hello from 94901

[jack-A-roe]

greetings all,

i've been following this forum for awhile now and thought i might try to get a little more involved in some of this discussions.

while a lot of you have followed the dead for 28 years, i have only been around for that long. i grew up in a small deadhead population in Flint, MI but now find myself in San Rafael, CA. So if that could ever allow me to help anyone with something (a run to alembic or the likes) let me know... i've pretty much stuck to acoustic guitar for the majority of my playin'. i have delved in other stringed instruments but have sadly traded or sold them. i played bass guitar and keyboards in a couple bands that none of you have heard of. I have a Martin D-15 and a Godin freeway classic. I just recently plugged in and have been enjoying the ride. electric guitar is a totally new instrument that i sort of know how to play already and has been a lot of fun. a lot of the gear discussions on here have provided a ton of learning material and a big thanks for that! otherwise, i grew up playing americana, bluegrass-lite(?), R&B, beatles and dead tunes.

i have a sort of technical (signals and systems, electronics, chemistry(though not useful gearwise), vibrating stuff and magnets, etc.) background too and i keep thinking about how i can muck around with electric guitar guts to some cool end. anyhow, just interested in learning from the more advanced folks round here mostly...


so, thats about it. thanks for having me and hello all!

hope all is well wherever you are at.

-J

[Tennessee Jedi]

Welcome 94901 !
This is 18960 !

[strumminsix]

60169 checking in and saying hello!

[Highballin']

14094 Coming through loud and clear!

[deadguise]

Howdy from across the bay 94580.

[tcsned]

howdy from 24060 in the cradle of bluegrass music

what kind of bluegrass stuff do you listen to and play?

[jack-A-roe]

mostly stuff my uncles taught me. i like norman blake A LOT. doc watson and tony rice are pretty great to listen to (i don't know if purists consider them bluegrass or just hot picking music), but hard to keep up with. flatt and scruggs. the dillards. any contemporary stuff you might suggest?

old and in the way ain't that bad either...

[tcsned]

mostly stuff my uncles taught me. i like norman blake A LOT. doc watson and tony rice are pretty great to listen to (i don't know if purists consider them bluegrass or just hot picking music), but hard to keep up with. flatt and scruggs. the dillards. any contemporary stuff you might suggest?

old and in the way ain't that bad either...

I love Doc Watson, even though he might more properly e classified as Piedmont Folk and Blues, he is the man whatever label is put on his music. Tony Rice is perhaps the best acoustic lead player I've ever heard, he has a level of "gettin' it" that no one else seems to have period, end of story. While the Tony Rice Unit isn't exactly traditional bluegrass he did those Bluegrass Album Band records with J.D. Crowe, Doyle Lawson and a few others that is as hard drivin' as it gets. If you haven't heard J.D. Crowe and the New South they are top notch. The first album is up there with the best acoustic records made. The band, featured JD Crowe, Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas, and Bobby Sloan (violinist with the king - Bill Monroe). I ran sound for him once, he's a real nice guy and his current band is great. If you like Doc Watson, check out Wayne Henderson. He's a mailman from Rugby, VA (about an hour from me in Blacksburg) and one of the best acoustic guitar builders on the planet. He's one of the few guitar builders out there who can play and build at the same, very high level. He's a great guy too, I go to his Christmas party every year - it's a blast. Met Doc Watson there, and got to play with the Kruger Brothers (a Swiss Bluegrass band that is also worth checking out). A lot of this contemporary bluegrass is kind of watered down IMHO - some great players but the music is sterile. Bluegrass should be earthy and hard driving of you ask me - not pretty and well produced. If you want, I have a ton of stuff recorded send me a PM and I can get you some stuff. My favorite players are mostly unsigned "parking lot" pickers. Old and in the Way is what got me into bluegrass - though living in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mts doesn't hurt.

I've been playing in a bluegrass band for about 15 years or so and love it, here's a video of my band Crossties (our banjo player Timmy Mills is a pure and good as they come). Not the best recording, my drive crashed after getting 2 songs off it so that is all that survived. You can see what a traditionalist I am with my gypsy jazz guitar and Ramones shirt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wOlTQjMakM

[jack-A-roe]

wow, thats cool about meeting Doc. and nice video. thanks for the listening suggestions.

i always think those gypsy guitars like the one you got look wild, do they play particularlly different?

[tcsned]

i always think those gypsy guitars like the one you got look wild, do they play particularlly different?

they're somewhat different - the neck scale is about an inch longer than a standard guitar - it makes the fret spacing a little bigger and the string tension a little higher. The original Selmer Macaferri's and the Gitane's (I have the small sound hole version of these too) models have the fret dot on the 10th fret instead of the 9th and that really messed with my poor, little mind. The thing is incredibly loud, I like to use it with the bluegrass band because it cuts through on stage better than the Taylor. I'll try to dig up the live recording I made of JD Crowe when I ran sound for him and post it online.