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Stormy Weather - a great song, not a great event

8/23/2011

Living on Cape Cod and growing up in Southern New England, I always keep a wary eye on the tropics at this time of year. With Hurricane Irene looking like it will be a category 3 or even 4 by the time it reaches the U.S. shores late in the week my thoughts turn to "what if" as it relates to my guitars and electronics. I live about a half mile from West Falmouth Harbor and 20 years ago when we had our last hit from a hurricane (Bob) the water reached to within a few feet of my back deck - and that was just a category 2 storm that hit at low tide. It's not a question of "if" - it is certainly "when" I have to deal with a huge storm.

My parents had two events in their lives by which all other events were measured: World War II and the Great Hurricane of 1938. I grew up with stories of the massive destruction that the great storm did in most of Southern New England and it was scary indeed. In fact, my first vivid memory of my life was standing at the top of the hill next to the Baptist church, holding my grandmother's hand and looking down at Main Street in Mystic after a huge hurricane had passed, probably Carol in 1954 and seeing all the stores with water up to their second stories. So you can see why the possibility of a massive storm gives me the chills.

So what would I do with my instruments is a storm was definitely approaching? Most likely I would move them up to the second story of my house and hope the winds didn't blow my roof off. Same thing with the electronics. Then it would be time to decide what to do about the other valuables in my house. What if we had to evacuate? That's a harder question. I'm inclined to think I would pack up at least four of my guitars and pack them in the cab of my truck, leaving Kathy's Nissan for the other things we might need if we had to leave the house for a while. Some might question my priorities I guess but the very idea of having beautiful (and valuable!) Martins and Taylors destroyed by flood waters just breaks my heart.

So, time will tell. And we are really only at the beginning of the hurricane season.

Peace & good music,
Gene

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Selecting a guitar, Part 2

8/18/2011

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After you've made the basic decision about the size of the guitar you want to buy, the next question is usually, "how much should I spend?" Well, I'm really not trying to be coy here, but I have to answer - as much as you want! That is to say - as with most things, "you get what you pay for." Assuming you're the person I was talking about in Part One, a serious beginner or someone who wants to upgrade an old or no longer functional instrument, I would count on spending a minimum of $300 for something decent with either a gig bag or a hard case. That figure is truly about as low as you can go; you will have many, many more options in the $500 - $600 range. As a practical matter, you don't want to go through this exercise again in a couple years and that could very well happen if you go very low-end. And you might want to even bump that figure up a bit higher.

In any case, what makes one guitar worth twice as much as another in this lower range of instruments? Things like the quality of the wood - a solid top is a must and solid backs and sides are very nice to have too, sound-wise. Built in electronics may be something you want and while they are quite variable in sound quality, on-bound electronics will add to the cost.

Then there are things that I'll group under the heading of "bling." Fancy inlay on the fretboard and around the sound hole are nice touches, but if two models were virtually identical in terms of wood and over-all build but there was a price differential due to bling, I would opt for opt for the less expensive model and put the savings into something like a better case or perhaps necessary accessories like a tuner, capo and some spare sets of strings. But that's just me. If you like the fancy look, go for it!

Although both Martin and Taylor make new guitars that touch on the $500 - $600 price range (when discounted), I am going to recommend that you go with one of the mid or higher line models from the import companies like Yamaha, Alvarez, Recording King, Takamine or others. As much as I love Martins and Taylors, I do not think their lower priced models sound any better than the mid priced imports. And in some cases, the imports sound better. This is nothing more than pure economics. The cost of producing guitars in this country is higher than in Asia, by a long shot. So dollar for dollar, it is likely you will get much for your money with an import. There are certainly some who would debate this and it is possible to find some very nice used lower end Martins like the -16, -15, -1 or DM series (often special models made for Musician's Friend or The Guitar Center) on Craigslist for around $600 or so. Worth looking for I think as those guitars are likely to hold their value better than an import.

The main advantage of buying a new instrument of this general quality level is the warranty. Again - you get what you pay for. Many guitars in the $200 - $600 price range are going to need some sort of repair in their lifetime and if that repair is needed in the short term, having a solid warranty is very nice indeed. That is not to say a very, very expensive guitar will NOT need repair at some point, just that the less expensive ones are more likely to, and sooner. Worth considering!

So there you have it. A very, very general overview of things to think about when buying a less expensive guitar. I welcome any questions anyone may have about the points I've made. Good luck in your quest, and know that sooner or later, like all guitarists, you WILL develop a case of GAS (Guitar Acquisition Syndrome!).

Peace & good music,
Gene

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Selecting a guitar, Part 1

8/12/2011

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It may seem a bit self-serving of me to advise about buying a guitar as I, of course, sell them. Naturally, I hope anyone reading this will want to buy a guitar from me but I'm going to offer some information that will make for an informed decision, regardless of where you choose to purchase. So here goes...

First of all, I'm addressing someone who may have an old guitar and is looking to upgrade. If you are a first-time buyer, the best advice I can give you is to stay with one of the recognized names like Epiphone, Recording King, Silver Creek, Ibanez, Alvarez, Cort or Yamaha. All these companies make some very nice entry level instruments. Count on spending at least $200 for something decent, plus the cost of a decent gig bag or case. The big online retailers offer dozens of choices.

But let's say you have an old guitar that has not seen a lot of use over the years, or perhaps has been a faithful companion but you want to try something different. The first consideration is size. For decades the most common size of acoustics was the dreadnaught, or jumbo size instrument. This still holds true and the reason is no doubt that even in a fairly inexpensive instrument you can be sure a dread will give you plenty of volume, which is something most people want and like. Unfortunately, many people - women, kids, adults who are not large people - often find the dread unwieldy and difficult to hold. Women in particular often have trouble adjusting one of their...ahem...physical features to comfortably hold and play a dread. The guitar makers are more aware of this these days and a better choice if you fall into one of the groups I mentioned is the 000, OM or "grand concert" size instruments. These guitars are smaller than dreads but still offer plenty of volume and depending on the overall quality of the instrument, quite pleasing tonality for either light/moderate strumming or finger style playing.

There are also even smaller instruments (00, concert, parlor size) that are quite comfortable to hold but you cannot expect to get much volume or resonance from them unless you're prepared to spend thousands on a boutique or upper end American guitar.

I'm also assuming you intend to buy a guitar with steel strings. Unless you plan to play classical guitar or perhaps Brazilian jazz, nylon string guitars do not offer the variation in tone and most importantly, the volume of a steel string guitar. Sometimes people will want a nylon string guitar because the strings are somewhat easier to press down but that advantage is negated by the fact that on almost all nylon string guitars the neck is very wide, meaning you will have to reach farther around the neck. Occasionally people ask if they can put nylon strings on a guitar made for steel strings. The short answer is yes but because steel string guitars are braced for the the much higher tension steels, you will not get anything close to the volume or overall sound the guitar is capable of with the nylons, which cannot vibrate the top enough. So stick with steel - yes, they hurt a bit in the beginning but I promise you will be much, much happier in the long run.

Next choice is materials. I've written about the tonal qualities of different woods in the space before so I won't go into that now except to say that rosewood tends to be more resonant than mahogany (the two most common body types) but mahogany tends to have more "even" tonal qualities with (usually!) a better, cleaner treble end. The most important consideration is a solid wood top, which is usually some sort of spruce. Composites - a fancy word for plywood! - is common on inexpensive guitars' backs and sides. All solid wood is better but the price will reflect this. Fortunately, as opposed to a decade or so ago, even inexpensive guitars today have solid tops. I would definitely advise against buying any guitar that didn't have one.

Next I'll talk about features and their effect on the sound and "playability" of the guitar. Until then....

Peace & good music,
Gene

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Newport Folk Festival - sold out!

8/1/2011

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Not that it matters but.... (with apologies to Boston Globe sportswriters for stealing that intro line!)

Saw that the annual Newport Folk Festival, which was held over the weekend, sold out about two weeks ago and from the review, seemed to be a huge success. I think this is fantastic - proves that a new generation of music fans has discovered the joys of acoustic music. I confess that most of the new and up-and-coming (read: young!) acts were not anyone I knew but judging by the brief descriptions of their performances I'm pretty sure I would have enjoyed them very much. Many older acts were also there, along with well-established folkie (oh wait - "Americana") acts like Gillian Welch and of course the old war horses and the true spirit of the event, Ramblin' Jack Elliot and Pete Seeger. Which reminds me of a story....

I've mentioned this in this space before but I'll bore you with it again. Way back in 1968 when my friend Barry Greenhalgh and I attended the festival we happened to be walking across Festival Field and lo and behold, there was Pete Seeger walking back from a workshop he had just given. We timidly approached him and said: Mr. Seeger, could you tell us the chords to "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" (one of the great anti-war songs of all time, written by Seeger)? Barry was carrying his Martin 00-18. Pete said: Well, boys, you have a guitar. Sit down with me and take it out!

We were in awe, to say the least. A lesson from Pete Seeger! Barry handed him the guitar and he began to play the tune and sing, stopping every few measures to say, OK, E minor here, then G, then D, then B seventh... Got it?

We nodded and tried to be cool and make the gathering crowd believe that we got private lessons from the Father of American Folk Music all the time! In a few minutes and after Pete finished the tune and everyone cheered, he handed Barry back the guitar and bid us farewell. We were blown away, to say the least!

And that was what Newport was all about in those days - interaction with the musicians, passing the torch - it was one of the bedrock principals of the event when Pete and George Wein and all the others first conceived of it. Already by 1968 a certain amount of "star power" was entering the folk scene and I would love to hear Pete's take on their booking acts like Big Brother and Holding Company with Janis Joplin and of course bonafide stars like Dylan and Arlo Guthrie. My guess is that Pete was not in favor of that direction. Arlo always "got it" and was (and I'm sure, still is) one of the nicest and most approachable people you will ever meet. Dylan....uh, not so much!

Is Newport still that way? I kind of doubt it. I attended the Newport Jazz Festival a few years ago and with a few exceptions there was no doubt judging by the many security people guarding the fences between the stages and the audience that the separation of the two groups was the policy. Too bad. Also, with the parking far away from Fort Adams and in many places, I seriously doubt the wonderful parking lot jams of the old days are going on.

OK, so I sound like the old guy musician that used to drive me crazy in my younger days. "Everything was better back then, blah, blah, blah...." So I'll shut up now.

Anyway, the bottom line is that the sell-out of this year's Newport Folk Festival all but ensures the necessary corporate sponsorship for next year. And this can only be good. Congratulations to them and I will make the effort to get off of my (old) ass and get there next time.

Peace & good music,
Gene

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Stormy Weather - a great song, not a great event

Selecting a guitar, Part 2

Selecting a guitar, Part 1

Newport Folk Festival - sold out!

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