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Post by lexluthier on May 29, 2015 18:26:30 GMT
Hi washboardchris. Yes, seen it, it's the one I mentioned in reply to your message earlier in this thread. Strangely(as you've messaged me about it) was going to message you to ask if or how similar it is to yours? It does tick many boxes for me and would leave more funds in the tricone fund! I think it has laminated back/sides but maybe a one piece neck(?) Would be glad to hear any thoughts you have. Thanks. Chris
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Post by lexluthier on May 27, 2015 22:12:41 GMT
Hiya! Sorry couldn't reply before. Mike, the Faith is a great little guitar at a great price, too small at the nut I'm afraid. It's a shame, had to discount a lot of good models but I have pretty big, labourers hands. Need the digit space! As to your other suggestion, I'll hang on until you get yours and post a video before I make up my mind. Bod, yes, seen it, checked it out but I'm afraid its the same exactly the same comments as the Faith. Thank you for taking the time to reply to y'all. Chris
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Post by lexluthier on May 25, 2015 20:35:20 GMT
Hi pickersditch. Walked into a music shop in 1982 to buy my first ever bass, had the cash and the intention to buy an American Fender precision bass. I walked out with a Squier, it was just so much better than 'the real thing'. I learned that day not to be dazzled by what's written on the headstock and to judge with my hands and ears, as much as I might love good looks of an axe. Still own every bass I've every bought because I'm serious about my tools and make sure I buy 'em right! Hi mikenewport. Great ideas and thanks for that. Love the idea of a custom made parlour but to be honest it's going to be a real stretch for me if I spend as much a £800-900, twice as much I just can't make in my current circumstance. The Kit idea is good too and maybe some thing for the future. Haven't got the time right now and bustin' a gut just to get playing to be honest. Didn't realise Stewmac did such a thing so thanks for the heads up. Hi bluefolk. I have to say the Blueridge is top of my list purely from reading reviews, forums, the looks and what I can make out from sound clips, so glad to hear from someone who's actually had their hands on one! Can't take the plunge just yet as I'm waiting on the sales of some now unwanted electrics so still time to think but Blueridge guitars seem to be very well thought of in the US and have carved out a quite a niche for themselves over there. Thanks to all for your time. Chris.
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Post by lexluthier on May 23, 2015 22:03:30 GMT
Hi myk. Tracked one of those recently on ebay, thought it look very nice and as you say, 'clean'. Nice conservative, era correct features. It appeared early in the year from an address in the east midlands, sold, then came up again within weeks from an address 30 or so miles away for the same price and after having some work done on it! It dated from the mid '70's I think, not a great period for guitar generally speaking. All this put me off despite being quite drawn to it initially. Its difficult sometimes trying to assess a model as it moves through different eras/decades. Thanks, Chris.
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Post by lexluthier on May 23, 2015 21:39:23 GMT
Hi all! Sorry late in replying, commitments! Hi Slide496 and Washboardchris. Many thanks for advice and direction on vintage guitars, all duly noted and not wasted as I'm making getting one a goal for the future and an ongoing research project, cheers! Hi pickersditch. Yeah, been looking at Tanglewoods, really good value for money I feel and that one looks really nice, going to track it and have a think about maybe saving myself some cash for something else? I have to say at this point I'm a massive fan of great design and proportions are really important you my eye. Headstocks often make or break the look of a guitar for me and many on parlours out there are just toooo big. The Tanglewoods out there border on this but not too badly. I realise this shouldn't be a real consideration when choosing a musical instrument but its my weakness, either look classic and well proportioned or break the mould is my thinking. Hi philh. I missed that one, very nice I must say, the shortlist just got longer! A little cheaper than the guitars I was looking at, and with a case too. Mickeyz questioned the price, which is kinda the whole point of this thread for me. Considering how inexpensively China can crank out a decentish axe, I'm asking myself(and you) are they going the extra mile to make these parlours worth paying £700-£1000? The woods are good, the outward appearances are smart but are the fine, hidden details that make a guitar sing up to scratch? Other forum threads on this subject seem to obsess on the fact that for nearly that kind of money(another£400-500 in truth!) you can get buy, for example, a Martin 00-15m, which is not really a true parlour and not even comparable in specs to what's being spoken of. But its a Martin, and that's what seems to be most important to some folks out there. The Martin 0-28-VS which is the true comparison costs about £3500 in the EU, that makes these guitars worth thinking about, and perhaps puts their price point into some better perspective. As their economy balloons, these Chinese/Asian guitars are only going to get more expensive. Hi Mickeyz. a headless parlour guitar is a step too far for even me at this point(...but not forgotten!) Hand in hand with my love of the headless is a love of the practicality of carbon fibre. Always when looking at making a new purchase I have a few 'wild cards' I consider. Top of this pile(and as a real aside) is the CA Cargo parlour guitar. I was going to put a link in so you could check it out but they are all commercial and not sure if its breaking forum law. Check it out anyway, to my ear its got a sound approaching a resonator, very individual! Thanks to all. Chris
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Post by lexluthier on May 23, 2015 1:18:49 GMT
Hi slide496. Thanks for that, will certainly check it out. Been a touch reticent to down the vintage route before I know more but it is where my search started so will pick it up again there. Cheers Chris
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Post by lexluthier on May 22, 2015 23:45:14 GMT
Hi Washboardchris. Thanks for that, I think I've still got a demo of one of those downloaded. I remember liking the look/vibe of it when I was hacking through loads of youtube vids. Didn't make the short list probably because it struck me as hard to find. I seem to remember having a classical through my workshop many, many years ago and was massively impressed with the quality of it. I will take another look. Thank you. Hi Mickeyz. Was hoping to get a reply from you as you seem to have parlours on your mind at the moment judging from odd things you've mentioned on various threads. The Washburn parlour series was the first thing I homed in on when I started searching. I even tracked a few on Ebay while I was thinking. The guitar you mentioned I have seen/heard on Youtube and seems like a very good guitar, in fact the whole series seems excellent for the money. In the end I moved away from them for a number of reasons, one of them being I find them a little over decorated, too many inlays for my liking(that model with the Tree of life inlay would give me a headache!) I think the dimensions are not quite up my street either. I've found myself being drawn to very conservative classic clean looking models, you have to be comfortable with the look of your axe as well as the way it feels and sounds I think. When I've chosen and bought my super-duper solid wood classic 12 fret parlour, I'll be having a look at some yesteryear cheapo's like Framus, Stella and the like, much inspired in this area by Daddy Stovepipe, who I love watching/listening to. Thank you for your input anyway, looking forward to agreeing with you in the future(headless guitars rule dude!) Chris
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Post by lexluthier on May 22, 2015 20:10:23 GMT
Hiya, thanks for replying Fredcapo. Good advice in an ideal world, I would say the same to anyone myself but unfortunately I can't get out and about very much. Had a look in all the music stores in my City(3!), only one 12 fret parlour type and I don't personally know anyone locally interested in this genre. I've spent the last two months watching every Youtube review and relevant thread on other forums I could find and kind of boiled my choices down to those two guitars. I have to admit its based on a mixture of what I fancy the look of, the dimensions I prefer and what's been said about them. The trouble with the last point is its mainly shop reviews out there and they're not going to say anything negative about something they're trying to sell you. Hence my plea for advice or opinion especially from anyone who may have come across these model or even just the brands personally. Both these guitars are priced north of £800 in this Country which is a fair old amount for an Asian guitar, and for me at the moment to be honest! So I just need to make the best informed choice I can within my limited circumstance. Thanks again for you time mate, appreciate it. Chris
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Post by lexluthier on May 21, 2015 22:46:39 GMT
Hi all! Looking to buy my first parlour(type) guitar for finger style country blues and perhaps slide. As most of my 'guitar life' has been involved with electrics and basses I'm not as clued up on acoustics as many of you folk out there and would greatly appreciate anyone's views, opinions, experience etc on the two guitars I'm currently considering. 1. Blueridge BR 361 & 2. Eastman E20P. Both are Martin 0-28 types, Rosewood back and sides, ebony fingerboard and bridge and importantly(I think) 24 3/4'' ish scale and 1 7/8'' at the nut(I would prefer 46-47mm but there you go, many parlours are 1 3/4'', a bit small for me) Suggestions/recommendations for other similar models also very welcome and gratefully received. I did start my search looking for something ladder braced but it looks like a minefield to my uninitiated self, especially if I have to buy without personal collection, which is likely. I would be very happy to take advice on this subject too if anyone has any suggestions. Thank you for your time, hope to speak to you soon. Chris.
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Post by lexluthier on May 20, 2015 20:27:40 GMT
Hi! I considered a Gretsch myself, they mostly sound pretty good on Youtube demos I must say. Also thinking about a Hounddog for my first Dobro type but opinions on them seem very mixed and my instincts are presently telling me to aim higher, but still pondering that one. My previously mentioned 1st Reso' was also a Johnson and I too found it to be very heavy, which I would have continue to bear but along come a MM blues for some work to be done, it was lighter and just sounding loads better. The Johnson is presently gathering dust as I have now bought myself a Lightning, very happy with it I am too! Mickeyz is right that there is too much snobbery around guitars, hell of a lot of the Emperors new clothes syndrome goes on. Nothing very much wrong with many Chinese made guitars these days, on the verge of paying out £800+ for a MiC parlour myself. I just think each guitar has to be taken on its own merits and many of their Reso's are not up to scratch. If I can get what I'm looking for in a cheap/medium priced Asian guitar, I'll happily buy it! If I can't, I get my hand in my pocket as I did with my Status bass, a small fortune paid out but I have never regretted it. Chris
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Post by lexluthier on May 19, 2015 23:28:22 GMT
Hi again. There are three main families of resonators to chose from first. 1. National single cone, biscuit bridge type. 2. National tricone type. 3. Dobro, spider bridge type. I suggest you do a lot of listening first and see which one of these types you like before you narrow your choice down to a particular model. Youtube is a good place to start. As before 'try before you buy', its a great aspiration but you're going to have to travel far and wide for very little choice and some of the best makes aren't available in stores new, and rarely 2nd hand. Personally, while I do have preferences for nut widths, I give myself over to what else comes with a guitar. Being very particular about neck profiles, again, is a good aspiration but seriously limiting your choice unless you want to spend a four figure+ sum or you get lucky. If a guitar sounds great, personally, I try and accept what else comes with it, and work with it. Sound 1st, comfort 2nd! Chris
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Post by lexluthier on May 19, 2015 21:16:29 GMT
Hi! Ditto virtually all that Deuce just said. Although I've been a bass player all my playing life (35 years) I've always had a collection of guitars, mainly electric, usually one acoustic. Never in all that time found an acoustic that really engaged me and made me want to sit still and play it. All that changed when I bought a resonator a couple of years ago, now I can't stop playing! A word of caution though, my first reso come to me in an awful state and took me a lot of research and work to get to a state where it sounded something like it should. Don't play that one anymore but it showed me enough for me to invest in a further two, much better models. My advice, don't buy something cheap, it probably won't sound too great and if you find that its not for you, its harder to get your money back. Give yourself every chance and buy something decent, your ears will appreciate the difference and it makes more economic sense in the end. £400-600 should be enough to get yourself something good, as to which make/model, spend as much time as your patience allows reading previous threads on this forum and you should start to get the picture. Good luck and enjoy the journey! Chris
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Post by lexluthier on May 6, 2015 22:29:15 GMT
Boy oh boy, where to start! Criticise away I say, anyone switched on enough to research the subject of resonator guitars will get to this forum pretty quickly and will read some good, informed opinions for themselves and then can soon come to their own conclusions IF the discussions are here to be read. There is a thread currently running about the price of second hand MM's(I too track them all out of interest) They're fetching great prices because people are becoming much better informed about what's what and what's not and supply is outstripping demand to some degree. And where are they learning this.....? Anyone who doesn't put the time in kinda deserves what they get. It's either the beginning of a learning curve for them(hopefully!) or they're just going to be hearing with their eyes. Dog bowl resonators and cigar box guitars have a romance about them and most folks are suckers for a 'look' and see what they want to see. These instrument can be great fun and work/sound pretty good too if the right elements are in place and the ethos of what they are is not forgotten(Hats off to Chickenbone John on this score) If, as bryanbradfield said, people buy them for 'art', well then fine, they probably want no more from it than it to be a romantic wall hanging. If they are disappointed with the sound they'll move on to better things. You can't stop people buying s**t or making s**t, unfortunately that's the way the world turns. As John Lydon once said 99% IS s**t! Personally I actively seek criticism for my work. As mickeyz said, it doesn't have to be negative, good can come of it. Chris
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Post by lexluthier on Apr 17, 2015 21:01:37 GMT
Hi! As these guitars are spoken of periodically on this forum, I thought I'd post this Youtube video I just came across.
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Post by lexluthier on Apr 16, 2015 21:32:39 GMT
Other products are available.
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