Matt Hayden

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Viewing 15 posts - 406 through 420 (of 537 total)
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  • Matt Hayden
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      Usually cow or bull horn. They’re great.  I’ve got a few, and they feel good in hand, too – something about the horn makes them less slippery than other pick materials.

      Matt Hayden
      Participant

        For low end, I found the big heavy Wegen picks to be the right thing – the 5mm thick ones are amazing – and they’re not at all clicky, bc they’re Acetal or Delrin or some such plastic that doesn’t have the surface hardness.

        I’m partial to the 1942 Flatpick D that Steve Swan had made for a while – I’m not a flatpicker but those things had amazing clarity.

        My OM has plenty of bottom end – it’s sitka / Indian with tapered bracing and a cutaway, using SGCG low tensions.  I suspect a bunch of the low end comes from 28 years of relatively hard playing, though I seem to recall it being there all along.

        And welcome back! Glad you found us.

         

        in reply to: Mr Skye in Acoustic Guitar…check it out #1922
        Matt Hayden
        Participant

          Eric’s videos are amazing…..

          in reply to: wondering why #1907
          Matt Hayden
          Participant

            Hmm. If you have any 00 cutaways to sell, let me know…..I should have bought the one on AGF but it kinda didn’t work out, as he pulled the ad the same time as I pulled the trigger.

            in reply to: Tip for learning riffs: sleep #1906
            Matt Hayden
            Participant

              Zorro: write a book:  “Naps: the ancient ancestral wisdom of the guitarist. [WITH TAB]”   🙂
              You’ll make a million!

              in reply to: EVO frets #1905
              Matt Hayden
              Participant

                I’d guess it’d be $4-500 for a refret, give or take, for a good repair person.

                It’s not that much harder to work with than nickel, and it doesn’t deform nearly as much when installed (I have an arbor press and curved cauls), so a well-trued fingerboard leads to frets that are a little taller because they need less filing.   They don’t seem to scratch up on the top of the crown from playing, either….

                I have a nice small all-solid-but-not-valuable mando that needs frets, and I’m thinking that EVO is a no brainer for it. 20’ radius on the board and biggish frets sounds like fun.

                in reply to: Tip for learning riffs: sleep #1896
                Matt Hayden
                Participant

                  That’s called integration.  When we do machine learning, we use it as a technique – e.g., holding back actual production use until context is achieved through additional ingestion, sampling, and initial use (and scoring of responses).

                   

                  All of which says “practice and then sleep on it!”   Naps: the secret to practice.

                  in reply to: Which G run? #1895
                  Matt Hayden
                  Participant

                    I figure if you start with Lester Flatt’s version, you can’t go wrong.  Next after that for me are Del McCoury’s, which is bluesier, and the Doc Watson’s, which drives the rhythm more.  But it’d be fun to master a bunch and them sprinkle them in as you neeed.    And they can be played with fingers, too, as opposed to a pick.

                    in reply to: Sausalito mud slides #1857
                    Matt Hayden
                    Participant

                      It’s a bit messy. 17 over the mountains was closed today for a bit, and 9 is supposedly having issues.  The freeway near us was a lake during my commute.

                      I suspect that some prime redwood is now packed into mud that will become instruments in a couple of millennia for sure…..

                      in reply to: New guitars at NAMM – Yow! #1839
                      Matt Hayden
                      Participant

                        The ancient Kauri pine intrigues me.  When I was in New Zealand, the locals displayed a remarkable awareness of those trees – they’re HUGE and some of them are thousands of years old, and there’s a seven-foot cross-section of an ancient one in the Auckland Museum showing the age of the tree.   I’d bet it’d make a fine instrument.

                        in reply to: H14 cutaway at Gryphon #1837
                        Matt Hayden
                        Participant

                          Zorro, yeah, trying to talk myself into spending the money.

                          It’s amazing….feels like a slightly narrower and deeper OM with a huge warm voice.   And it’s got wonderful clarity….

                          • This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by Matt Hayden.
                          in reply to: Sorry for the migration…but #1836
                          Matt Hayden
                          Participant

                            None of the instruments I’ve got are ding- or wear-free.  The only way to keep an instrument in that condition is to not play it, and that (IMHO) defeats the purposeful a fine instrument.

                            My OM is lovely but it’s got wear, it’s got scratches, etc…..and they’ve been earned.  It’s been used but not abused by any stretch, and it periodically gets new frets and other care as merited.  But while I treat it with care, I don’t cosset it needlessly.   These things are designed to make music, and to be played hard – it’s where they sound best.

                            To wit: at the last SCGC Christmas party, I got talking to the guitar player of the Banana Slug String Band.  He’s got an old H that’s got scads of wear from lots of shows and playing, but it still sounds amazing….it’s worn in like a good old pair of jeans.

                            in reply to: question about age of spruce tops #1819
                            Matt Hayden
                            Participant

                              Interesting to hear it sold that way; it seems kind of counterintuitive.  Sitka spruce trees can be 500 years old when cut, and Adirondack trees should be at least 200 years old to reach 20″ dbh (diameter at breast height, one way of measuring trees).    Certainly the time elapsed since cutting can affect the physical properties of wood, but that’s reliant on a large number of factors….

                              Instruments get better with time and playing and care.  Two of those you can control…..

                              in reply to: Chantoyance #1806
                              Matt Hayden
                              Participant

                                Yes indeed – Michael Dresdner  is a super-authority.  His “Woodfinishing Book” was published when I was working as a freelancer for an editor at Taunton Press in 1992, and it was authoritative of its type then – and it’s gotten better in subsequent editions.  He was, AIR, also involved with Tacoma and Guild.

                                in reply to: Finish repair Older Tony Rice #1801
                                Matt Hayden
                                Participant

                                  A slightly different take on it:  unless the finish wear etc affects the playability of the instrument or otherwise puts it at risk, just play it.  I’ve got a 1991 OM that’s got its fair share of marks etc but it’s because it gets played – and at 27 years old, it’s earned some of its scars – it’s played a lot of shows and has always held up for me, like the trouper it is.

                                  • This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by Matt Hayden.
                                Viewing 15 posts - 406 through 420 (of 537 total)