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As much as I like Waverly tuners – and I do – I have tried the Gotoh SXN-510V tuners on a Martin that came with the usual closed-back tuners, and I am extraordinarily impressed. They fit together with a screw-in bushing from the front like a closed-back tuner and fit the holes for the old tuner exactly. They’re 15:1, so fine enough tuning, and don’t bind at all.
It’s much easier than a conversion to Waverly tuners even with the conversion bushings – there’s no probability of misplacing the tuner and having it bind. And the Gotohs are, as with any other open-back, vastly lighter than the closed-back tuners they replace.
If camping or RVing is ok, Lake Del Valle Park in Livermore is cheap and easy to book ahead of time:
Link: https://www.ebparks.org/parks/del_valle/
There are cabins available, and hotels reasonably close by for those who don’t want to camp.
They allow campfires, so we have jam-spots – and the campsites are far enough apart that as long as the playing is acoustic, we’ll be fine.
I’ve done jams during the annual Two-Day Town music festival there, and it’s worked well.
It’s usually hot during the day and cools down quite a lot at night, so it’s comfortable for sleeping.
Thoughts?
The Dead were pretty good at letting the music take them where it wanted to go. Sometimes the song was shorter and arranged, and sometimes it branched out…..both work, just different ways of approaching the tune.
Seems a good idea….if they’re doing more custom pieces, there’s at least one design I’d definitely be interested in if they’re on board for it.
John Barleycorn’s a fun tune. I’ve got a relatively simple arrangement that glosses the melody if you’d like, And it works, as Chris notes, way up the neck.
I remember capoing a Brozman baritone at the third fret and thinking “OK, I can reach things now!!”
It’s excellent. And there are more than one – there’s the one at his warehouse, and the one at his house. SO MANY GOOD GUITARS.
All y’all are so neat with your guitar collection. Daniel’s seen my collection (I’ll post a picture later) and it’s not a jumble, but it *is* a spare bedroom with limited wall space, a couch, and bunches of acoustic guitars, basses, amps (including 2000 watts of bass amp that I do not need), mandolins, baglama sazes, and assorted electrics. Plus at least two or three empty cases and a stash of gig bags.
The cat thinks it’s the best place in the world. Lots of soft places to sleep, and as a kitten, he was in there with me and Daniel and Tad playing in a circle, and it’s become his favorite spot.
/mh
Having spent time with Tad’s FTCs and Fs, as well as a few others, I think Tad is on point. The FTC is not entirely an archtop, nor a flattop. In maple, it has great clarity and power which are useful in a variety of contexts, not least playing rhythm. Single-note soloing feels like an archtop until the lower register, where it warms up like a flattop. Alternating thumb picking gets the best of both – great warmth in the bass and lots of volume in the treble. It’s versatile and is more guitar than I need, in the sense that I’ll reach my limits as a player before the instrument imposes limits on me.
The F has a similar voice but, of course, biased towards a flat top sound. I like the design – specifically a custom F made for acousticmusic.com in CT some years ago. It had mahogany b/s, spruce top, and the FS headstock. It was a glorious guitar with an airy open voice that enveloped the player, very warm and clear. And as much as I like them in rosewood, that one was better….
/mh
