General Musings – In Another Lifetime… Country Blues & Retirement in the Quotidian World…

March 26, 2024April 16, 2024

Glass and Silicon… Entering the World of the Leica Q3…

The best camera is the one you have with you – Chase Jarvis

Much of the writing on this weblog focused on my involvement with guitars and roots music; however in addition to music, I’ve been a dedicated photographer too for many years. I spent years with film cameras, but I’ve used DSLR’s (digital single lens reflex cameras) almost as long as they were available, including the Nikons D70, D300, & D700.

For the past nine years, I’ve happily used a Nikon D810 kit for my photography. In addition to the camera itself, I also own a multiplicity of lenses, tripods and flash lighting systems. It was and still is a fantastic camera, and photos taken with it adorn the walls of my home and those of my kids. I generated over 4000 followers on Tumblr with photos shot from the D810 and I used it extensively to support my work as a university professor, including shooting fashion shows and teaching several semesters of fashion photography. I even held an art show of my photography at my local coffee shop when I lived in Iowa.

Macro photo of an Atamasco Lily with the D810

Over the years I’ve shot a variety of styles, including sports, fashion, and landscapes, but I have a special affection for macro images, particularly wild flowers in the woodlands and the prairie, which was facilitated by my residence in Iowa for over two decades.

Landscape Shot of Monument Valley with the D810

Despite the incredible capabilities of the Nikon D810, I’ve found it. over the past couple of years, to be a major burden to haul around. The camera, particularly with one of my macro lenses attached, feels like a cinder block around my neck after just a short time out and about. Sadly, I am no spring chicken anymore, and as a result, I am less inclined to have my camera with me when I should. I find myself too often using my iPhone 11 Pro Max. In a pinch, the iPhone grabs a decent image, but there’s so much more a good camera can do by comparison.

Is There A Lighter More Capable Camera?

Shot of my son driving to the hoop with the D810

It occurred to me that it might be time to search the marketplace for a lighter camera that I would be more willing to carry around with me when I was out and about.

Since the time I acquired the D810, the technology for digital cameras transitioned rather dramatically away from Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR), technology, where the camera used a mirror to divert the light traveling through the lens to the view finder so the photographer could frame the image. When the shutter was activated the camera would lift the mirror up out of the way to let the light traveling through the lens strike the digital sensor. To reduce mechanical complexity and to limit the internal moving mass of the camera, the new technology eliminated the mirror and introduced an electric view finder (EVF) to take light directly from the lens to the viewfinder, to produce what is referred to in the marketplace as a Mirrorless digital camera. In very short order, the major manufacturers of digital cameras dropped production of DSLR’s.

iPhone Shot recognized by Lensblr on Tumblr

To save weight I gave passing thought to acquiring a mirrorless Nikon, but examination of the specs indicated the newer cameras were not particularly lighter and there was serious question as to whether my existing lenses would work effectively on the newer mirrorless camera bodies. Buying a whole new kit with no appreciable gain in portability made no sense to me. I was further convinced when I saw a neighbor hauling around a new state-of=the-art Sony camera body with a telephoto lens and it looked like a back breaker.

In addition to the Nikon mirrorless cameras, I also considered a Leica as a lighter, but very capable “walk around” camera. I was influenced by images of war time photographers like the great Robert Capa and Horst Faas using the smallish Leica film cameras of their day. They now manufacture state-of-the art digital Leicas which are highly regarded. Further, my old fraternity brother John Gellman who has been a major influence on my development as a photographer, also shot with a Leica for a time.

Not knowing much at that time about the array of models that Leica offers, I initially only looked at their M body and some of the detachable lenses that they offer. I was put off very quickly by its prohibitive pricing, and did not realize at the time that the M is strictly a manual focus camera, which would have been a deal killer for me.

I Choose the Leica Q3

A year went by after I dismissed the notion of purchasing a Leica. In the meantime, springtime arrived again in the Piedmont of North Carolina where I live, and it can be stunningly beautiful. There were too many photographic opportunities that I was going to miss because I resisted schlepping my big Nikon around. Consequently, I decided to take another look at Leicas. This time around I dug deeper and attempted to familiarize myself with the broader array of Leica models and in very short order I noticed a great deal of positive buzz about the Q model camera. The Q3, which was announced in May 2023, is the third generation of this model camera.

I learned that the Q3 is regarded as a compact camera and that both Sony and Fuji also make popular versions in the same genre. These compact cameras are relatively small, have a fixed lens (around 28 mm), a mirrorless shutter, autofocus and selectable control of aperture, shutter speed and ISO sensitivity. They do vary in terms of the sensor resolution (i.e. megapixels), sensor size, and the proprietary algorithms used to process the image data. The viewfinders also vary too as to whether they are optical, electronic or their internal size.

If you take the time to explore YouTube there is an abundance of information about cameras and photography, including dozens of reviews on compact cameras, thus making an informed purchase decision possible. Below is an example of a typical Q3 review:

On YouTube most reviews for the various cameras are enthusiastically positive, so they should be taken with a grain of salt; nevertheless, the basic camera specifications and capabilities differentiating the devices become pretty obvious. There were some key elements that made the Q3 stand out in my meta-analysis. The Summilux 28 mm, f/1.7 lens paired with the state-of-the-art 60 megapixel sensor set the Leica apart. Also attractive to me was the large bright EVF, and the sleek relatively simple control features to manage the camera. The downside was the expense, but no compromises are made in the design of this device. You pay for the legendary history of Leica, the design, and their incomparable lenses.

Purchasing a Leica Q3: Largely a Matter of Timing and Luck

Deciding to purchase a Lieica Q3 and actually acquiring one are not the same thing. There are limited supplies of the camera and considerable global demand making it a challenging purchase. Initially unaware of the limited supply of Q3’s, I went to trusted national retailer B&H Photo but was informed that the Leicas were on backorder with no estimate of resupply. The same was true with Adorama, as well as every other reputable online camera sales organizations. Scalper prices were available on Amazon and eBay, but aside from the extra exorbitant pricing, there was probably a very good chance that their supply was from the gray market, meaning they were slipped into the U.S. from Europe or Asia through the back door, putting legitimate service and warranty at question!

I placed an order with B&H but had no idea what the wait time would be. After a couple of weeks of frustration, I received some advice from one of the several Leica Q Facebook groups. One knowledgeable member suggested calling around to the U.S. corporate Leica stores. I had no idea that there were such stores, and a quick search indicated there were eight of them. The third call was to the recently opened Leica Shop and Gallery at the Meatpacking District of NYC. I stumbled into good luck because the store was so new, they had a very small Q3 waiting list and a shipment arriving very shortly. Two days later I closed the deal on a Q3. The people at the shop were very accommodating.

I completed the order on a Friday, and the camera arrived on Monday, which I thought was pretty amazing. To the left, you can see what arrived with my order. The Q3 camera itself and the battery comprised the basic order. In addition, I grabbed the Leica half leather protective case, a Leica UV filter and a 128 Gig SD card.

Setting Up My Leica Kit

There is a prevailing belief that a filter to protect the lens limits how much light can transmit through to the sensor. On the other hand, the Summilux lens is so exquisite and expensive, I am not going to leave it vulnerable to scratching, so I put a Leica filter on it. In fact, the Leica ambassador in New York recommended one. By the same token, I want to protect the camera body as best I can because I plan to keep it around my neck a lot, so I purchased the Leica buff-colored leather half case. The front half of the camera is protected by the case, but the back is left open for the LCD Panel and the various surface control interfaces. You can see on the right that the protective case has a trap door at its bottom to access the battery compartment, which is great, but the SD card slot and the side ports are not accessible, which makes the case a bit of a pain in the ass because it must be removed to get to those features. Fortunately it is a relatively easy install and removal… still…

Battery and memory card access for the Q3

To the left you can see the lower portion of the camera where the battery compartment is, as well as the memory card slot. As I mentioned above, with the leather half case installed the battery is easy to exchange, but not the memory card. I’ve seen half cases from other non-Leica manufacturers that have a larger access area so that the memory card can also be accessed.

At this point, I should note how outrageously expensive Leica brand accessories are. There are less expensive after-market products that perform the same basic function; however, I decided to trust Leica engineers to produce a case that fits perfectly onto the camera since it serves such a major protective function. The same logic held true when I made a decision to mount the Leica brand thumb grip. The Q3 was a bit like holding onto a wet bar of soap until I mounted the thumb grip. There are other aftermarket grips but in my opinion none engineered as precisely as the Leica version. You can see above the brass thumb grip which locks firmly onto the flash shoe. Note also the two black function buttons on the grip that sit astride similar buttons built into the Q3’s body and work perfectly.

On the other hand, I mounted an aftermarket soft release shutter button onto the Q3. You can see it in the image to the left. The standard shutter button is flush within a circular enclosure on the camera body, so you have to dig down a bit with your finger to activate it. The soft release screws into the shutter button, and makes it far easier to fire off a photo. I saw no reason to pay the exorbitant Leica price and instead acquired a very nice one from Popflash Photo for one third the cost.

To complete my kit I also added a spare battery and a small carry bag. The extra battery I purchased because the Q3 too rapidly drained the battery when I had the camera on for an extended period of time while watching Youtube videos for proper set-up advice. Now that I am using the camera on daily photography walks, I keep it turned off until I need it for a shot, and as a result the battery charge is lasting much longer. Still, I think it’s good form to have a backup battery even though it was quite pricey.

The Domke bag, that I purchased is shown on the left and is a brand I’ve used before. My main Nikon kit is in a large Domke bag, which you can see at the top of this article, and a similar but smaller one is used to hold a Nikon D700 which is now with my youngest son. Domke manufacturers well made coated canvas bags that are moderately priced. While sourcing other camera bags, I observed that some the bags very popular among Youtube and Facebook Q3 owners ranged in priced from $600 to almost $1000. The Domke is a fraction the cost. All this leads me to believe (as a person who co-authored a book on fashion theory) that those wildly expensive camera bags serve more as a status symbol than the functional Domke I now own. This also suggests that there may be some people who purchase the Q3 as much as a status symbol than for the extraordinary photographic technology that it represents.

Shooting With The Q3

Leica Q3 shot of Springtime in my Village

For me, the Leica Q3 has been a delight to own and shoot with. I’ve been amazed at the initial color rendering, the dynamic range of light to dark, and the general clarity of the images. Of course, the image needs to be framed skillfully and the camera needs to be set properly at the outset to achieve the highest level of image quality (IQ).

Framing the photograph properly was my initial challenge with the Q3. I do not ordinarily shot with a wide angle 28 mm focal length. To get a photo that suits me with 28 mm, it requires getting close to the subject or cropping the image in post processing. A 28 mm lens grabs up a good deal of real estate, but because the camera’s resolution is so great at 60 megapixels there is the capability to crop the image quite dramatically, though it makes me a bit anxious to discard so much data.

Below you can see a surreptitious street photograph of a woman sitting across from me in my Village. I thought she looked interesting, but at the distance I was sitting from her, the 28 mm lens grabbed way more than I was interested in capturing:

Below is a severe crop of the above image, and now you can see the interesting visage of the woman sitting across from me. Despite the severe crop the image is not breaking up and is holding together well because 60 megapixels offers you a lot of leeway. I would not recommend this level of cropping as a habit, nor would I recommend making a large print of this image, but for a social media post it would serve its purpose quite well.

When taking your shot, the image can be observed and framed either through the EVF or from the LCD panel. The information available to the photographer is exactly the same. A light meter and other important settings including aperture, shutter speed and ISO are visible. I prefer to use the EVF when I shoot, with the possible exception of some down low macro shots, and there I’ll use the tilt-out LCD to great effect. In direct sunlight, when I use the EVF, I find my self cupping my hand around the viewfinder so that I can see it well.

I initially used the camera in complete manual mode, with the exception of autofocus, which really slowed me down to concentrate on what the camera was doing. After a while, on the recommendation of one of the many Q3 photographers on YouTube, I set the shutter speed and ISO to automatic with a ceiling of ISO 3500. I set the aperture myself and concentrate on framing the image. In addition, I have the camera exposure adjusted to one stop below optimal to preserve bright highlights. With this arrangement my exposures have produced many useable images like the one below of the Old Well at the University of North Carolina.

I mentioned earlier that I have a natural predilection for macro photography and as a result, the built in capacity of the Summilux lens for macro work was a major selling point to me. A simple twist on the barrel of the lens converts the Q3 into an effective macro shooter. My Nikon kit contains two macro lenses, a pair of screw on magnification lenses and a macro flash set, so it’s hard to beat the images it produces, but it is so heavy I now hesitate to drag it around. Fortunately, the Q3 is far more portable and the macro images are very nice indeed, as you can see below:

Macro shot of a wildflower with the Leica Q3

Another feature I really like about the Q3 is how fast the Summilux lens is, with its maximum aperture of f/1.7. With a lens that opens so widely, the photographer has lots of opportunity to play with shallow depth of field, which adds another element of art to my available palette. The Summilux’s out of focus bokeh is also very pleasing to the eye.

Further, the fast lens combined with the Q3 sensor’s wide dynamic range and low light noise control gives the photographer a great deal of leeway in low light circumstances. Most photographers on Youtube recommend using an ISO ceiling of 3500; however, others believe you can go a step higher and still maintain clarity, sharpness and low noise. I have yet to work with the Q3 in low light, but look forward to it. Below, you can see one of my experiments with narrow DOF indoors with natural light:

In Sum

I’ve owned the Leica Q3 for a few weeks and to this point, delighted with my purchase. The camera is light enough to carry around everywhere, which I do, and if I properly work within the constraints of the fixed 28 mm lens, it is possible to make some excellent photographs. In short, this camera is a very flexible companion and a great deal of fun to use.

January 24, 2023January 25, 2023

Fixing a Guitar Neck Ding…

I don’t know about anyone else, but when I first started playing my guitars on stage around mic stands, because of inexperience, I unfortunately whacked my guitar’s neck into the stand, which leaves a small ding. Difficult to see, but irritating when moving your hand up and down the neck, particularly when playing with a slide. While the guitar is still playable and the tone is not adversely affected, it is really annoying and distracting to feel the ding during playing. It’s particularly frustrating when playing a premium guitar knowing how expensive it can be.

I was playing my National M1 the other day and was immediately reminded of the ding(s) I had in the neck. One ding from a mic stand strike and another from my friend’s careless swing of his guitar neck onto mine, which is doubly irritating!

Driven by my irritation, I started rooting around on the internet for a solution and discovered multiple remedies for ding repair. Several involved application of moisture and heat which I did not want to mess with for fear of exacerbating the damage. Fortunately, I did stumble on a relatively inexpensive mechanical solution that was worth a try.

The Cue Doctor is a dense and solid cylinder of glass that is intended to remove dings in pool cues. Apparently a ding on a pool cue is as irritating and distracting as one on a guitar neck. The device is very simple to use. Holding the cylinder in the palm of your hand and rapidly rubbing it over the ding with a modicum of pressure will flatten out the damage. According to the manufacturer the combination of pressure and heat created by the friction of rubbing will cause the indent to rise and flatten out.

Some luthiers have taken the same technology and applied it to guitar necks. I did the same to the M1’s neck and it works amazingly well!

September 20, 2022September 22, 2022

Being one more than two…

After a thousand miles on the trails, I relate my experience with the Catrike Dumont…

Introduction

I’ve been a lifelong traditional “diamond -framed” cyclist; however, for physical reasons resulting from surgeries in a delicate area of my body, I found myself no longer comfortable on a two wheeled bicycle. This was a shame because my most recent bicycle (Specialized Roubaix) was an almost “light as air” carbon fiber technological wonder that epitomized the elegance and efficiency of human powered motion.

As I recollect just prior to my surgery last year, my doctors suggested that I might want to consider another form of cycling that would be more comfortable. I was not alone in this circumstance. In fact, physical limitations of vary sorts seem to be the rule rather than the exception for riders transitioning from traditional bicycle technology to alternatives like recumbent designs. I dismissed my doctor’s concerns until early this summer when I rode the Roubaix a few times and realized I might undo the good work of my surgeons if I kept at it.

According to Wikipedia, “a recumbent bicycle or tricycle is a conveyance that places the rider in a laid-back reclining position. Most recumbent riders choose this type of design for ergonomic reasons: the rider’s weight is distributed comfortably over a larger area, supported by back and buttocks. On a traditional upright bicycle, the body weight rests entirely on a small portion of the sitting bones, the feet, and the hands.”

Recumbent cycles come in two basic configurations, which are either two or three wheeled designs. Initially my inclination was to acquire a two wheeled version, but I was dissuaded by my local bike shop for two related reasons. First, they don’t sell them and second the owner does not trust their basic stability. His quote to me was, “you ever seen one of those things going up a hill?” Saying this while he moved his hands back and forth horizontally indicating that they have difficulty keeping a straight line, which is essential safe-cycling behavior. This was further confirmed to me when I stumbled upon a gruesome YouTube video of a rider crashing his Cruzbike recumbent into a curb when he briefly took one of his hands off the handlebar grip! You can see this disaster in the video below which caused me to rule out the two-wheeled version of the recumbent. The wreck happens about the 3:15 mark, and at the 8:40 mark the rider shares the injuries he sustained:

I Purchase a Recumbent Trike

At first pass I was very reluctant to own a recumbent trike. My understanding was that they were heavy, wide and incurred increased rolling resistance because of three wheels in contact with the road surface. The was anathema to a “roadie” cyclist like me who placed the greatest value on limited mass, precision components and maximum speed! My feelings were also complicated by my disdain for trike riders. They never appeared to be serious cyclists, instead tooling along at a leisurely pace in their lazy boy chairs on wheels! I wondered where they kept their remote controls and beer koozies on those odd conveyances.

I had to set aside my prejudices regarding trikes because I very much wanted to get back to riding on the bike trails. Cycling with my wife is a very important part of our daily routine. So I went out shopping for a trike.

My purchase was initially driven by what was available in my immediate Iowa location. I’ve had a longstanding relationship with my local bike shop and felt very comfortable buying my trike from them. I wanted a place that I could reach easily for the inevitable service that trikes require. My instincts were correct because my trike spent a good deal of time in the service bay during my initial thousand miles of ownership.

At the time of my searching, my local shop listed on their webpage Catrike, ICE, and TerraTrike brands. Probably because of global supply chain issues there were a just small number of TerraTrikes in the shop, no ICE’s and a pretty good inventory of Catrikes. At any rate, the Catrike designs were more appealing to me so I focused on them. I ended up purchasing a Dumont because trikes are fairly large mechanisms and this one folded up to a smaller size. Further, it was designed with both front and rear suspension. Since you cannot lift up out of the seat when encountering a bump on the trail as you can on a traditional diamond framed bike, I thought suspension to soften the impact on my aging body made great sense.

I’ve never owned a Candy Purple bike, so I selected it over a Liquid Black one, which were the two available. The Catrikes are known for their exquisite paint jobs. They apply the paint with powder coating technology using their own unique color mixes. The powder coated paint is supposedly more evenly applied and more durable. Sadly though, because of the powder coat technology, Catrike does not offer touch up paint, which can be an issue if you ding up the frame which I did in very short order. Other than adding some Shimano SPD pedals, a water bottle holder and some fore and aft lighting, I rolled out of the store with a stock Dumont.

I Add an eCat Bosch Motor

The Dumont weighs in at 43 pounds. That is a lot of aluminum, steel and rubber to power along the trail. The trike was equipped with a triple crankset up front and a 10 ring cassette in the rear, giving 30 possible combinations. Riding on the flats and rolling down hills was fun, but climbing any inclines was tedious for me as gravity comes into play in a big way when you’re driving a beefy trike such as the Dumont. After about 150 miles of toiling with the Dumont, I decided I was not having any fun on my summer morning rides with my wife. Compared to the ease of riding my Specialized Roubaix, the Dumont was a boar hog. Cycling had become a chore, and I had to take some kind of action or I’d quit riding.

During my initial trike shopping, I became aware that a Dumont could be retrofit with an electric assist motor, but that would be a big step for me because I actually disdained bikes that used motors. I just thought they were for the unmotivated or lazy.

Nevertheless, being desperate to raise the Dumont to the level of fun to ride, I laid down a sizable chunk of cash and had my shop install a motor on the Dumont. The installation was pretty easy as the front end of the boom is completely swapped out. The three ring crankset, cranks and pedals are removed and replaced with a boom that holds a German made Bosch Active Line Plus motor, subcontracted by the Catrike manufacturer. The old boom went into a box in my garage and I transferred my new Shimano SPD pedals to the powered boom.

Riding with the new motor took a bit of acclimation, but very soon the Dumont was great fun to ride! The motor is torque-activated, meaning that pedaling is required to trigger the assistance that it offers to the rider. In the above graphic you can see that the Active Line Plus motor offers four levels of assistance ranging from 40 to 270% additional power beyond the baseline offered by your own legs.

The level of assistance is selected by Bosch’s Purion computer which is mounted where the shift lever was for the old front derailleur that was replaced by the motor boom. Pressing the Purion plus or minus buttons move the motor through the four stages of assistance. I ride the Dumont mostly at the ECO or 40% assistance level, which to a large extent remediates the piggish weight of the trike. At the ECO setting I’ll tool along at about 12 mph. If I need to go faster, or I’m feeling lazy, I’ll bump the Purion up to TOUR level and there I can run 14 to 15 mph with a moderate amount of leg input from me. I will use the SPORT of TURBO settings for the rare Iowa hills, with the assistance level depending upon how steep they are.

The Bosch motor and Purion computer are all powered by a rechargeable battery that is mounted on the side of the trike between the seat and rear wheel. The battery will dissipate its charge at a rate that is a function of how much assist you require during a ride. For example the Purion estimates that riding at the ECO setting gives a range of about 70 miles, TOUR 40 miles and so on. The battery can be recharged while attached to the trike. Removal of the battery requires a key.

It’s important to note that the battery and the mount add width to the trike when in its folded state. Before I added the battery, the folded Dumont would easily fit into the rear of my Honda Crosstour or my wife’s Subaru Outback. Now it won’t! This is a big problem and has pushed me to seek out a trike rack and trailer hitch for my Honda. This is an ongoing and costly process. It’s also worth noting that the Dumont now weighs in the neighborhood of 53 pounds with the addition of the motor boom and battery. The motor more than makes up for the additional weight!

The Annoying Rear Fender

The stock Dumont is equipped with an aluminum fender mounted over the rear wheel. The fender is useful when riding wet, sloppy trails after a rainstorm. But, I removed it from the trike because it made an unholy racket any time I rode over somewhat uneven trails, which is all too common where I live. I tried tightening the fender mounts, adding rubber washers between the mount and the trike body and even worked with the body’s shock absorber all to no avail. Finally, I contacted Catrike and they basically admitted that they have trouble with “some” of their fenders and offered to send me a replacement. Further, they informed me that they were redesigning their fenders.

I saw no advantage to having Catrike send me a new fender since the one I had was perfectly good, other than being quite noisy. It was hard for me to accept the clashing about of the fender while riding through my bucolic, wooded bike trails, so I removed it. The removal process was stressful and tedious because the screw mounting the fender directly to the frame was very difficult to get to, but I eventually got it free. I miss the fender on those days that the trail is sloppy, but I do not miss the racket! Perhaps I will give the redesigned fender a go when and if it becomes available next Spring.

Those Dang Disc Brakes

I’ve ridden with bicycles all my life that used wheel rim grabbing calipers. Adjusting them was relatively easy to do. On the other hand, the Dumont was equipped with Avid BB7 Disc Brakes on both of the front wheels. In addition, they are also equipped with Catrike locking brake levers. When adjusted properly, the trike’s disc brakes work very effectively however, it took multiple trips to the shop to get the BB7’s to function as they were designed to do.

Since the cables of a new trike stretch over the initial break-in period it was difficult to keep them properly adjusted. Secondly, the BB7’s are more difficult to access and way more complicated to adjust, making them beyond my capabilities. Consequently, any adjustments had to be done in my bike shop.

During the break-in period, I experienced several hundred miles of noisy pad to disc rubbing from the right brake before finally getting it adjusted properly. As a result of cable stretching, the parking brake on the left side quit grabbing and had to be reset. This is important because a trike will roll off if not locked down with a parking brake! Finally the brake levers had to be fine tuned so that they activated the brakes simultaneously when under equivalent hand pressure. For a while they were not set identically, which caused the trike to fishtail during rapid breaking. As of this writing the brakes are finally functioning properly, but it was an ordeal getting there.

Working Through Issues with the Rear Derailleur

The Dumont is equipped with a SRAM GX ten speed derailleur, which is a moderate quality device used often on Mountain Bikes. It is activated by an indexed shifter-lever mounted on the right steering grip. While it’s been working very accurately for the past several hundred miles, I had some difficulties with it until the control cable settled into its stretched out length and the derailleur limit screw settings were fine tuned. The limit screws control the lateral motion of the derailleur and this is important because when set properly, they reduce the probability of throwing the chain either into the wheel or onto the axle.

Twice I experienced the chain dropping off the rear gear cassette and jamming up on the axle. This malfunction prohibits movement of the chain and locks down the motion of the pedals. The first time it happened, I freaked out and went into emergency braking mode, and to this day I’m not sure whether or not the rear wheel locked up also. Nevertheless, the trike spilled over on its right side and I was thrown free from the trike onto the trail. OUCH! Sore hip and elbow road rash for days after.

After my first “chain drop” incident, my bike shop fine tuned the derailleur and I rode along fine for several hundred miles before the derailleur malfunctioned again. This time, I did not panic and let the trike roll to a stop. As with the first chain drop, it was difficult to free the chain from its jammed space on the axle but I eventually got it and the trike rolling again. I think my bike shop did another fine-tuning and the derailleur’s been working great since then.

I’ve read that the use of a motor places more strain on the chain and the derailleur as opposed to the unassisted state. Consequently, some effort by the rider to reduce pedaling load during a gear shift reduces stress on the system and the probability of malfunction. This is not always possible, but I try to do it now as often as I can.

It is also worth noting that the bottom of Dumont’s derailleur is fairly close to the ground with its lowest point being 5 inches above the trail surface. By comparison the bottom of the Roubaix’s derailleur is 6.5 inches above the surface of the road. This may not seem like a big difference, but it must be because unlike the Roubaix, I’ve picked up trail debris several times while on the trike and found it trapped between the Dumont’s derailleur and rear wheel. In fact, during one ride, after a rain storm, I picked up a small windblown branch with leaves still attached and it wove its way around both jockey wheels and several times around the rear cassette. What a mess that was to clean up while out on the trail!

Because of chain drops and derailleur fouling I considered chucking the derailleur and replacing it with a Rohloff internally geared hub. They’re very expensive, but owners of those hubs are super enthusiastic about them. At this point, I’ve decided against allocating those funds because my bike shop guys are very unenthusiastic about doing the work. In addition, the Catrike literature about the Bosch motor indicates it is set up for use with a standard derailleur and finally, mounting a Rohloff on the Dumont requires a drop out adaptor kit which alters the trike’s frame geometry by extending it one inch in length. I am assuming that the Catrike designers were very intentional when they laid out the trike’s geometry and I am reluctant to mess with it.

Those Pesky Flats

The stock Dumont is dressed out with Schwalbe Marathon Racer tires. They’re advertised as the lightest of the Marathon tires, but boast of good durability and flat resistance. Nevertheless, I got a flat on the bike trail shortly after acquiring the Dumont and had yet to equip myself with spare tire tubes and field repairs tools. I had to roll the trike to a location where my wife could pick me up. Rolling a Dumont with a flat tire is an ordeal as the trike wants to curve off in the direction of the flatted tire. I never want to do that again!

Schwalbe Marathon Plus Flat Resistant Tires

After consultation with my bike shop I had them order a set of Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires which are supposedly bullet proof and in the unlikely event of a flat I now have spare tubes and field repair tools. The Marathon Plus are big beefy tires and actually add some cushion to the ride.

The Marathon Plus tires come in E50 and E25 varieties. The E50’s are for bikes/trikes that are spec’d to run with motors that push the vehicle to speeds in the neighborhood of 30 mph. The E25’s are for trikes like the Dumont that are set to max out at 20 mph. For some inexplicable reason my shop put E50’s on the front and an E25 on the rear. I would have preferred E25’s all around as they are lighter than the E50’s. On rotating elements like wheels, lighter is better. I should have been a more attentive and knowledgeable consumer when I had the shop order the tires. In fact, I would prefer to pull the E50’s off and replace them with E25’s, which I’ll do if I ever wear them out.

I’ve run several hundred miles on the new Marathon Plus tires and so far no flats!

To the left you can see an image of the various items I carry along for tire repair. Included from right to left are tire tubes of two sizes, a patch kit, zip locks, a pump, hex wrenches, tire tools and a plastic snipper.

I’d prefer not to carry all the aforementioned items; however, I don’t want to get caught with my pants down on the bike trails again with a flat that I cannot fix. Catrike builds a variety of pockets under and behind the seat that can be used to stow pumps and tools; however, I found it necessary to mount a rack and smallish bag on the rear to house the tire tubes. The rest of the bag is useful for hauling a bike lock and whatever else you want to bring along within reason.

The rack, bag and tools etc. violate my holdover minimalist “roadie” sensibility, but riding a Dumont with a motor assist is a completely different affect. So I bring it all along!

Being Seen

The Dumont is considerably less visible on the road or trail than my two-wheeled Roubaix. Since trikes are still relatively rare, neither motorists nor other cyclists recognize and respond to them as readily as a two wheeler. For this reason, making a trike more visible when out and about is the prime directive!

In the past, I’ve been critical of two-wheelers running daylight lights. The lights that are now sold are so bright they’re practically blinding or at a minimum really annoying when the rider is using the periodic flash setting. Bright lights can trigger a migraine for some, including me, so I will studiously look away from an oncoming riding running bright lights. Despite my antipathy for running day lights, I put them on my Dumont for safety reasons. A trike must be recognized quickly, but I do feel bad for passersby’s who may feel afflicted by my lights.

In the image gallery above you can see the front white light, the two rear red lights, and the flag I use on the Dumont to enhance visibility. I run the lights whenever I am on the move. Since the lights are expensive and would be very easy to steal off the trike, I remove them when I park in a public place, like in front of our local coffee shop. The lights are rechargeable, which must be done pretty much every day. You can see my recharging station in my kitchen.

The Dumont was equipped with a rather prosaic, small orange flag. Shortly after purchasing the trike, I rode it under a tree that had partially fallen across the trail and unknowingly had the flag stripped off the pole. Consequently, I purchased a new larger and more interesting looking official Catrike flag which was pricey, but I like it! The flag and a rubber grommet that helps lock the flag pole into place were made and sold aftermarket by TerraCycle.

How Stable is a Catrike Dumont?

Cycling is an inherently hazardous pastime. Over the years, I’ve taken my fair share of spills from two wheeled, diamond shaped bicycle frames. I initially thought a trike would be different, so when I first sat down into the Dumont cockpit, I said to my bike guy, “you’d probably have to be intentional to tip over a three wheeled vehicle,” and he visibly shuddered. This he followed with a warning that several of his customers had mishaps on their trikes, and that I should ride mine with caution especially in the early days of ownership! So how stable is the Dumont? Here are some of my thoughts:

From a stability standpoint, not all trikes are created equal. Some are more stable than others. For example, the Dumont is considered fairly stable with a Catrike rating of 10, whereas the 559 model is rated 7.5. Since the Dumont is all I’ve ever ridden, I can only speak about it.
When you’re riding on a straightaway, the part of your brain that handles balancing on a two-wheeler is free to engage in other realms so as enjoying the scenery. With three wheels, the trike balances itself.
It’s really nice when you come to a full stop. It is no longer necessary to unclip myself from the pedals and reclip when I start rolling, which was the case with my two-wheeler.
On the other hand, taking curves requires more care than riding on a two-wheeler. Taking a sharp curve too fast can result in a spill. In time, you learn to lean into the curve which allows you to go faster, but a two-wheeler will always have an advantage.
Despite its high stability rating, I’ve tipped the Dumont over twice and as a result been thrown from it landing hard on the ground. Fortunately, I was not hurt too badly, but I do not want to make a habit of this. In both cases, I was in an emergency braking mode. The first time, my chain dropped from the cassette onto the rear axle, locked up my pedals and I went into panic mode by over-braking. This spill was probably avoidable.

The second spill was when some oversized clown on an eBike veered off the concrete trail into the grass, and in a panic over-corrected and swerved into me while I was passing him. Had I not hard-braked I would have hit him and that would have been a real mess. On this particular hard-brake, the rear wheel went airborne, the front end dug into the pavement and I was tossed. This was not, on my part, an avoidable accident. In the end, it is best to refrain from getting yourself into an emergency hard-brake scenario, if it is at all possible.

Epilogue

After 1000 miles in the Dumont’s cockpit, I find the trike’s functioning on the mark in all respects and a great deal of fun to ride. Were it not for the Dumont, I would no longer be on the bike trails, which would have been a great loss to me and my wife.

I’d like to thank the folks at Bike Tech in Cedar Falls, Iowa for their service, attentiveness, friendship, patience, and most of all for keeping me rolling.

May 28, 2022June 25, 2022

One ring to rule them all… a Martin Authentic 1937 moves into place…

Introduction

When I completed the purchase of my second Collings, a lovely guitar inspired by Gibson’s 1930’s era L-00, I thought I was pretty much done acquiring guitars. My six guitar collection included two resonators (one being electric), two electrics (one being a hybrid acoustic/electric, and two acoustics. But I wasn’t really done. There were two remaining issues affecting my sense of guitar balance and purpose:

First, my hybrid, semi-hollow bodied Taylor T5z, was going for long periods without being played, and that’s a red flag warning that it may be time to go. In the end it’s a niche instrument best for switching back and forth between acoustic or electric tonalities depending upon the tune being played. It’s most suitable for a gig where you only want to bring one guitar, which is not a dilemma I ever find myself in. The truth was, if I wanted to play electric, I had a far better instrument (Collings I-35) to do the job, and there was no way the T5z could match the sonic performance of the Collings acoustics in my stable.

Secondly, I’ve found myself playing a number multiple tunings on my acoustic guitars, including standard, Drop D, and Skip James’s Cross Tuning. Further, there was a Chris Smithers Open D tune that I wanted to take a run at. My experience is that guitars like to settle into a specific tuning so it’s best not to be frequently changing the tunings on a single guitar. For this reason, I began thinking that it might be nice to have a third acoustic guitar at my disposal!

Consequently for the two aforementioned reasons, I decided to eventually trade the T5Z one day in the future. In preparation, via their online process, Dave’s Guitars give me a trade-in value so I knew what I had to work with. Not surprisingly, I was going to take a haircut on a trade, but that’s the guitar business. At first I thought I might swap the T5z out for an American Professional Stratocaster at my local shop, but I was reminded during that Strat’s audition that I was not, at some fundamental level, a Strat player and my Collings Electric really met all my needs, so dumping off the T5z was put onto the back burner for a while.

A Rare Martin Guitar Finds Me

I take lessons weekly at my local guitar shop and it’s not unusual for the former store owner Bob, now store consultant, to greet me and show me some new guitar arrival that might be of curiosity. Most of the time the guitars, usually recent trade-ins, do not arouse my interest. But a couple of weeks ago, Bob dropped a dreadnought into my lap and explained that it was a pre-owned “Martin Authentic” built to the exacting specifications of a vintage 1937 Martin from the golden age of dreadnoughts. The guitar was in immaculate condition too and had been owned by a collector who’d passed away. His son traded the Martin in for a Taylor 814ce. So much about guitar acquisition is driven by idiosyncratic personal taste.

Me and the Authentic at the Bob’s Guitars

Initially, the guitar Bob placed in my hands was not of interest to me. For years, I’d been playing smaller bodied guitars, not a Howitzer sized dreadnought. Yes, my first two guitars, in a former lifetime, were dreads, but when I gave up on bluegrass flat picking and took up finger-style I moved to 000’s, OM’s and other smaller sized instruments. Further, I’d never been that enamored by Martin’s tonality, fit/finish and general appearance for the cost involved. But this guitar was different, sounding and feeling unusually interesting to me! Perhaps this guitar’s tone appealed to my ears because it was seven years old and had “opened up,” or maybe because the vintage “hand-built” construction techniques employed by Martin’s exclusive Custom Shop appealed to my sense of design aesthetics. Finally, the combination of rare tone woods, specifically an Adirondack spruce top with Madagascar rosewood back and sides produced a tone I’d never experienced before. It was in contrast to the Martins I’d played in the past that required really digging-in to the strings to get a decent sound. As a finger style player, my touch was generally too light to elicit magic from a Martin dreadnought. I noodled around with the guitar for a while and then went to my lesson. Afterwards, on the way out, I glanced at the Martin again hanging on the wall and thought that it might be a nice complement to the Collings acoustics I already owned, particularly for the alternate tunings I like to use.

The next day, I went back to the shop and played the Authentic again for quite a while and found it even more appealing especially since Bob replaced the existing strings with some new ones. At some point, I played the guitar into a Shure SM-57 mic plugged into a Genzler Amp to better hear it and then went home to think about it some more. Finally, the next day which was a quiet rainy Saturday, I went back to the shop with my T5z, made the trade, and purchased the Authentic. The combination of the trade along with a considerable reduction from new because the guitar was pre-owned brought the price down to something reasonable. Current new versions of the Authentic are far more pricey than I’d be willing to spend, so I feel fortunate.

Overview of the Martin 1937 Authentic D-28

To the right, you can see the Authentic. It is a formidably large guitar. Both the size and depth of the body were designed to produce a large sound. In short, the Martin Company designed the guitar to meet the needs of a popular Hawaiian slack key player (open tunings) in the early part of the 20th century. It was some time later in the 1930’s, that the Martin Company decided to begin regularly producing this large guitar and named it the “Dreadnought.”

By the time of the Second Folk Revival in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s the Dreadnought guitar became the “go to” size for acoustic players. The Martin brand was one of the most prized among those large guitars, especially, the mahogany (back and sided) D-18 and the rosewood D-28.

For more background on Martin Dreadnoughts, you may enjoy the following wonderful film:

https://vimeo.com/594705036?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=133332214

In the case of my guitar, the D-28, it has over the years, for a variety of reasons, been modified in terms of woods, bracings, and neck designs, still maintaining its general specifications. Because of a combination of rare aged woods and design features such as the hot hide glues used in the olden days, wood thicknesses, and placement of bracings, the 1937 era D-28 is considered a “high-water” mark in Martin Guitar design, and people will pay hefty sums for that vintage. Given that an original ’37 Martin D-28 is far beyond the price range of most guitar players, Martin, in the recent past, responded by producing a Custom Shop rendition of the ’37 that comes as close as possible to the original instrument. I’ve read that they took their museum specimen of the ’37 to the Smithsonian for detailed medical-technology imaging and analysis to generate the specs to manufacture an exact replica. Other than the substitution of Madagascar Rosewood for the practically unobtainable Brazilian variety, the guitar comes as close to the original ’37 as is technically feasible, hence the moniker, the “Authentic.”

Though I was certainly familiar with the value wealthy players placed on rare vintage guitars, up until the time Bob dropped the Authentic into my lap, I was unaware of Martin’s production of a more affordable “authentic/vintage” guitar. Below you can see a short YouTube film of Steve Earle speaking about his 1935 Martin D-28, which is also from the golden era of dreadnoughts. He refers to the ’35 as the holy grail of Martins. Earle’s enthusiasm for that guitar speaks to the motivation behind the Martin Company attempting to reproduce authentic versions of the past.

In addition to the singular sounds emanating from this combination of wood and steel, there is a perceived inherent beauty with this guitar connected to its decades long history as one of popular music’s most essential instruments. From the CF Martin & Co. decal on the headstock, down the mahogany neck, to the herringbone purfling surrounding the soundboard, as well as the tortoise colored pick guard, the guitar projects a culturally constructed aesthetic intertwined with the likes of Tony Rice, Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton, Hank Williams and Bob Dylan among others.

Still, as an observable object in visual space, the D-28 body is not really proportioned to the dictates of classical aesthetic beauty. A more classically designed guitar would have a narrower waist separating a smaller upper bout from the larger lower one. In many respects the Martin dreadnought is a big box with curved corners attached to a long neck, but its awkwardness relative to classical proportions is today considered an essential part of its beauty.

The Headstock

Authentic Headstock with “traditional” decal…

Before I got annoyed with their heavy-handed marketing and later became disenchanted with their tone, I was the owner of several higher end Taylor guitars. I bring this up because In comparison to typical Martin D-18’s and D-28’s, my similarly priced Taylor’s were appointed way more nicely with wooden bindings and purflings, as well as abalone inlays in the rosette, fretboard and headstock. I was completely put off by the “prosaic” C.F. Martin decal on the headstock, wondering why Martin would not use an inlay in the headstock on their flagship (and expensive) guitars.

My opinion about superficial guitar “surface” bling changed after acquiring two incredible sounding and rather simply appointed Collings guitars. I finally realized that the nice features Taylor offered were all well and good, but the guitar’s tone was by far the controlling factor for the instrument’s worth and value to me. I came to appreciate simplicity in appearance when accompanied by superior tonal output!

Headstock rear showing Waverly tuners and carved volute.

Given my new frame of reference, I am delighted with the Authentic’s headstock. Although I myself would not recognize the subtle differences between other more modern D-28’s, the headstock of the Authentic is shaped in thickness and taper as the ’37 was originally made, in this case with a Madagascar rosewood veneer instead of Brazilian, and embellished with a stylish volute carved into the back. Topping it off on the face of the headstock is the traditional C.F. Martin and Co. decal.

The paddle style headstock is equipped with vintage-style Waverly open back tuners and nickel butterbean knobs. In the past, I became very partial to Gotoh tuners and had them on three different Taylor guitars, two of which I “after-market” installed. The Gotoh high gear ratio tuners make precision tuning very easy. By comparison, I think the Waverly’s do an equivalently nice job and work well on my two Collings’s as well as the Authentic. They look very cool too!

The Neck

The 1937 D-28 was one of the earlier models that was built with fourteen frets between the body and the nut. Despite the fact that the guitar was at least 7 years old, the frets were in mint shape with no visible wear. Eschewing modern CNC milling, the neck is hand carved in the Martin custom shop to the shape of the original ’37 out of a mahogany block. This, in part, accounts for the high cost of this guitar.

I’ve got six total guitars made by National, Collings and this Martin. The necks all vary in shape and I happily play them all. The Authentic has a “1937” shape which is actually kind of meaningless to me; however, I will state it is a pleasure to play.

The 1 3/4 inch nut is bone and wide enough for comfortable fingerstyle playing. The fretboard is a solid black ebony which is somewhat difficult to acquire nowadays. Due to ebony wood scarcity and preservation, most fretboards of that material today have blond streaks randomly running through them. The fretboard inlaid markers are subtle but handsome 1937 diamond and square shapes.

Dovetail neck join. Note the rich red color of the mahogany neck and the Madagascar rosewood sides of the guitar.

The neck has a reinforced T-Bar to give it stability and it is attached to the body using C.F. Martin’s traditional dovetail joint. Unlike modern guitars (like my other 5), consistent with the design of that era, the Authentic has no adjustable truss rod. Since I tweak my guitar neck with the truss rod on occasion, I find this a bit unnerving; however, from everything I’ve read the Authentic’s neck is supposedly very stable. Right now the string to neck play is quite good up and down the neck. I imagine controlling the moisture content of this guitar is fairly critical to maintain neck stability!

The Body

The Authentic soundboard. Note the Adirondack’s wide grain.

The Authentic’s body is constructed with an Adirondack spruce soundboard and Madagascar rosewood back and sides. Every other acoustic guitar I’ve ever owned was built with a Sitka spruce soundboard, as is 80 percent of all other quality acoustic guitars. In the early years of the D-28’s construction all the tops was made with Adirondack (Red) Spruce; however, due to scarcity of the heavily logged Red Spruce trees, the guitar industry transitioned to the more plentiful Sitka Spruce. Sitka is a pretty tight grained wood that yields a warm response when played, whereas Adirondack, a wider grained wood, is harder and more glasslike as compared to Sitka, giving it a sharper more more immediate response. Adirondack is prized by Bluegrass flat pickers and strummers because of the way the top responds to those styles of play, but I think too that the boutique crowd also values Adirondack because it is a relatively rare, high status wood. I do not have the ear to detect the subtleties of Sitka vs Adirondack, but I do, very much, like the guitar’s overall tonality (for a very articulate discussion of the Authentic’s tone as it relates to Madagascar versus Brazilian back and side wood, I suggest you read this blog article).

The D-28 Authentic 1937 was first introduced at a 2013 NAMM show and records show that my instrument was ordered by Dave’s Guitar Shop for delivery to its previous owner in 2014. The initial production models of the ’37 did not utilize the Vintage Tone System (VTS), a torrefication heat treatment of the Adirondack soundboard to enhance the tone via “premature” aging. I think all subsequent production from 2015 on are torrified. I am agnostic about that type of wood treatment, but pleased the guitar has been played-in for 7-8 years in a natural manner. As I said before, it sounds quite lovely.

For a hefty monetary charge, C.F. Martin also offers an aging process in the custom shop to relic the instrument. I am not particularly enthusiastic about “relic” technique and am delighted this process was not applied to my Authentic. In fact, other than a barely visible crease-like ding in the soundboard, a small ding on the bottom, and some marking on the pickguard, this guitar was immaculate even though having been played for 7-8 years. The previous owner took great care of this guitar and makes me wonder if it ever left his home. Me, on the other hand, as much as I try to care of my guitars, I end up inadvertently beating the shit out of them because I play them and use them in and out of my home. Guitars are awkward shaped objects as they move through three dimensional space, and with me guiding them, they can attract wear marks, dings, and finish checking, so in the end I unwittingly relic them the old-fashioned way.

Unlike my Taylor 914ce, which was an exercise in excess, with abalone appointments galore, as well as wood bindings and purflings. The Authentic is more scaled down, but beautiful in its own right. You can see in the image to the left that the sound hole rosette is simple yet tasteful, and the soundboard is appointed with traditional bold herringbone purflings and grained ivoroid bindings. While I play fingerstyle and don’t generally like pickguards, if you are going to have one, the “old school” Delmar faux tortoise type is a nice one to have.

Rounding off the guitar’s top is the authentic ebony Style Belly bridge with long bone saddle. The bridge pins are polymer plastic with black dots. The bridge is located to give a comfortable 25.4 inch scale length.

A photo of the back of the guitar indicates the subtle beauty of Madagascar rosewood. The color of the wood is toward the red end of the spectrum and exhibits some nice but restrained grain. As suggested earlier, Madagascar rosewood has somewhat similar tonality when compared to the essentially unobtainable and certainly unaffordable Brazilian rosewood. A guitar constructed from Brazilian would be many times more expensive. Finally, note the 28 Style Zig-Zag (Authentic) purfling down the center of the back. It’s a very nice touch.

I love my guitars and I love to play them. It is a privilege to own and play National Resonators, as well as Collings electric and acoustic guitars, and now an exceptional Martin Authentic. Nevertheless, I view those guitars as tools and a means to an end, which is to make music. I won’t leave the guitars hiding in their cases preserved from the dings, scratches and bumps of use. They’re tools and I will hammer nails with them as long as I can.

To that end, I perform with my guitars around town, and host a monthly open mic night at a local coffee shop. I own a Genzler Pro Array and a Bose L-1 Pro 32 PA that I plug into when I perform. Consequently, I had a pick-up installed in the Authentic. In the image to the left you can see the jack for a K&K Pure Mini pick-up, an elegantly simple device that utilizes 3 transducers that are glued under the bridge plate. I’ve seen some high end guitar owners fret about adversely impacting the resale value of their guitars by altering them, such as adding a pick-up. I do not worry about such matters, especially with a low impact addition like the K&K.

Because the K&K Pure Mini is so simple, without onboard preamp and tone controls, I’ve built an acoustic guitar pedal board to manage the tone of the Authentic and my two other Collings. For more information about the board, click here.

Summary

The Martin D-28 Authentic 1937 is one of the “Kings” of acoustic guitars. It is made with incredible care and dedication to evoking the golden age of guitars. In my home the Authentic has fierce competition for playing time from a Collings 0002H, a Collings C10-35, and a National M-1 Tricone, yet at this time it rules the roost. It is a magical guitar and rules them all…

Example Sound Clips

Below please find some Vimeo clips I made with the D-28 Authentic. The clips were made on an iPhone 11 Pro Max with a Shure MV 88 clip-on Mic. The guitar was played through my pedalboard into a Genzler Pro Array acoustic amp. I added a dash of compression, delay and reverb. The clips was processed on a elderly MacBook Pro with iMovie. The guitars tone would probably be best appreciated with headphones.

The first two clips are the Authentic tuned in Open D:

Following is a clip in standard tuning:

February 16, 2022March 2, 2022

On Building a Pedalboard for My Acoustic Guitars

At Dave’s Guitars, the Acoustic Room Manager

Late last year 2021, I was at Dave’s Guitars in LaCrosse, WI and it was there that I acquired my first Collings acoustic, a 0002H. Since I perform monthly live at an Open Mic Night that I host with a friend, and because I like to play through an acoustic amp when I play at home, I requested that the shop install a pick up in the guitar before I headed back home to Iowa.

The gentleman who manages the acoustic guitar department was emphatic that the best pickup for a Collings acoustic guitar was the K&K Pure Mini because it was generally transparent sounding, way less prone to feedback, and relatively easy to install.

L.R. Baggs Venue DI with tone controls and tuner

A challenge with a passive pickup like the K&K Pure Mini is the absence of a preamp/equalizer to control guitar tonality, such as bass, mids and treble, as well as to boost the signal. My previous acoustic guitars were Taylors which had a preamp/equalizer and pickup installed as part of the guitar itself, so I was at a bit of a loss, until my Dave’s guy suggested that I should also purchase a DI/Preamp with built in equalizer to manage the pickup, and he recommended the L.R. Baggs Venue for the job. When I suggested that I already owned a rather extensive pedalboard that I used with my electric guitars which might accomplish the same thing, he visibly shuddered and said he would never, ever run a Collings acoustic guitar through those electronics. It would be a major compromise to the guitar’s tone, which is what Collings guitars were all about!

So, I ordered an L.R. Baggs Venue and put it to good use when I played a gig at one of our local coffee shops. The 0002H was cabled into the Venue which was then cabled into a Bose T4s Mixer and then on into a Bose L1 Pro PA and it worked well enough.

Still, I was unsure whether or not I had the best possible tool kit at my disposal for projecting the best possible tone from my Collings. Consequently, I started digging around the internet and discovered that the L.R. Baggs Company in the past few years has developed a line of pedals that were specifically attuned to the unique complexities and frequencies of acoustic guitars. They’re referred to as the Align series of acoustic pedals, and include a compressor, a DI, an equalizer, a reverb, a delay, and a chorus.

In my judgement an essential pedal for all amplified guitars is a compressor, because to me it makes the guitar sound better. Most importantly the compressor levels the dynamics of different strings, which can be very helpful in making the guitarist sound more pleasant, especially when playing fingerstyle. As you can see on the right, the L.R. Baggs compressor has a simple layout with volume and gain controls at the top. I use just enough gain to keep the signal flowing through the chain as I don’t want gain fattening up the signal beyond what I perceive to be a natural acoustic tone. The various pedals in the signal chain all have some form of volume control, some of which alter the guitar’s overall dry signal and other control the loudness of the effect the pedal was designed for. I tend to keep the loudness/volume controls set close to mid-point and do final volume control at the Venue DI or the Amp/PA. The effects volume is set to keep the effect subtle and not to overwhelm the guitar’s dry signal.

The Compressor’s saturate knob can “enrich” the tone, but with a Collings I don’t find that a necessity, so I keep it tuned down so as not to affect the natural brilliance built into the guitar. Where the “rubber meets the road” is the comp eq knob and here is where the guitar tonal dynamics are controlled. What I do is adjust the knob, and then back and forth mute or activate the combined Session compressor and Venue DI so that I eventually get the natural sound of the guitar unplugged but simply louder when the signal chain is engaged, and “By-Jiminy” it works!

In truth, the combination of the Venue DI and Session Compressor would be enough if all you wanted during a performance was the natural sound of the guitar amplified. During the time that I possessed just those two pedals I ran them in series with the guitar into the compressor, then feeding directly into the Venue. When I used the chromatic tuner that is built into the Venue, I would turn the compressor off before hand so that a clean signal reached the tuner.

The fact is, sometimes I like to use tone modulation pedals in very light doses to add mood or flavor to the guitar’s basic tone. Consequently, I anticipated eventually adding the L.R. Baggs Reverb and Delay pedals to the signal chain. I sold some old pedals I was not using and purchased the Reverb first.

Again, as with the Compressor, the control knobs for the Reverb are fairly simple. No choices of multiple types of Reverb are available as typical on pedals such as those manufactured by Boss or Neunaber. L.R. Baggs engineered a Reverb signal they thought best complemented an acoustic guitar, and I like it. In the case of this Reverb pedal, the volume and tone controls just alter the reverb effect and not the guitar’s dry signal. Also onboard are knobs to adjust the amount of reverb and the decay, which is the duration of the effect. As I said before, with an acoustic guitar like a Collings, if I engage reverb, I like to do it with subtlety.

FX Loop Input/Output in rear of Venue DI

After studying the L.R. Baggs Venue literature, I decided to reroute my pedals from a straight line configuration, meaning they connect to each other train car style, one after the other, until they reach the Venue as last entry point. Instead, I chose to use the Venue’s EFX loop with input and output jacks located in the back of the device. Basically the Compressor and Reverb pedals are lassoed together and run via a cabled loop into and out of the Venue’s rear. As I understand it, the native signal from a guitar’s passive pickup, such as my K&K Pure Mini, is not particularly strong. Consequently, it is prudent to use effects pedals after the guitar’s signal is strengthened by the Venue’s Preamp. Theoretically, this results in a cleaner signal for the pedals to manipulate, giving precise and more audibly pleasing control over the effects. Effects such as Reverb and Delay would clearly benefit from flowing through the EFX loop. Whether or not the Compressor belongs in the EFX loop or is instead located before the preamp can be debated; however, I have it located in the loop and it sounds just fine to me.

I completed the signal modulation section of my acoustic pedalboard with the acquisition of the L.R. Baggs Align Delay pedal. This pedal too is tied into the EFX loop and I tend to set it to give a subtle slapback effect, which, when used adds some further depth to the guitar’s tonality. To maintain subtlety, I limit the delay time with the delay knob, limit the number of repeats per unit time and keep the time of the delay relatively brief. The tone knob controls the brightness or darkness of the delay effect and I tend to keep that setting relatively neutral.

It is apparent via this discussion that I tend to use modulation and compression pedals in this configuration in a “set it and forget it” mode. I don’t like fiddling about with the pedals especially when performing. On the other hand, I do have separate Venue DI equalizer settings depending on which guitar I am using. I keep a photograph of the settings for the 0002H and the C10-35 on my iPad, and can easily adjust if I switch guitars when playing.

The last pedal on my board, which is a Korg tuner, really should not have been a necessity because the Venue DI has a built-in, onboard chromatic tuner. Sadly, it is not as responsive as other tuners I’ve used, and I lost confidence in its accuracy because of its oddball circular LED interface. Consequently, I added the KORG pedal and it works just fine! The raw guitar signal feeds directly into the Korg, which then cables into the Venue DI.

It is worth noting that I use George L patch chords on both of my pedalboards. They are infinitely variable lengthwise because you build them yourself and have discretion as to how long the patch chord wire is. At my local shop, you purchase the plugs individually and the wire is paid for by the length. I keep a small coil of wire at home. The plugs are all nickel colored and the wire comes in multiple colors including black, blue, white and red. You build the patch chord by cutting the wire and then removing the cap to the plug. This is followed by inserting the wire into the opened plug and finally screwing the plug’s cap back down, which cuts the insulation on the wire and creates a proper circuit. I also use the optional rubber stress relief caps that keep the plug cap from unscrewing, which can happen over time. The George L’s are pricey. You can make 6 patch chords for roughly $100. My guitar shop guys consider them the best in the marketplace, but opinions around the web vary.

It goes without saying that an essential element in the signal chain is the amplifier itself. I currently use the Genzler Acoustic Array Pro amp and am very pleased with it. It offers a lovely transparent amplification of the guitar’s signal, which is a necessity when so much has been invested in the tonality of a Collings guitar. I would not want my guitars signal colored by the amp. The Genzler offers two channels, as well as chorus and reverb effects. I keep the effects turned off because I choose to use my pedals instead.

At home, I use one channel of the Genzler for the guitar and the other to practice singing my tunes. I own a very nice Sennheiser e965 condenser mic, which requires phantom power. Sadly, the Genzler’s phantom power is too wimpy to work with the e965, so I had to purchase a rechargeable phantom power booster that I stick between the mic and the amp and that works out adequately. I have not taken the Genzler out for a gig because I use a Bose L1 Pro PA; however, the Genzler is ready to go if I decide to use it. There is a socket built into the bottom of the amp so that it can be mounted on a stand at ear level for the audience.

Above you can see the completed pedalboard. While there’s room for another pedal like the L.R. Baggs Align Chorus, I think this signal chain offers more than enough tone altering capability, without being excessive. You will note the pedals are velcro mounted on a Pedaltrain Classic JR chassis. Bolted below is a Pedaltrain Spark power block that offers 5 isolated power channels. Sadly, the Spark is no longer manufactured, but there are other power blocks in the marketplace. On my electric guitar pedalboard I use the excellent Walrus Audio Phoenix.

Below I offer some tone samples using various pedal combinations for both my Collings C10-35 and then my 0002H. I recorded the clips with an iPhone 11, equipped with a Shure MV88 mic plugged into its jack, and did final processing in Apple’s iMovie. The recordings are probably best appreciated with decent headphones.

The sound samples from the C10-35 are drawn from the music that accompanies Blaze Foley’s Clay Pigeons:

The sound samples from the 0002H are drawn from the music that accompanies Steve Earle’s Fort Worth Blues:

February 13, 2022February 17, 2022

My Search for Transcendent Acoustic Guitar Tone – I review my Collings C10-35.

Introduction

The first solid wood acoustic guitar I ever purchased was a 1994 era Taylor 510 (Mahogany and Spruce) Dreadnought. After I learned through hard knocks and dirty socks that I was not quick enough to be a bluegrass flat picker, I dumped the Dread and worked my way through a series of other Taylors more suitable for fingerstyle, including a 1997 612 (Spruce and Maple, now owned by my son), an early 2000’s 714ce (Cedar and Rosewood, traded away), a 2015 914ce (Spruce and Rosewood), and finally a 2016 812ce (Spruce and Rosewood). In short, I was a Taylor fan-boy. The brighter, more modern sound of Taylors, for a long time, appealed to my ears and sensibility. Over the years, I auditioned other major brands but they fell short of my expectations in tonality, as well as fit, finish and value.

Then several months ago, my opinion about acoustic guitars took an abrupt change in direction when I traded my Taylor 812ce and purchased a Collings 0002H, which I discussed in some detail here. In sum, the 0002H bloomed with overtone when plucked, whereas the Taylor 812ce’s tone was more fundamental and somewhat anemic sounding by comparison. As a result I suffered zero remorse replacing the 812ce with the 0002H and have since greatly enjoyed playing it at home and when performing.

The 0002H and I were largely inseparable, except when I played slide in Open D on my National M1, which created a dilemma for me because I had my remaining Taylor acoustic, a 914ce, sitting idle and unplayed for an extended period of time. To try to remedy this situation, I put new strings on the Taylor and played it a bit to see if I could get some traction with it. Not suprislingly my expectations for acoustic guitar tonality had changed and the 914ce was now irretrievably disappointing to me ear… really disappointing.

In sum, the 914ce became a candidate for trade. Sadly, there really were no acoustic guitars at the local guitar store that interested me. They have a fine selection of Taylors but I was done with Taylors as I’d owned two of their finest instruments for several years. Further, I was pretty much underwhelmed by the tonality of their newer, reinvented, heavily marketed V-Class line of acoustics. The Taylor Guitar Company is a great company and over the years they’ve been very kind to me, but for now I am done with their guitars, with the exception of a T5z which I am hanging onto. My local shop also has some nice Martins in their inventory, but those guitars have always left me cold.

My thinking was that it might be really nice to have another Collings acoustic in my stable to replace the 914ce, so I asked the Collings Enthusiasts Facebook crowd what they might recommend in a small bodied guitar that would complement my 0002H. Several members made a variety of suggestions. I followed up with research on their recommendations and decided that the best candidate was perhaps the C10 model. Given that the 0002H’s body was constructed of Sitka Spruce and East Indian Rosewood, the C10 offered a nice contrast with a body of Sitka Spruce and Mahogany, The only store within distance that sells Collings Acoustic was Dave’s Guitars in LaCrosse, WI which is about 3 hours away by car. I thus cross-matched the Facebook recommendations with Dave’s inventory, which at the time was 12 guitars. Sure enough, they had a C10-35 in stock, which is a variation of the C10 and it was finished in a lovely sunburst! So I decided to take a trip to the store to check it out. There were some other models too, such as the Collings OM that I wanted to look more closely at also, but the C10-35 was at the top of the list.

Collings is well know for designing guitar models based upon or inspired by highly regarded vintage classics of the past. But instead of duplicating the older guitars they apply a combination of precision machine technology, skilled, meticulous handwork, and the finest materials (i.e. tone woods) available to produce an instrument that exceeds the original vintage design in both tonality as well as fit and finish. It’s my understanding that the C10 was inspired by the Gibson L-00 guitars of the 1930’s. Vintage versions of this instrument are highly sought after by musicians and collectors. Collings’ limited production C10-35 variant pushes the voicing of the original C10 to more closely emulate a vintage instrument by using ultra-light tone woods, non-scalloped Adirondack bracing, a long cutthrough saddle, and other vintage inspired features such as an abbreviated tongue brace.

It is difficult for me to articulate the care, time and detail that goes into making a Collings instrument, which sets them apart from the big time manufacturers such as Taylor, Gibson and Martin. While a large manufacturer like Taylor makes consistent and beautiful guitars, they are still, in my experience, missing the fairy dust that makes them singular instruments. The brief documentary film I share below does clarify what the Collings philosophy is and why their guitars stand out in the marketplace:

As I wrote earlier, Collings often designs guitars that are inspired by the past, so as the highly regarded 1930’s era Gibsons. Below you can see Steve Earle speak to his vintage L-00, which inspired the C10-35.

If you’re interested in more background regarding Gibson acoustic guitars, the following video is quite informative:

I Purchase a C10-35

As I mentioned above, Dave’s Guitars had a relatively large inventory of Collings acoustics when I initially decided to trade-off the Taylor 914ce. Collings is a smallish operation, so the marketplace is not flooded with their instruments. It’s nice for me that a store just three hours away sells them. It was on a Saturday when I made the decision to move on the C10-35, but I also wanted to audition an OM too before making the final purchase. At that moment in time there were 12 Collings acoustics hanging on the wall at Dave’s. Sunday when I again checked into Dave’s inventory they were down to just 8 and the two OM’s in stock were gone! I was astonished and unnerved. There was a run on Collings guitars going on at Dave’s! In response, without even playing the C10-35, I put it on my credit card, and let the store know I would drive over the following Tuesday to pick it up as well as trade-in the 914ce. I figured that if I really did not like the C10-35, the folks at Dave’s would just refund what I’d paid… no harm no foul…

So I went to Dave’s early Tuesday morning with my friend Grant. The C10-35 was sitting there waiting for me to pick up; however, I sat in the corner and auditioned it for quite a while before closing the deal. I also checked out a Collings CJ-45, a larger Gibson Jumbo inspired guitar but thought it was way too large for my comfort. While auditioning the two Collings, the store examined my Taylor and made, what I thought, was a very fair trade offer, considering that the guitar was pretty dinged up (it sold within the week, so they knew what they were doing).

I closed the deal and remanded the guitar to the custody of Dave’s luthier shop to have a K&K Pure Mini pickup installed. I like to play through an acoustic amp at home and I typically perform plugged into a PA system, so a pickup is a necessity. Dave’s acoustic guy, JR Rabie is emphatic that the K&K is the best choice for a Collings acoustic. I put one into my 0002H and was very please with its simplicity and transparency.

Grant and I grabbed lunch, checked out Dave’s upstairs collection of vintage guitars, visited Daves’ Drum Depot and by then the C10-35 was ready for pickup. I gave the guitar a cursory examination while in the case, then Grant and I headed home with the Collings in the back of car.

Ruh-Roh… This Is All Wrong!!!

Circumferential scarring around the jack

When I got home, I promptly pulled the guitar out of its case and the first thing I did was look at the bottom of the guitar to study what the pickup jack looked like and I was appalled to see that there was a circumferential gouge or scar around the jack’s location. It seemed pretty obvious to me that the luthier/tech damaged the wood around the jack when either enlarging the hole for the jack or when tightening the jack into its final location. Sadly, the damage was not reported at the time it occurred, leading me to have to find it after I got home.

I contacted several people at Dave’s Guitars via email with the above photograph and in very short order they responded with an apology and an offer to either repair the damage or refund me $200. The monetary refund was not very much considering the overall cost of the guitar, suggesting to me that what they really wanted to do was repair the instrument. I was informed that with a nitrocellulose finish, such as on this guitar, the luthiers would be able to repair the damage. At my request, Dave’s shipped me a suitable box and a prepaid return UPS label. I played the guitar for several days bonding with it before the shipping box arrived, and that same day I shipped the guitar back to Wisconsin. About a week after the guitar had arrived at Dave’s they completed the repair and shipped it back to me. Since it was so cold here in Iowa when the box arrived, I had to let it acclimate in my house for 24 hours before opening. That was a long day! You can see in the photo above the guitar bottom after repair. The damage is largely gone; however, if you look closely enough there’s still some slight evidence of the mishap, but not enough to quibble with. I am very glad to have it back.

I Review the Collings C10-35

On the right you can see the C10-35 in the TKL hardcase that Collings uses to protect their guitars. It’s a decent case with a nice tight fit for the guitar, but the Tolex covering is vulnerable to tearing if not handled gently. As with a typical guitar case, there’s a compartment for storing necessities and there’s a key included to lock the case if desired. There is a cushioned, comfortable handle but rugged enough to last the life of the case.

Looking very much like a vintage Gibson L-00 the Collings C10-35 is larger than a parlor guitar but still in a relatively small body. Coming with a paddle style headstock, a mahogany neck, a Wenge fingerboard and bridge, with back and sides of mahogany and a top of sitka spruce. The nitrocellulose coating is so glossy and mirror-like it’s hard to photograph the guitar without revealing whatever is in the background.

The guitar is significantly lighter than my 0002H, which is probably a function of its somewhat smaller size, but also thinned out tone woods for the body. Internally is a pre-war, non-scalloped X bracing, composed of light Adirondack spruce.

The guitar is quite beautiful but spare in adornment. Other than the “just-showy” Ivoroid tuners, the body is bound by thin strips of Ivoroid with no purfling. The sound hole rosette is also basic Ivoroid with some simple black and white purfling. It’s the combination of the high gloss nitrocellulose finish over the stunning sunburst staining of the soundboard that gives the guitar its “wow” factor. As a rule, I do not like pickguards, but the vintage tiger stripe guard also adds to the guitars stunning appearance. The Taylor 914ce I traded for this Collings was a highly embellished instrument and physically stunning in its own right, but in the end when your playing a guitar, it’s not really what it looks like, but what it sounds like, as well as its playability and the C10-35 wins “hands-down” for me!

The C10-35’s headstock is carved with their recognizable haircut profile and topped with a gloss Ebony veneer and an Ivoroid Collings logo. The tuners are nickel Waverly brand with a 16:1 ratio, which makes tuning a pleasure. The tuner buttons are Ivoroid and the gearing is open in the back adding to he vintage appearance for the guitar.

I have some reservations about Ivoroid tuning buttons because my former Taylor 812ce tuners had Ivoroid buttons, one of which blew apart when I was restringing the guitar with an powered auto-winder. Straight metal knobs like the 0002H is equipped with would have been just fine. Still… the Ivoroid knobs are pretty and add to the vintage look. I really like the appearance of a slothead like the 0002H possesses, but they are considerably more fiddly to restring than a paddle head like the C10-35 has, so that’s good!

Note also, the 1 3/4 inch bone nut. That is a standard width nowadays and fine for finger picking.

While the other C10 models are built with Ebony fingerboards, the C10-35 possesses the very grainy appearing Wenge wood. It’s the first guitar I’ve ever owned that has any Wenge on it. Why Collings made this decision eludes me, but I think it has a rather stunning and antique-like appearance with its broad and distinctive grain, The Wenge looks like it might be coarse feeling, but it’s quite smooth making for a functional fingerboard.

The guitar was shipped with D’Addario EJ 16’s, which I like and they’re pretty affordable; however, I’ve replaced them with Santa Cruz Low Tension Parabellum strings because they are easier on my hands and they sound good. They are very expensive strings so their longevity will determine whether or not I keep using them. Since they are micro-coated hopefully they will last a while.

To the right you can see a close-up of the C10-35’s body. Note the sunburst stain, the simple unadorned bindings and paired-down soundhole rosette, the tiger-striped pickguard, the Wenge bridge, the vintage cut-through saddle and the plain Ivoroid bridge pins. Simple but stunning in appearance.

Some guitar designers believe the larger cut through saddle creates a different tonality for the guitar because of the larger surface area contact with the bridge. This is open to continuing debate; however, these cut through saddles were very common on pre-war guitars, which is what inspires the C10-35 design.

The guitar’s body has an elegantly narrow waist and proportionately different sized upper and lower bouts giving the guitar aesthetically pleasing dimensions and appearance. Highly regarded independent luthier Ernst Somogyi would point out that the Greek Golden Rule of Proportion was applied by constructing the waist of the guitar to give a perfect ratio of top bout size compared to the lower bout. Further, the shoulders of the guitar add a subtle sloping drop which enhances its elegance giving it an altogether more appealing shape to the human eye!

To the left is a section of the guitar’s back showing the rich Honduran Mahogany color and the stunning grain. There is a barely visible Walnut backstrip joining the two pieces of Mahogany that comprise the back.

Conclusion

This guitar, like my 0002H has great presence, both in tonality and appearance. Unlike the 0002H which blooms with a cascade of overtone, the C10-35 is somewhat dryer and more straightforward, but still dwarfs my Taylor 812ce and 914ce with it’s sonic personality. It is a very comfortable guitar to play with its small-but-not-too-small body size and its shorter 24&7/8 inch scale. In fact, it is easier to play than the longer scaled stiffer 0002H. It’s an instrument that earns respect and demands to be played!

Below is a Vimeo clip of me playing the C10-35. I play strictly fingerstyle and this piece is a section of the guitar accompaniment to Steve Earle’s tune Goodbye, which was arranged by Tom Feldmann in one of his online lessons, a teacher I highly recommend. As I said above I use a K&K Pure Mini pickup run through the following signal chain: First into an and L.R. Baggs Venue, which is a DI and tone control; Second, in my effects loop, that runs through the Venue, I applied some light compression using the L.R. Baggs Session Align Pedal, and finally through a Genzler Pro Array acoustic amp. I also have L.R. Baggs Delay and Reverb pedals in the signal chain but chose not to use them to keep the soundclip as natural as possible. The settings of the signal chain devices are such that the guitar sounds louder but matches, to the extent possible, the tonality of the C10-35 unplugged, and it comes pretty close. I recorded the clip with an iPhone 11, equipped with a Shure MV88 mic plugged into its jack, and did final processing in Apple’s iMovie. Probably best appreciated with decent headphones.

If you’d like to hear more samples from this guitar, I suggest you visit this blog entry and scroll down to the bottom:

On Building a Pedalboard for My Acoustic Guitars

Finally, thanks again to the Collings Guitars Enthusiasts Facebook page for their suggestions during my hunt for guitar tone transcendence!

November 25, 2021October 1, 2023

Reviewing the Collings 0002H: Acoustic Guitar as Industrial Art

There is a road, no simple highway
Between the dawn and the dark of night
And if you go, no one may follow
That path is for your steps alone
— The Grateful Dead

Introduction

Playing a Collings at my first official gig…

I’m not getting any younger and this past summer I entered my 7th decade. A couple of years ago when I embarked on retirement, my fund manager/guide offered me sage advice when he bade me not to wait too late to experience what I wished to (within reason).

To those who know me and others who’ve read this weblog, it is patently obvious that as a pensioner, I’ve pretty much devoted my efforts to developing myself as a musician/guitarist. While I’ve made tangible progress in my pursuit, there really is no end to the path I’m on… the guitar is an insatiable instrument with unlimited expectations for its players, and it will carry me to the end…

As a dedicated guitarist, I aspire to play the finest instruments that can be acquired within reason. In the past I’ve found that the best way to keep things within reason is to trade/sell an existing instrument(s) against the acquisition of another better one, which happens to be a common behavior among many guitar players! About a year ago, I traded two Taylor electric guitars for a Collings I-35 electric guitar (reviewed here). When evaluating the I-35, I became enchanted with the founder of the company. He was a singular, creative, precision driven engineer and world class manufacturing leader in the marketplace of guitars. As a result, I developed an interest in eventually adding a Collings acoustic guitar to my stable. Below is a brief video about this man, the late Bill Collings:

You can break down guitar building into two basic categories: factory versus luthier built. That’s not to say that some factories do not employ luthier quality builders, but the term luthier built suggests an individual who designs and assembles a guitar in a private shop from soup to nuts… i.e raw wood to finished product.

Somogyi’s excellent book on guitar design

One of the most highly regarded luthiers in the U.S. is Ervin Somogyi, whose exceptional book on acoustic guitar design I purchased and perused a couple of years ago. Most of Somogyi’s guitars are museum pieces that command staggering sums and are really built for well-financed private customers. Somogyi applies his skills to extract maximum sonic performance from wood and steel, and his embellishments often rise to high art. Somogyi is also a bit dubious about many but not all of the other independent luthiers practicing in the U.S. He pretty much says in his book that just because a person can build a guitar from scratch does not guarantee it will be a high quality instrument. Results will vary widely from builder to builder, so he says be wary of in the luthier marketplace. I simply do not trust that I have the wherewithal to distinguish a high quality luthier produced guitar from a run of the mill one. Consequently I stick with recognized factory built instruments because of their long history of essentially decent performance.

The preponderance of guitars in the U.S. are built in factories of varying sizes with wide ranging production capacities, specifications, price points, manufacturing philosophies and subsequent qualities. In the U.S. Taylor, Martin and Gibson are excellent examples of the larger decent quality guitar producers. It’s hard to go wrong buying a guitar from those manufacturers, though it is important to be aware there is some product to product variability in performance simply because the guitars are built from wood which is a naturally variable material. In other words, these manufactures build, on average, decent instruments; however, within each companies productions some guitars may be better and some not as good.

Purchase choices are often based on taste and/or tradition-based brand loyalty. For example, I’ve owned several Taylor guitars because I liked their playability and voicing, whereas neither Martin nor Gibson ever appealed that much to me. I know other players who would never consider any guitar other than a Martin.

Besides the big companies, there are a host of smaller factory producers, such as Santa Cruz, Breedlove, Bourgeois and Collings who produce limited numbers of instruments mostly because of the care, materials, embellishments and extra labor they apply to perfect their products. Sometimes these smaller companies are referred to as “boutique” manufacturers.

Here’s a brief video that speaks to Collings manufacturing excellence:

Choosing among the small manufacturers is largely a matter of expendable income, taste and knowledge of the company’s specific products. Product accessibility may also be one of the most important variables. In fact, I’ve never actually seen a Santa Cruz, Breedlove or Bourgeois guitar in any of the stores I’ve ever frequented. I suppose I could acquire a boutique guitar online, but I would not want to spend that kind of money without trying the instrument out myself beforehand. I’ve had mixed experiences buying online. Having the ability to trade for the purchase was also a prerequisite for me, and that’s difficult to do online.

Unlike the other small builders, I’ve had some access to Collings acoustic guitars in nearby Wisconsin at Dave’s Guitars. I auditioned several of them a few months ago and thought they were decent, but still reserved judgment until I could A/B compare them to my current Taylor guitars. I still suspected that those guitars when compared to Taylors, Martins and Gibsons were a cut above, with their unique voicing (appealing to me), and build approaching the level of care and individuality claimed by independent luthiers. I intended to give Collings acoustics another visit in the future.

I Get Serious About Collings Acoustic Guitars

Last week, I finally said to myself, “the hell with it, I’m not getting any younger” and decided to see what kind of trade-in offer I could get from Dave’s Guitars for my 5 year old Taylor 812ce. Usually what triggers me is reading about a musician, near my age, who croaks for whatever reason.

I’d special ordered the Taylor 812ce through Bob’s Guitars in my home town. You’ll note in the image on the left, I ordered the guitar without a pick guard since I play finger-style. The Taylor was a good guitar and I enjoyed playing it. A few years ago, when I was changing the strings, I inadvertently knocked a chunk of wood off the bridge. Taylor Guitars was kind enough to replace the bridge under warrantee if I paid for the shipping. After repair the guitar looked the same, but it never sounded quite like it did originally. I don’t think it was my imagination.

in Dave’s parking lot with iconic signage…

Upon inspection of the guitar via photographs, Dave’s Guitars made me a modestly reasonable offer, which they improved upon later when I arrived at the store. One issue that irritated the hell out of me was Dave’s statement that X-braced non V-Class Taylor guitars now have reduced trade-in value. A few years back, Taylor Guitars redesigned their bracing system to a V shape, supported by a massive marketing campaign. I actually think the older guitars sound better, but it’s hard to fight the extraordinary power of Taylor marketing.

So, I loaded up my car with the Taylor 812, my iPad which contains all my music and a mic stand equipped with an iPad holder. It’s a long 2.5 hour trip through the hinterlands of Iowa and Minnesota until you finally traverse the Mississippi and enter the river town of LaCrosse, WI. Dave’s guitars is within spitting distance of the river itself. Below you can see of section of the Acoustic Guitar Room at Dave’s. They have a large showroom…

I arrived early enough to get plenty of time auditioning the Collings acoustics that were available in LaCrosse. I planned to A/B my Taylor with several of the Collings with a focus on 12 fret guitars with slot-heads, since that was what I was what my Taylor was. My other acoustic guitar that I am keeping is a Grand Concert sized, 14 fret, fancy-pants, fully decked out, Taylor 914ce. I wanted to make sure the Collings I selected would be distinctly different from the Taylor 914ce.

The Collings collection at Dave’s Guitars

To the right you can see the Collings section of Dave’s Guitars, which contained three 12 fretted, slot-head guitars. Two of those can be seen on the lower row on the far left and far right. The guitar on the left was a 02H Traditional with a sitka spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides. The one on the right was a 0001 Custom made with all mahogany top and sides with a custom dog hair finish with Pearloid appointments. Not pictured is a 0002H with a sitka top and Indian rosewood back and sides. When I shot this image that guitar was being equipped with a pick-up because I intended to take it home.

When I auditioned the guitars, I sat down at the wall of Collings guitars on a comfortable stool and 90 minutes disappeared. I played all three of the slot head Collings, along with the Taylor 812ce side by side over and over again. It was absorbing and a lot of fun. The acoustic guitar room at Dave’s was quiet that morning, so I was able to give the guitars a nice listen to.

The 0002H was clearly the winner to my ears. The Taylor offered up nice clean and direct notes, but the 0002H played at a different level. Each note in comparison was almost 3 dimensional… in other words the notes bloomed outward. The 0002H presented more bottom, more punch and overtone. No contest… the Taylor was going on the trading block…

I gave the 02H a serious look, but it did not hold up when compared to the 0002H. I suspect there were a couple of variables at play here. First the 0002H as a larger lower bout which will make it louder and deeper sounding. Secondly, the Traditional series, as I understand it, was designed to be physically lighter and engineered to reduce overtones to give more clarity to individual notes. I can attest to the fact that the 02H was significantly lighter than the 0002H, to the point that handling it was a bit unnerving as it felt so insubstantial. In the end, I did not appreciate the individual note clarity. The guitar felt like it needed time to open up as it sounded thin and insubstantial when A/B’d with the 0002H. The 02H was far more expensive too. Move along… nothing to see here…

The all mahogany 0002 custom was quite an amazing looking guitar with it’s white pearloid headstock and pick guard contrasted with the blackened dog hair finish. It would be a crowd pleasing guitar based simply on appearance. It was the most expensive guitar by a long shot that I auditioned that day. I might have stretched for it had it sounded unbelievable, but the solid mahogany body just did not have the presence of the 0002H. Perhaps in time the mahogany would open up, but I did not have the patience to wait several years for that possibility. I kept going back to the 0002H after playing all the guitars several times over and decided to acquire it.

I carried the Taylor and the Collings 0002H to my store guy friend JR and closed the deal. When queried about installing a pickup, JR was emphatic that the K&K Pure Mini, a passive device, was the best choice. The Pure Mini is a simple 3 transducer pickup that mounts on the bridge plate inside the guitar. I went with his advice and was amazed at how natural sounding it was when I finally got a chance to plug in the guitar at home later that day.

JR behind the acoustic guitar desk and Dave’s Guitars closing the deal…

Reviewing In Detail My 0002H

Below is my 0002H resting comfortably in its TKL hard case, which was sourced out by Collings because they do not make their own cases. They dabbled with producing cases at one point in the past, but it was unsustainably expensive, so they quit. The interior of the TKL case is decked out in the interior with form-fitting cushions, covered with a dark green velveteen fabric. The fit is tight and requires a light pushdown by hand to get the guitar properly seated. The case clasps function well, and one is lockable. Inside the case was the key, a Collings micro-fiber wiping cloth, the warrantee registration form (which can alternatively be done online) and a pressure sensitive Collings sticker!

A different view of the 0002H out of its case is on the right. You’ll note that it has an upper bout just shy of 10 inches wide, a narrow waist, and a largish 15 inch lower bout. The body length is just a little over 20 inches. The appearance evokes and older era and should be no surprise because this shape, originated by C.F. Martin is rooted in the very early 1900’s.

The narrow waist allows the guitar to fit in the lap very comfortably while playing in the sitting position, which is what I prefer. The combined upper and lower bout size difference creates a pleasant evenly balanced volume of tones, with plenty of low end to avoid thinness in output.

Again, the guitar is a 12 fret model with a slot head. The top is sitka spruce with back and sides being East Indian rosewood.

Starting at the top of the guitar, you can see below front and rear views of the headstock.

The headstock has a very pleasant “exotic” ebony veneer with a Mother-of-Pearl Collings logo inlay. I always found the excessively shiny veneer on the Taylor 812ce incongruous and not aesthetically in tune with the rest of the guitar. The Collings headstock just looks better. You might note too at the lower portion of the rear of the headstock is an embellishing pyramidal carving referred to as a volute.

The Waverly tuners are excellent and work far better than the Taylor tuners. Their turning action is reminiscent of the excellent Gotoh tuners I have on three other guitars. I am pleased that the Collings tuners are nickel because the Taylor ivoroid tuners can fall apart when using a mechanized winder for string changing.

Proper string wrapping on the Collings Slotted Headstock

When I had the K&K Pure Mini pick-up installed in the 0002H, the shop replaced the Collings spec’d D’Addario EJ-16 (.012″- .053″) strings with Elixirs of the same gauge. I observed two things when I got home with the restrung guitar. First, the string wrap on the peghead was done in a manner such that the lowest strings (the E strings) on both sides were in contact with the headstock wood which will quickly wear away the finish. To avoid this deleterious situation, the E strings should be wound on with one wrap to the outside and the remainder towards the inside. This wind does cause the E strings to take a sharp angle inwards, but they will now avoid contacting the wood. Examination of photos on the Collings website also indicate that all the strings are wound outside-in, which is unlike the winds used by Taylor and National on their slot heads.

The second thing I noticed was that the Elixir strings were far stiffer to play on this guitar than the D’Addarios, making it far less enjoyable to play. I also found the sound of the guitar adversely affected too, so as soon as I could I restrung the guitar with the original spec’d D’Addarios! Perhaps the strings won’t last as long, but now the guitar sounds and plays like the one I auditioned in the store. This was an odd experience for me because I’ve used Elixirs on my Taylor acoustics without any difficulty. Of course, for what its worth, Taylors are spec’d to play with Elixirs

The neck is Honduran Mahogany and the fretboard is stained ebony. There is no binding on the neck and the fingerboard is marked with elegant but simple Abalone short diamond and square designs.

The neck has taken some getting used too because it is a bit chunkier than a Taylor acoustic’s neck and it is the widest necked guitar I ever owned coming in at 1 & 13/16 of an inch. That’s a lot of real estate to cover and requires some readjustment of finger muscle memory. All good for finger style playing though.

Below you can see an image of the the back of the neck where it attaches to the guitar body. The neck has a lovely gloss finish that allows easy mobility of the left hand up and down the fretboard

Also visible on the left is the Ivoroid binding at the seam of the back and sides of the guitar as well as the grained Ivoroid cap on the neck base. The neck is a modified V-shape and compounded in circumference, widening outwards at the 9th fret. As I understand it the neck flattens out towards the body of the guitar which makes playing the higher notes in the region easier.

Collings employs a mortise & tenon hybrid attachment of neck to body. I am assuming this form of bolt on neck makes it easier to repair or replace the guitar’s neck. There’s some belief among guitar aficionados and builders that a dovetail join is the only way to attach a neck to a guitar’s body. In my judgement Taylor guitars proved that assertion wrong a long time ago.

The photo above and to the right show the East Indian Rosewood that comprises the back and sides of the 0002H. Collings builds their reputation on using the choicest tone woods for their instruments. The rosewood is straight-grained and a lovely deep brown with lighter streaking. The color is so deep it almost looks purple depending upon the light. Note too above the “zipper” backstrip that runs down the center of the guitar back. It’s quite striking.

I’ve tried lots of different tone wood combinations; however, I keep coming back to sitka spruce tops with rosewood back and sides as the classic combination that is most appealing to me ears.

The 000 sized Collings come in 3 basic styles, not including the wide variety of custom work they also offer. My 000 has the 2H designation, which basically means that it has some fancier appointments than the style 1, including the nice zipper backstrip, the geometric fretboard inlays, and most importantly the herringbone binding, which is a classic steel string acoustic guitar appointment.

To the right, you can see the sound hole section of the 0002H, with its elegant but not overly fancy rosette, which brings me to a point about the 0002H compared to the Taylor 812ce that I traded-in when I purchased the Collings. To be perfectly frank, the Taylor possessed a fancier level of appointment, including beautiful maple wood bindings, an abalone rosette with an inner sound hole maple border, and a more intricate fretboard inlay, all of it tastefully done and costing far less. But, and this is a big but, the Collings design, tonality, playability, and its visible connection to the past origins of guitar design make it a palpably singular instrument to own and play.

I’m not a big fan of pickguards as I play strictly finger style and I suspect they have some minor tone dampening impact on the guitar’s sound board. Had I the opportunity, I would have acquired the 0002H without a pickguard. Nevertheless, the 0002H I purchased from Dave’s Guitars had a pickguard, and you cannot remove one without the high probability of damaging the finish. I did note that the pickguard was pretty scratched up. I think the guitar had been there for at least a year and tested out by a number of people, including some careless assholes with a picks. My store guy, J.R. said that was no problem because they would buff out the scratches in their shop, which they did. The pickguard looks pristine now. I do not recollect how translucent it was before buffing, but now I notice the sound hole rosette grinning through the guard. After a query on Facebook, some other Collings owners suggested to me that it was always translucent.

In the above image, you may also note the nice, even tight grain on the sitka spruce soundboard. This is what Collings brings to the marketplace: the very best available tone woods.

Beneath the sound hole is the bridge section. The 0002H uses an ebony pyramid bridge, a design that harkens back to the 1800’s and some of the earliest Martin guitars. The bridge pins are unslotted, which some argue is a more robust design. I guess that may also be a vintage appointment. Residing in the bridge is a bone saddle which complements the bone nut back up the neck.

Iconic Collings label inside the sound hole!

To sum it up, I am delighted and it is my great, good fortune that I have the opportunity to play a guitar of such character and build!

Add-ons

I needed a pick-up installed to be able to plug my guitar into my portable PA (Bose L1 Pro 32) and into other sound systems around town. This is because I host Open Mic Night once per month at a Coffee Shop, sometimes play other Open Mic Nights in town and do a rare coffee shop gig on my own.

The best time to install the pick-up was at point of sale because they do not charge for shop labor at Dave’s when a new guitar is sold.

Dave’s had available the L.R. Baggs Anthem and Lyric pick-ups, but as I said earlier, my guitar guy J.R. was emphatic that the simplest, passive pick-up like the K&K Pure Mini would be the best choice to avoid sound balance and feedback issues. I was dubious at first but agreed. It was a quick install because the three transducers shown above simply glue onto the bridge plate within the guitar’s body. When I got home and plugged the guitar into my Fishman Loudbox Artist, the 0002H sounded very natural, so I was please that I followed J.R.’s advice.

Because the K&K Pure Mini is passive, it does not come with a pre-amp built into the installation, which is nice in that there are no added dials or buttons involved. While I like the Taylor Expression system, I was never a big fan of the rubbery dial/buttons protruding from the guitars body. On the other hand, without a pre-amp the ability to tone shape your guitar’s output is absent which could be a problem when interacting with a PA out around town.

To remedy this situation, I acquired an L.R. Baggs Venue DI/Pre-amp/Tuner. It’s a very nice portable device capable of precise tone shaping. I used it during a recent gig along with the Bose L1 Pro 32 PA and it worked just fine. The additional Notch filter for dialing out feedback frequencies is very cool and works great.

If you’d like to learn more about the L.R. Baggs Venue/DI and to listen to sound samples from my 0002H, I suggest you click on the link to another one of my blog articles below. The sound samples are at the bottom of the entry.

On Building a Pedalboard for My Acoustic Guitars

September 27, 2021September 29, 2021

On Bottleneck Blues and Selecting a Proper Slide for Resonator Guitar Play…

Introduction

When I was an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina in the early 1970’s, the Rolling Stones were in the midst of putting together an unparalleled run of four extraordinary record albums, including Beggar’s Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Mainstreet. This was not your everyday British Invasion band, but something new and powerfully different. Yes, it was the Rolling Stones, still largely blues influenced, but now exhibiting a richer, deeper, more expansive and more expressive music.

To my ear, there was something distinctly different about their guitar sounds too… at the time, I was unsure what it was exactly, but eventually realized it was the liberal use of bottleneck slide guitar. A sound so expressive to my sensibilities. Below you can see one of the Stones’ hard rockers from Exile on Mainstreet played live in 1972 in Texas. I saw the same show in Charlotte, NC that year. Note the characteristic rhythm riff driving the tune played by Keith Richards with the Mick Taylor’s bottleneck slide adding important textures over the top!

Besides adding sonic textures, the slide can be used to add important emotional context to a tune, which is even more appealing to me. Note, below for example, another video from the 1972 Texas concerts. This one of the Stones covering Robert Johnson’s classic Love in Vain from their album Let it Bleed. Mick Taylor’s slide work pulls at the heart. Suffice it to say I became enamored by the tones of bottleneck slide guitar listening to the Stones in my youth.

If you take the time to watch the above two videos closely, you will note that Mick Taylor plays two different kinds of slides to get two different tonalities, one metal in the All Down the Line, and a glass one in Love in Vain. Note too, that he plays with his slide like I do on his little finger, with the slide located above the middle knuckle of that finger. I will return to those observations later.

Where Did Slide Playing Come From?

Muddy Waters with slide on his little finger

This post is not a music history lesson, but I’ve read a lot about the blues. If my memory serves me well, the bottleneck slide playing that influenced early 20th century U.S. blues players originated among Hawaiian Islands Slack Key musicians and eventually migrated to the North American continent. Slack Keys are alternate tunings such as Open D and Open G, which are most common for bottleneck blues guitar play. What’s nice about open tunings is that the guitar is set up to play a rich chord with a strum across the open strings. In addition to popularizing Slack Key tunings, it’s also believed that Hawaiians introduced the use of a metal bar for sliding across the strings to smear (glissando) the notes and to create a wavering vibrato. It’s said that W.C. Handy, the man who first documented blues music was dozing at a railway station in the Delta region of Tutwiler, Mississippi. when he was awakened by an elderly African American man playing a haunting blues tune with smeared notes throughout. The old guitarist was using a pocket knife to create the glissandos. This apocryphal story might be the first recognition of bottleneck blues playing in the South.

My First Run with a Bottleneck Slide

I was taking finger-style country blues lessons some years ago in Cedar Falls, Iowa and had just purchased my first electric guitar, a fancy-pants Gretsch Falcon. About that same time, I ran into this bewhiskered old codger at the guitar shop where I studied. He was not capable of driving so his family would drop him off for lessons and later pick him up. I got to know him a bit, and at some point he told me he was learning to play bottleneck slide. I thought to myself, since I have this awesome electric guitar now, why not do the same and subsequently discussed it with my teacher. Shortly thereafter we went out on the shop floor and selected a glass slide off the rack and then I spent a few weeks futzing around with a slide on my guitar.

After a spell, I decided that slide playing was not a rabbit hole I wished to go down. I was just not adept enough at guitar playing yet, and the slide itself was an ill-fitting affair, being too large for me, thus difficult to control. Despite my initial lack of success at slide playing, I did conclude that I was most comfortable playing with a slide on my little finger, with the slide located above the middle knuckle. The middle knuckle location allowed me to properly position the slide on the fretboard without a lot of stress on my wrist, since I could simply bend my finger. Of course the Mo-Jo Slide would not work in the manner I wished as it swam all over my finger and the strings. I still have it and it makes a wonderful knick-knack on my music table.

Another Run with the Bottleneck Slide

Some months later with little to no intention of playing bottleneck slide again any time soon, I purchased a National Resonator (NRP Black Rust) from Reverb to play finger-style blues. This was based on my brief experience noodling around with a wooden Fender resonator in my local shop. The two guitars could not be any more different from each other. Whereas the Fender was set up to play finger-style with low action, the National had very high action, and I was distraught when I quickly ascertained that it would be next to impossible to play straight finger-style. It did not occur to me have have the guitar set up for finger-style.

Considering the substantial investment I made in the National, I decided then and there to return to bottleneck slide, since that was how it was set-up to be played. I was now committed to making a more serious run at mastering (take this term with a grain of salt) the slide.

Of course, the first order of business was to find a slide that would work for me and that ended up being an iterative process that still continues to this day. I needed to find a slide size and substance (i.e. material) that would meet my needs when playing my National. Since I like to play the slide on my little finger and above the middle knuckle, I needed a relatively small slide. So I went back to the store rack and searched for a smallish slide that would fit to my little finger above the knuckle. In this case I purchased a Dunlop Joe Perry ceramic slide, which was 50 mm in length. It’s worth a digression now to consider slide substances.

What Are the Most Common Slide Substances?

While there are lots of exceptions to the rule, slides are available in three common substances:

Glass – lots of different types of glass tubes can be used for slides. Even though I was interested in playing a glass slide, I could not find one that would properly fit me… more about that later. Glass is the warmer sounding of slide materials with good sustain.
Metal – lots of different metals are used, including but not limited to steel, nickel coated brass, titanium and solid brass. The metals give a harsher, biting sound, with somewhat diminished sustain and is favored by some hardcore country blues players.
Ceramic – a non-metallic mineral that is said to fall somewhere in between metal and glass in its sonic properties. As indicated above, my Joe Perry slide is ceramic.
Other – Taylor Guitars produces an ebony slide. It is a creative use of raw materials. I own one, but because of its somewhat muted sonic properties I hardly every use it. Their are other contraptions out there too that are claimed to take the place of original tubular slide designs. I have not tried any of them as of this writing.

Choosing a slide material is a very personal choice based on taste, your ear, and the type of tonality you are seeking. There is plenty of discussion about tonality of slide substances available on YouTube. There is no consensus on right or wrong choices. For example, despite my antipathy with the ebony slide, a quick survey of YouTube will yield a number of players who like it.

Getting a Slide to Fit Properly

I want a slide to fit my little finger snugly and I have yet to find one “off the rack” that does so. My method for customizing the fit is to pack the inside circumference of the slide with moleskin, a product typically used by hikers to prevent hotspots from turning into full blown blisters. The surface side of the the moleskin is a soft plush fabric and the back side is pressure sensitive adhesive. It requires patience and a good pair of forceps to get the moleskin properly positioned. If the slide is reasonabley close to fit, the moleskin will snug it up to my finger as you can see in the image on the left.

I’ve heard of other players who pack their slides with the fuzzy portion of velcro (too harsh) or with adhesive backed foam (durable?), but moleskin seems to me to be the best of the choices.

I Try A Variety of Slides and Resonators

Over the past few years my bottleneck playing has progressed nicely. My repertoire has grown in both Open D and Open G tunes. People love bottleneck playing. I’ve played frequently at Open Mic Nights to audience approval and have bought and sold several National resonators over the recent past. I currently play a National Reso-Lectric and an M1 Tricone. It is certainly possible to play bottleneck on electric and acoustic guitars as well; however, I myself prefer to play on a resonator. Nevertheless, I do play a nice Muddy Waters tune (Long Distance Call) on my Collings I-35 electric while in standard tuning and it is a lot of fun. Along the way I’ve worked with a variety of slides too:

I was not that big a fan of the Joe Perry ceramic slide. It was too bulky and did not sound that good to my ear. Slide wall thickness and mass affects weight, tonality and comfort/accuracy while playing, so that element of slide design is an important consideration. As Ben Powell says, “mass equals tone.” Because of the wide variety of slide design choices, I found myself constantly shopping around. To that end, during my wanderings around the internet, I discovered Ben Powell’s fascinating Tone Dome slide. Below you can see Ben discussing his innovative slide design:

As Ben illuminates, the Tone Dome is designed for the little finger and to fit above the middle knuckle. There’s a cut out to enable easy finger bending too. At the time I purchased one, what was available was a nickel-plated brass version and I played it for a long, long time. The Tone Dome was relatively light and easy to manipulate on the fretboard. The tonality was a typical metallic bite with reasonable sustain. My only quibble was the slide did not cover the full width of my fretboard, which was problematic for full chord slides. Ben is such as accomplished slide player, he does not seem bothered by the shortness of the slide, but I was. To reduce this problem but not eliminate it completely I positioned the slide reversed from the way Powell intended it to be. In addition, I added a bit of moleskin within the slide to adjust the fit.

Tone Done with Cut Out (Left) and Tone Dome Positioned Backwards (Right) to Enhance Coverage Across the Fretboard

Even playing the Tone Dome reversed on my guitar, I became frustrated with it’s lack of fretboard width coverage for certain full chord tunes like Spoonful and went back out into the marketplace. To that end, I found a web-based seller of elegantly designed ceramic slides out of the UK (Star Singer) that looked more useable than the Dunlop Joe Perry version I had tried earlier. I purchased a 57 mm length version as can be seen on the right. I liked the Star Singer just fine and for tunes that required full fretboard width coverage I used it. Nevertheless, my workhouse slide remained the nickel-plated brass Tone Dome because I preferred its tonality more than every other slide I’d used to date. Finally, the Star Singer is a bit fragile and I tend to be a bit clumsy sometimes and after a drop or two, it has a micro crack on one side, so I have to be intentional when positioning it on my finger. For that reason, I rarely use the Star Singer anymore and just tough out the full width chords with the Tone Dome by faking it!
While noodling around the National Reso-phonic website, I stumbled across the fact that they now sell Ben Powell Tone Domes. Besides a stainless steel version, they also offer a beefy solid brass one too, which I immediately acquired. The increased mass of the new solid brass slide gave it a more present, warmer and rounder tonality such that it completely displaced my original Tone Dome, which is now retired.

Solid Brass Tone Dome (left); Stainless Steel (right)

To the left you can see both of the Ben Powell Tone Domes that are offered by National Reso-Phonic on their website. I really like the solid brass version and have used it with success for several years now. As with my other slides, I’ve inserted some moleskin to tighten the fit around my little finger. I’ve used this slide on all my resonators, and my Collings electric guitar with nice effect and tonality. My only quibble is that on cold, low humidity winter days, the brass slide creates a static crackle when I play it on my National Reso-Lectric!

I was pretty enamored by my solid brass Tone Dome for a long time and used it at Open Mic Nights and during my lessons at the guitar shop. Sometimes during lessons, my teacher would demonstrate a point he was making about phrasing or slide technique on his own electric guitar and he would use a simple clear glass slide on his ring finger. His enviable tone always amazed me. The notes rang like a bell and sustained far longer than I was achieving with my resonator and brass slide combination. When I commented on his tone, he would strongly suggest I revisit using a glass slide. If it was good enough for Duane Allman, it should be good enough for me. My usual response was that I could never find a glass slide that would fit my little finger properly and then we’d drop the subject.

Then one day, scrolling through my Facebook feed, I noticed Blues/Americana aficionado and online teacher Tom Feldmann extolling the virtues of Diamond Bottleneck’s glass slides. Sometime thereafter I explored their website and discovered that a host of luminaries like Mike Dowling and Mark Knopfler also used Diamond Bottlenecks. Good enough for them… good enough for me, so I decided that I would purchase one! I then began a back and forth correspondence with head/lead consultant Ian McWee of Diamond Bottlenecks, which took place over several days. Ian was a combination of cordial, patient and very responsive.

If you peruse the Diamond Bottleneck’s website, you will see that they offer glass slides in a wide variety. From sawn of necks of actual former bottles, to hand blown soda ash or leaded crystal and more. Using old school, British, precision, hand skilled craftsmenship rooted in the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, Ian and his team manufacture their slides onsite in a small factory. Below you can see a brief video of Ian fashioning a glass slide.

I decided to order a slide from their Ultimate collection, which is comprised of leaded crystal. The lead crystal process produces a high density glass with unusual visual clarity. Theoretically, the higher density glass should enhance tone and and sonic sustain. Ian sent me images of the leaded crystal glass that he had in his inventory, which can affect what you can order at any given time. As I understand it, the slides are cut from long glass tubes and then finished to customer specification. In the end, I determined that ordering three slides would be the most economical route, since there would then be no shipping fee with an order that size. All three slides were to come in around 50 mm length, with inner diameters close to the size of my little finger. Two were open ended with copper and ruby red colors and wall thicknesses of 6 & 8mm, and the other was a double-walled affair with a dome. We thought this variety would allow me to find a slide “sweet-spot.”

It took a while for the package to arrive from the UK, mostly because the USPS quarantined the shipment in Chicago for over a week! I was told it was some kind of new safety protocol causing the delay. The slides were well packaged arriving in their own individual velveteen bags in pristine condition. Both my wife and I were delighted with how beautiful the glass was!

I post below a sound sampler of the three new glass slides from Diamond Bottlenecks and for reference, I’ve also included a sample of my National (Ben Powell) Solid Brass Tone Dome. You’ll note that I am playing a 2021 National Reso-phonic M1 Tricone. The tune is the first verse of Blind Willie McTell’s Wake Up Mama. The samples are ordered as follows:

Diamond Bottleneck Ultimate – 50mm (Plus) Double walled with dome; Dark Blue Colored
Diamond Bottleneck Ultimate – 50mm Open Ended 8mm thick Wall; Ruby Red Colored
Diamond Bottleneck Ultimate – 50mm Open Ended 6mm thick Wall; Copper Colored
National Reso-phonic/Ben Powell Solid Brass Tone Dome

Truth is I like all four of the slides sampled; however, I am really fascinated by the glass slide tones. Both my wife and I noticed right away the bell-like chimes and longer sustain of the new Diamond Bottlenecks. I think the most “present” tone comes from the large domed slide, which is not surprising as it is the most massive of the bunch, which is also a problem as the slide is really heavy and causes me some reluctance to play it. I did apply some moleskin to the interior of the glass dome so it stays well put on my finger… but it’s weight could be a deterrent to my using it very often!

I am very happy with both of the open-ended glass slides, though if pressed I would probably choose the thicker walled ruby red slide because its tone is just a bit thicker than the copper colored slide. Both open-ended slides are easily playable though they do not fit snugly to my little finger. As a result, I am concerned with dropping and breaking the slides, but am also reluctant to apply moleskin to the interior of these translucent slides adversely affecting their appearance… still weighing this decision as I write.

Thanks for tuning in… leave a comment if you wish…

Post Script:

I added a thin band of moleskin to the lower opening of the Ruby Red slide and it now locks onto my finger much more effectively. Hopefully this will minimize the potential for dropping off my finger! This small band of moleskin has not adversely affected the beauty of the slide, nor has it affected it’s lovely tone.

May 15, 2021October 1, 2023

The Refined Resonator: Reviewing National’s M1 Tricone

“The Mississippi Delta Was Shining Like a National Guitar” – Paul Simon, Graceland

Introduction and Background

When I first picked up a guitar, I wanted to be a flat-picking bluegrass player. Sometime thereafter, I concluded that I did not possess the speed or accuracy to play that style, and adopted fingerstyle guitar with Travis picking as my basic playing approach. It was the best decision I ever made regarding the instrument. When I took a quantum leap in focus and interest in guitar playing my pathway to achievement was to learn Acoustic Country Blues, which happens to be huge body of music with many different sub-styles to choose from. The structure of Country Blues was appealing to me because it speaks to my sensibilities as a musician, is distinctly American and it serves as the foundation for a large swath of the music I grew up with in the 1960’s and ’70s.

After one of my ongoing lessons at my local guitar shop some years back, I walked by a Fender resonator guitar hanging on the wall and it occurred to me that a resonator might broaden my Country Blues sound palette. I responded instantly to the distinct sound that a resonator cone makes when the guitar string is plucked and merrily played a couple of Mississippi John Hurt tunes that I’d been working on. The Fender string action was supple and easy to play, sounded good too, but it felt insubstantial in construction. I decided at that moment that I would pursue the acquisition of a resonator, but guitar snob that I am, I wanted to acquire a fine instrument. Of course, what’s “fine” is open to debate and a matter of taste, but with my limited knowledge at the time I referred to Paul Simon’s lyric from “Graceland” and decided to chase after a National guitar.

I found myself on Iowa’s legendary bluesman Catfish Keith’s website whilst doing research on resonators. At that moment, I was a bit overwhelmed by the numerous models and resonator types to select from. In correspondence, Catfish was kind enough to write me a brief dissertation about Nationals and recommended that I consider a single cone guitar for starters. In short, resonators are typically manufactured with a single large, spun aluminum cone, or three similar but smaller cones, referred to as tricones.

Catfish and Penny wintering in Mexico in happier times before the pandemic…

As a side-note, both Catfish and his wife Penny are incredibly gracious and generous people and I had the great, good fortune of taking a private lesson with him at his home in small town Iowa. He taught me the nuances of playing his arrangement of “Police and a Sergeant,” a variation of an old Robert Wilkins tune.

Catfish is a representative/distributor for National guitars and sells them new from his website. At that moment I was ready to take up Catfish’s advice by acquiring a single cone resonator, but I decided to go on the used market to save some money. I’ve written before about the savings that can be made by purchasing used guitars online from Reverb… there’s quite a drop in value when you drive a new guitar off the lot. I’ve subsequently revised my opinion on buying used versus new, as I’ve experienced set-up issues, cracked bodies, sketchy electronics and twisted necks when buying used. In fact, all 6 of my current and varying style guitars were purchased new, because I’ve traded off my pre-owned ones.

Nevertheless, my first National resonator, was a mint conditioned and bargain priced NRP B steel, single coned guitar. I was delighted when the NRP arrived but was astonished at how difficult it was to play, compared to the Fender resonator that I tested in my local guitar store. I subsequently realized that the action was set-up pretty high for slide playing, rather than finger picking, which was not clearly elaborated on the Reverb website. This high action play was initially viewed by myself as a disaster of biblical proportions, but then I decided to make lemonade from lemons and go down the bottle-neck slide rabbit hole and never looked back!

Metal resonators have their own distinct sound and vary somewhat depending upon the type of metal from which they are constructed. My NRP was steel so it had a bold and present sound. To my ear, you could even say it was a bit harsh sounding, which is actually appealing to a lot of blues players. Overtime, I wondered if a wood bodied resonator might be more appealing to my sensibilities and returned to the marketplace for a used wooden body resonator. I subsequently, through Reverb again, found a sweet deal on a wood bodied National Reso Rocket (WB model), which I subsequently equipped with a Hotplate electronic pick-up system so I could run it through an amp. When the WB arrived, I quickly discerned that the guitar was also set up with high action to facilitate slide playing. Even though I would have preferred to have had a resonator that I could easily fingerpick, I was loathe to have my local shop grind away at the nut or biscuit bridge to lower the play, so I resigned to playing slide on both resonators. You’d think by then that I would have learned not to buy resonators, used online…

At a workshop with Mike Dowling… I am holding my WB

I played my wooden body in Open D and the steel body in Open G for a couple of years or so, and then it occurred to me that I was not playing the steel body near as much as the WB, mostly because it was super heavy and I found it unappealing to my ears. It was time to put the steel NRP on the trading block, which I did and the complete story of my acquisition of a National Resolectric can be found here. In my review I don’t think that I mentioned that while testing out the Resolectric I was also interested in auditioning an M1 Tricone; however, the one that had been in the store had sold the day before my arrival. I had seen and heard an M1 Tricone when I attended a guitar workshop taught by Mike Dowling in Minnesota a couple of years earlier. I thought it was an interesting guitar and never forgot about it.

I played a lot of hours with the WB on my lap, but became increasingly frustrated that I could not play the guitar fingerstyle, which was always my original intent when I set out to own a resonator. At Mike Dowling’s suggestion, I investigated the use of the new National Revolution aluminum biscuit to adjust the WB’s play, which I installed but eventually removed. I wrote about that experience here and here. At some point thereafter, the notion of trading the WB for an M1 that would be initially set-up for fingerstyle arose from my subconscious. In fact, I asked Dave’s Guitarshop for a trade quote on the WB when I saw an M1 for sale at the store, I got a very nice trade deal, but the M1 sold before I could arrange an appointment to visit the store. The National M1’s don’t collect dust at Dave’s Guitars, but move very fast out the door. That was February 2021. My contact at the store told me that they had another one on order and that I should check the store’s website for its arrival, which I did almost everyday since February. I also kept the correspondence that documented the trade-in value of my WB.

I Purchase a National M1 Tricone

When I was considering the acquisition of an M1, I did my due diligence and researched the Youtube universe for reviews and tone examples. One of the best videos I found was a direct comparison between three of National’s wooden bodied resonators: The El Trovador, a deep bodied single cone guitar, an M1 Tricone, and finally a Resorocket WB, like I owned. This really excellent comparison was produced by Organic Sounds:

In the video, the El Travador is bold, rich sounding, loud and offers clean highs with great bottom end low frequency tonality, with the mid-range tones taking a back seat. It’s little wonder that recording artist Mike Dowling favors the El Trovador among all the wooden bodied Nationals. I like the El Trovador, but the deep body would be sure to cause me shoulder pain. On the other extreme is the Resorocket, which by comparison, sounds most metallic, more twangy and perhaps even a little pointed/shrill sounding. Furthermore, the Resorocket, which I am intimately familiar with, has some sort of frequently occurring overtone that sounds like a cat yowling. That overtone I do not like and experienced far too often when I played mine. Finally, the M1 sounds refined, sweet, balanced, very clean and musical, with individual notes clearly differentiating from each other. The tonality is also nice and even from high to low end frequencies with the mid ranges well represented.

It is not surprising that the John Dopyera, who created National Guitars with the introduction of tricone technology was reluctant to start producing less expensive, larger single cone variants at the urging of his partner George Beauchamp. He revered the “fine instrument” sound of the tricone. In fact, Dopyera quit National and founded Dobro with his brothers in part because of the tricone vs single cone controversy. Still today, the three smaller cones of the Tricone design are considered by many listeners to be more refined and balanced sounding and I tend to agree with that assessment. While the terms “refined and balanced” are positive sounding terms, the more forward, in your face, perhaps brash sound of the single coned resonators are favored by many, particularly blues musicians.

Here again we can see a different take on the M1 versus the El Trovador as played by Mike Dowling. Dowling has a long connection with National, and I believe he prevailed up them to reintroduce the El Trovador into their product line. Dowling is arguably one of the finest resonator players walking the earth:

By Dowling’s description, the El Trovador is “more pointed” and “dryer” sounding than the M1, while the tricone offers more complex coloration. The differences between the two instruments are a function of cone size, cone number and chamber size caused by the 4 versus 3 inch body width. As I watch Dowling’s body language and commentary closely, I think he prefers his beloved El Trovador, but I like the M1 and decided to chase one down if I could.

For me, the easiest place to acquire an M1 would be Dave’s Guitar shop in LaCrosse, WI. It’s 2.5 hours away from my home by car and they make trade-ins absolutely painless. The challenge is to move quickly when Dave’s gets an M1 in stock because they move out very rapidly. So, for four months, I would routinely check Dave’s website for M1 availability.

Then, Friday night a couple of weeks ago as my wife was calling me for dinner, I did a quick check at Dave’s, which I had not done for a day or so and, low and behold, they had a new delivery of an M1 showing on their website. Knowing the M1’s don’t last long, I grabbed it and paid for it immediately and planned to head over to LaCrosse the next Saturday morning! I invited my wife to come along and we made a fun day of it. It was a beautiful day for a drive and we stopped in the nice Iowa town of Decorah to eat lunch at a bagel bakery, whose owner we knew.

After lunch we headed over to Dave’s in LaCrosse. During these late pandemic days you still need to visit by appointment. I called early that Saturday morning and Dave himself answered and set things up for our visit.

When we arrived, Annette and I were ushered in. I dropped off my Reso-Rocket WB and it was accepted with no fuss whatsoever. Before I could say Jumpin’ Jack Flash they had a new price tag on the WB and by Monday it was advertised online. I think it sold by Wednesday. Wooden bodied Nationals move quickly and that’s why I was given an excellent trade-in value and they subtracted it from the online price that I paid out the night before. No muss, no fuss and that’s why in my experience Dave’s is one of the smoothest operations in the U.S.

Me and my new M1 getting acquainted at Dave’s

The new M1 was sitting by the front desk waiting for me. I popped open the case, pulled it out and looked it over. It was a stunning piece of industrial artwork. As a new guitar should be, it was immaculate. One of the standout features of the M1 is the lack of the silver/chrome hubcap like cover over the resonator cones. Instead there is a metal cover that is painted the color of the mahogany wood that comprises the body. It is a unique appearing resonator unlike any other in the National product line.

I sauntered over to a quiet corner of the store to try the M1 out. I wanted to make sure there were no problems before I walked out of the store. I threw my iPad, which contains my tune charts on an amp, grabbed a stool and tried to play, but the guitar was woefully out of tune because the new factory strings on it had never been stretched, so it took me a few minutes to get the tuning stabilized. I played through a few charts in standard tuning with fingerstyle technique (I never use a plectrum ever) and realized quickly that the set-up was to factory specs, meaning that both slide and fingerstyle play were easily and effectively possible! One of the store techs who visited me to discuss installation of a pickup confirmed my conclusion about the guitar’s set-up.

I stretched the strings again and then re-tuned the guitar to Open D and pulled out my National solid brass Tonedome slide and played a couple of bottleneck tunes too. There was a young fellow wailing away across the store on a Stratocaster which made listening to the M1 a bit challenging; however, sometimes good enough is good enough and I concluded the axe was definitely a keeper.

Me in front of Dave’s Guitars iconic street signage

Annette and I concluded our visit by visiting Dave’s famous and extensive vintage guitar collection where I was delighted to identify Leo Fender’s first electric guitar model, the Broadcaster, a truly historic instrument. Next to it was a “Nocaster” and finally the first Telecaster, which was the Broadcaster renamed because of a trade name dispute with the Gretsch Company.

On the way out, we stopped so Annette could photograph me in front of Dave’s Guitars iconic street sign. As you can see I posed with my new axe. Afterwards, I stowed the guitar in the rear of my hatchback and headed home across the Mississippi River back to Iowa. A good day indeed was had by all…

I Review My New National M1 Tricone Guitar

To the right you can see the National Reso-Phonic M1 that I purchased from Dave’s Guitars and brought home to Iowa. It’s a slot-headed, 12 Fret, bound mahogany neck, ebony fretboard, layered mahogany body, tricone resonator, with grained ivoroid binding. The appearance is unique as compared to other National Reso-Phonic guitars in that it is wooden constructed, but most conspicuously lacks the “hub cap” type cover that is typical with single cone resonators. The fact that the metallic tricone cover is the same color as the body gives the belly of the guitar a more uniform appearance. The design of the sound porous screens that protect the resonator cones, combined with the slanted grid openings in the upper bout of the sound board give the guitar a distinct art deco sensibility. It is a stunningly singular appearing acoustic guitar.

Let’s consider the M1 from the top at the headstock and follow the string line down to the tail piece. Again, you’ll note that the guitar is equipped with a traditional appearing slotted headstock. Unlike the Reso Rocket WB that I traded for the M1, the headstock does not have a pearloid veneer, but is instead stained wood embellished with a traditional product logo decal. This is similar to the Martin guitar approach where for many of their beloved models they stick a decal on the headstock. For the cost of this M1, an inlaid logo would have been a nice and expected adornment. On the other hand, I like the overall look of the guitar, so I’ll stop complaining.

The tuning machines, with exposed gear works, are clustered in groups of three and equipped with attractive ivoroid knobs. All tuner actions are smooth and precise, unlike my old Reso Rocket which had a very stiff and difficult to use D-string (standard tuning) tuner. Finally, you’ll note that the outer strings on the fretboard (E & e) are strung into their respective tuners from the outside to the inside of the headstock, while the remaining strings (A, D, G & B) go from the inside to the outside. This stringing technique which can elude guitar store guys, prevents the outer strings from chafing the headstock wood. Finally, the strings enter the fretboard by passing over a bone nut.

To the right you can see the M1’s fretboard, an ebony strip of wood bound to the mahogany neck. The ebony is black with blond striations, which is the sustainable fashion begun by Bob Taylor several years ago when he bucked tradition and refused to toss aside ebony wood that was not perfectly black. I like the blond hints on today’s ebony fretboards. The comfortably wide neck is bound with grained ivoroid. Finally, the guitar was strung with John Pearse 13’s spec’d for resonator guitars.

The neck attaches to the guitar at the 12th fret. This particular model has no cutaway, which is one of the features I miss when comparing the M1 to the Reso Rocket WB. When playing bottleneck it’s nice not to have to be crowded by the body at the 12th and 13th frets.

To the left you can see the M1’s upper bout, with its rounded shoulders, the art deco sound port grills, and the inlaid Mother of Pearl dots that adorn the fretboard. The soundboard, like the guitar’s sides and back are manufactured from layered mahogany. There are some very rare exceptions when National makes a guitar body from solid wood, with the preponderance being layered. The layered body and its shape serve the role of imparting a woody tonality that colors the sound produced primarily by the three small resonator cones.

The top’s mahogany veneer does a great job of revealing the wood’s grain and reflecting the rich reddish brown stain that gives the wooden Nationals their distinctive appearance.

The M1’s lower bout is where the rubber meets the road. You can see on the right where the triangular-shaped metallic cover sits above the three resonator cones. The metallic cover is cut with art deco shaped openings that allow the resonator tones to escape. A silvered metallic grill protects the cones.

The guitar strings each rest in a groove cut into a wooden saddle that is glued to an aluminum t-shaped bridge, the ends of which each contact a resonator cone. The t-bridge transmits the vibration of the strings to the cones. The metallic cover has a raised t-shaped shield to protect the saddle and bridge. The strings then exit the saddle/bridge area and are bound down to a standard National tailpiece which is held in place by a combo screw/strap button located in the bottom of the guitar.

Examining the t-bridge indicates that the heavier strings are biased towards two of the cones, whereas the lighter strings are handled primarily by one cone, although all the strings in some way affect all three cones. This relationship of string locations, t-bridge and distribution of vibration to the resonator cones is what gives the M1 its balanced and sweet tonality.

Above left you can see the neck join to the body. The neck is held in place by a “stick” that runs the length of the body’s interior. As with most modern, premium guitars the neck is equipped with a truss rod to adjust play variations that might result as response to humidity in the ambient environment. Also visible are the grained ivoroid bindings on the body. The M1 is a neat, precision constructed, manufactured product that benefits from competent highly trained builders along with the use of numerical, computer controlled machine tools.

You will note the absence of a guitar strap button at the base of the neck. I intend to have one placed by my local guitar shop; however, I plan to order a Waverly white ivoroid button and felt washer from Stewmac, because my guitar shop offers only prosaic silver and/or black metal buttons, or high end Schaller strap lock buttons, which I don’t want to use with this guitar.

Also, above right you can see a shot of the M1’s back. The stained veneer of the layered wood back shows off the beautiful straight grain of the mahogany from which it is constructed.

Finally, as with all premium guitars, the instrument is supplied with a custom-made hardshell case. The guitar fits in snuggly and the outer side of the upper lid has the National logo embroidered into it, which is quite stunning. A word of caution about the logo though… it is easy to muss up if it comes into frictional contact with another object like an adjacent guitar case while traveling in the back area of a car.

To close out this review, I am sharing some sound bite examples of the M1. These were recorded with amplification through a Fishman Loudbox Artist with a Shure SM-58 mic. The actual recording was done with an iPhone 11 equipped with a Shure MV-88 and processed through Apple iMovie.

I would prefer to have a pickup on the guitar but that’s been more challenging than I anticipated. The go-to pickup on resonators, in my judgement, is made by Highlander. I had one put into my steel NRP and it worked well, though you had to haul around a battery powered preamp. Sadly, it appears that Highlander is no longer in business. Further, I was not sure I wanted a guitar tech drilling holes in the M1. Now it seems that the go-to pickup are those made by Jason Krivo Flores out in Portland, OR… I have one on order. The tone samples online sound great; however, the pickup is a bit idiosyncratic in that it attaches to the guitar with blue tack. I will probably write a blog entry about the Krivo after I’ve worked with it for a while.

Anyway… below are two bottleneck tunes recorded in Open D followed by a fingerstyle piece in standard tuning…

In conclusion, I feel fortunate to own a National M1 Tricone. The wait time on a new M1 is currently 6 to 8 months and I’m not getting any younger. The instrument itself is a beautiful example of industrial art and with its balanced tonality plays well, as currently set up in either bottleneck or fingerstyle mode. Highly recommended.

May 12, 2021

Open Mic Night at Cup of Joe; May 7, 2021

With mass vaccinations of Iowans occurring daily, by most visible measures life is slowly returning to pre-pandemic normal. Though masking is still a prevalent and required, people are involving themselves in old routine behaviors like eating at restaurants, visiting coffee shops, and in the case of this posting, attending musical events such as Open Mic Night! We had the great good fortune of access to a most excellent coffee shop, Cup of Joe in Cedar Falls, to host such an event.

My friend Grant Tracey and I hosted our first Open Mic Night together this past Friday evening, May 7, 2021. In a previous blog posting I wrote in some detail about the technical aspects of hosting an Open Mic scenario, particularly the use of a Bose L1 Pro 32 PA system.

To the left you can see the general set-up situated in the rear of the coffee shop. Between the two performers, on the floor, you will note the Bose subwoofer, the line array speaker tower and hidden behind the singer a T4s mixer that all comprise the PA system. The Bose 32 is spec’d for a larger space than the coffee shop so it easily performed admirably without stress and filled the room with a pleasant level of performance sound. Audio level adjustments of volume, bass, treble and reverb were easily executed. Audience members commented positively on the quality of the sound, which was a relief to me since I personally invested in all the PA hardware. You’ll also notice guitar and mic cables everywhere, stools, mic stands, guitar pedal boards, guitars, and guitar and music stands.

The fact is, there was a great deal of schlepping to get the performance space properly set up. Even though the Bose PA is valued for its portability, by the time you pack in the PA, cables, stools, mic stands, guitars, guitar stands, and guitar pedal boards, its quite an effort! You can see below, in the image of me performing, all the surrounding support hardware required to pull off the event. At first glance, it might not seem like a lot, but it was a lot to haul from home, and then get from the parking lot into the coffee shop. I am grateful that we planned to take 90 minutes to get set up for our first time, and we needed every minute, considering that Grant had to make an emergency run back to my home to fetch a music stand and my iPhone which contained a Bose app to remotely control PA sound quality.

Me and my Collings I-35 knocking out my first set…

I would make the following preliminary conclusions regarding the Open Mic set up to consider before Grant and I do it again:

Get to the Coffee Shop early, because set up takes time. I still think we need 90 minutes. Perhaps we will be able to streamline matters in the future, but we’re not there yet.
Contrary to my above assertion, as advertised, the Bose L1 Pro 32 snaps together very quickly and gives solid performance. Its the routing of mics, guitars and pedal boards that take extra time.
It seems to me easiest to use the 3 channels available on the Bose L1 power stand because the sound quality can be easily manipulated using the Bose app on my iPhone. The app allows me to wander anywhere in the coffee shop to check sound level and tonality and easily adjust it where I stand. With a variety of performers using different guitar types and styles, quick and easy adjustments of sound are of great value.
That first night we set up three mics, but I think two is enough. Dropping to two will save time, space, and reduce cables.
The two guitar channels and a mic will run off the power stand. An additional mic can be routed through the T4s. This set-up is not written in stone.
I do not think we need 2 stools and am thinking one is enough.
It is my understanding that there are music stands in the basement of the Coffee Shop, so we do not need to haul one in on Open Mic night.

Grant Tracey and his Les Paul playing his set…

All in all, it was a good night. I’ve seen the coffee shop more crowded on previous Open Mic nights, but there are still some residual pandemic fears keeping people away, and there was an outdoor music venue in operation around the corner, down the street, which was drawing people in. Nevertheless, we had a respectable audience for our initial First Friday Open Mic night.

To the right, you can see fellow host Grant Tracey playing through his set. One of the perks of hosting Open Mic is the chance to play your self and depending on the number of performers who sign up, you may get to play even more.

Playing my National Reso_Lectric in a second set…

In the end, both Grant and I squeezed in two sets each. Anticipating that I might have the opportunity to play more than the standard 15 minute open mic set, I brought along two guitars, both of which made their first public appearances: my Collings I-35 Semi-Hollow bodied electric and my National Reso-Lectric, as seen with me on the left. In addition to the guitars, making a first public appearance, I, for the first time sang publicly. Ever since, Mrs. Silliman, in the 3rd grade, tossed me onto the “inadequate singer” refuse heap when sorting students for participation in grade school chorus, I’ve believed my singing voice somewhat suspect; however, with the encouragement of my wife, Annette, and others I decided to give it a go. Playing finger-style Travis picking technique is also a challenge when trying to sing simultaneously; however, after 5 years of concentrated dedication to guitar playing, I finally broke through this Spring and was able to play and sing simultaneously, which is no mean feat for me!

Here was my playlist:

Set One

If I Needed You – Townes Van Zandt
Long Distance Call – Muddy Waters
Pancho and Lefty – Muddy Waters
Vigilante Man – Woody Guthrie (arranged by Ry Cooder)

Set Two

Paris, Texas – Ry Cooder
You Got to Move – Mississippi Fred McDowell
Railroad Bill – traditional (arranged by Tom Feldmann)
Corrina, Corrina – traditional (arranged by Stephen Grossman)
Baby, Please Don’t Go – Big Joe Williams

Annette was kind enough to film a couple of my tunes… you can view one below, warts and all… I dropped a few notes along the way. This was my rendition of Muddy Waters’ “Long Distance Call.” A bottleneck tune played in standard tuning… You will note that the Coffee Shop was quite noisy and I found it a bit of a distraction, but powered through…

Steve Surles, waiting his turn to play at the Open Mic

If all goes as planned, I will be hosting First Friday Open Mic in June on the 4th. My regular co-host Grant, to my chagrin, is tied up with a local theater engagement, so Steve Surles, who also played the open mic with us on the first night, has volunteered to guest co-host in June. Hopefully too, my son Parker will come back from college in Iowa City to help haul equipment and listen-in which will be a great delight for me! See you then!

Category: General Musings

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The Refined Resonator: Reviewing National’s M1 Tricone

Introduction and Background

I Purchase a National M1 Tricone

I Review My New National M1 Tricone Guitar

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Open Mic Night at Cup of Joe; May 7, 2021

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Introduction and Background

I Purchase a National M1 Tricone

I Review My New National M1 Tricone Guitar

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