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QuestionMark

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    Jeff Beck

    in Gibson Acoustic

    Posted · Edited by QuestionMark

    In tribute to Jeff Beck, here’s a recording of me from 13 years ago, shortly after I first heard Jeff Beck do his instrumental version of “A Day in the Life”.  My version of the song at the time was my own instrumental interpretation of the song with homage to both Wes Montgomery (who also did a guitar instrumental version of the song ) and to Jeff Beck.   When I play it at gigs I often precede it by saying here’s my interpretation of a Beatle song that hardly anyone plays solo except maybe Jeff Beck.  (Note:  I will  need to  figure out how to rephrase that intro moving forward now that Jeff Beck has passed away, while still paying tribute to him).   At the end of the song is a jazz guitar version of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” that I put in the arrangement to take the place of the long piano note on the Beatles’ version.

     I am playing a hollow body (acoustic/electric) 1965 Gibson 125TC with a P-90 pickup that I have in my collection through possibly either a Kalamazoo amp  or an Ibanez amp  (I can’t recall for sure).

    No overdubs are in the recording.  Just me live playing my gitbox, Fingerpicking and octave playing.

    QM aka “ Jazzman” Jeff

    Electrifying a Gibson C-1 Classical?

    in Gibson Acoustic

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

    Andres Segovia didn’t need a pickup. So - No.

    But it’s your guitar, so do what you must.

    Ah, but Willie Nelson put a pickup on his nylon string Martin and that worked out pretty good for him.  Touché,  yes?  (Couldn’t resist.)

    QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

     

    Electrifying a Gibson C-1 Classical?

    in Gibson Acoustic

    Posted

    Here’s a link to a guitar pickup that I used on one of my classical guitars.  It’s really more of a microphone.  No changes to the guitar are necessary.  It comes with a small magnet what you put inside the guitar with a sticky substance and then you put the pickup over the magnet on the top of the guitar.  Then you affix the cord to the guitar’s strap so gravity doesn’t cause it to fall off.  If you don’t have a strap, I guess it could wrap around or with a clip (not supplied) somehow be attached to your belt   Finding the sweet spot for the pickup on the guitar’s top usually below and in front of the sound hole or below and behind the soundhole on the guitar’s top.  Or behind the bridge on the top.  You may have to try a few places.  You want to make sure it won’t get knocked off bu your picking hand of course.

    I bought a few of the magnets with the sticky stuff and also move the pickup to a uke.  
     

    it sounds pretty good on a nylon string instrument, enabling it to be through an amp.

     

    Here’s the link.

    https://www.clingon.co/clingon-pickup
     

    QM aka”Jazzman” Jeff

    LG1 Tenor??

    in Gibson Acoustic

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Raul Rehlmann said:

    Does the first statement cancel the second statement?

    Not in this case.  It’s a niche guitar because of its use limitations and lack of variation in models or  what it can be used for, coupled with there are not enough tenor players who have demand or need of owning/using multiple tenor guitars due a tenor guitar’s inherent limitation.   Regarding tenor guitar’s  limitations, it need only be compared to a 6 string guitar.  The two other strings on a 6 string guitar vs a 4 string by having two strings more enables fuller  chord and more finger picking sounds, bass notes, at least 24 more octave notes, a considerable amount of two octave notes played at once, flexibility to play in more styles, etc.  So tenor guitars at the starting gate have much more limitations than 6 string guitars it’s main competition in the market place.

    Just my experience and perspective of course.

    QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

    LG1 Tenor??

    in Gibson Acoustic

    Posted

    2 hours ago, pawlowski6132 said:

    Has anyone ever heard of a LG1 Tenor?

    I'm looking at a local ad for one. It looks like it could be an LG1 Tenor but, research on the interweb finds nothing.

    Thoughts?

     

    Pic1

    Pic2

     

    I personally have not heard of a TG-0 acoustic flat top Gibson tenor guitar.  That is the tenor guitar that mirrors the LG-0’s mahogany body with a tenor neck.  There was also an early version of the TG-0  that I believe wasfrom the 30s or 40s, prior to the LG series.  I have 1965 TG-0  in my guitar collection, so I can only give input on that model.   For one because tenor guitars are niche specialty models, they do have very good resale value.  There just aren’t enough acoustic tenor players out there.  Secondly, there was a boom in tenor guitars due to Nick Reynolds of the original Kingston Trio playing a historic Martin acoustic tenor guitar circa in the late 50s and early 60’s that caused a number of manufacturers to produce their version of a tenor guitar.  But, none of them were as cool as Nick’s Martin among players.  You can clearly hear Nick’s Martin tenor on the trio’s song MTA  in the original group’s version.  Nick is energetically strumming away on it.  My 1965 Gibson version in mahogany nowhere sounds a good.  I found the tenor guitar to be a very  limited instrument when compared to a 6 string guitar.  My 1965 6 string LG1 or my 6 string 1965 Epi Caballero (equivalent to a LGO)  are far superior..   Plus, I much prefer playing any size ukulele to my 4 string TG-0.  
     

    That doesn’t mean a tenor LG1 doesn’t exist.  A LG1 tenor could’ve been created by switching out a neck and bridge  or custom made, I suppose.  But, I’ve never heard of a stock version.

    On a positive note, I taught myself how to initially play slide guitar on the TG-0  as initially I found playing slide on 4 strings was easier than on a 6 string guitar for me.  But,soon after I switched to playing slide on a 6 string as like most things on a 6 string vs a 4 string  provided more versatility.

    I’ll be interested if anyone else has heard of a tenor LG-1 or not or their experience playing a 6 vs a 4 string.

     

    QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

     

     

     

     

    Ian Tyson, RIP

    in Gibson Acoustic

    Posted · Edited by QuestionMark

    He was really talented.   Favorites of mine were You Were on my Mind (written by Sylvia Fricker) of Ian & Sylvia.  Also sung by the We Five), Summer Wages (written by Ian), Someday Soon ( written by Ian)  and, of course, Four Strong Winds (written by Ian)

    May his memory be a blessing.

     

    QM aka “ Jazzman” Jeff 

     

    Merry Christmas Gibson Acousticats...

    in Gibson Acoustic

    Posted

    9 hours ago, Murph said:

    I got a Blue Chip "personalized" TD40.

    Got my daughter a Kala U bass!

    The bacon is sizzling.

    May God Bless you all...

    Those Kala U basses play and sound great!  
     

    From my wife, I’m gonna be getting a Bluetooth wireless adapter for my use to try to not have to use a guitar and amp cord during my gigging.  Hopefully it will work well.

    Merry Christmas/ happy Hanukkah to all!

    QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

    • Like 1

    Asking for a friend

    in Gibson Acoustic

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Jinder said:

    Your friend’s financial situation is not mine to judge, but I know that if I was in his shoes and 50k in the hole, the last thing I’d be thinking about is dropping a further 7 on a high end guitar. 

    I’d buy an Epi IBG SJ200, play the snot out of it and sleep a lot better at night knowing I wasn’t blowing a relatively vast amount of money I didn’t have on something I didn’t need. 
     

    My priorities are my family-providing for them comes before all else, and a big purchase like this which I would arguably be unable to responsibly make would be too much of an anxiety-inducing roll of the dice for me. 

    This sounds like sound advice to me.

     

    QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

    More holiday music

    in Gibson Acoustic

    Posted · Edited by QuestionMark

    16 hours ago, Red 333 said:

    Such a nice, dry tone. What guitar are you playing? 

    Great playing and song selection. Perfect for a winter's morning. Your video reminds me of my home growing up, too 

    Happy Holidays!

    Red 333

    That’s a mid-to late 70s Goya nylon string guitar.   The story behind it is that circa 2000, a woman who was playing at an open mic I was at sold it to me because she said she was out of work and needed money to eat.  I bought it sight unseen, but when I looked at it at home I noticed that although it was a nylon string guitar, she had it strung with steel strings and the neck and body were warped as a result…and the action was really high.  I took the steel strings off, and put on nylon strings but the steel strings had already done their damage to the guitar.  So I loosened the strings, put the guitar in its case, and basically  put it away for about 20 years until the fall of 2019 when I decided to see if there was someway to try to fix the guitar.  To my surprise, when I merely retightened the nylon strings, I found that the neck and body of the guitar without the inappropriate tension of the steel strings being on it, all the years later had on its own reverted back to its original shape…and the action on it was now fine.   So while having fun playing the guitar that was suddenly playable after all those years later,  I turned on a home recorder and  picked out the holiday melodies you hear in the recording.  I did them all in one or two takes while my wife was watching Greys Anatomy or something on TV in the other room.   Liking the sound I heard, a day or two later, I edited out any duplicate takes, added a video loop I had shot on my phone  while it snowed, and put it on YouTube.   So the nice dry tone you mention, is probably the result of the guitar sitting dormant for about 20 years,  the old nylon strings I put on it after taking off the inappropriate steel strings, and then my going with flow of how the guitar was sounding as I was actually playing it for the first time since I bought it from that woman circa 2000.  BTW, I never saw the woman again so I have no clue if she really needed the money for it to eat or if she was just unloading a classical guitar she knew she ruined by putting steel strings on it.  But, all is well that ends well.

    Glad you enjoyed the music and the growing up memories it brought you!

    Happy holidays!

     

    QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

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