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I would still check the grain from the bottom to be sure the top is spruce.... They are listing all the tonewoods used in construction and the spruce could be just for bracing. If you check and the grain is nice and straight than the top is solid! They don't make a laminated spruce or cedar top. Laminate is only for the Wild Cherry which has more of a sprawling grain....

Honestly, I'm betting it's the Wild cherry laminate model. No worries though, it's still a great guitar! Laminate gets a bad rap because of the cheap "plywood" guitars labeled as laminate. Godin uses 3 sheets of solid tonewoods for their laminates and that makes a difference!    The main reason I'm inclined to think yours is laminate is the painted on rosette. They used that only for about half a year or so on entry solid topped models, I forget the year but it was early in the companies history.  The inlaying of a rosette is more for structural issues than cosmetics... It's to prevent cracks from forming around the soundhole.

Nice story Wayne! That's got to be a great feeling

My oldest (11) has finally been showing a lot of interest in music. He plays in the school band and has been jamming a lot with me over the past few months I love it! He's a wiz on the bells and that goes so well with my style of music.

Sup Bra Welcome to Chordie! I'm sure you'll love it here! -Pix/Chris

In open D Tuning.  "She talks to Angels" by The Black Crows, "Graduate" by Third Eye Blind, and you may want to look at some Richie Havens. He did a lot in open D...

Hey Steve,   Man, it's been a while! Hope all's good with you. Nice advice posted above... I remember when I found out about using pivots and guides back when I was just starting out and struggling with chord changes... They really helped me out back then and of course I still use them   I'd add to your advice above that it also helps to look at your chord shapes as well! There are several ways to finger chords and if you keep an open mind when looking at progressions you can often incorporate that and ease the changes...  You can alter the fingers you use to form the chord and take advantage of new "Common fingers" (pivots and guides) or just finger them so that it takes less combined movement for the coming change...

And (IMO) your videos would be welcome.. As long as they are free and contain no leads to pay sites all is good It's a great thing to "pay it forward" -Pix

I use a Marshall AS50D and It's a superb amp for acoustic and vocals... Had an ultrasound that was really nice as well. I'd recommend either...

All depends on who I'm playing with Around some I'm great and around others I'm just starting my journey Seriously though,  I consider myself a guitar player....What was the turning point??? For me it was just a few months ago..

Most of us have friends that we jam with... Well I have this one friend that has been critical to me learning to play. He started in High school and has been playing for 20+ years now. I've learned soo much by playing with him! Well we hadn't jammed in a few months and he came over and we went through our 20-30 songs that we always play together and then we hit a mental block and I was just sitting there noodling a bunch of stuff that I've been working on on my own... I wasn't thinking about anybody being there just going with the flow so to speak. I finished playing and looked up and he was staring at me.... I was a little embarrased but he just looked straight at me and said "Man you've come a long way! I play with a lot of people and I just want to say If I had to take someone to the crossroads it would be you!! That was an amazing feeling and I think it kinda changed my mind set... I value his opinion since he's the honest kind that will tell you to stop because the dogs are crying if it doesn't sound good Since then I've kinda looked at myself as a little more than just a beginner but ,compared to some, I'm still just starting out

I cheated and copied a post I made about a year ago

It really all depends on the sound you want... A tenor, soprano, or concert size will give you more of the traditional uke sound. However, a baritone uke is a really great crossover instrument! It has the same tuning as the guitar (DGBE) and therefore the same fingerings, so It's easy to pick up and start playing right away! It can also be restrung and tuned to GCEA tuning for the more traditional uke voice... For a first venture I'd probably go with a baritone. That way you know you'll get some immediate use out of it.  I have to say ,though, that there is just something about strumming the smaller tenor or soprano ukes... It's impossible not to smile while doing so
  Money-     A good beginner uke (depending on style/size) will probably be in the neighborhood of 75-100 bucks.. If you can play them first you can buy cheaper and still come out okay... The problem with cheaper ukes is consistency. There is no truss rod so the neck angle has to be right and set solid for it to last, play well, or sound decent... So buying a $40-50 uke online can be risky... But if you want to do it, check for a return policy just in case.
  Brands-    Here are a few that I've had good experiences with in that price range. Kala, Lanikai, Oscar Schmidt, and Hilo. Amigo, would be a good brand to look into as well! They are a cheaper company but all I hear are good reviews from the uke forums. They have solid topped models starting at around $60 bucks!  I've never tried them but Tops has a Fender that looks cool!
I'd also suggest picking up some quality strings. They make a world of difference on a uke!  Aquila's or Worth strings would be a good choice (IMO)....

You won't regret the uke venture  They're a real joy! -Pix

Okay I did some research and understand the technique you're referring to. Your not really using the guitar as leverage... It's simply were you relax the muscles of your fretting arm and allow it's weight to "hang" and assist with the barring pressure. You still squeeze with the thumb but this technique allows less pressure and (though the article didn't say) I'd assume your thumb position would be slightly higher on the back of the neck so that it acts like a fulcrum for the weight to be applied to the barring finger.

Here's the link I was looking at http://www.guitarprinciples.com/Guitar_ … chords.htm

Cool all guitars are different I suppose... Playing from 3rd up mine doesn't go sharp doing this... (I was just playing around with it after your post) But on F F# Bb & B they pull sharp regardless... But that far from the body you increase the leverage...(Just for reference I was trying it on short scale with only 3/32 at the 12th so it's not the action)  I would think the problem would be worse when your really "feeling" the music though

I'm really not liking how my guitar sounds doing this    I'm  killing my tone by holding the soundboard and back. I was always taught to keep the forearm away from the top and the back away from your body.. Doing this is hindering my top and back resonance and hurting my tone/sustain/volume. It may not be enough for the average "audience" to really hear but other guitarist would and more importantly I notice it.. It's like my guitar just lost all it's liveliness. How do you address that??   I'm just trying to understand man I'm always open to try new things But right now I like using my thumb for pressure much better...

Just thought about something.... Maybe I'm just hearing this stuff more because of the soundports......