The lowdown on the hoedown that's goin' down in sound town

[elwoodblue]

If only it didn't have that modern pickup...
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HANDMADE-2-STRING-ELECTRIC-BASS-GUITAR-CUSTOM-VIOLIN-SHAPE-SELECT-EMG-VTG-/111947117277?hash=item1a109172dd:g:TaUAAOSwZ8ZW9Ktj

[ed_zeppelin]

Another attempt at a theft-proof instrument. Its the same "too ugly to steal" idea as Gibson basses.   Note the compensated "bridge" (it's pretty easy to guess what they were compensating for).  

  I'm not sure what's going on with the "tailpiece(?)" thing. Looks like somebody took some sheet metal shears to the junkyard and kept whacking chunks off old tractors and coke machines until something snagged the ball ends OG the strings.  "Now I'll just ram a machine screw through it, and break out the Dremel and really make it ugly." Cletus thinks.  That is an authentic dish washing sponge stuffed in the little box. Good for that "clean" tone. Love the vintage duct tape trim.  

  I'm pretty sure it's a rare "emergency bass response unit," intended to be played with the feet if the bass player don't show (it's tuned: "1, 5, 1, 5, 1, 5 etc."), and for clearing the way to the exit if a bar brawl breaks out.   A definite collector's item, if only to prove to a collector that they really should be collecting something else.

[elwoodblue]

I missed that there was a kitchen sponge in there.
I bet that was added in the 80's. It's nice the original flathead screws are intact.
 You know, working with those is a dying art.

[ed_zeppelin]

I admit, I'm not hip to advancements in Scotch-Brite technology (in fact, as a married man I generally regard dish washing supplies with the same enthusiasm a vampire has for a crucifix), but it looks like it's mounted scrubby-side down, with a regular kitchen sponge [shudder] shoved in there on top of it. (Think they're meant to be wet?)  Unfortunately, I don't think that muted it entirely, but it's a step in the right direction.  

  Now that's how to mount a neck! (Alembic, are you paying attention?)   Coupla machine screws, a socket and ratchet and "batter up!" Note that the perp inscribed their name, as usual in these cases. It's as though they anticipate the question; "whom to blame for this abomination?"  

   Flathead technology at its finest (and by "flathead," I don't mean the screws). Note the many ways the perp placed obstacles to his fingers, lest he be tempted to actually play the damn thing. Mounting the whole pickup on a cheesy riser and placing the curved aluminum plate on the waist for maximum obstruction, lends credence to my theory that this ... uh, instrument(?) ... was created as a weapon. Sonic or otherwise.  

  Possibly the aforementioned curved aluminum plate is meant to leave a distinctive marks on victim's skulls, to keep track of who had already been previously "enlightened." (You want to keep track of how many times you hit the drummer. Trust me.)  I think that's the only context in which I'd like to hear it, bouncing off the skull of "critics."   "Let's play 'El Kabong' again!"  

  quote:It's nice the original flathead screws are intact. You know, working with those is a dying art. One can only hope.

[elwoodblue]

Here's a video about builder Steve Conner.
His bracing ideas might bear fruit (or nice sound orbs eminating throughout the universe, as he describes his synethesian visions).
 The magnetic soundhole cover is brilliant...easy,functional,no rattling.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvVYuBqg6xU

[elwoodblue]

D'ohplicate post :/
 
(Message edited by elwoodblue on April 24, 2016)

[ed_zeppelin]

I'm slightly conflicted by the video of Steve Connor, but once I realized it was my own rampant envy and jealousy percolating up, I'm okay with it.
 
He pulled up to his lakefront palace in a Ferrari, for one thing. That certainly got my attention, because I have neither. But within a few minutes he plays a Francisco Tarrega knuckle-buster with absolutely perfect technique. I forgot to breathe. He instantly went into the Hall of Fame of classical guitarists I've ever heard, with the same casual delivery of Chet Atkins or Al Di Meola. Meh. It's nothin'. Again, grrrrr.
 
But it's when he started working with wood that I was just awestruck, because he does it the same way he plays the guitar. The part I enjoyed the most was that even though he was obviously on camera, you could tell by his sheer skill that it didn't matter. Every movement with his tools is so fluid and confident - especially when he shaved the back-braces so enthusiastically and precisely, which takes balls the size of church bells because they're already glued down - that I really became furious. I watched that part three times, and I'll probably watch it a bunch more. I really hate the jerk.
 
I think that comes from watching Ed Dopera build Dobros when I was a boy, and even I admit there wasn't that kind of woodworking going on. More of a General Motors vibe, if you follow me. So that drew me to handmaid (my insane spellchecker insists) instruments, for exactly that reason. I love that kind of singular devotion to beauty in form and especially in sound (he says, on the Alembic forum). Anybody who wields a chisel with that much skill, to make instruments that rank among the finest on Earth and plays them so incredibly well is deserving of our utmost scorn because I can't do any of those things.
 
Hey, somebody has to sit on the curb and clap as the heroes go by, right?
 
 
On a completely related note, I promise this is a true story: when that video popped up on my YouTube app, this luthier's video appeared next to it at the top of the recommended list. Ever heard of him? The neck joint on the guitar he made for Henry Kaiser to serenade penguins in Antartica with is one of the best ideas I've ever seen, hands down. (I just put my hands down, to prove it.)

[ed_zeppelin]

(Edwardofhungate says on March 9th);
 
quote:Thought I?d share this around our little circle folks who admire fine woodworking skills, especially when applied to musical instruments?  
 
This fiddle belongs to a friend of mine? it was made (approx. 25 years ago) by a local violin/fiddle maker by the name of Arthur Conner who?s home and shop is in nearby Copper Hill, Virginia.
 
I noticed that Spelly, my dyslexic and unusually obstinate spellchecker, misspelled Steve ConnEr's surname in my last post and the Alemicgremlin wouldn't let me fix it. I was going to let it go but remembered that Spelly did the same thing to your Conner.
 
Any relation?

[elwoodblue]

I'll own my typo,  
Sorry 'bout that Steve.
 
I was also glued to the chisel shots...the man knows his grain.

[elwoodblue]

More shop talk... Gurian Interview
(I think I can see my old neighborhood across the water)

[ed_zeppelin]

Miscue on the link, I fear. If as I suspect it's an interview with Michael Gurian, words can't convey my gratitude because it made me look him up, and I'm so glad I did!
 
Back before there was a McGC in every town I made a pest of myself at a local guitar store in Claremont, California called the Folk Music Center. They had instruments from all over the world, from every culture, and lots of ancient Martin, Gibson etc. instruments, just a wonderland of wood and wire. One day when I was a teenager I walked up to the oldgrowth wall, as I called it and as I gazed up I saw a beautiful dreadnaught with a nifty Guild-esque headstock, glowing with a pulsating sonic aura. As ropes of drool descended my chin, it began to hover off of its hook and gently lowered itself into my welcoming embrace. It was California in the 70s. That happened a lot.  
 
I remember that guitar as clearly as if I had photographed it. Ray, the manager, told me it was a new brand out of New York they were going to be carrying. Unfortunately, my love was not enough to consummate our union (that happened a lot, too).  
 
Other guitars came and went. I ran across othe Gurians at Daddy's, and they were all like that: just gorgeous, meticulously-crafted guitars.Then I heard the Gurian factory had exploded, destroying all his machinery and the wood he had traveled the world for decades to get. It was a real tragedy. (I might have read about it in Frets or Crawdaddy, now that I think about it.)
 
It's especially ironic when you consider that Bob Taylor came along right at the perfect time to do exactly the same thing - precision automation wherever possible - as Michael Gurian did. Ain't nothing wrong with that. What was unusual was to do it with acoustic guitars to such exacting standards that they thrived in the face of the ensuing flood of Asian kindling.
 
So I was absolutely delighted to discover just now that Gurian Guitars is thriving.

[lbpesq]

Forest, you should feel a little better.  Mr. Connor's car is hardly a Ferrari.  Rather it is an old Porsche 924 or 944 (I can't be sure without seeing the back).  And it's not even a real Porsche.  It was designed by Porsche and built by Audi.  The 924 had an Audi engine, the 944 changed it to a Porsche engine.  These were considered entry level at the time and can be purchased today for well under $10K.
 
Also, I don't know if maybe you were just trying to be funny, but the this luthier's video you reference who built a guitar for Henry Kaiser, Rick Turner, was a co-founder of Alembic.
 
Bill, tgo
 
(Message edited by lbpesq on April 25, 2016)

[elwoodblue]

Hehe..oops
 I got ahead of myself without looking back.
 
This the one that I meant to post:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEoWHmPhaeA

[ed_zeppelin]

1: well, he deserves a Ferrari, the bastard.
 
quote:I don't know if maybe you were just trying to be funny
 
And failing dismally, I see. One of my many failings, I'm afraid. I try to think of it as something that goes along with being a moron, like being an idiot savant without the savant part.  
 
I've been a huge fan of Rick Turner's since Lindsay Buckingham started using his guitars, but I didn't know about his association with Alembic for quite a while. He's one of the artists that sparked my interest in the evolution of Baroque instruments (some of his acoustic bridges are identical to 500-year-old lute bridges, after all) and is one of the most consistently off road thinkers since Leonardo or Stradivarius.

[hankster]

Don't knock playing with the feet until you have tried it on one of these:  http://guitarz.blogspot.ca/2011/06/mike-miller-footbass-play-2-string-bass.html?m=1
 
Indeed, it appears that this might be an original Footbass!