Amateur musicians... here is your spot!

[JRD]

I decided to create this topic instead of putting more stuff into the music discussion one as I think it deserves a topic of its own.

I know mandru is a bass player and fragger has a few guitars himself (although his fingers might be a bit too large for him to play  :-D ). I don`t know who else plays anything around here but here`s a thread to share your music experiences!  :-X

I play guitar since I was 17, had some lessons in the early days but soon moved to a learn-by-doing-it- approach as my teacher was somewhat of a phoney and I got a bit disappointed with learning from a master. I always enjoyed playing, although never been really good at it. I play mostly for myself and friends at occasional parties so having an expensive instrument was never realistic to me... I never had the money to have expensive guitars anyway  ;D

I don`t know why but I haven`t played a single tune in 5 years  ??? ... which caused a black cloud hanging at sight, thinking I would never do it again and for no actual reason. My wife made me promise I would go back on playing this year and it was actually my new year`s resolution.

So I finally found enough resources to spend on an old dream... a fine acoustic guitar!  :)

Here is a picture of my new baby, a Takamine EG320C NT

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It`s an electro-acoustic folk guitar with a pre-amp and built in tuner. It has a dreadnought body instead of the classic folk body (it`s a bit bulkier) , cutaway, laminated spruce top, mahogany back & sides, rosewood fretboard. Finishing is amazing and my hands slide over it smoothly as if I was touching a peach skinned muse... and the sound... aaahhhh, the sound... bright, full bodied, shiny, filling up all the environment, puts a smile on my face at any chord it produces  8)

That`s all I needed to dust off my songbook and start fingering my old songs all over again!!! Now, as I get my figer tips aching again because I need to develop new calluses, I hit me... why the hell did I left so many time pass me by without playing... I could be playing like Clapton by now!  ::)

[Art Blade]

Nice one, JRD  :-() :-X

I played all sorts of instruments and chewed up an equal amount of teachers until I realised I wanted.. more. I have never been happy playing, no, wait, reproducing what someone else had written. And I knew practicing isn't what anyone should listen to (my neighbours must have had a deathwish for me) so I needed something.. different. When I got my first keyboard (yeah, pocket money.. bought it myself) I started to enjoy myself. When I got my first sequencer for my computer, I was in heaven. From then on all I've ever done was composing music with all kinds of instruments involved, experimenting a lot and with fun. Friends asked for samples so I recorded some, later I made individual CDs for them. I have been featured online elsewhere (they wanted some of my stuff so desperately it made me grin) and my latest stuff can be found here at OWG in the media library.  :)

Sea Groove:
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Going Places:
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March of Rebels:
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[JRD]

Very nice songs indeed  :-X ... I've listened to those before but I was at w@&k so I couldn't actually get on the mood. Now I'm at home and I can enjoy your tunes... nice loop, very relaxing!  8)

[Art Blade]

Cheers :)

[mandru]

Nice guitar JRD especially if you remember to include the original meanings for the word Nice which is "With a high degree of precision" and "Selected with discriminating taste".  To be safe I should mention that the original meaning of "discriminating" refers to having an appreciation for the very best and not what the word has been twisted around to mean somewhere in the middle of the last century.   :)

My best friend that I've played bass with for over 20 years has had a Takamine very similar to yours (his spruce top is painted black to match the body sides and back) for about 15 years and he loves it for the amplified brightness it can deliver.  Even at high volume levels with the full band with electrics, drums and my bass it punches right through the mix and is never lost.

An excellent choice indeed but I should warn you if you play while strapped in and standing up be very careful of wearing country western style belt buckles.  They have an insatiable hunger for the backs of Takamines.   :o

[Art Blade]

Nice err, lovely post, mandru ^+-+ :-X

[JRD]

Thanks mandru... I`ll make sure I use a plastic buckle when doing my Willie Nelson impersonation  ;D

By the way, I edited the original post. The model is actually a 320C instead of 320SC ... the "S" stands for Solid top and my guitar has laminated wood on the top.  :-\\

The top wood accounts for about 80% of the sound of a guitar and a solid top has a more thick, vibrating sound if compared to the laminated one. With time the solid wood seems to loosen up a bit and adjust to the fittings so the sound gets richer and richer the more you play, which doesn`t happen with the laminated top.

It also accounts for heavier price as well and I had to give up that extra quality for a budget price but that`s fine, if you play live or in studio quite often you can tell the difference but since I`m playing for myself, with friends and to my wife it won`t matter much  ;)

I almost bought a solid top Tanglewood guitar instead of this one. It was for a good price with a solid case along with it "for free". I never heard of Tanglewood  before but apparently one designer at Martin (the brand Elvis used and that Clapton and MacCartney use nowadays) quit the company and decided to create his own brand using his experience and bringing the philosophy and concepts from Martin but aiming at more accessible guitars. They are apparently trying to enter the market in Brazil hence the good price and promotion.

In the end the name Takamine sold me out. I know that even the cheaper Takamine guitar has their polishing, quality and electronics in it. As for this Tanglewood, I don`t know whats in it after all.  Besides, I won`t play the case anyway... I want a good instrument to play not a good box with an ordinary instrument in it ;)

[mandru]

My friend likes his Takamine for its high mid and high end tonality that he calls sizzle.   ;D

The top wood accounts for about 80% of the sound of a guitar and a solid top has a more thick, vibrating sound if compared to the laminated one. With time the solid wood seems to loosen up a bit and adjust to the fittings so the sound gets richer and richer the more you play, which doesn`t happen with the laminated top.

Laminates in top end guitars are not plywood.  A lot of forethought and care go into the composition materials and their preperation.

I'm under the impression that any top wood or laminate on a quality guitar like yours will improve with playing and as it learns to resonate.  I've confronted a Washburn sales rep (the company that made my acoustic) on this and have come to the opinion that this difference is at least in part a sales gimmick to make people buy more expensive models.  I don't think in the long run the difference is discernible.

If you as a habit of putting music on in your home for listening while engaged in daily activities I've learned that if your guitar is hanging on a wall where it can be exposed to music that too will aid in sweetening and conditioning your instrument almost as well as if you spent all that time actually playing it.   :)  :-X

[JRD]

Cool... I can`t tell the difference either but I`m no expert  ::)

As a rule of thumb I take the guitar and play a bit on it... I feel my fingers moving over the strings, how the neck and fretboard feels like, how it resonates when I pick, finger and play a chord full on... the Takamine and the Tanglewood were pretty much a tie to be honest. I spent a good couple hours sitting there, fooling around, feeling like I`m this Mississipi bluesman  :-D  ::)

However the Takamine had that thing ringing after each chord, that something you can`t tell what it is but you know is there, so I forgot about the solid case and cheaper price and went for the quality stuff (still ranging within my budget) with a smile on my face!

You have a point when you say a guitar hanging in the wall will resonate with music as if someone was playing it... good to know. Mine still in the soft case, leaning against the wall but I`ll have it hanging eventually and will be able to put my bay to sleep with good music! Nice one, mandru  :-X

[Art Blade]

Does that mean a guitar hanging on a wall being exposed to music softens up like the head of a boxer with every punch it takes?   8-X :-()

[mandru]

 :-X

There you go! Art's got it.   ^+-+

[Art Blade]

 ^+-+

[mandru]

JRD, the whole time I was putting together my post about composite laminate tops vs solid woods there was a poem I'd become familiar with as a child running through my head and now the damn thing won't leave me alone.   ???

Maybe you're already familiar with it but if I drop it in a post it will go haunt you for a while instead of me.   >:D



The Touch of the Master's Hand
By Myra Brooks Welch
(my annotation)

It was battered and scarred and the auctioneer thought
It hardly worth his while
To waste his time on the old violin,
But he held it up
with a smile.

"What am I bid, good people", he cried,
"Who starts the bidding for me?"
"One dollar, one dollar, Do I hear two?"
"Two dollars, who makes it three?"
"Three dollars once, three dollars twice
Going for three,"

But, No,
From the room far back
A gray bearded man came forward and picked up the bow,
Then wiping the dust from the old violin
And tightening up the strings,
He played a melody
Pure and sweet.  As sweet as the angel sings.

The music ceased and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said "What now am I bid
For this old violin?"
As he held it aloft with its' bow.

"One thousand, one thousand, Do I hear two?"
"Two thousand, Who makes it three?"
"Three thousand once
Three thousand twice,
Going and gone", said he.

The audience cheered but some of them cried,
"We just don't understand."
"What changed its' worth?" Swift came the reply.
"The Touch of the Masters Hand."

And many a man with life out of tune
All battered with bourbon and gin
Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd
Much like that old violin

A mess of pottage, a glass of wine,
A game and he travels on.
He is going once, he is going twice,
He is going and almost gone.

But the Master comes,
And the foolish crowd
Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
By the Touch of the Masters' Hand.

*****



My thought is that even if all you got is a plastic box with nylon strings stretched down a broomstick neck that's not reason for despair.  If you throw yourself into learning to tease and coax the best possible out of it (playing beyond the physical limitations of the instrument) you can create something amazing.   :-X


If you got music in you there's no substitute or cure that beats simply setting it loose.   ;)

[JRD]

If you got music in you there's no substitute or cure that beats simply setting it loose.   ;)

Very well said, mandru!

You can write that in my tombstone if I ever manage to play "Little Wing" the way it deserves to be played  :-X  ;D

I decided to get a new guitar and went for it blindly. Near the neighborhood where my father lives, and where I grew up, in São Paulo, there is a street where literally dozens of specialized music shops are lined door after door for about four or five blocks. All kinds of instruments can be purchased there, There are shops selling only blow or percussion instruments, only electric guitars, pianos etc. If there is a place to get a good deal in Brazil, this is the place, so I knew I was going for the right place with the right spirit.

Maybe deep down inside I knew I should trust my instincts, choose a few guitars within my budget and play. Just like that. So I did and came home with that guitar on the picture.

Only after purchasing the instrument I went on the net and started a search through several forums discussing the pros and cons of this and that brand, steel vs nylon, laminated vs solid top, Fender vs Gibson, Taylor vs Martin etc... As I expected ALL forums are full of experts and trolls eager to point out their particular point of view as being the right one and simply overwhelming your ideas with their knowledge acquired after years sharing experiences and ideas on those same forums.  :D

The consensus was... well, there`s no consensus at all but everybody seem to claim that a solid top should be much, much better than laminated. However, Takamine is a better brand than Crafter, Eagle etc but for that price you should go after a Yamaha........  :D

I`m glad I followed my instincts... if it wasnt for that I would probably get a different guitar, maybe a bit cheaper but that wouldn`t ever satisfy my thirst for a nice instrument at least once in my life!  ;)

[Art Blade]

Ukulele weeps by Jake Shimabukuro

[PZ]

That guy is really pretty good!  :-X

[Art Blade]

He's good enough to be close to bringing a tear to my eye when I listen to that piece.  :)

[JRD]

 ???

Amazing... he's really good!  :-X

Check out this guy, Andy McKee... he sure has a unique technique and style, and his tunes are just beautiful! Note the guitar he is playing in the last video!!  ;)

Andy McKee - Guitar - Drifting - www.candyrat.com

Andy McKee - Art of Motion - Guitar - www.candyrat.com

Andy McKee - Into the Ocean - www.candyrat.com

[Art Blade]

beautiful and unique, nice  :) :-X

[Binnatics]

I`m glad I followed my instincts... if it wasnt for that I would probably get a different guitar, maybe a bit cheaper but that wouldn`t ever satisfy my thirst for a nice instrument at least once in my life!  ;)

Well said, too!!

I think any artist will fall in love somehow with the material he uses to create his masterpiece, or just his emo-expression whatever. It happens to me the same way, although I'm no musician. This summer I was in Sweden and I was moved by the numerous granite pillars and blocks they used for buildings and streets. I allmost tried to rip a giant block out of a stone fence because I desperately wanted to take it home and create a nice sculpture out of it.
Glad I could hold myself back, wouldn't wanted the Swedish government on my back because of my need for expression :)
Although, I desided to get a nice cube soon now that I'm back. I want to sculpturize something, and it has to start with a granite block. ^-^

@ Art: I think your "going places" is looping, cause I've been listening to it while reading the entire topic plus writing this post. I love it!!! The bass: Boom-tac boom-tac is massive. I'm on a trip, going places, with a firm pace. Great song!!! And a slab on the back :-X

[Art Blade]

cheers, Binnatics  :)