Meeting with Melp

[growler]

I had the pleasure of meeting up with Mel on a visit back to the UK this weekend at his wonderful apartment with its superb views across the English Channel. Apart from having the pleasure of meeting another forum member, the main purpose was for him to try out my Busker tricone and me to try out his now famous engraved 'Blues ' model, also his Busker Cannon and Andys Sollophic .The chances of ever trying out any of these guitars in a shop for me seemed so remote, so I snapped up Mels offer of a visit.
It is nice to chat online to forum members, but there is nothing like meeting up with them, you can discuss so much more. One conclusion we both came to when trying out each others guitars for tonal comparisons, it was not until
he played Michaels guitar directly at me that I could hear just how good it sounded , and vice versa, my tricone to him. so when buying a guitar get someone to play it to you,
Apart from Michaels guitar another of Mels many guitars that impressed me was his ' Busker Cannon ' this was a lovely little guitar it felt so nice when I played it, sounded wonderful , with a great projection . I can only describe this guitar as the one you would always pick up first to play. Andys Sollophonic is worth mentioning as well, this was also a terrific guitar , apart from the Telecaster being my favorite electric guitar shape it was such a practical guitar ,it could be played acoustically and for anyone interested in playing Electric slide you need not look any further .
Another thing that we both had a chance to try out was each others slides , Mel had a wonderful one of Ians ' Ultimate ' models that fitted my pinkey perfectly , I can honestly say I have never used a slide that sounded and felt so good I hope you have still got Mels dimensions Ian as i will be dropping you a line shortly.
Finally as I said, get out and meet each other , we have both agreed to meet up again and talk guitars when I am over in the UK visiting , I just hope it can be longer as 2 and a half hours just flew by .

I have posted a pic of Mel with the famous engraved Messer Blues

[thebluesbear( al)]

hi if either of you are ever north of the border .......belguim that is id love to meet you both.....

[Deleted]

Me, Melp and Al are have among the many admirers of this superb guitar. On 21st September last year I posted a You Tube review of it and there have been 371 hits of that video to date.

Here is the link if you haven't seen it

Mine just gets better and better.

[thebluesbear( al)]

Re Busker cannon

mine is just getting better and better

al

[melp]

Hi,

It was great to meet and have a chat, look forward to the next time.

I was very impressed with the Busker Deco Style 1. Cannot wait until I get mine!

Interesting, as Growler said, you get more of the fine detail of the sound, overtones/undertones, when the guitar is facing you. I know its obvious, given that's where the sound holes are pointing, but it did not occur to me before. Since last Saturday I have been playing very close to my window, another way to get more fine detail of the sound.

I have recently got the NRP audio catalogue, very good comparative recordings of all the NRP guitars. Its a good resource for getting some idea of the differences, for example the difference between 12 and 14 fret options.

One take away from listening to the catalogue, and playing some NRP's 'live' is just how good value MM & Buskers are. I know you can never do a real A B test with a recording against live in your hands, but even so for my purposes probably all I will ever need! A Blues, Cannon and a Sollophonic all three for the below cost of the lowest priced NRP!

I am not saying that NRP's are not worth the price, but for somebody like myself, this is just a hobby, who likes some variety, these guitars are as good as it gets.

So, MM/Robin when do we get a Baritone Tricone?

It was a good weekend for resonators, the day before I got to have a go on my sons new Busker Delta, only a week old, but very loud and a great blues sound. At first I thought the volume was down to the fact that he plays it like a maniac, but it was the same when I had a go.



I promised Growler the measurements of the slide he liked, its the one on the left in the picture.

Top inside = 17mm
Top outside = 29mm
Bottom inside = 20mm
Bottom outside = 27mm
Length = 62mm

Its one of Ian's Ultimate slides, with a reverse taper, so the top is wider than the bottom.

Made to my measurements, I took the measurements from the Steve James slide +/- a couple of mm's, the clear glass one, which is almost perfect. The other slide I use is Ian's Evolution, mixed glass and steel.

Slide selection is one of those weird things. Some days one works best, another day another works best. But generally, I use the Evolution for the MM Blues, the Ultimate on the Cannon, its easier as the fingerboard is flat, and the Steve James one on the Sollophonic.

But as I said, some days that all changes around.

Cheers

Mel

PS See the beauty of a cone cover reflection. I tend to find myself playing towards the end of the afternoon. My bay window faces west, so I get the afternoon sun. I was lounging with the Busker Cannon the other day, and noticed a great reflection on the wall.

[melp]

Bluesbear,

Would like to meet up. I get over to Belgium, centre of Antwerp, around once a month at weekend. Let's PM and see what we can sort out.

Cheers

Mel

[Michael Messer]

8-)It is great to see you guys meeting up and sharing your knowledge & experience. It is fantastic! That is a lovely photo of you with your engraved MM guitar.

So, MM/Robin when do we get a Baritone Tricone? ....I hate to dissappoint you but there will never be a baritone MM Tricone. I have heard and played a few of them and I have to say they do nothing for me at all. Baritone electric guitars are interesting in the right situation, but for me a Tricone should sound like a Tricone! This may appear very purist and old fashioned, and it probably is. But without my purist opinions about resonator guitars we would never have seen the MM range of guitars.

...nice reflection photo

Shine On
Michael

[thebluesbear( al)]

Hi
there is nothing better than a sidewalk cafe coffee on a saturday morning well this sat morning i had the great pleasure drinking coffee and talking resonators with mel

we met a 10 min walk from my home in downtown antwerp we spent about 2 hours talking drinking cofee and just walking about.

i hope this is the first of many visits by people on this forum

i love showing people about

as i understand pictures to be posted soon

al

[melp]

Al, All,

It was a pleasure to spend a couple of hours with you in Antwerpen this morning, thanks for taking the time, I really enjoyed it.

This face-to-face meeting with forum members is great, just to exchange ideas and discuss all things resonator.

Al showed me around a bit of Antwerpen, including a guitar store that I did not know about, its only about 15 mins walk from where I stay. Always good to know the local stores.



I think we may have done better to have included a picture of the pretty girls we got to take our picture!

Look forward to meeting up again when I am over next month, I will bring the MM Bacchus Blues so you can have a go.

Cheers

Mel

[thebluesbear( al)]

I agree re the pretty girls lol

so apart from barry and mels next visit

who else from the forum is coming over?

al