functionally there ain't a whole lot of difference in terms of general type of materials and design. A lot of "I like this guitar" is terribly subjective, but I'll say that most folks commenting lately have written pretty highly of the Epi Dot. As if to prove the subjectivity, some figure recent Chinese the best, others some of the Korean-made versions best or... My Epis ain't Gibsons, but there's doggone reliable and nice-sounding instruments with clear-sounding pups and solid-feeling switch and pots. m
  20. Yeah, I've got two Dots... I think that given the no-price-difference thing, I'd likely have ended up with the fancier models because it appears the standard Dots are kinda put into the background. My guess is that to an extent a slightly upscale market was perceived for a somewhat fancier iteration of the 335 "type," perhaps due to a softening in the market for the plain Dot? Regardless, for what they are and do, either must be considered a great bargain. m
  21. Rereading through these... One thought came to mind... "Awwwwwww heck, just play some and buy whatever you will. Odds are it'll be swapped or otherwise "gone" in 10 years if you're a young picker and left in a case if you're an old picker. So just go ahead and make your mistakes like all the rest of us have." <grin> m
  22. IMHO the preamp and playing a guitar "acoustic-electric" can be done quite nicely and also IMHO, "better" than straight acoustic miked. Why? Depending on the particular piece, there's more opportunity for varying dynamics and you don't have to play "hard" to get volume. And you don't necessarily have to go to heavier strings for volume, either, depending on the pickup and preamp. Glad you're happy with your purchase! m EDIT: I can't help with whether the top is solid or laminate, but played mostly "electric," I'm not convinced it makes a difference an audience can hear.
  23. Wiggy... no way I'd argue the potential value of heavier strings on most full acoustics, especially the bigger bodies - and especially for folks who have a heavy hand. OTOH, run through an amp or PA board, I'm utterly convinced through my own experience with AEs since the early '70s that the heavier strings aren't needed - or necessarily desirable for several reasons. Yes, it does definitely take a little different perspective on technique than that of a straight acoustic. I'd describe it more as the "hand" such as Joe Pass whether with fingerpicking or a flatpick. Heavy strumming doesn't work for beans with lighter strings, for certain. But I've never worn heavier than 11s on any acoustic I've owned, and that includes backing up fiddlers on stage for years flatpicking all acoustic, playing some bluegrass ditto - and a lotta saloon AE country/country rock work in the '70s both bare fingers and with a flatpick. I don't claim to be any sort of better than average picker - but I think that getting the most out of an AE is a different function for the picker compared to playing acoustic only, with or without mikes. I think getting the most out of an AE is in ways more like playing a nylon string or even a lightly-strung electric than a steel string acoustic. Then you let the amp help with the dynamics rather than playing harder or softer in the same place on the strings and more or less the same way. It's hard to explain, but it works. m
  24. The EJ200sce is a nice guitar. Acoustic it should be quite good, depending on technique - and run "electric," my guess is that it would be good enough for anybody to use on stage anywhere. Strings also are a variable one doesn't find on nylon strung instruments regardless that there are variations of nylon strings. Gauge and type can be quite important to pickers. I mostly fingerpick, and all of my "fingerpicking" flattops wear very much lighter strings than most pickers prefer. On the other hand, for flatpicking/strumming, my 9-42 gauge strings are almost certainly too light. Me, I'd likely put 10-46 on a J200 type, even for fingerpicking. There are lots of brands and metal types as well as gauges to consider. I'd personally recommend starting with a good brand's 10-46 however you play. Then as they lose some of the "new string" sounds, consider experimentation. Some folks recommend going to heavier gauge strings immediately, but I don't since the are more difficult to play well. Others have strong feelings on string types, too, at least on specific guitars. So... I'd say you should figure on a number of years messing with different strings before you settle on something. Please, though, do buy a hardshell case for it, even if you don't plan on "playing out." Some might question whether a $400 US guitar is worth a $70-110 case - but all of my guitars of all price tags do have hard cases. m
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