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mountainpicker

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Everything posted by mountainpicker

  1. Thanks Dan. Now I can go shovel more snow with an unworried mind! One more question which is kind of unrelated but all the pictures here make it easy to reference. The picture in post #102 shows a little bent tab wire routing thingy that has some kind of contact adhesive. Does anyone know what they are called and a source for those? I had some rather expensive work done by a shop in Boulder and they should have used those things instead of leaving wires and connectors thrashing around inside the guitar....but they didn't so I need to find some of those and finish the job myself. Any help would be appreciated.
  2. A zombie thread, last posted to in 2014 until today. I have never looked inside my two Gibsons regarding this issue. I didn't wade completely through all of the posts but could someone who knows summarize what the final upshot about this issue was?
  3. I think the famous Beatles rooftop concert was in temperatures colder than 55. No acoustic guitars present though, if memory serves. I would think it's more about your fingers being able to function than what the guitar can handle.
  4. I've sat across from a finger picked '70's era D-25, all mahogany Guild, just about two Friday nights out of every month for over a decade now and it has just about the sweetest tone one can imagine. It's not a loud guitar but it just sounds fantastic. Tonight I'm going to have to look and see if it has an arched back or flat but I think it's just a standard flat backed model and it doesn't have a dark cherry finish. I think Guilds are real sleeper instruments.
  5. Hey Dan, did you happen to play that new three and a half pound Moon Light guitar that Breedlove just came out with while you were in Bend?
  6. If it happened to me and the pain had already gone on for five weeks I'd find the best acupuncturist near me and give it a try. If foreign objects are still in you the infection would probably be to the red-streaks-up-your-arm stage and you would have mentioned antibiotics, etc. and be freaking (been there, done that) out. Lots of pressure points in the hands and feet and I would at least entertain the possibility that some of the cactus thorns randomly and detrimentally got inserted into nerves. Let someone that knows what inserting needle-like objects into the wrong places might do and see if they can counter it with the "correct" insertions...so to speak. That's the first thing that came to mind when I read this. But find someone that studied in China and has a stellar reputation. The best I've ever had at relieving pain lives in Charlotte, NC. Good luck with finding relief. Years of putting up with your symptoms doesn't sound remotely acceptable. I wish you the best.
  7. A law essay?! I bet that's an engaging form of literature. I wonder how many there are in the world? On a parallel topic, I always hear good things about DR's here. I think I will have to try some. Are there any law essays regarding them I should be aware of?
  8. This thread just made me feel so much better about my musical self. And it's only 8 a.m.
  9. Zombywoof-I've always dug your J-50/45 or whatever model it is considered to be. But, now I'm confused by your statement that "(as the J-50's were shipped before the J-45's)". According to these guys (not that anyone on the net has a corner on veracity): http://www.guitarhq.com/gibson6.html J-45's were made from 1942 to the present and J-50's were made from 1947 to the present. But I guess I'm most curious as to where the line got drawn on top selection that determioned when a top was relegated to being a J-50 or a J-45. Someone was responsible for making the call as to what was given a burst and what was left natural. Or was it just a numbers thing with so many J-50's per J-45's cranked out, due to sales demand. Maybe some pics of old J-50's (hint, hint) would be helpful.
  10. Here's the article and the picture that sparked the inquiry: http://www.guitaraficionado.com/smoking-j-jorma-kaukonen-embryonic-journey-gibson-j-50
  11. I was over on the AGF and was looking at a picture of Jorma's '58 or '59 J-50 and a question came to mind for those in the know here. I believe that it was in Fabulous Flat-top Guitars that I read that the five dollar upcharge originally charged to have a J-50 with a clear finish (over the sunburst J-45) was because the J-50 soundboard/top was a more cosmetically perfect chunk of wood. So just how clear of bearclaw and other grain "imperfections" were allowed before a top was relegated to J-45 builds? Or was it more about the initial tap tone/sound of the top? This would also apply to LG-2's vs LG-3 models. The reason I ask is that Jorma's appears to have some waviness in the grain above the soundhole that isn't from play wear. Also, eventually the price difference between the two models disappeared and it just became about whether one wanted a 'burst or a natural finish. When did that start to be the case?
  12. I'm kind of reviving this sort of old thread because I was doing a search on dead strings. I normally change my strings (EJ-16's on virtually every guitar) every 30-60 days. Lately though I've encountered a couple of professional players playing Gibsons that WANT to leave old strings on their guitars. Joey Ryan of the Milk Carton Kids was the latest I've encountered. His are so old he doesn't even remember the brand and he keeps his guitar tuned down to D. So, since I have enough guitars to experiment I decided to just let the J-50's set go. I last changed them on 12/24/2014. Anyway I've really started to dig the tone I'm getting over time. I stay at standard tuning and I wipe the strings off after a session but the character of the tone is pretty much what I have always wanted out of this guitar. Go figure. Anyway if you are one of those people that do this I wouldn't mind hearing about how long you've kept a string set on and what you do to keep them going (if anything) and anything else you've noticed, or do, along the way. For instance, I have noticed that I've lost a little volume but the guitar more than makes up for that in soul. I think coated strings are an attempt to keep that new-set sound but I've never liked the feel of coated strings and now I'm thinking that there is something to just letting them get old and funky on a slope shoulder dread. I maybe should have started a new thread but if you've gotten this far....
  13. When I first got a ToneRite one of the guys I play with, who played bluegrass professionally back in the '70's, gave me the hardest time and scoffed at it relentlessly. So I told him he ought to borrow it and judge for himself. He borrows it all the time now, especially when he takes a long bike trip and gets back and his guitar has been un-played for a month. He's the kind of guy that has a good ear too, so much so that he still doesn't use an electronic tuner! I consider my ToneRite as just another tool in keeping my guitars at their best. I've used it on all the guitars in my sig and they all respond favorably to its application, especially my J-50.
  14. Well, I believe in the scientific method and I believe in scientists (real ones not the politically bought ones) and the ones I've known since 1974 that do field work at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, the ones that collect data and conduct experiments, don't paint a very optimistic picture. Trees disappearing are just the tip of an iceberg so enormous it's almost beyond the scope of human comprehension. Human kind diddles while precious time is slipping away (great song by Van Morrison too). Ebony is the least of our worries. Wait til plants we eat start dropping off.
  15. Why, I prefer Boeshield T-9. I was turned on to it by the bike mechanics that worked for me years ago. It was developed for aircraft parts. But I don't think it matters all that much as I live in a low humidity environment and because my tuners aren't doing thousands of revolutions per minute. More like hundreds of revolutions per decade.
  16. For underrated, for me, it's a tie between Recording King and Eastman. Eastman's are the MOST underrated when I consider value for the dollar spent and the more I play the ones I own the more impressed I am with everything about them. My Recording King RNJ-25 is turning out to be one of the most fun guitars to play that I own. I play my guitars in rotation equally and sometimes I hesitate to give the Recording King its turn but every time I play it I'm just amazed at what it can put out and how effortless it is to play. As for overrated I'm not sure I have enough experience with enough guitars to make a judgement. I play in the vicinity of a lot of Collings and they've all sounded great but every time I pick one up it always strikes me as being heavy and although that has nothing to do with the tone it just creates a little tick. I've been around some Taylors too and liked how they sounded when played by someone else but they elicit zero desire to own one. And, oddly, sometimes I think my J-50 is overrated because the Gibson tone is such an acquired taste for me, even to this day. It certainly isn't my best guitar but I just love to play it and I love how funky it can be at times and how it also makes me want to rock and roll with it. I don't know how else to explain it.
  17. Ok, so near the end of the book, "Gibson's Fabulous Flat-Top Guitars" they get all kinda gushy about the Starburst model. They even have a picture of Jorma (p.189) pickin'one and grinnin' and it looks to be all psychedelic-ed up. What is the deal with them? You never see one on ebay it seems. Were they just so great that everyone that owns one hangs on to theirs? Or were they just such a flop that they've gone quietly into the night? Where's a sound sample, etc. Them that know please enlighten?
  18. What a great story! You do excellent work and I bet that little guitar is really going to shine even more just a bit down the road. I'm finding that there is just this "something" about an LG size guitar. I suspect that it has to do with it being about the size of a classical guitar as defined by Torres only having the steel strings just gives it another, more modern dimension. Whatever it is, it works. Never had a hankerin' for a hog top guitar until seeing yours. Well done.
  19. What's on your mind?

  20. Had a flash just after signing off: You'd just HAVE to call it eMelody, right?!! I hereby trademark that in case some corporate type is thinking of grabbing it.
  21. ol fred, I like to believe that all over this great, musical, country of ours there are people sittin' around making music and having a great time together. Given the quality of most of what I hear on the commercial scene, I think it drives even more people to turning off whatever device they listen to music through and onto learning how to make their own music. Like a lot of other things these days, once the corporate-think guys show up you can kiss the finer points goodbye. But I digress; In my town there is a pretty vibrant music scene but we don't circulate much (hardly at all!) amongst ourselves. Everyone stays within their own little ensemble. We might all just as well be up some holler back in the '20's and clueless about what goes on over the next ridge. And nowadays we don't even have the Grand Ole Opry on the radio to even remotely tie us together. I can't figure out why this is other than maybe we get comfortable with those we are willing to play music with and comfort is what we really seek through our instruments (in my case it sure ain't fame or fortune). But I bet that as you were writing your words here that not far away from you someone was picking a song and wishing that she/he had some accompanyment. Maybe there is a place on this forum for people to try and find players at their ability level and with their musical preferences that live close enough so that they can hook up. An eHarmony for acoustic musicians or some such!
  22. duluthdan, You're just over the hill (not a reflection on your age, you know)! Just time your arrival for a Friday night and give me a head's up that you're coming. One of the aforementioned guys I pick with plays a 1957 D-18 that has more mojo than any three guitars I've ever personally seen. He told me once that he always used to take it backpacking and he'd just strap it to the outside of his Kelty pack and go all over the Elks and West Elks with it!!! NO CASE or nothin', rain or shine! So if you need to relic, say, that Jackson Browne model in your list there, I can give you a detailed report on the effects of that kind of treatment. I also think he only paid about $250 for it which is probably a little less than your JB ran you. But, you're welcome any time. All kinds of people show up. We had a local 16 year old girl night-before-last that wanted to sing and boy did she have some pipes. Our only rule is that you can't spectate, you gotta sing or play something, even if it's just some shakers or claves. And, there are LOTS of guitars, mandos, dobros, electrics, concertinas, etc all over the house so come without an instrument if you are planning on hiking the pass.
  23. Hi, I'm Ethan from Crested Butte, Colorado. I gave up telemark skiing and fly fishing about nine years ago and took up running and playing the guitar. Wandered around in the Martin dreadnaught world for a bit (still have my original Santa Cruz D/PW but don't play it much)while I taught myself some things. Then I got taken in by some guys down the street who have been getting together to play every Friday night since 1974. They pretty much only write and play their own songs so I stopped trying to learn famous covers and began to learn their songs. What a treasure trove of great music these two old guys have. As wordsmiths they have few peers in my humble opinion and they are devout practitioners of the "three chords and the truth" school of guitar music. So, naturally, in order to make some kind of contribution I began to write songs too. Writing and singing my own songs led me to Gibson acoustics which led me to a 2006 J-50 (Ginger) and just last month I scored a 1997 Early J-45 (yet to get a name)via studying comments in this forum and doing some searching, but more on that later. Along the way various bouts of GAS led me to smaller bodied guitars, a Recording King RNJ-25, my maple fix, and one killer LG clone, an Eastman ET5-SS prototype, Adirondack over mahogany that is beginning to open up and become a real cannon. I also scored a Gurian JM, a 1983 if memory serves, that I sent to live with a friend in NC so that she got some humidity after gigging in super dry Colorado for most of her life and so I'd have something to play when I go to visit my old high school friend and to go to Merlefest every Spring. Got some other instruments too but after it's all said and done I'm pretty much a J45/50 guy. You all know, when you really want that bottom end nothing else cuts it like a Gibson slope shoulder dread. And when you want a guitar to back up your voice (I'm a tenor) nothing has the range of expression like a J45/50....in my personal opinion. So my J50 will become my rockabilly/rock n roll acoustic as I can plug it in when needed and I tore out all the electronics in my J45 to make her even more incredibly light (I prefer a lightly built guitar) and also to deal with a saddle issue so she is my no frills, classic Gibby now. So I'm new to the forum thing as far as setting things up and figuring things out. I'll figure it all out along the way but I'm glad to be here. I learn a lot from all of you.
  24. What's on your mind?

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