MOTUnation.com

I'm not sure if this counts as a guitar, but I took advantage of Guitar Center's pre-Thanksgiving sale today to buy a Gretsch G9230 Bobtail Square-Neck A.E. model Resonator Guitar:

http://www.gretschguitars.com/products/ ... 2716020503

It's amazing how much fuller and sweeter this model sounds than the similarly-specced G9210 model, or any other brands that I tried. I just came back from Kaua'i yesterday, so was in a Hawai'ian mood, and this instrument fit the bill.

I briefly owned a Rogue Lap Steel Guitar a couple of years ago, but couldn't get into it enough to keep it or trade up to a quality Gretsch Lap Steel. The ergonomics of this Square-Neck Resonator Guitar are much better, and I appreciate that it is an acoustic vs. electric instrument and has much more expressive range.

I am using a simple tone bar for it and feel quite comfortable with the one I chose (I can't look it up right now as it is in a room where a guest's daughter is sleeping). I tried the models that are string like guitars (low action) but much prefer the lap style setup with high action and open (vs. guitar) tuning.

Everyone who came over tonight agreed that it is the best Resonator Guitar they have ever heard in person. There are higher end models from specialty manufacturers, starting around $800 or more, but I will probably be happy with this model for years to come.

mhschmieder wrote:I'm not sure if this counts as a guitar, ....

Don't worry. It counts.

Delicious choice, I might add.

This DEFINITELY doesn't count:

The local Guitar Center just got in the higher-end mandolin from Washburn, and I have spent many hours playing it now and comparing to the mid-priced model I bought in late June.

I'm torn, but will probably upgrade. The high-end model has an ebony neck, matte finish, flame maple, and different woods. It has a darker sound, more balanced in the full frequency range and with a nice open tone almost like what I get from my walnut Appalachian Dulcimer.

But maybe the tinnier tone of my all-maple w/ rosewood neck model is more authentic. I tend to prefer matte to shellac finish when possible though, and will probably do the trade on WED.

mhschmieder wrote:This DEFINITELY doesn't count
...mandolin...

Nup. That ain't no guitar.
Put that in the 'Calling all mandoliners' thread!


You want to see a guitar?
Now this, my friend, is a guitar:


Finally had a chance Sunday to set mine up and start playing.
It is a great guitar.
I'm very happy with this purchase.
I played too much.
Sore hand, aching fingertips.
"I got blisters on my fingers!"

I don't think I've seen that version of the Bass VI with a single four-way switch at the bottom. Presumably then this one is a passive model (though I think most of them are, Jaguar Basses which of course are true basses and generally four strings are often active and Bass VI's are sort of a Jaguar variant). It's gorgeous. Must have amazing tonal range with the four-way switching.

mhschmieder wrote:It's gorgeous. Must have amazing tonal range with the four-way switching.

Yep, everything from plucky and crisp, straight through to smooth and mellow. The last switch is a hi/lo cut. I don't see the point of this switch. My Jag has the same switch, I always leave it disengaged, otherwise it just seems to suck tone for no good reason.

It plays so smoothly and easily, I get sucked into fiddling for ages. Having said that, it is a baritone, and the strings are bigger and require a lot more finger strength to play cleanly, so though my ears and brain are happy, my fingers are wondering what the hell is going on.

It came with some roundwounds, but I just got in my special order of flatwounds, and because my fingers are killing me right now, I'm going to send this new toy off to my man to get set up and restrung. That way I will stop being tempted to play it. It is a ton of fun. I also just got a stereo MXR Chorus pedal, and the combination of the two has given me several hours of playing pleasure already.

But my fingers!!

mhschmieder wrote:It's gorgeous. Must have amazing tonal range with the four-way switching.

Oh my goodness. I just got it back from my nice guitar fixer man. This thing was sounding great but playing a bit tough before he got to work, but now it sounds even better, and it just plays so nicely, I can't put it down. I had him put on a set of flats, and he lowered the action, locked the trem (I never use trem anyway) and this thing just plays like warm butta on a hot day. When I went to pick it up, he just kept playing it, saying how lovely it was... so it's not just me.

It really is an intriguing instrument. I think if you cross a donkey with a horse you get a mule. This thing isn't a baritone, it isn't a bass, it isn't a straight six, so I guess I think it should be called a bass-o-tone, or maybe a baguitar, barry-bass...

It has such rich harmonics - I can get ringing, droning, plucks, all kinds of sounds just come out so easily, and they are all so rich. It does want to be played properly though, so no lying in the recliner with this thing. I did that for about 5 minutes before I realised I needed to use what little playing form I have to play this thing properly - it is a real finesse instrument. I can tell why lots of great players used it. (Look up Glen Campbell playing Wichita Linesman some day, he does a solo on the progenitor for this guitar.) I honestly don't have the chops to deserve an instrument this nice. But I ain't giving it away.

I bought a new fangled capo today too and threw that on as well and the intonation is spot-on all up and down the neck.

Sorry to rave on, but this is a nice guitar.

...and I had to find some reason to step away, I gotta ease up on the playing time...
step away from the guitar son...

Yep, the odyssey continues: on its way is a tenor acoustic guitar from Blue Ridge (made in China, natch). I stumbled across this while researching some other sounds that had eluded me for years (I almost bought a Requinto Nylon Guitar last year), and decided not only that it will be the perfect upper register guitar (and help avoid the capo) but also a good practice tool for better familiarizing myself with mandolin/mandola and banjo fingerings and chords.

All these years, I never realized the Tenor Guitar is a four-string instrument HIGHER vs. LOWER than a normal 6-string guitar in pitch, and tuned in fifths like a tenor banjo or mandola, having been designed to help put those people back to work after tastes changed in the 20's/30's as the Dixieland craze gave way to other trends.

I went for the low-priced model as the higher-priced models didn't seem to offer much more and both of them tended to get less glowing reviews than the entry-level model (the bindings, fret markers in the wrong place for a tuned-in-fifths instrument, and choice of woods seem less correct on the higher-end models). If I really love it, I can always upgrade to a Breedlove model later on.

One of the local GC's had a used Schecter Hellcat VI last week -- the previous model, not the new one with Seymour Duncan Jaguar pickups and Jaguar switching. It was enough to decide me permanently against Bass VI's of any type from any manufacturer though, as I don't like the slop in the string tension that happens when a 30" instrument is tuned to Low E. My Gretsch Jet Baritone is 30" and tuned to B, and I love its taughtness.

I understand that guitarists like to bend notes, but I can't imagine doing this on an "octave guitar" -- though I am told that many Nu Metal bands are now down-tuning all the way to "F", so maybe these modern Bass VI models can find a new application, vs. simply being an easy "switcher" instrument for guitarists who don't want to have to learn bass guitar.

Me, I'll stick with Baritone Guitars for more flavour, and both regular and medium scale (32") bass guitars for regular bass work. At any rate, the Duncan Designed pickups on this earlier Hellcat VI were muddy and lacking character. The new model with Jags would be the way to go.

mhschmieder wrote:It was enough to decide me permanently against Bass VI's of any type from any manufacturer though, as I don't like the slop in the string tension that happens when a 30" instrument is tuned to Low E. My Gretsch Jet Baritone is 30" and tuned to B, and I love its taughtness.

I would never want to question the taughtness of your Gretsch, but I do not really sense any slop on my BASS VI. My guitar guy set the action fairly low (mostly 2mm), but it plays cleanly, no buzzing or flopping, unless I play it that way.

What gauge are the strings, and is it a 30" neck? Another thing, the strings are too close together for me, even given that one normally uses a plectrum for Bass VI's. I expected slightly more spacing.

Here 'tis the information you seek.

String gauges:
.026 .035 .044 .056 .075 .095

Guitar link.
Strings link.

Oh, that is WAY different than the gauges they had, but it was used so the original owner must have done something really stupid when he re-strung it.

I have a short list of just two classic pickups that I might want to add to the palette sometime next year or the year after: DynaSonic and P90 (both single-coils). I've pretty much narrowed down the DynaSonic to a non-existant guitar that I hope Gretsch will announce at Winter NAMM: a Falcon without the gold trim, which nearly put my eyes out while I was trying the Black version at GC this week (the White Falcon that I hated and had tried a few months ago didn't have DynaSonics in it). The Falcon is 17" vs. the usual 16" for Gretsch hollow bodies, and has an ebony 25.5" neck (most are 24.6" except for my Tennessee Rose). I didn't feel the Chet Atkins Hollowbody had the taughtness I'm looking for, and gave TOO much when bending notes. But it didn't have the original DynaSonics (it was used and had swapped PUPS).

I thought I wanted a Duo Jet for awhile, but concluded after trying many available models (that one isn't carried in stores) that the DynaSonic is better in a hollow body, and that the Jet is better with PowerTrons (a la Power Jet and Jet Firebird). I'm hoping to try a PowerTron soon as a couple of stores in the area have one or two of them in stock.

P90-wise, I may skip that scene altogether. The only P90's I liked the sound of were the Gibson's in one of their discontinued Les Paul models ($900, cherry/burgundy). Like most Gibsons, I hated the chunky/fat/thick neck and the weird weight balance plus small body. I like the feel of the cheap Casino but its crappy pickups left me cold, hated the 330 in every respect, and am left wondering whether I'd thus like the Lennon-inspired Casino with the high-end Gibson P90's.

But then there's always the Schecter Solo-6 Special Edition, if its Schecter SuperRock90's are good enough (not much info on-line, but most seem to think they're better than Epi's and almost as good as Gibson's and Seymour Duncans). On the other hand though, I think the DynaSonics are more versatile overall, but I definitely was impressed by the early feedback of the P90's on a solid body like the LP. Too bad I hate the feel of SG's, as that's almost the ideal match due to the thinner body -- Pete Townshend and many top guitarists go with that.

Major NAMM news: Guild have resurrected their electric line (mostly semi-hollows), and have a De'Armond model, a solid and semi-hollow P90-ish thingie (one with a Bigbsy; three altogether), an SG look-alike, a couple of smi-hollow Filtertron knockoffs, and a Starfire Bass reissue (sounds GREAT in the videos, as do most of these new models, many of which are reissues).

All are in the $1500 list price range or thereabouts.