Open Thread

[jazzyvee]

Double post
 
(Message edited by jazzyvee on September 28, 2015)

[David Houck]

Listening to the rain
Within the stillness;
Autumn has come to these mountains
With arms open,
Inviting us in;
Welcoming,
Embracing

[ed_zeppelin]

The rose from an Antonio Stradivarius' guitar:
 


 
 
http://orgs.usd.edu/nmm/PluckedStrings/Guitars/Stradivari/StradGuitar.html

[elwoodblue]

Amazing,I didn't know he made any guitars.And that one is sooo fine.
 
I was just thinking about making a 12 string with doubles across the board.
I appreciate all the good links,thanks!

[edwardofhuncote]

Dig around that site Elwood, they have detailed photos of several Stradivari instruments in the Rawlings Gallery, including a mandolin, and a converted violoncello.  
 
Hope you're on high ground down on your end of Appalachia Dave... man, it's raining so much up here the frogs are begging for mercy. Seriously, we went from having our PR lady on TV chirping about moderately dry conditions causing low reservoirs, to flood warnings - in 5 days.

[elwoodblue]

I will,
I'll have to dig out my The art of the guitar book too.

[David Houck]

Yes, it's raining here again; five days in a row now.  Haven't seen the sun in a while.  Hoping it doesn't just run off, but seeps in to raise groundwater levels.

[edwardofhuncote]

A little background on me... I'm the chief operator (translates roughly to head bottle-washer) at a water treatment plant in downtown Roanoke, Virginia.  
 
A large freshwater flowing spring which the city itself grew up around is the source water I treat here. It's literally called The Crystal Spring because of it's very stable clear nature, producing 4 million gallons a day on average, for centuries that people have lived here. Production here has been above average for the past two years, in spite of dry conditions. Today, we're on track to put out 4.5 million gallons. I've seen only one 5 million gallon day here in all my years, but we may break that record this week, if the whole flippin' city doesn't go under.  
 
Thinking in abstract terms, it kinda' makes me wish we could pipe some of the surplus out west.

[David Houck]

I was up in Roanoke this past spring for a meeting at Mill Mountain Park and Hotel Roanoke.  We enjoyed walking through the downtown section across the tracks from the hotel, and eating at a really nice Indian restaurant in that area.

[edwardofhuncote]

That would be Nawab - I know the place. I'm actually playing a corporate banquet at the City Market building around the corner from it tomorrow evening... small world. =)
 
And my humble little water plant is nestled right at the base of Mill Mountain just eleven blocks up Jefferson St... hidden right in plain sight.
 
Give me a heads-up next time you're up thisaway, I'll give you the cook's tour.

[ed_zeppelin]

I learned the hard way that with such a massive collection of instruments in so many different collections, you have to keep digging to see everything. (For instance, Gibson and Lloyd Loar instruments are scattered all over). It's easy to click a link and find yourself alone on the windswept prairie, with no way back.  
 
Bookmark this:
 
http://orgs.usd.edu/nmm/collect.html#instruments
 
At least you can get back to the mouth of the cave, if you know what I mean. (It's South Dakota, y'know.)  
 
My current obsessions are two guitars made by father and son in Venice over three and a half centuries ago. Because you can click on any portion of the instruments to see closeups, I won't post the pictures here.  
 
Matteo Sellas created this masterpiece in 1640:
 
http://orgs.usd.edu/nmm/PluckedStrings/Guitars/Sellas/3385/MatteoSellasGuitar.html  
 
(Click on the bridge to see the Moron With A Magic Marker effect. Fortunately, other examples exist, most notably in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.)
 


 
 
Here is the link to the even more incredible Matteo Sellas guitar at the Met. (Click the pic for enlargement.)
 
http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/503385
 
Lastly, a 24-string archlute by Metteo Sellas (you HAVE to see the back.)
 
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O129885/archlute-sellas-matteo/
 
This stunning guitar was made by Dominico Sellas in 1670:
 
http://orgs.usd.edu/nmm/PluckedStrings/Guitars/Sellas/3346/DomenicoSellasGuitar.html
 
The last one seems pristine (especially considering that it weathered three centuries in Venice, one of the wettest urban environments on Earth).  
 
Here's the best part. Wanna own one?
 
http://gamutmusic.squarespace.com/sellas-model-guitar/sellas-baroque-guitar/
 
Take a look around his site. It's amazing to see such incredible craftsmanship these days.  
 
Of course, considering that we're discussing it on the premier musical instrument site on the planet ...

[ed_zeppelin]

Birds In Still Water by Ervin Somogyi. X-acto knife on bookmatched redwood.
 

[David Houck]

Wow!

[pauldo]

Irma Hill
Winds breathe with a chill.
Autumn IS here.
 
Leaves turn.
 
The earth is turned,  
soon to embrace our first crop of garlic on the top of Irma' s old mountain. . . .

[cozmik_cowboy]

Knowing what Somogyi charges for his guitars, I'd hate to think what that art would run.......
 
Peter