[The Stag]

^^^^^^^Lest you forget the ovations! yikes.
Him playing what looks like a old martin 000/om- 42, closed mic'd is fantastic. It sounds incredible and so does he. The GD's approach to acoustic tone has long been a little lacking. Garcia's acoustic tone is bad and Weirs was, for a long time, embarrassing. I'm talking about live performance only.

Jerrys acoustic tone bad! it sounded exellent! you are a fool and have no ear for music mmmmmkay

[Grant]

ovation does not = committed

[Dwarf Rat]

1930 something OM 45. I played it at Alan Perman's shop in San Francisco when I picked up my OM 28. It has had extensive repairs over the years, but it is pretty sweet nonetheless. It is the guitar pictured on his solo album with the Avedon cover shot.

[ebick]

Jerry acoustic in the 90s, and now Bobby. Is there any correlation between older age and a desire for acoustic? Or is it just getting bored of what you've been doing?

I saw Jerry do solo acoustic shows at the Beacon in NY in 1982.

[PaulJay]

I thought Jerry's Alvarez tone was fine. But why Bob used an Ovation at Radio City
is a mystery to me. There were so many better guitars he could hve chose. ,Paul

[Tennessee Jedi]

Jerry acoustic in the 90s, and now Bobby. Is there any correlation between older age and a desire for acoustic? Or is it just getting bored of what you've been doing?

Well after 50 years of loud amps it would seem the wise choice but really they have had acoustics's in their music their whole career .....

[jeffm725]

ovation does not = committed

I strongly disagree with that comment.

You have to consider the time period when Bobby used the Ovation. For the longest time (late 60's through early 1980's) Ovation was the pretty much unchallenged leader in making acoustic guitars that could be used in an "electric" stage environment. There just wasnt that much to choose from when it came to electric-acoustics. Ovation's user list from the mid-70's reads like a who's who from the rock and roll hall of fame.

Bob Weir
Jimmy Page
Cat Stevens
Jim Croce
Paul Simon
Brian May
Eddie Van Halen
John Mac Laughlin
Chet Atkins
Van Morrison
Glen Campbell
Al DiMieola
John Lennon
Ray Davies
Roger Waters
David Gilmour
Bob Marley

.... I could keep going, that is more or less just a smattering of artists through the 70's. Shall we go 80's?


I don't know if even Fender can boast as impressive an artist list?! Those guys above could afford and play ANYTHING!

[jeffm725]

I thought Jerry's Alvarez tone was fine. But why Bob used an Ovation at Radio City
is a mystery to me. There were so many better guitars he could hve chose. ,Paul

Jerry didn't use an Alvarez at Radio City. He used a Takamine COPY of a Martin. (Actually a guitar made by Takimine but contracted by Martin as a an entry to a more affordable line,called Sigma but quickly dumped by Martin when Kaman: read Ovation bought Takamine and so martin contracted another manufacturer to make the "affordable models")

[PaulJay]

Hey Jeff, you are absolutely right about the Tak at radio city. I was just making two separate statements. Although the names of the artists on the list are impressive. That doesn't make a guitar better. I think you are right about the technology that Ovation offered made things more convenient for those guys.
I just feel an acoustic guitar should be made out of wood. ,Paul

[tiffcheese]

Jerry acoustic in the 90s, and now Bobby. Is there any correlation between older age and a desire for acoustic? Or is it just getting bored of what you've been doing?

I'll bet not everyone takes that path. In a similar land, girls begin dance training with ballet (or not) in order to form a foundation for many other kinds of dance. That's what the acoustic is to me, followed by electric guitar exploration. Sometimes you start at the end to get to the beginning