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Post by cakewalk on Dec 15, 2020 1:54:21 GMT
Hello
I am a lurker from California. Don't usually have much to say and just listen. I play slide everyday and have multiple guitars. I have 2 resos right now: A National style O and a Yanuziello spider cone wooden body. I have been listening to Martin Simpson lately and am so taken with his slide sound. Much of it is technique as his damping and clean bottleneck slide control is masterful. Still I am wanting to try and emulate his sound and have taken a notion to getting a higher end wooden guitar for this. I have 2 points of inquisition from a group whom I respect:
1) What are the qualities I should look for in a wooden guitar for slide playing? Some say an Aid top resonates more. some say that, although back and side is less contributory that Rosewood might be the most resonant and therefore might have the best sustain (I am looking for this). I am leaning in the direction of a larger body.
2) Traditionally country blues fans (I am one) like the ladder braced sound. Many say get a cheap one at a pawn shop and raise the action, kick it down the alley, put a hex on it at a crossroads of sorts and you are good to go. I have always been suspect of this. I think Robert Johnson and Charley Patton played any guitar that they could get their hands on and if they could have gone to the -say Music Emporium in Boston- and given a choice of any instrument, most would have left with a richer sounding box rather than some plywood wannabe.
Suggestions?
Hope all are staying safe. I am a health care provider. Covid is for real and there is light at the end of the tunnel with vaccines. Mask up, keep a distance, be patient and practice more!
Brian
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2020 8:17:23 GMT
I don't want to sound off, but I don't think there's any need here for your advice about covid on your post. TT
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Post by Pickers Ditch on Dec 15, 2020 8:37:50 GMT
What's an Aid top, please? Me, I must be like RJ and CP coz I'll attempt to play slide on anything but I much prefer those old ladder braced jobs. Best sustaining acoustic I've come across yet is my "Skip Dive Special" strung up with Monel 10s in Vastapol, see thread linked below. michaelmesser.proboards.com/thread/10526/help-identifying-skip-dive-specialIt's the lightest guitar I've ever played - European in origin with a slightly arched back and a very thin ladder braced spruce top. Saw Martin Simpson October 2019 and he was using a PRS, sounded good but he is an absolute master so I reckon it doesn't matter what he plays.
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Post by blueshome on Dec 15, 2020 9:14:06 GMT
I’m another user of old ladder braced guitars for slide. They have that mild range punch and lively bass. I would look for an early 20’s instrument, post depression the woods and quality dropped. No need to raise the action, normal fingerpicking action is fine IMO. If you don’t want to go this way talk to Todd Cambio at Fraulini guitars and discuss what you want. He’s an expert in building instruments in the way they were made in the 20’s and 30’s and I’m sure he’ll be able to build something to meet your wishes. I’ve no connection other than being a satisfied customer and knowing other owners of his guitars. www.fraulini.com
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Post by leeophonic on Dec 15, 2020 9:39:39 GMT
As I see you already have a good choice of instruments & if you are looking to match your Yanuziello which is one of the top two or three reso's out there then the Fraulini would be the 1st port of call.
Good luck with the quest.
Lee
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Post by slidefever on Dec 15, 2020 9:40:24 GMT
Hi, I’ve been down the same road pretty much. I’ve had quite a few NRPs and spider bridge resonators. I thought that a nice flattop would be great for a different authentic slide tone. What l discovered is, that with slide in general, the cost, model, spec, of the guitar is irrelevant. I’ve had a Martin D28, a high end Larrivee dreadnought, Gibson Keb Mo, a 2017, 1932 Gibson L00 reissue and many l can’t remember in my search for a sound l liked. I get the the ‘hand crafted, solid woods, name on the headstock, hug yourself’ thing. I’ve only just, after 20 or so years of playing slide, got over the irresistible feeling of owning a high end guitar regardless of if it really worked for me or not. My advice would be to try as many as you can regardless of whether it is a vintage, modern, cheap or expensive brand and find the sound that’s in your head. I’ve ended up with an Icarus baby O (£295) which isn’t as small as it sounds. It has a 48mm nut, big chunky neck ( like a resonator), 12 frets to the body (which a full Classical guitar body size) to which I’ve fitted nickel wound strings.
Anyway.....these are just my thoughts. Some people will swear by what they have, or listened to as being the best and have no intention of buying anything themselves, they just enjoy spending other people’s money. Only you can decide. Search with your ears not your eyes and make sure it has the strings etc on it you intend using. I hope this all doesn’t sound patronising, but like your advice on COVID-19, it’s well intentioned. Good Luck Chris
‘I love slide me’
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Post by leeophonic on Dec 15, 2020 9:49:59 GMT
Slidefever has a point some of the modern and vintage cheaper catalogue guitars can satisfy that itch
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Post by richclough on Dec 15, 2020 10:03:33 GMT
I've been to a couple of Martin's workshops in Sheffield over the last few years. He's an incredible player. There are a few factors to his slide sound that I know about:
- Strings. He uses 13-56 strings, but replaces the 13 with a 15. Tonally it's better and helps keep the slide off the frets when down-tuning. This is pretty common amongst slide players. - Nails. He uses silk and resin wraps on his nails. This is significant. Turns nails into heavy picks. I've started doing the same, though I suspect we shape our nails in a different way. His seem to be quite pointed, I prefer more of a 'slanted chisel'. - Slide. The Martin Simpson Wolfram Slide he uses is a very heavy chunk of Tungsten Carbide. I have one. Takes some getting used to. It's another significant factor in the tone and sustain he obtains. The nearest equivalent is probably the Dunlop 228. - Thumbpick. Fred Kelly Heavy (white) Speedpick. He uses this not only on the bass strings, but also to accentuate melody lines. One really important factor in his playing that I'm only getting my head around now is getting away from the 'thumb = bass strings, fingers = treble strings' rut.
Of course, then you need to spend 50 years playing all kinds of music, all over the world, become a virtuoso banjo player and develop incredible touch and timing. Do all that and the guitar itself becomes way less important...get the best you can afford with a solid spruce top and a wide neck and play the hell out of it. At one of the workshops he played my Brook Tamar...it was shocking to hear the volume and tone that he could get out of it. Cheers, Rich
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Post by Stevie on Dec 15, 2020 10:25:03 GMT
I last saw Martin Simpson at The Cabbage Patch in Twickers probably six or seven years ago now. He had already jumped ship to PRS. I didn't know that at the time, but I noticed the cutaway from my viewpoint near the back of the room. His tone / the sound was noticeably less appealing to me than all the times I had seen him before. Of course that's a subjective opinion.
e&oe ...
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Post by richclough on Dec 15, 2020 11:01:30 GMT
I last saw Martin Simpson at The Cabbage Patch in Twickers probably six or seven years ago now. He had already jumped ship to PRS. I didn't know that at the time, but I noticed the cutaway from my viewpoint near the back of the room. His tone / the sound was noticeably less appealing to me than all the times I had seen him before. Of course that's a subjective opinion. e&oe ...I've got a feeling that he doesn't accept endorsement money so doesn't feel obliged to play a particular instrument, but gets the instruments for free. At the workshop 3 years ago he gave my partner's son a 12 string guitar that a luthier had made for him. Saw him early this year at the Salt Museum in Northwich and he was playing both Sobells and PRS (from memory). Was struck by how arched the top of the Sobell was. I'm not a huge fan of a purely piezo sound for a solo acoustic/vocal set-up. Even a great piezo - like the Highlander IP1 - sounds 'plasticky' to me, no matter how well it's eq'd. Quite understand how a solo touring musician, subject to the vagaries of house PAs and house engineers, would want a simple set-up though and not have to worry about acoustic guitar onstage mics...
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Post by tallsailor on Dec 15, 2020 11:44:54 GMT
What's an Aid top, please? A mis-contraction of Adirondack?
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Post by Michael Messer on Dec 15, 2020 13:39:10 GMT
I nearly bought this one. It was strung way lighter than I would normally use, but played, felt and sounded great. Collings 0002H.... beautiful.
I agree with Phil about Fraulini guitars, they are lovely instruments. I also have a soft spot for anything built by Joseph Yanuziello, his Martin OM style guitar is excellent.
Shine On Michael
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Post by Stevie on Dec 15, 2020 13:51:44 GMT
I've sat in the second row from the front in a scout hut in Thames Ditton and watched Martin Simpson play crystal clean slide capo'd at the second. I asked him about that during the interval and he just smiled! Upon querying, he also demonstrated that percussive flamboyant frailing move which I rapidly took under my wing to the extent that I overuse it most of the time. That was the fastest and most productive lesson I have ever had and it was free! Your comment about 15 thou' top string partly explains the clean slide sound to me. I also leaned forward to where he was sitting in the front row and run my fingers over his Sobell although it didn't sound that exceptional away from his reinforcement setup and beneath the intermission cacophony. You are correct about the arched top (and back) on a Sobell. It's not easy to spot straight lines on a Sobell. I really don't believe those sort of wood-bodied sounds are the kind that blues aficionados are after?
e&oe ...
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Post by richclough on Dec 15, 2020 14:34:21 GMT
...he also demonstrated that percussive flamboyant frailing move which I rapidly took under my wing to the extent that I overuse it most of the time... Was this by any chance the 'finger flick from the palm on the bass string, parallel to the soundboard' thing? He used to use that a lot more. I learned to do it, but then never found a use for it.
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Post by Stevie on Dec 15, 2020 14:40:30 GMT
Well I do it using the back of the middle finger nail launched from the pad of the thumb. I think it produces the attack we're talking about. After a while I found I could accurately hit any string and play melodies that way. It adds a percussive rhythmic element and I noticed it in a lot of older English folk players but performed so quickly I couldn't figure out what they were doing. I have to stop here RichC because I'm forking the thread!
e&oe ...
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