bayoubengal1954

Tom, please thank Debbie for taking that photo. And, Tom I cannot thank you enough for being the facilitator for what turned out to be a very rich experience. To meet all of you on Saturday and to be able to be a caretaker of John’s instruments is one of the biggest joys of my life (this is not an exaggeration) . I’m glad we got to jam a bit. Tom played some cool harmonica licks on a couple of songs I played when I was demoing the guitars, and John backed up Debbie and Mark as they sang “Wayfaring Stranger” (and I backed John softly). And Tom is much too modest regarding his guitar playing ability. I do wish we could have done more, but we were smart not to push things. One day we will get together again and I will bring John’s instruments, but until then I will cherish the memories of that day.

Thanks, Tom! I didn’t want to share those without your permission!

Almost everyone knows Tom Barnwell (tpbiii on this Forum) for his wonderful collection of Vintage Guitars as well his gracious sharing of cool videos and his knowledge. Well I got to meet Tom last weekend! Here are the circumstances. This is a bit long, but I hope you like the story. Tom has earlier posted photos on this Forum of some Frankentars built by his friend John Farley, a well renown flat picker in the Atlanta area. I was so knocked out by the tones of them that I contacted Tom and asked if he wouldn’t mind contacting John to see if he had anything lying around or was working on any projects. As luck would have it, John had two finished guitars that he would be willing to sell. Then Tom offered to do something way beyond the call of duty. He offered to pick up the guitars and make some videos at his place for me to check out to see if I was interested in them. Care was taken in doing this due to the Virus, and of course I wanted Tom to feel comfortable at all times. Well he sent me the demo videos, I quickly called John Farley, we made a deal and plans were made for me to drive over from New Orleans to pick them up at his house a few miles north of Atlanta. This past Saturday I arrived. Tom showed up, as well a friend of theirs named Mark who also builds guitars and is a great banjo player as well. John’s lovely wife Debbie was there. We all were masked up and practiced Social Distancing. Now the photos... This one is a Mahogany B/S Sitka Spruce Top D. John’s recollection is that the Mahogany was from a D-18 from the 60’s. The Spruce Top, we are not sure of the origin, but it’s been roughed up a bit. John worked his magic on the insides. He had no neck, so he ended buying a ‘30’s Gibson L-30 just for the neck to use on this project! He had to use some shims because the 24.75” scale length had to be adjusted to the Martin standard of 24.9”. https://imgur.com/AXKhnWk https://imgur.com/AXKhnWkNext up is the Rosewood D. The Spruce Top came from a ‘67 Martin D (not sure if it was an 18 or 28, but it doesn’t matter). I believe John added the Herringbone. John then bought some East Indian Rosewood directly from Martin, he believes sometime in the 90’s. You could do that then without being a Certified Martin Repair Person. He believes the neck was from a Martin that had some Mother of Pearl that he didn’t like and he stripped it away and refinished the entire neck. Not sure of the year of the neck. Both guitars sound fantastic, dry, resonant and very articulate. They are extremely light in weight like Vintages would be. Here is John with the Mahogany. He only took his mask off for the photo. Here is Tom, the man who put this all together. Here is Mark, a great banjo picker and guitar maker. Here is John’s wife Betty. She removed her mask for the photo. I ended up staying nearly two hours hearing some great stories from everyone before heading back for the long, but happy drive home to New Orleans with these two guitars in tow. What a great day to spend in the midst of all of these challenges. I met three wonderful people and acquired two great sounding unique guitars. I never would have met these cool people if it weren’t for this Forum! I should be able to post a demo video comparing the two by the end of the week. Thanks for reading if you made it this far!

Cool! Here is hoping that sometime in 2021 we’ll have an all clear. 🎼

Cool! If I would have known you then I could have brought you up to play a couple of songs at one of my gigs. 👍 Play on!

Y’all (you and the guitar) sounded great! 🤘🤪🤘

Wow, cool history with New Orleans! It’s rough down here with the Virus, but I know that’s true everywhere. The only shows I can or want to do are outdoors and it can a BIT hot down here. 😉 Enjoy that guitar, Buddy!!

Yes!!!!!!!!!!

Great job, Sal! Glad to have you back! Your arrangement had a Pettyesque vibe to it, to my ears. 🤘😜🤘

Very cool! Congratulations!

Sending you a Private Message on this.

Stage Deluxe (Mahogany) and Radio Grande (Rosewood). 👍

Whoa! What year? Details please! Let us know when it arrives!

Maybe we should have a Frankentar thread. Let's pick, -Tom ________________________________________ That would be fun, Tom!

That Collings will be a Monster! I am lucky enough to have a Crooked Star Senorita that I bought used with Maple B/S. The CS line is much less blingy with open pore finishes (new they are about 2.5K) than the regular NE line (those go for about 5K brand new). Tony has only built 14 of the CS line as he has to fit them into his schedule. The main priority is the regular NE line. Let us know if you get the Collings!

I hear ya. I had a great time with my one Vintage Project: the Frankenstein ‘38 L-00 Neck/‘48 J-50 Body. The money spent could never be recovered in a sale, but I love the tone and probably play it the most. Having said that, I have recently been getting a lot of joy out of buying used newer guitars based on old models (Larson Brothers and Bacon and Day inspired) built by Tony Klassen (his less expensive Crooked Star Line from New Era Guitars). I also have a Jubal built by the late Aaron Cowles which is based on his old ‘34 Original Jumbo that sounds great. Of course there is no substitute for old wood, but some modern builders are doing some great work at getting a very authentic tone, at least to my ears. Now if someone wants to give me a Roy Smeck already converted with no work needed, that would be okay. 😉

Very cool, Tom. Thanks for putting this together!

That was fun. Thanks for posting.

If you’re so inclined to view, I have put up a video playing my Frankenstein Gibson ‘38 L-00 Neck/‘48 J-50 Body. Wishing everyone the best during these Challenging Times.

This young fellow out of Chattanooga, Tennessee named Isaac Stroupe builds his take on the Martelle Deluxe. He just sold this one recently. His company is called Minerva Fretworks.

Great job, Sal!

Great job, Buc! You really made the song your own. Nice picking on the run up to the Chorus. 👍

That’s really cool. I like the style, and the green background is a good choice!

I do these to keep some semblance of sanity.

Murph, fortunately crawfish is still available to go! And boudin ain’t never going away. 😉