I wouldn't have much choice... I'd have to go with the 1958 Fender Precision.

It would be hard to go wrong with one of those.

Quote from: Nova Constellatio on June 30, 2026, 12:51:40 PMI never really wanted a birth year instrument before - after all, not many great instruments were being built in 1973 - but early Alembics are extremely interesting, great things.

I know that a bunch of people here have experience hunting the early ones down. How long should I expect to look before something good comes up?
 

Well, I'm gonna be looking a long time for my birth-year Alembic.
Closest I could come would be Jack's as my first-year-I-wasn't-on-the-high-school-football-team instrument.
As I dislike maple 'boards, thus ruling out a Fender (who  didn't go with rosewood until I was 3), my choices for a birth-year are Gibson, Epiphone, D'Angelico, Martin, Guild, or various off-shore orf jobber-built numbers.........

Peter

Somehow I missed this thread.  I've read through the previous posts and they got me to thinking.  If I wanted a birth year instrument, the first thing that comes to mind is an electric archtop guitar.

So I ran a search, and there's something that looks really nice, that's not too out of reach financially

(though it would be an extravagance, and there are other guitars that I lust after as well),

and that's driving distance away

(not considering health issues that actually make it impractical)

(and I'm a poor guitar player; so even more of an extravagance)

(and I don't really know anything about old archtop guitars).

So I need to close that webpage quickly and never think on this again.

But it sure looks nice

(He says, as somehow that webpage is still open in another tab).

What's life without a little extravagance?

Quote from: Nova Constellatio on July 04, 2026, 03:49:56 PMWhat's life without a little extravagance?

Life with groceries.  

Quote from: David Houck on July 05, 2026, 04:41:26 PM

Quote from: Nova Constellatio on July 04, 2026, 03:49:56 PMWhat's life without a little extravagance?

Life with groceries.   

Sigh. Reality is no fun.

Quote from: Nova Constellatio on July 05, 2026, 04:47:50 PM

Quote from: David Houck on July 05, 2026, 04:41:26 PM

Quote from: Nova Constellatio on July 04, 2026, 03:49:56 PMWhat's life without a little extravagance?

Life with groceries. 

Sigh. Reality is no fun.

Reality is for people who can't handle drugs.

Peter

Quote from: David Houck on July 04, 2026, 09:44:08 AMSomehow I missed this thread.  I've read through the previous posts and they got me to thinking.  If I wanted a birth year instrument, the first thing that comes to mind is an electric archtop guitar.

So I ran a search, and there's something that looks really nice, that's not too out of reach financially

(though it would be an extravagance, and there are other guitars that I lust after as well),

and that's driving distance away

(not considering health issues that actually make it impractical)

(and I'm a poor guitar player; so even more of an extravagance)

(and I don't really know anything about old archtop guitars).

So I need to close that webpage quickly and never think on this again.

But it sure looks nice

(He says, as somehow that webpage is still open in another tab).

Oh, c'mon, Dave - don't leave us hanging!
For those of us with a modicum of knowledge on (and a deep love for) electric archtops, what is it?  We want details!

Peter

I kinda' got Moderator Dave picked for a Gretsch or D'Angelico. Any old ES Kalama-something would be too conventional for a guy with a Series II 6-string for his main axe. 

Well, first off, if I was going to spend that kind of money on a guitar, the decision making process wouldn't be based on the year of my birth.  But here is what I found running a search for an archtop guitar made in 1954; and yes, as Gregory suggested, Gretsch and D'Angelico were names that I was favoring; and I found myself also favoring two pickups over one, though I had not previously thought about that.  And when I saw this one and clicked the link, I was surprised to find that it was in Durham; bit of a drive, but would have been doable a few years ago.

The pictures looked pretty good, and the guitar shop said that they had their luthier make some repairs (I can't remember what at the moment), and that it was in excellent condition.

But that's not something I need to be going right now, and I'm enjoying trying to learn how to play a piano.  For instance, I've learned that if you take both forearms and smash them down on the keys at the same time, it makes a really cool sound.  I think that's called a chord.

Unfortunately, I can't get the guitar shop's website to open right now (getting a 504 Gateway Time-out); but it's a 1954 Gretsch 6193 Synchromatic II Guitar.  Here's the picture:

That's a winner — the Synchromatic 6193 morphed into the Country Club a little later that year. One of my favorite Gretsches, bar none. The Dynasonics are superb pickups.

Quote from: Nova Constellatio on June 30, 2026, 12:51:40 PMI never really wanted a birth year instrument before - after all, not many great instruments were being built in 1973 - but early Alembics are extremely interesting, great things.

I know that a bunch of people here have experience hunting the early ones down. How long should I expect to look before something good comes up?
 

Nova Constellatio,

I may be interested in parting with my 73 Alembic.  Email me (envelope icon under my name) if interested and I can fill you in about it.

Thanks,
Rob

Does the forearm create a Major or Minor chord?

Quote from: pauldo on July 12, 2026, 11:16:01 AMDoes the forearm create a Major or Minor chord?

If your forearm hits only the black keys,
it's an Eb minor 7 add 11 chord.

But if you're hoping for a major,
it's an F# major 6 9.

If you hit just the white keys, I suppose you could call it
a D minor over a C major 7.

But that might be stretching credibility.