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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Posts by Artless
Thanks guys, for your responses, you helped me learn some new things. I can see why a vibrating metal string going over a metal saddle would cause some serious buzzing. An agate saddle sounds interesting, as does the glass.
Has anyone tried one of those exotic saddles like ivory, horn, or fossilized material? The claim is that they significantly enhance sings like volume and tone.
As I understand it, the saddle and bridge are the key elements that transfer the energy of the vibrating strings to the sound board, and that the stiffness and density of the saddle is important to this process. As a result, I've see adds for exotic types of saddles including fossilized walrus tusk. My question is: Would a saddle make out of gold, say 24 karat gold, be an ideal saddle because of its density and uniformity. And what about strings? Has any ever made strings ouf of gold or silver strings?
I keep my Indian Rosewood Martin in its case and can smell the wood every time I open the case. A nice pleasant smell.
Rosewood is wonderful . . . wonder if they ever made a top out of sandal wood?
Plug your nose, open your ears.
Lot of wisdom there! Right now my nose has been morning better than my ears; kinda frustrating!
I like the sound and look of a Parlor guitar, and I'd love to have one made by Larrivee, which is, of course, well known for the quality of their instruments. I'm probably in the minority when I say I don't like the look of Koa wood, although I appreciate the quality of the tone. Life is short, so if I price was right, I'd say buy it, if only for its unique sound and style.
I know that the way an acoustic guitar smells shouldn't really effect its playability, but has the way a guitar smelled ever influenced a buying decision? I fell for my latest guitar because the clean smell of cedar came wafting up through the sound hole whenever I played it. A friend just got a Martin with an Adirondack (red spruce) top and the scent of that guitar is intoxicating, and it's absolutely distinct from the smell of sitka or other types of spruce. Do other people notice this, or am I just a weirdo?
Two things got me started. First, I got rid of my t.v. and needed something fun to do in the evenings. Second, I was watching my son play his Epi and asked, "Could you teach me how to play some chords?" He did, and we went out and bought my first guitar, a Fender C60 acoustic. Although I've moved on to an Art & Lutherie, I think learning to play that cheapo Fender saved my life.
I wonder what replacing your saddle and pegs with fossilized walrus tusk says about you: prententious idiot or uncompromising artist. I haven't done such a thing . . . yet. Any advice for me?
Hey man, I can't say that I'm sorry to hear about your divorce. If it wasn't working out, it probably wasn't meant to be. I know you probably can't see that or think about it now...but later on you will look back and realize you made the best decision.
You're probably right about the idea of ending a marriage if it's not working, but if you're the one being divorced it's hard to believe in such an idea. I've lost so much because of my wife's decision to divorce, including the woman I loved, my job, my savings, and my health. Some really wonderful things are going to have to happen before I'll be able to look back and realize any of this was for the good. On the other hand, my ex-wife seems really happy now.
Not to spill the beans or nothing but I did just go through a pretty bad divorce. The thing of it is, in the past every time we fought it was at least worth a song or two. Now it's just blah. Thanks for the advice. I guess I just need to get over my self.
I've gone through the agony of divorce, too. You may be suffering from clinical depression (losing interest in something you once loved to do is a classic sign), so if the blah doesn't go away, you might want talk to a psychiarist or doctor about how you're feeling. Also, I was thinking that maybe one reason you can't turn this divorce pain into a song is that in the past, when you were married and had a fight, there was hope that things would get better, and so writing about it was easier. If I was in your shoes, and had the money to splurg, I go and buy a really great guitar, one that you were planning to buy "someday." Nothing like a NGD to lift one's spirits.
I'm a realtively new player, who has enjoyed going to Guitar Center during the past half-year to try out higher end guitars in their acoustic room. On more than one occassion, however, I've come across new $2,000 + Taylor, Martins, and now a Gibson Songwriter with obvious flaws. The Gibson, for example, had a long shallow gouge about 1/8 of an inch wide and 6" long on the top. It must have occurred in the factor, because it was covered over by lacquer and the lacquer showed no sign of being redone. Also, there were serious cracks in the lacquer at the bottom of the body, and at least one crack that seemed to go down into the top. Like I said, I've noticed problems like this on other expensive acoustics. Do these companies make it habit to ship flawed products to Guitar Center?
I wanted to do my part. Went down to Guitar Center hoping for some remarkable Black Friday prices on acoustics. However, the acoustic room was so crowded, with three or four people playing at the same time, I could barely hear the guitars I tried. No NGD for me.
Thanks Stonebridge, adjusting my elbow made a big difference. And thanks again to everyone who offered advice.
I'd never heard about Onyx guitars until your post--I really enjoyed reading what you said and getting a sense of your passion for this guitar.
Thanks, Guitarpix. Actually I was just noting that when I moved my thumb more into the middle of the neck, I had a better angle of approach. I appreciate the advice!
Thanks for the advice! I should be doing more scales anyway, so I'll pay attention to what my finger is up to.
Hi,
I've been playing for less than a year and I've got a problem with the little finger of my left hand. Whenever I try to fret an Em7, E7, Am7, etc. the knuckle of my little finger always tilts towards the nut and the finger itself just doesn't want to move away from my fourth finger--it's like is frozen. As a result, I'm pushing down on the string close at the top of the third fret, and that's creating problems with buzz and intonation. I've been trying to get the knuckle of my little finger to point straight up and move down, but I'm not having much luck and it's very frustrating! Are there exercises I can do to increase the flexibility of this finger or am I just going to have to slowly, slowly work on this in the course of practicing.
If anyone could help me with this, I'd be VERY thankful.
For a good little guitar that's priced at $299, I recommend the Takamine GS430S. Takamine calls the shape NEX, which to me is reminiscent of a parlor guitar. It's got a solid cedar top for a warm, resonant tone, and mahogany back and sides. It's small and light, but it's projects well. Mine has a low action and is pretty easy to play.
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Posts by Artless
