Boyd
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Posts posted by Boyd
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I actually just noticed the Ernie Hawkins DVD on Amazon last week and bought it, should arrive in the next day or two
Got the DVD and haven't spent much time with it but it looks good. Noticed one minor thing that was just wrong however. In "Shinin' Moon" he says Lightnin' uses his little finger on a chord. I have spent many hours watching video of Lightnin' and never saw him use his little finger for anything. Always thought this was one of the remarkable things about his style. If you watch the video of Lightnin' playing Shinin' Moon, you can see that he doesn't actually use his little finger on that specific chord.
No big deal anyway, just a little detail that stood out to me. It's great to see the way Ernie breaks down and analyzes these songs. I use my little finger when I play Lightnin's songs too. :) They have uploaded that whole lesson to YouTube if you want to watch it:
All the songs on that DVD are included on the "Lightnin' Hopkins Rare Performances" DVD, along with a lot of others. Highly recommended :) http://www.guitarvideos.com/products/vestapol-dvds/lightnin-hopkins-rare-performances-1960-1979
BTW, Stefan Grossman offers their DVD's in downloadable form as well, but I would think twice before purchasing in that form. I bought two other videos in the download format and you have to use their buggy proprietary video player to watch them. Had a lot of problems with that and won't make the same mistake again. I prefer the DVD because I can rip it into iTunes where I keep all my other media.
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Very cool Zomby.
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I've been a big fan ever since I first heard one of his recordings in 1968. I have over 18 hours of his songs and AFAIK every video in existence. Check out "The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins" if you can, it is an amazing documentary by Les Blank, have watched it over 100 times at least. The last part where he sings "That Woman Named Mary" sitting on his couch looking hung over is one of the most remarkable things I've ever seen.
Just spent over a year working on his technique and made a lot of progress but still have a long way to go. During that year I completely immersed myself in his music and rarely listened to anything else, was quite an experience. Have been taking a little break from it recently, but still spend a little while each day.
I actually just noticed the Ernie Hawkins DVD on Amazon last week and bought it, should arrive in the next day or two, looking forward to it. There's a clip from one part of it on YouTube if you do a search.
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I have to admit, I really like the big, chunky headstock (which Guild seemed to copy??), and I kind of wish the modern Gibson headstock was bigger and chunkier.
Maybe you should get a 1970's J-50? You would get the big headstock and batwing pickguard for half the price of a new J-45 and a sound that is very different. :)
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This is listed as a 1969 and it has square shoulders, a teardrop pickguard and the black headstock. The photo is very small, but it looks like it may have an adjustable bridge. http://www.guitarcenter.com/Gibson-VINTAGE-1969Gibson-J50-WC-109899690-i3627229.gc
Then they also list this as a 1969 but it has the thick pickguard with Gibson logo and apparently black headstock and adjustable bridge. Somebody at Guitar Center needs to learn how to use a camera. :) There seems to be a lot of variations in the J-45/J-50s of that era. http://www.guitarcenter.com/Gibson-VINTAGE-1969Gibson-J50-109404498-i3345010.gc
Looking at J-50's on their site… how about a 1953 for $1800? Must have some issues…. http://www.guitarcenter.com/Gibson-Vintage-1953-Gibson-J50-Natural-Acoustic-Guitar-110547997-i4469987.gc
Or a 1957 J-50 for $1800? Apparently the pickguard is gone… http://www.guitarcenter.com/Gibson-Vintage-1957-Gibson-J50-Acoustic-Guitar-111203108-i4470336.gc
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Here's a couple of pages from the 1970 Gibson catalogue. The J45 and J50 had just been revamped as square shouldered abominations
That J-50 is interesting. It has the oversized stained/natural headstock like my 1974 J-50 but the adjustable bridge and teardrop pickguard. Don't think I've ever seen one of these before. I played a 1968 (I think?) J-50 at Guitar Center last winter when I got the 1965 J-50. It did not have the adjustable bridge or teardrop pickguard and the headstock was smaller and painted black, like the 1965 J-50.
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It wasn't until much later that I noticed many people didn't like the adjustable bridge, but as I say, it was all we knew in the 60s
Not me! I got a 1965 J-50 with the adjustable bridge about 6 months ago and love the way it sounds.
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I posted about this last winter when I got my 1965 J-50, it has the original wooden saddle. There was a lot of discussion about what these are made of, some said ebony others said rosewood. I really don't know myself. But I am keeping it just the way it was when I got it. I like the sound, but can understand why some people might not.
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This '73 J55, despite its 'Norlin attributes' is an absolute tone machine and inspiring to play on all levels.
Nice guitar! I have a 1974 J-50 Deluxe that looks a lot like yours. It was my first acoustic, but it spent many of the past 40 years in the closet and later became unplayable. After getting everything repaired and properly setup a year ago, it's a really cool guitar. It has some idiosyncracies but they give it character. It is also a very LOUD guitar. The other day I was recording my practice and switched from my Martin D-15M to the old J-50. I had to lower my levels because it was so much louder. It's also louder than my 2008 J-50.
I do not see any of the edge discoloration on my guitar that you have on the J-55 though. No discoloration around the pickguard either. Mine is a really beat-up old guitar though and it amazes me how the top color has changed from the original light spruce to a dark brown.
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The guitar was originally called the Southerner Jumbo which got shortened to Southern Jumbo. Hence the SJ designation.
Thanks. Originally I assumed it was "Southern Jumbo", but then I saw this page on Gibson's site for "Super Jumbo" which lists various guitars with names like SJ-100, SJ-200 and SJ-250. http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Acoustic-Instruments/Super-Jumbo/Gibson-Acoustic.aspx
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Very nice! I still have my first guitar, a 1974 J-50 Deluxe and the body is shaped like your Dad's SJ. I recently got 2008 J-50, which is based on the 1960 J-50. I had never really noticed the differences until I saw them side by side. The 70's guitars have much flatter (square) shoulders and a much larger headstock. My 74 looks huge next to the new J-50. In the current line-up, it looks like only the songwriter, hummingbird and J-60 have retained the square shoulders.
Interesting how the style changed over the years. I have to say, I really like the new round-shouldered design better. It feels more comfortable and compact than my old J-50. But the old guitar will always be special for me, and there's a unique sound that comes from the aged wood. I do read a lot of negative comments about the 1970's Gibson acoustics though....
BTW, I'm confused when people use the SJ abbreviation. Does it mean "Southern Jumbo" or "Super Jumbo"?
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Lightnin' Hopkins
in Gibson Acoustic
Posted
This was a couple years ago, so maybe the downloads have improved? I had problems with corrupted downloads and it took several tries to get a working copy. I never have that kind of problem with I download from other places. I also have a very slow internet connection, so it was a pain to have to download files multiple times to get a working copy. To make it worse, they hide the files and lock them in away that made it difficult to even delete the corrupt ones. I also use a Mac, but have lot of experience with unix (the foundation of MacOSX) and had to use the command line in terminal to get rid of the files.
Finally got it working but now whenever I go to watch there's a long delay while the buggy software installs new updates (or something). I got really fed up with this and figured out a way to rip them into iTunes finally. The lessons are really great and worth the price. But I just don't have any patience with buggy software.