Eaglin ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kirk" <kirk_bernha...@cox.net> To: <FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 8:48 AM Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: To Curtis re Guitar
>I played ukulele when I was a kid, a bit. > > Okay, I had a dream Saturday morning. > Same morning of Snooks Eaglen's wake. > > I was plunking on a piano singing just making some notes and this > old black man was sitting next to me just ginning and > saying go ahead go for it, > Just smiling away. > > See even the blues can make a man transcend time, space, and culture. > In my dream I was playing piano > cause some Bowie and EJ piano riffs > still give me shivers > > but turns out Snooks was a guitarist. A blind guitarist. > I never saw him until after he died. > Brother gave me advice. > I want to thank you all. > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Marek Reavis" <reavisma...@sbcglobal.net> > To: <FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com> > Sent: Monday, March 02, 2009 1:15 PM > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: To Curtis re Guitar > > >> I've been guiltily following this thread and now feel the impulse to >> weigh in with my own meager measure of advice. >> >> Responding to some great advice Curtis gave me last year, as well as >> frustration with my longstanding inability to make music, I went to >> one of the local music stores and had the 40-something guitar freak >> working there to take me through the paces of the guitars he had. It >> was a delightful 40-45 minutes as he took down each guitar that was >> more-or-less within my price range, explained what he liked about it >> and how it compared to others in his estimation, and then played the >> same piece that he'd played on each one earlier so I could judge and >> evaluate how each one sounded to me. >> >> I ended up buying a Seagull solid-cedar top guitar with wild cherry >> back and sides, handmade in Canada by Godin. >> >> http://www.seagullguitars.com/productentouragerusticmj.htm >> >> It was reasonablely priced, has great reviews, and sounds fantastic. >> I loved it but was entirely intimidated by it at and didn't practice >> very much. My daughter and her boyfriend came to visit one weekend >> and he picked it up and played something wonderful and well and I >> gave it to him on the spot because he didn't have a guitar anymore >> and I wanted the thing to be played. >> >> Now I have a Kala spruce-top ukulele, which only intimidates me a >> little bit and I fool around with it almost every day. My fingers >> still don't do the impossible things that even the simplest chords >> require them to do, but if I've learned anything over the years, it's >> that if you put the time in, then sooner or later things magically >> sort themselves out. >> >> Marek >> >> ** >> >> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "curtisdeltablues" >> <curtisdeltabl...@...> wrote: >>> >>> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Rick Archer" <rick@> wrote: >>> > >>> > you may want to post this too. the basic set up i do >>> >>> This is good advise for someone who wants to do their own guitar >> work. >>> I have done some of this myself. In the end taking your guitar to >> a >>> guy who does this all day every day is a better choice for beginning >>> players. A new player doesn't understand the variables in fret >> buzz, >>> to be able to adjust this properly. For example I am a barbarian on >>> guitar playing with heavy finger picks and snapping the strings >> Delta >>> style. I have to have a higher action to accommodate this style. >>> Most new players are too tentative with their guitar at first and >> wont >>> discover the fret buzz till they are half way through a bottle of >>> bourbon and have played the chords to "Wild Thing" for the hundredth >>> time when they finally let loose. But a good set up guy knows where >>> you are going to end up once you start really wailing on the >> thing! >>> >>> The guy at my guitar center is big on the Breedlove brand. They >> have >>> a lower end (about $300) guitar with a solid spruce top that sounds >>> great. If you can afford it the solid top makes a big difference >>> because it will sound better over time. The composite layered woods >>> used in cheaper guitars are held together with glue which degrades >>> over time so the guitar sounds deader and deader the more you play >> it. >>> It doesn't matter as much if the sides and back are a composite >> which >>> makes the guitar cheaper. >>> >>> But some players do fine starting with a cheaper guitar to test >> their >>> interest and if they get into it they can graduate into a higher >>> quality. Maybe by then they are ready to jump to a solid wood >> American >>> made classic like a Taylor or Martin. When you finally do get a >>> quality guitar in your hands there is a magic to it. It takes your >>> performance to a new level. But I am not a guitar fetishist. I >> have >>> high quality guitars and beat the shit out of them. I don't keep >>> looking for the next guitar for a special new sound. I concentrate >> on >>> my side of the equation! >>> >>> >>> >>> is to tighten the truss >>> > rod fully by turning the screw in the sound hole counter clockwise >>> all the >>> > way. don't over tighten or you'll strip the threads. you can then >>> check the >>> > arc of the neck by pressing the strings at the first fret and last >>> fret for >>> > clearance. then i remove and shave or sand the bottom of the >> bridge >>> saddle >>> > until the strings are low enough for easy play without fret buzz. >> (a >>> good >>> > luthier will measure the string heights during each step of the >>> process, but >>> > i never measure. he'll also put a straight edge on the frets and >> tap the >>> > high ones to the right height, but i'm not that picky.) over sand >>> the saddle >>> > and you can shim it back up, or buy a new saddle and start again. >> that's >>> > usually all you need to do. i leave the truss rod fully tightened >>> and lower >>> > the saddle more to compensate, but that's just my preferrence. i >>> seem to get >>> > less fret buzz and lower clearance that way. if you do a search, >> i'm >>> sure >>> > the proper measurements and procedures are available all over the >>> internet. >>> > this is a cheap guitar. if i had an expensive guitar, i'd let a >> pro >>> do the >>> > set up for me. >>> > >>> >> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------------ >> >> To subscribe, send a message to: >> fairfieldlife-subscr...@yahoogroups.com >> >> Or go to: >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ >> and click 'Join This Group!'Yahoo! Groups Links >> >> >> >> > > > ------------------------------------ > > To subscribe, send a message to: > fairfieldlife-subscr...@yahoogroups.com > > Or go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ > and click 'Join This Group!'Yahoo! Groups Links > > > >
