tpbiii

So right Woof. I was never into performing or playing well rehearsed songs. I was (and am) only into playing songs with others -- jamming. To make that work you have to know songs that lots of people know, and the songs need to have simple structures to allow for improvisation on the fly. They also need to be great songs -- great stories that attract a lot of people. Most of the songs that fit this mold are old -- things that people know because they have been around forever. John Prine songs fit this mold perfectly -- simple structure, great melody, and really great lyrics. Wonderful stories from his -- and our -- lives. Here is an example from a show we did ten years ago in Shelburne NS, Canada. Like all our music, this show was a jam -- the "band" had known each other for only about 24 hours, and the show just had a set list of titles and keys. In this video, my daughter sings "Grandpa Was a Carpenter." The musicians -- Maritime Traditional, Mountain Folk, and Bluegrass -- all knew the song. No rehearsal necessary. So did the audience -- note that the song got applause when the title was announced.

1942 LG-1 --- first year LG

John has added greatly to the American song palette. Many people sing his songs to each other -- so many that when strangers meet musically, they generally have some of his songs in common. His loss would be very great -- let's hope he makes it. We all would love to have more songs I think. -Tom

A 1935 L-00 3/4 on the left and a 1942 Kalamazoo Sport Model on the right. Best, -Tom

1965 was a pivotal year for Gibson -- sort of the end of the old ways and the beginning of the new. Early 65 guitars bring more than late 65 guitars. It don't know all the details but it has to do with the introduction of more automation. If the angle of your headstock it 17% your guitar is early 65 -- if 13%, then late 65.

I have a couple. A 1937 L-Century and a 1934 HG-Century conversion. IME -- pretty much like all maple B&S flat tops -- they have a lovely bright tone which works well my itself but will not cut in a complex mix. Thus they don't work well as a lead instrument in various string bands, but they sound great behind voices in a less complex acoustic mix. So for my late wife and I, they were roll players -- mostly for song circles and such. Here is our friend George playing a folk song on the 1934 HG-Century. https://vimeo.com/269564022 Best, -Tom

Gibson is once again copying my instruments -- what does it all mean?

Both or neither. I have over 100 vintage gibsons and martins and a bunch of other stuff too. I always buy for tone. I have found no correlation.

Not reall Not really. I know my 4th cousin, Larry Barnwell, who originally ran the mandolin division in Boseman in the 1990s (and he still lives there). But he left Gibson years ago to become the western US sales manager for Martin and retired last year as the e-commerce director for Martin. We talked quite a bit about guitars over the years, but also a lot about family history. He also has some nice old guitars and plays bluegrass -- maybe it is genetic😎. Best, -Tom

This is sort of surreal. They seem to have reissued -- same year or one year off -- a lot of my collection. Except the Super Jumbos -- I was never into those. I don't know if this is good or bad. -Tom

A few years, my friend (and well known bluegrass flat picker) Tony Watt came to visit and demoed a bunch of my guitars. He came back recently and did some more. Tony is a confessed mahogany Martin dread lover (1937 D-18 and modern 1937 D-18A), he seldom likes (1) Gibsons, (2) straight braced Martins, (3) rosewood of any type and (4) small guitars. Well (oddly) last time he ranked two Gibsons at the top -- 36 AJ and 43 S RW), but he did not care for either the 36 J-35 Trojan or the 35 Jumbo (which I certainly personally like and use for bluegrass.) So he came back and did some more. Here is the whole augmented set. Tony Watt Demos Let's pick, -Tom

What are you guys to say????? And no, it is. -Tom

I spent a couple of years doing careful comparisons of Gibsons -- also Martins. Gibsons Martins LARGE FLAT TOPS (GIBSON AND MARTIN) SMALL BODY FLAT TOP (GIBSON AND MARTIN) These were all recorded with the same faithful sound recording system, and they all contain comparable pieces. if you want to compare any two, bring up both videos and go back and forth. Of course it will take months -- I did because I really wanted to know. Best, -Tom

Hi Nick, I am no expert either, but I do have a little relevant information about features. This is a 1936 L-4. The L-4 went to f holes and dot inlays in the early 30s. Then in 1936, a few of these appeared for awhile. Round holes and Nick Lucas inlays. IME, reasoning on dates and features with Gibson is like tap dancing in a mine field. Best, -Tom

1962

If it is a 60, it would have an R year designation. As I understand it, all those early pickguards were hand engraved and they were often signed -- although not always. Hand engraving is pretty visible. I have never done any serious study in that period, but I have never seen that finish. I have never seen prices like that particularly on a mahogany B&S instrument. Also that period had some binding shrinkage. 61 was the first year of the SN craziness -- a true 60 is generally easier to date, Best, -Tom

I have been wandering through my audio/video recordings from the past decade -- I have a couple thousand of them, many of which I have more or less forgotten. This was one I came across that I had sort of forgotten from a year or so ago. People come to my house to play my guitars a lot -- I love to record good players and get their take on various instruments. Well my friend George Hergen is a 60s style folk singer (also Irish) -- which was where my late wife and I started 50+ years ago. George is mostly a solo artist, and he mostly likes 00 Martins, but we have one old Gibson that can give the old Martins a run for their money -- a 1931 Gibson L-2. So one day George played a lot of our guitars and sang a lot of folk songs -- he is mostly a solo performer -- but then when he was wrapping up he asked my wife Aina Jo if she could sing one with him. Well for the past 30 years she was sort of a bluegrass parking lot bass playing high baritone singing engine -- but she knew hundreds of songs and had great harmony skills. So here is what came out -- George, Aina Jo, and 1931 L-2 Gibson. Let's pick, -Tom

All through the WWII, Gibson built a lot of "floor sweep" instruments. The LG-2 all had banners (except for a very few early ones), but they kept making L-00s out of parts. Many of the wartime L-00s have many Kalamazoo features -- headstock, etc. -- but all were x-braced like all L-00s. I don't remember seeing any wartime banner L-00s, but there may have been some.

Early 43 (big neck, no truss rod) and late 44 (less neck with truss rod). They both IMO are fine examples, but tonally quite identifiably different and the feel is also quite different. The 42/43 is near mint I guess and mostly stays home because of that -- the 44 (a Memphis bar guitar) has been my go to ragtime/gospel guitar for more than 20 years. This is the 44 J-45 -- video quite old. Best, Tom

Here are our slope Js. The two of interest to this conversation are the two on the front right -- 54 SJ and 53 J-45. Both are letter dated, so that is a really good estimate I believe. None of the others is newer than 44. Best, -Tom

Ware is normal and modern finishes are thin. I is widely believed that thick finishes impact found.

In the news of the weird, I am sort of well known for teaching the rules to the world. In the 1980s, my wife and I were hanging out in the mountains where everyone knew the rules, but nobody talked about. Well we gradually figured it out and I wrote an article for the local Atlanta area bluegrass club. Well the article was met with many accolades -- I had found a need! So I submitted it to BLUEGRASS UNLIMITED -- the primary international bluegrass magazine. That was 20 years ago. The article has been translated into 10 languages and republished on every continent but Antarctica -- mostly by bluegrass clubs, etc, If anyone cares, here is the link. BLUEGRASS JAMMING If you know the rules and have one or more of the required skill sets, you can walk up to one or more people and immediately make (often good, some times spectacularly) music with them. I just spent the weekend near Boston doing exactly that. Best, -Tom

Yea. I think we were using that one and the Beltone with its own international fan club in that practice, and I handed it to Rick because I played harp on that song.

My experience in this area is a whole vegetable soup -- so I don't know if I can be coherent. The guy who played lead guitar in our last bluegrass band was a hot flatpicker who could also do hybrid picking. Because of the basic structure on the majority of bluegrass songs, he did not use it much -- I found an early practice session (very imperfect) where he did both a bit. The problem with this style in bluegrass is it just does not have the power to hang in everywhere in traditional bluegrass. Although he started in bluegrass in the 1970s, Rick later played a lot plugged in his life. That light touch just could not blend without dropping the level of the whole band. I mix a lot of styles when I play, not necessarily well. I am a technique player -- I just have a few techniques which I mix with many melodies, and whatever comes out is the song. Seldom any fine tuning or arrangement. So at some level -- often quite low -- I play rhythm and lead with a flatpick, alternating thumb ragtime/gospel with finger picks, three finger Scruggs style banjo, claw hammer banjo where I freely use 1st, 2nd, and 3rd fingers interchangeably for volume control, and just bare finger finger style. Somewhere in this odd mix (I have been doing in for 60 years) my brain connected my 1st and 2nd finger with my 2nd and 3rd -- so anything the first two fingers can do, the 2/3 can automatically do too. I don't know how odd that is. So I can hybrid pick. But I never was able to make it work to my satisfaction for strong acoustic music -- the various pieces just get in each other's way for me. Works great on the couch in the quite. Just some thoughts. -Tom

Here is a LG-2 from 1946. Nice guitar. Best, -Tom