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I asked Brenda a similar question after Namm. Paraphrasing as best i can, staff is stretched a little thin… Makes sense to me.
where the blue chip material and finishing comes in as indispensible, for me, is their thumbpicks for banjo. they slide off that teeny 5th string withough getting worn, grooved or chafed. Clean tone forever. Nik’s Apollo cassein thumbpicks are actually my favorites for guitar, at least aesthetically; it’s really a toss-up with blue chip as to tone and feel.
i thought i edited out the typos above, but i guess they didnt’t “take.” the misteries of WordPress.:)
santa cruz tuners were made for a while (say, midway in the 2000s); don’t know why they decided to make their own (i think the reason may have been to allow some adjustability?), as the waverlies were always the gold standard for the martin-style-model derivatives: scgc, collings, bourgeois, etc. and still are. the scgc’s were like grover sta-tites, i think. unfrotunately, that data is all lost from the original scgc forum. for years, now, scgc has been using waverlies. as far as retrofitting waverlies where scgc were the original on a guitar, the screw holes don’t QUITE match up, and the bushing is a smidge different. when i did my only retrofit (according the the suggestions of “little brother” on the old forum), i left the scgc bushing installed.
the idea of paring the forum categories is just fine, to me. as to the scarcity of participation since the original site went away – along with its HUGE amount of great information AND regular participants: the exact same thing occured on the Collings forum, when it came back after totally disappearing about the same time, again data and all; even less participation there compared to here. the martin forum, on the other hand flourishes… of course Brand M is a marketing company first and foremost. nevertheless, just can’t figure it out… Bill Collings (rip) and Richard Hoover – actual luthiers, innovators, refiners. I believe for both men, satisfying a never-ending curiousity and demanding the highest quality of tone and workmanship were the drivers, not endlessly coming up with gimmicks. been a puzzle ever since this “new” forum appeared.
i have one… where in the world does the “parobolic” come from for the strings. as an engineer and mathemetician, i just don’t see it. i mean, a parabola has a specific meaning. since strings under tension are most closely described by a catenary, that can’t be it. i don’t see a parabola anywhere. this has bothered me from day one!:) and whenever i would ask the question, i get a vague answer. i know i can be dense, but still!:)
i was tempted… Frank holds the same spot in my life as Happy does in Richard’s… i had stagnated and asked my friend Frank…”what’s a good way to kickstart my playing?” back in 87… Frank gave me Mark Hanson’s “Solo Style” and i never looked back. as i say, tempting. Frank had a huge impact on so many players and luthiers, i’m surpirsed it hasn’t been snapped up!
hot hide glue was introduced (or reintroduced?) when Dan Roberts was managing production. for instance, Tony’s 2007 (my avatar here – commemorating my owning it) was built with it (top and braces). i ordered two guitars using it in 2008.
as for putting these instruments under glass,:) fortunately i happen to know that 3 such instruments have been played and played and played by various serious musicians… which is a smart thing given their superior sound… two collings d-45s, #10,000 and #20,000; and last year’s namm OM.
the downturn… he told me that during covid, a number of stores were selling off the walls (TME to my knowledge, for one), and people had nothing to do at home but buy stuff online. and the builders (the big ones) ramped up, and the dealers had to increase their commitments. finally, as with every boom, in Mark Knopfler’s words in “Janine,””there’s always a bust.” it’ll turn around, but for a while, saturation.
