Rambler

Bonnie Raitt to Dido. Fun gig. Working thru a lot of new chords and changes.

. What kind of stuff are you playing?* If its country, he can play honky tonk and you can strum cowboy chords. Someone will sing. If its blues-based, either be prepared to go up the neck bring a capo so you can stick around E and A formations (open chords dont work for that). Deadhead, classic rock etc. Bring you iPads. Someone will need to know the chords! If it clicks, find a drummer. [*lately, Im playing in an adult contemporary/soft rock/techno-folk group and jam in a band setting (guitars, keys, bass and drums). Mostly still using blues chops and what I learned about the fretboard from playing blues). Go figure.

Played one of these pups over the weekend. Very quick response and equally quick decay, just like the old ones. You ripping chords but no lasting ring. Can play all kinds of old school fingerpicking, but you need t keep the notes coming because again not much overhang. For folk, blues, Americana. String spacing is 2 1/4, current std, but I could use a little more room for my pick hand.

These folks Gibson's are their signature tone: (his Collins is essentially an L00), , , , Jorma Kaukonen put in many productive years , though he now favors a .

Their Gibson periods were short lived. Martin's and Martin style (Franklin) were more typical of these guys. Martin Cathy too. ,

D28 and nationals, actually.

Ol Rambler with Blue Train, 4/23/2017. Please Dont Go

There are many great J45s, old ones from the 40s-50s, new ones like the True Vintage series. The 70s arent one of those times. I agree, birth year is a strange obsession. Hope you find a '45 that you enjoy.

Big hands? For some, the space between the frets on a s/s guitar might feel tight.

Big hands? For some, the space between the frets on a s/s guitar might feel tight.

They are sort of ok. Sort of. Kind of chalk-board like. They arent porous like wood, so I cant imagine theyd go down well with sweaty hands.

Ernie has 2 out on Lightnin. I would recommend the more recent Early Blues set, which covers all his keys. But if E and A is your bread and butter, his first one is a decent intro. About that thumb. Not to worry, It's all a matter of reps. ps for those who didnt have the good fortune to be in Newport or Houston or other relevant locales in the 60s, the Vestapol videos are a reasonable facsimile way of having been there. Stefan Grossman has his teachers doing it the Gary Davis way--phrase by phrase. Having been working with these for a while, I can say there is a crossover point when the learning ceases to be by rote and that new pieces begin to make musical sense on the bais of accumulated experience. They are a great resource.

Good stuff. Sam wont lead you wrong. For the record, while E was his old reliable, he also recorded in A (come back baby, shining moon), drop D (sugar mama, santa fe) G (bad luck and trouble), and C (shaggy dad, fishin clothes). The G and C numbers show what he got from Lemon Jefferson. In any case, he knew his way around the fretboard. An all-round great player, rancatour,and rascal. Ernie Hawkins has a great lesson out on Vestapol for those who want to crack the code.

Very sweet, perhaps a little underpowered. Would like to hear it with picks and a more assertive attack. Our man Tony gives these pieces a more varied workout.

It makes sense that AJs would do well in Nashville. They record well. Less boom and overtones than an HD28v. Loud, cler and punchy. Its a good sound, Still, they show up for sale on ebay and other forums with some frequency, and often at a price point lower than a J45. Maybe at the end of the day, folks in the market for a RW dread want the boom=?. ps the vintage models were def Brazilian fwiw.

It's an AJ. Mo more, no less. Prices vary, but bursts tend to net more than nat'l tops. They can be found in the 14-1600 range, sometimes for less, depending on how eager the owner is to depart from it. They tend to go up for re-sale a lot, not sure why , but I;m guessing its mostly (A disappointed Martin D28 fans who want more more low end rumble and (B disappointed J45 fans who dont like the long scale and the deeper bass.

"I can't understand why more rhythm players wouldn't be interested in a 12-fret dred, should be pretty perfect for their needs really" Kind of depends on the riddim track. More boom than ching. Plus that low end to eq. Players make up their own rules, tho. Ive read a Smeck is Ry Cooders acoustic of choice. Big note vs the more typical glassy top.

Pretty fair guess, Paul. Especially on a D-body. 12-frets-to the body isnt a wildly popular option in the first place, even though Recording King have a model line going. All that + Jackson's name on the thing will conspire to keep the price up there.

Not quite. The "EJs" (97-99) did have a 1 3/4 nut, full neck, light weight and no pup. The revamped Historic added a pup and put on some weight. The EJs and the 91-92 J45s may have been the best vintage-style slopes to come out of the shop before the TVs.

Bain, feh. I spent a pleasant afternoon there auditioning guitars (08?). Tried 2 of the short scale AJs, Mpl and Koa. Nice sound, very even and balanced, no bliss. Ditto a J185. 2 historic J45s and a J50, 1 of which had potential, the others, thin. 1 SJtv, nothing special. Last and best, an OJ and a J45L. The oJ was a joy to play. The L was awful good but not 4k good.

Which means its not a "TV" (those didnt happen until 06 or 07). In 95-96, Gibson had a ltd run of J45s with a banner decal and a block logo. Wrong in vintage terms but an ok guitar. They did the same thing on the Buddy Holly sigs.