Well, to be honest the melody pretty much stinks.  Except when Alvin sings it.  He has his own sort of timing that makes things that don't work... work. 

- Zurf

Here's what I do.  It's not "right", but it's what I do. 

For the three bass strings, I use my thumb.  Then I assign a finger to each of the treble strings.  I use the index finger for G, the middle finger for B, and the ring finger for e.  That's kind of the way I do it, unless I do it differently for a particular song.  Some songs I just use the index finger and thumb.  Mostly Johnny Cash, because that's how he played a lot and it's easier to get "his" sound using "his" fingering approach. 

Hope that helps. 

- Zurf

I remember when Dirty Ed had first written this song and tried it out on a bunch of drunken fisherman at a late night campfire along the banks of the New River.  There was one fellow who stayed a bit drunker than the others who couldn't recall the title from day to day, and so about ten times per night he'd yell, "Hey!  Hey Dirty Ed!  Play 'dat midgit song ag'in."  And so for the past five years or so as soon as Dirty Ed pulls out his guitar in the company of drunken fishermen at campfires along river banks the near universal cry is "Hey!  Hey Dirty Ed!  Play 'dat midgit song." 

- Zurf

p.s.  I was not the drunken fisherman in question.  Just to be clear on that point.

That's a deal!   

The light gauge round wounds I'm going to send you are Hartke brand.  They're good for popping, thumping, and bending.  For just regular playing they have a nice growly, sharp kind of sound.  Good rock or Chicago blues strings where you use a lot of hard attacks doing walking lines.  They're what I've got on my Ovation Magnum. 

I like medium flat wounds on my fretless.  They're just as fat and mellow as a late August sunset.  I haven't got any spares of those. 

- Zurf

Nicely done.  I have some spare light gauge long scale strings here if you'd like a fresh set to put on that bad boy.

- Zurf

If you want it bad enough you'll do it.  If you don't want it bad enough, it's not like your life is on the line.  If you turn it into a chore, it won't be fun any more.  Having a list and planning time to practice is good.  Forcing yourself to do something against your own will is not.  Take a break if you need to, then if you miss it go back and practice.  Just don't expect to be supergood too fast.  A lot of people have the feeling that they can play like their idols and sound just like the guys on the albums in a few months.  Not going to happen.  Those guys are pros who have dedicated their lives to practice AND have been blessed with talent.  Don't allow comparisons of that sort to cloud your mind. 

A wise fellow told me once: "You can't help but be yourself.  So if you are going to be a success at anything, figure out who you are and be that." 

- Zurf

Well I think a Blueridge for that price is worth some elbow grease.  It's good to hear that it worked out for you.

Well there you go.  You've got the progression right, but the key is different from the Johnny Cash recorded version.  I thought it might be.  Johnny Cash seemed to like to play in A and E, but not G or D so much.  He did do a number of songs using the D shaped chords with a capo on the second fret (which makes it E and avoids having to finger the evil B).   If you want to play it in E without the Evil B, you can play D for E, G for A, and A for B, but put a capo on the second fret.  It won't sound as deep as the open chords, but it will at least be the same key. 

- Zurf

That is without a doubt an amazing song.

Check out Todd Snider.  Warning though, his language is foul.  If foul language offends you, do NOT check out Todd Snider.  As funny as they are, and as skilled as he is with inflection and tone, he would be much funnier were he to cut back on the profanities.  Still.  His songs are terrific.  I especially like "The Statisticians Blues" and "Pressure." 

- Zurf

Yep.  What I did is to start recording myself playing the same song once per month (once per week at first) so that I could go back and listen for improvement.  I also did some on-line research for singing lessons (there's good ones out there) and started to put that advice into practice.

- Zurf