Can An Acoustic Guitar Make Sound If No One Is There To Listen?

Posted on 08. Sep, 2010 by amauto.

There is another side of acoustic guitar buying that I seldom hear discussed. It could be called the supernatural method.
I am one of those new age types that believes the life of the wood worker is crafted into the instrument.Often you can sense the guitar even before you see it. An instrument made by a life in gloom and dispair will have that could of deppression hanging over it for ever!” Might be a good choice if your strictly into the blues. A guitar born of the heart will live heartily.

Just because a guitar is not hand made does not meant it is lifeless. There is not a guitar anywhere that was not first a thought in a mind. The guitar was crafted from exotic woods grown in exotic lands. How many years of sunshine and rain are stored in that dreadnought or solid body? Perhaps hundreds of men and women around the world helped to get that guitar to you? If many of us were investigated we would be found guilty of choosing a nice guitar store over an exibition by dead Van-whoever. OK, I do enjoy looking at dead Van’s work but give me a well stocked guitar gallery any day.

I remember a time when I stopped into a guitar store in our town.  I had about $400 in my pocket and was ready to buy a guitar. I had my mind set on a Takamine guitar. I picked it up and played it again, for the umpteenth time. I liked the looks, the sound, and the feel of this instrument but I was somehow not satisfied with it. There was this very small feeling of buyers remorse starting to set in. I left the guitar on its stand and meant to exit the store with out making a purchase. I was about to exit the building but I felt compelled to look towards the used instrument section. I was in that area of the store a few minutes before. I had looked at an interesting electric guitar but had no intention of buying one.
When I returned to the used instrument department I was immediately aware of a beautiful sunburst Crafter. I had wrongly thought that Crafter made inferior guitars. This one looked pretty nice. I knew immediately this was my soul guitar. I made that guitar mine. that guitar played music to my spirit before I saw it with my eyes.
There I said it, the guitar called to me. Now I am revealed to be a crystal hugging new age kind of guy.

You can call it Zen, Synchronicity, or dumb luck, or you can call it what ever. I personally believe music is a spiritual device and the whole process can be as deep as you want to go. Even while shopping for a fingerstyle  acoustic guitar.  Happy shopping!

Continue Reading

12 Fret Acoustic Guitars For Fingerstyle

Posted on 03. Sep, 2010 by amauto.

Guitars were originally made with 12 frets clear of the body.

The 12 fret design remains the standard for the nylon string classical guitar.

Think about the classical guitarist.

The orchestrations are often meant to be played without accompaniment.

Classical music demanded and received instruments designed to produce optimum tone.

Hence the classical guitar was the ultimate possible design.

Guitars became more prevalent in the bands and orchestras of the 1920s as musical styles evolved.

Instrumental soloing increased as roots and jazz music blended and evolved in the popular venues.

The guitarist found the magic zone on the upper frets.

The repsonse of the luthier was a guitar with 14 frets above the body.

After “Muddy Waters invented electricity,” the guitar player began to step into the spot light.

Double cut aways on electric guitars launched the guitarist into the strat osphere.

In response to the musicians request for higher altitudes the luthier cut away the lower bout of the acoustic instrument body in order to imitate the shape of an electric guitar.

Where does the current interest in 12 fret acoustic guitars come from?

Guitar players are looking to the luthier for instruments of a more classic design.

Guitars made for classical music rarely have 14 frets.

Perfection in sound and playability are the continued goals of the craft of the guitar.

Recent 12 fret guitars have been made with a single cut away on the lower bout.

This blends the the tonality of the body with access to the upper fretboard.

The 12 fret body style is especially appreciated by fingerstyle guitar players.

12 fret acoustics will often have a wider neck which fingerstyle players like.

The necks are commonly 1 3/4 inches at the top of the neck.

You will find up to a 2 1/2 inch nut on classical guitars.

The optimum design of the 12 fret acoustic guitar will always be in demand.

Continue Reading

The Martin OMC-LJ Pro Acoustic Guitar For Fingerstyle Players

Posted on 30. Aug, 2010 by amauto.

The Martin Custom Artist Series OMC-LJ Pro Acoustic Guitar was built to the specifications of the 5th Beatle. Maybe Laurence Juber was not Beatle number five. Wait for it, wait for it, he is the 6th Beatle. Hey I am allowed my opinion. Mr Juber was lead guitarist in Wings for Paul McCartney. Paul had found him in England. Mr Juber has released many Beatle tunes in his career as a solo fingerstyle guitar artist. He has acknowledged his Beatles influence by covering the Meet the Beatles album cover on his LJ Plays the Beatles release. Yes that was the first album by a famous group that I ever purchased. The impact Mr Juber is having on the fingerstyle guitar world is similar to what the Beatles did to Pop music.

Mr Juber is also well thought of by CF Martin the number one name in acoustic guitars. The Martin Company has crafted five different guitars with the Laurence Juber signature. Laurence Juber’s name is on the OMC-LJ, the OMC-18, the OMC-18VLJ, the LJ OMC-28B-OMC-28, and the LJ OMC. Eric Clapton is the only name listed more than Laurence Juber in the Martin Artist Signature Series Catalog. Wow! based on this endorsement alone you could argue
that Laurence Juber might be at least the worlds second greatest acoustic guitarist.

The latest guitar engineered for Juber is the Martin Custom Artist Series OMC-LJ Pro Acoustic Guitar. After working with stringed instruments on some music he was writing for a movie Juber thought up this instrument. He realized that most of the orchestra’s string section consisted of instruments made with maple. Rosewood and maghogany produce more harmonics than maple which is clearer and projects better as well. Laurence wondered why maple was not used more often in the
making of flat top guitars. Mr Juber asked the luthiers at Martin to put together a guitar with a maple body and neck. The vintage Martin tonal quality comes from the solid Adironback Spruce top. Laurence Juber requested a D-tar pickup which enhances the transparent sound of the guitar. For the fingerstyle guitar player this means the Martin Custom Artist Series OMC-LJ Pro Acoustic Guitar is a superior instrument on stage and in the studio.

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Is There Such A Thing As A Fingerstyle Guitar?

Posted on 27. Aug, 2010 by amauto.

Fingerstyle Guitar is the method by which the music is played and not the instrument itself. Fingerstyle is just that, a method of playing music with the fingers. It is a style of playing the guitar.
A guitar player might use all of the fingers on the right hand when playing fingerstyle. Using a pick is still the preferred method amongst gutiarists to sound the strings. A piece of music arranged for fingerstyle guitar will usually consist of a melody, harmony, and a bass line. You can play fingerstyle on any guitar but some are more preferable to to the design specifications.  A fingerstyle guitar is usually but not always an
acoustic guitar. Fingerstyle guitar players such as the late and very great Chet Atkins often use electric guitars in their craft. You will most often find steel strings used in music that is not classical.

Fingerstyle Guitar is often used as accompaniment for singing which makes it a popular form with folk, blues, country and pop singers because it works well for the solo artist that does not travel with a band.Jazz, smooth jazz, and new age music are all perfect for fingerstyle guitar playing. Classical guitarists have been playing solo instrumental music for centuries.

Now we have returned to the matter of what is a fingerstyle guitar. If there is such a thing, a classical guitar is it. This guitar was crafted to be played with fingers. The classical instrument  has always been a nylon string (or cat gut before there was nylon) acoustic guitar. You can find a nylon string electric classical guitar being manufactured these days. The tonewoods, that is the woods that make up the top, sides, and back of the guitar, are selected for the way they enhance the classical fingerstyle playing. The neck is often much wider than that of a steel string guitars so that the artists picking fingers can grab
individual strings. Classical guitars can have necks up to 2 1/2 inches wide at the nut. Usually a steel stringed instrument set up for the fingerstyle player measures 1 3/4 inches at the top of the neck. Most other steel string guitars are slightly smaller, usually 1 11/16 inch nut width. You need to understand that there are no hard and fast rules to guitar construction for fingerstyle players. Hopefully this has given the reader an idea as to what constitutes a fingerstyle acoustic guitar.

Continue Reading

12 Fret Acoustic Guitars For Fingerstyle

Posted on 16. Aug, 2010 by amauto.

Guitars were originally made with 12 frets clear of the body.

The 12 fret design remains the standard for the nylon string classical guitar.

Think about the classical guitarist.

The orchestrations are often meant to be played without accompaniment.

Classical music demanded and received instruments designed to produce optimum tone.

Hence the classical guitar was the ultimate possible design.

Guitars became more prevalent in the bands and orchestras of the 1920s as musical styles evolved.

Instrumental soloing increased as roots and jazz music blended and evolved in the popular venues.

The guitarist found the magic zone on the upper frets.

The repsonse of the luthier was a guitar with 14 frets above the body.

After “Muddy Waters invented electricity,” the guitar player began to step into the spot light.

Double cut aways on electric guitars launched the guitarist into the strat osphere.

In response to the musicians request for higher altitudes the luthier cut away the lower bout of the acoustic instrument body in order to imitate the shape of an electric guitar.

Where does the current interest in 12 fret acoustic guitars come from?

Guitar players are looking to the luthier for instruments of a more classic design.

Guitars made for classical music rarely have 14 frets.

Perfection in sound and playability are the continued goals of the craft of the guitar.

Recent 12 fret guitars have been made with a single cut away on the lower bout.

This blends the the tonality of the body with access to the upper fretboard.

The 12 fret body style is especially appreciated by fingerstyle guitar players.

12 fret acoustics will often have a wider neck which fingerstyle players like.

The necks are commonly 1 3/4 inches at the top of the neck.

You will find up to a 2 1/2 inch nut on classical guitars.

The optimum design of the 12 fret acoustic guitar will always be in demand.

Continue Reading

Is There Such A Thing As A Fingerstyle Guitar?

Posted on 07. Aug, 2010 by amauto.

Fingerstyle Guitar is the method by which the music is played and not the instrument itself. Fingerstyle is just that, a method of playing music with the fingers. It is a style of playing the guitar.
A guitar player might use all of the fingers on the right hand when playing fingerstyle. Using a pick is still the preferred method amongst gutiarists to sound the strings. A piece of music arranged for fingerstyle guitar will usually consist of a melody, harmony, and a bass line. You can play fingerstyle on any guitar but some are more preferable to to the design specifications.  A fingerstyle guitar is usually but not always an
acoustic guitar. Fingerstyle guitar players such as the late and very great Chet Atkins often use electric guitars in their craft. You will most often find steel strings used in music that is not classical.

Fingerstyle Guitar is often used as accompaniment for singing which makes it a popular form with folk, blues, country and pop singers because it works well for the solo artist that does not travel with a band.Jazz, smooth jazz, and new age music are all perfect for fingerstyle guitar playing. Classical guitarists have been playing solo instrumental music for centuries.

Now we have returned to the matter of what is a fingerstyle guitar. If there is such a thing, a classical guitar is it. This guitar was crafted to be played with fingers. The classical instrument  has always been a nylon string (or cat gut before there was nylon) acoustic guitar. You can find a nylon string electric classical guitar being manufactured these days. The tonewoods, that is the woods that make up the top, sides, and back of the guitar, are selected for the way they enhance the classical fingerstyle playing. The neck is often much wider than that of a steel string guitars so that the artists picking fingers can grab
individual strings. Classical guitars can have necks up to 2 1/2 inches wide at the nut. Usually a steel stringed instrument set up for the fingerstyle player measures 1 3/4 inches at the top of the neck. Most other steel string guitars are slightly smaller, usually 1 11/16 inch nut width. You need to understand that there are no hard and fast rules to guitar construction for fingerstyle players. Hopefully this has given the reader an idea as to what constitutes a fingerstyle acoustic guitar.

Continue Reading

Can An Acoustic Guitar Make Sound If No One Is There To Listen?

Posted on 06. Aug, 2010 by amauto.

There is another side of acoustic guitar buying that I seldom hear discussed. It could be called the supernatural method.
I am one of those new age types that believes the life of the wood worker is crafted into the instrument.Often you can sense the guitar even before you see it. An instrument made by a life in gloom and dispair will have that could of deppression hanging over it for ever!” Might be a good choice if your strictly into the blues. A guitar born of the heart will live heartily.

Just because a guitar is not hand made does not meant it is lifeless. There is not a guitar anywhere that was not first a thought in a mind. The guitar was crafted from exotic woods grown in exotic lands. How many years of sunshine and rain are stored in that dreadnought or solid body? Perhaps hundreds of men and women around the world helped to get that guitar to you? If many of us were investigated we would be found guilty of choosing a nice guitar store over an exibition by dead Van-whoever. OK, I do enjoy looking at dead Van’s work but give me a well stocked guitar gallery any day.

I remember a time when I stopped into a guitar store in our town.  I had about $400 in my pocket and was ready to buy a guitar. I had my mind set on a Takamine guitar. I picked it up and played it again, for the umpteenth time. I liked the looks, the sound, and the feel of this instrument but I was somehow not satisfied with it. There was this very small feeling of buyers remorse starting to set in. I left the guitar on its stand and meant to exit the store with out making a purchase. I was about to exit the building but I felt compelled to look towards the used instrument section. I was in that area of the store a few minutes before. I had looked at an interesting electric guitar but had no intention of buying one.
When I returned to the used instrument department I was immediately aware of a beautiful sunburst Crafter. I had wrongly thought that Crafter made inferior guitars. This one looked pretty nice. I knew immediately this was my soul guitar. I made that guitar mine. that guitar played music to my spirit before I saw it with my eyes.
There I said it, the guitar called to me. Now I am revealed to be a crystal hugging new age kind of guy.

You can call it Zen, Synchronicity, or dumb luck, or you can call it what ever. I personally believe music is a spiritual device and the whole process can be as deep as you want to go. Even while shopping for an acoustic guitar.  Happy shopping!

Continue Reading