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Post by fredkinbom on May 23, 2008 14:14:32 GMT
Bill, I have not played an NRP Estralita Deluxe myself, but I have heard one played at "close range" at an unamplified gig in a small venue, and it did not strike me as a guitar that would suit me and the music I make (something that goes for most biscuit bridge resos, so it is not a criticism of the guitar's quality, it's just my personal taste). Of course guitars sound differently depending on room acoustics, and a fair comparison can only be made side by side, but Mark's 1934 Estralita sounds simply gorgeous - in my opinion and to my taste, much more intriguing than the NRP, and its sound is warm and rich. In my limited experience, the finest sounding biscuit bridge reso I have come across. So, I think you may go ahead and be jealous! Fred
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Post by fredkinbom on May 23, 2008 0:58:27 GMT
A heads-up for this thread that I posted in the Notecannons section about a 1930s National Estralita restored by Mike Lewis at Fine Resophonic. Fred
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Post by fredkinbom on May 14, 2008 14:51:01 GMT
Great news Michael! The only problem for me is that I probably will not be in the UK on this date. But I will know soon if I'll be here, and if I am I will surely come! I will update the thread on the French Slide forum about this workshop with these news. By the way, I met BJ Cole last Friday when I went to an excellent concert by him and multi-instrumentalist Nick Pynn at a great little venue here in Brighton! Fred
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Post by fredkinbom on Apr 22, 2008 13:33:23 GMT
Hi Michael - very interesting! Just to clarify - I did not question what you said, I was merely surprised to hear this and I am curious to learn more about old Nationals. My old Oahu student lap guitars (I've had two) both had what looked like "ebonized" fretboards made of wood and I thought they were as cheap as cheap got back then. Maybe it is easy to forget that Duolians, considering the prices they go for now because of "blues legend mojo", were National's budget guitars. (I'm glad the blues legends stayed away from the New Yorker lap steels - they were twice the price of a Duolian back in the 1930s, and now I bought some for a fifth or less of the price Duolians fetch today . Back to fretboards and over to the experts! Cheers, Fred
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Post by fredkinbom on Feb 25, 2008 13:16:58 GMT
This is exciting news! I have a sort of avoid-Chinese-products-if-you-can mentality, but this looks like such a good project that I may well be willing to make an exception! Michael, I guess a square neck Lightning will not be an option, or? Would the round neck be fine strung up with heavy Newtone MM National strings over a nut riser? (It's always good to have the option for both "Spanish" and lap style playing, especially with a biscuit single cone). Also, will these be available to "try before you buy" in shops - for instance in London - or it will be strictly a direct order thing? I am not doubting that these guitars developed and overseen by you will be top notch for the money, but I am not sure whether I am seduced by that lightning sand blasted design or whether I could really incorporate a buscuit reso sound into my quite "soft" approach to playing. Would it be possible to order one, try it out, and return if it "ain't my thing"? All the best, Fred
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Post by fredkinbom on Mar 7, 2008 14:17:50 GMT
Dear all, I will be at the Musikmesse in Frankfurt, Germany next week (12-15 March) working with my brother's company Valter Percussion. We will be in hall 3.0, booth G63 if anyone wants to come and say hello! ;D We will be using the Reso-Acoustic 400 sound system from Bob Brozman/SR Technology to demo new built-in cajón mics. I really look forward to trying this system out (I will bring my Lazy River and hope there will be time for some jamming with my brother when he demos his drums!). I will also play a gig in a small jazz club called Mampf on Friday 14 March at 20:30. Will anyone else attend the fair? Please let me know if you have any recommendations of exhibitors and/or artists to check out! All the best, Fred
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Post by fredkinbom on Feb 22, 2008 18:12:41 GMT
That sounds GREAT! I will probably be away a bit in early July, but if I'm in the country, I'd definitely come! As soon as you have a definite date I could tell for sure if I can make it.
What would the cost be?
All the best,
Fred
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Post by fredkinbom on Jan 26, 2008 14:01:36 GMT
Thanks folks for the input! I asked over at the Reso-Nation forum too, which is 99.9% Dobro oriented, and US luthier Gregg McKenna confirmed it is an original stock OMI cone.
Cheers,
Fred
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Post by fredkinbom on Jan 19, 2008 0:52:22 GMT
Well, it didn't take long for me to start tinkering. I wanted to adjust the intonation slightly and ended up opening the Dobro up. All went well though. The intonation is now better, I tried how turning the tension screw affected the sound and left it where I liked it best, and I think the Dobro sounds even louder now. And it was interesting! ;D Could anyone tell from the picture if the cone is original or an upgrade? Cheers, Fred
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Post by fredkinbom on Jan 16, 2008 15:14:02 GMT
Thanks all for the comments, info and chocolate! Michael and Lee - I look forward to seeing that OMI catalogue! I am very pleased with this Dobro's sweet and mellow sound (that was what I was after, rather than the "snarly", to my ears a bit hard "modern" bluegrass Dobro sound). Fred
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Post by fredkinbom on Jan 13, 2008 22:39:32 GMT
After two years of sliding on Weissenborn and electric lap steel I've finally gotten myself a reso! ;D It's a 1976 OMI Dobro, that seems to have been tweaked to sound its best - it has a spun cone (original or upgrade, I don't know), a brass nut, a piece of felt under the tailpiece and ebony bridge inserts and it sounds SWEET! Here is a sample of its sound: And some pics: I play without fingerpicks on the sample but will work on getting more comfortable with picks - the ProPik Fingertones with a Golden Gate thumb pick seems like the way to go for me. The strings are... Michael Messer Newtone Nationals , D tuning. I'm hooked! Cheers, Fred
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Post by fredkinbom on Dec 9, 2007 18:04:47 GMT
Just wanted to share a little tune-in-progress: It's funny how guitars have their different strengths - I came up with this tune while playing my 1930s $81 Oahu, tuned in D format tuning (but tuned down to B-flat) - it has such a raw, earthy tone! The lower the tuning, the warmer it sounds. It's strung with normal gauge Newtone Alohas, so you can imagine that the strings are quite slack! Today I played the same tune (in D) on my Lazy River Weiss - it didn't sound as good at all, although the Lazy River technically is a much higher quality instrument. Long live the cheap old birch boxes! Cheers, Fred
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Post by fredkinbom on Nov 18, 2007 17:52:40 GMT
Hi Michael, Any plans of bringing this show to other venues (London or South East, for instance )? Lewes Guitar Festival perhaps? Cheers, Fred
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Post by fredkinbom on Oct 29, 2007 13:30:58 GMT
Hi Michael and everyone else, As at least one person here (hello Robn! has asked about this record I hope it is alright to announce that my all-lap slide EP "Crystal Bar EP" is available for free download from Slide Planet. There is a thread on the IGS forum with all info: www.guitarseminars.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/019199.htmlI hope you will enjoy it! All the best, Fred
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Post by fredkinbom on Oct 26, 2007 11:42:54 GMT
Thanks for your support Michael!
Regarding the copyright, it states on the artwork and on the Slide Planet website that the copyright is owned by the individual artists and "All rights reserved". I guess that's all one can do on the website, or? With regards to each artist copyrighting their work, I guess it is up to each of us to do the old "post-it-to-yourself-by-special-delivery-mail" thing. It would be interesting to hear your experience as a professional musician with these issues!
Thanks!
Fred
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