876 Reply by Dirty Ed

(10 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

I owned a Kona K2 for a few years.  Not a bad guitar, sounded pretty good as an acoustic and also nice when amped.  Straight neck, tuners kept strings in tune pretty well, frets weren't rough or had any of the problems associated with cheap guitars.  However, the intonation was off a little and I had to re-tune whenever I used a capo.

Have you thought about trying a tenor guitar?  Chords only need to be formed with a couple fingers and it seems like it would be easier to play for those with arthritis or suffering from hand injuries.

http://www.youtube.com/user/macdige?ble … hjsfK69S3w

DE

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877 Reply by Dirty Ed

(139 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

I guess I should have posted this yesterday, but anyway ............

I was off work, it was raining and I had a bad case of GAS.  I've been looking at the Martin OM-21 and Breedlove OM guitars in their American and Roots series - rosewood guitars in an OM or 000 size.  Decided to list my Martin 000-16GT on Craig's List, so after taking some pix and finishing the post, I decided to clean the old girl and put new strings on her. Well, with new strings on a guitar you just HAVE to play a tune or two, sooooo ...................

Pancho and Lefty -Townes Van Zandt
Coyotes - Don Edwards
He's a good Dog - Fred Eaglesmith
If we make it through December - Merle Haggard
The Rain - Scott Miller
Dear Sarah - Scott Miller
Red Ball Express - Scott Miller
Prairie View - Jeff Hartley (on of our local singer/song-writers)
Hard Times - Dirty Ed
Medals - Dirty Ed
River Morning - Dirty Ed
Pass This way Again - Dirty Ed
Ridin With The Man - Dirty Ed

And a new Dirty Ed song I've been working on - Cold Virginia Snow

Got a message on my cell yesterday evening from someone interested in the 000-GT.  I'll call back later this morning - maybe I'll have a NGD before long !

DE

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878 Reply by Dirty Ed

(8 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

At the '82 Ocoee River Festival in east Tennessee there was a bluegrass band performing that had been playing at the worlds fair in Knoxville. They called themselves "Hiwassee Ridge" and did a whole set of Beatles songs played bluegrass style.  It was great - especially since so many adult beverages had been consumed during the evening.  Hard to beat a combo of suds and shit-kickin' music.

DE

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879 Reply by Dirty Ed

(2 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Looking forward to hearing your version Zurf.  Buckethead Sanders and Philly Ray also play a couple of my tunes.  As a song writer, it's a wonderful feeling to find out someone thinks enough of a song I wrote to take the time to learn to play it.

I enjoyed reading your post about your fishing trip.  I've managed to get out at least once a week over the last couple months.  Spent 8 hours yesterday with my son floating a nearby stream. The weather was pretty chilly and we only managed to thumb 20 smallies but the chance to spend a day with Wes was everything that this old dad could want.

Oh yeah .........  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

DE

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880 Reply by Dirty Ed

(5 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

Doug gave a good description of how to mount the pickups. I might add that when drilling the hole for the end pin/plug putting masking tape over the area prior to drilling helps prevent the wood or veneer from splintering.

DE

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881 Reply by Dirty Ed

(45 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

tubatooter1940 wrote:

I would like to play the garboon. I can't describe what it is but it makes a really purty sound if you hit it just right.
I would NOT like to play the swinenet which consists of stringing a cat gut across a pig's hind end and you have to pick it with your teeth. OOGIE! sad

In  Appalachia Ohio, the swinet is better known as the hogadiddy. (and 2 strings are strung across the hog's arse)

DE

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882 Reply by Dirty Ed

(11 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Excellent subject easybeat. I've thought about bringing it up before in the songwriters forum.  How much is too much or too little?  I've heard songs that would have been great had they been a verse or two shorter, but dragging it out just seems to bore the listener.

In my opinion one of the greatest songs ever written was "My Girl", recorded by the Temptations.  1st verse has only 17 words, 2nd verse 20 words, 3rd verse 18 words.  Chorus has only 18 words (unless you want to count 6 words used by the back-round singers) and the "turn" is just "Hey, Hey, Hey" sung twice.  Simple but effective and one of the most recognizable songs ever recorded.  I try to use the song as a "model" to try and condense my songs down to the basics while still getting the message across.  So far I've never even came close.

DE

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883 Reply by Dirty Ed

(45 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Banjo and fiddle.

DE

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884 Reply by Dirty Ed

(27 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Per my campfire picking friends, my theme song would be "Small Medium at Large".

If I could pick someone else's song to hear every time I enter a room it would be Darrell Scott's "Never Leave Harlan Alive".

DE

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885 Reply by Dirty Ed

(29 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

I'm in it for the beer.

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886 Reply by Dirty Ed

(13 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Kool, Jim.  Does it have both XLR and 1/4" inputs?

DE

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887 Reply by Dirty Ed

(25 replies, posted in Acoustic)

I love the sound of the 12-fret Blueridge BR-72 and its rosewood/spruce combination.  I have a 14-fret BR-73 and much prefer the sound compared to my mahogany Martin 000-16GT.  My next purchase will probably be a BR-62 which has the same woods as the BR-72 but without all the pearl and abalone bling.  They're less than $430 at some on-line sites like Maury's Music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNlOMlulaQM

DE

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888 Reply by Dirty Ed

(12 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Nice song daddycool and congrats on the 37th anniversary!  My missus and I had our 37th back in January.  On our 35th I asked her what she wanted for our anniversary.  I figured she'd ask for a Caribbean cruise or some expensive jewelry - instead she asked me to write a song for her.  Sometimes it pays to be a songwriter wannabe!

DE

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889 Reply by Dirty Ed

(17 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

When I think of classic rock guitar songs I think of songs that the guitar part is so distinctive I recognize the song after only a couple of notes of the intro have been played. Some of those on my list would include:

Purple Haze
Satisfaction
House of the Rising Sun
My Girl
Surfin USA

DE

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890 Reply by Dirty Ed

(35 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Glad you had a good time Zurf. Sorry I missed it.

DE

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891 Reply by Dirty Ed

(8 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Another good  one Jeff.  It's got that homey, Americana feel that I dearly love to hear.

DE

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892 Reply by Dirty Ed

(35 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

As much as I regret it, a couple things have come up and I don't think I'm gonna make it.

DE

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893 Reply by Dirty Ed

(141 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

jets60 wrote:

Hey Jeff, was the Mrs able to listen to the CD I gave her.?  I've been wondering if it even worked as I pulled it out of the door pocket of my Subaru where it had been laying for months.

DE

Hey DE,

I have to confess that I stole it from her first to listen to myself, but eventually gave it back. From me, that was a very good set of music and I was very impressed by the recording quality. Well done! Here is from her:

Yeah!  it worked fine. Please let him know that I loved his songs and storytelling …they are great!!
He should be making CDs and selling them.
He has a great voice and guitar skills.


Thanks,

Michiyo

Thanks Jeff.  And be sure to tell Michiyo that I appreciate her kind words.  The CD was my first attempt recording somewhere other than my spare bedroom while under the influence of adult beverages. (Sort of a "campfire" sound I was looking for.)  I've made three other CDs of songs I've written but this last one was the first time to add bass, mando, lead guitar and harmonica. (Plus I harmonized with myself on a few songs). It was recorded at my buddy Jeff Hartley's home studio (actually a converted potting shed in his back yard). Jeff Hartley is a prolific songwriter himself, having recorded over 200 songs he's written.  I'll tell him you said he did a good job engineering the CD, I'm sure he'll appreciate it.

DE

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894 Reply by Dirty Ed

(14 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Beautiful pic Zurf. You've got a great eye for taking pictures.

DE

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895 Reply by Dirty Ed

(10 replies, posted in Song requests)

One of my favorites is "Red Ball Express" by Scott Miller.

Here's the lyrics/tab:
http://www.countrytabs.com/tablature/Sc … ord_48397/

Here's how the song sounds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m7Q3uJgAZw

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896 Reply by Dirty Ed

(8 replies, posted in Acoustic)

When I first saw the title of this thread, I thought it was about rhythms in Cowboy songs ..........................

As several have already said, its pretty easy to replace your old saddle if it needs to be done.  I've got a bone saddle on one acoustic, buffalo horn on another and tusq on a third.  If you ever install an under-saddle pickup you'll also need to shave some material off the bottom of the saddle to lower the strings back down.

If its not currently causing a problem though, I wouldn't worry about it.

DE

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897 Reply by Dirty Ed

(24 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Although her death is tragic, I think it sad that over 90 people are murdered in Norway and the media spends so much time talking about the death of a junkie singer.

This tune by Fred Eaglesmith sums up the lifestyle of these performers who flame out early:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqA_xpOZcOU

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898 Reply by Dirty Ed

(141 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

jets60 wrote:
Dirty Ed wrote:
mekidsmom wrote:

I'm glad everyone is enjoying the pics and videos (except Dino!  AHHH!  I'll send you an email with links, perhaps that will help make it easier).  I have been the one jealous for not getting to join in on past Chordie Jams and know how much I loved seeing the pictures/videos/sound bytes etc.  I'm glad to be able to share this with everyone as well as have it all on my computer for remembering the great time had by all.

Zguitar, funny thing is upon meeting Dirty Ed and knowing he was a fisherman friend of Zurf's I couldn't remember for the life of me if I'd ever heard any of his playing before or not.  So there we were, Dirty Ed, myself, and my husband sitting around shooting the breeze.  My husband asked Dirty Ed if he played or not and he said something to the tune of "yeah but not very well".  Sure as shoot did we get a SHOCK when we found the man could pick one guitar and sound like three, writes his own captivating songs, AND has a voice.  I think I had to pick my husband's jaw up off the ground a couple times.  I was quite nervous to play the first night (and as luck would have it, I was following him around the fire circle)!  As for my playing, I've decided that the fact that I can sing a little helps to fool people into thinking I can play.  My voice drowns out the poor playing skills!  LOL!  I'm going to keep my beginner status until I I can play a song and put my capo on and be able to tell people what key I'm actually playing in (or just change the key without a capo)!  Ha ha!

I still stand by the comment that I don't play well. Just as MKM thinks her voice covers for her picking inadequacies, I think my songs hide my guitar playing shortcomings. Bass Viking will attest that among the guitar players at our smallmouth fishing "rodeos" I wouldn't rate very high. However, I thank everyone for their kind words.

As Zurf said, it seems everyone had their "moment" and the person playing next in the circle had a tough act to follow.  Several times Jets60 played one of his original tunes and I found my self scrambling to find a song that wouldn't be too far below the bar he set.  Of all of us Jets had the worst position in the circle - following Norm the Guitar.

DE

Yeah, I was kind of stuck. Both you and Paul play extremely well, and while I do have my own original songs, I am far from either or your leagues' when it comes to playing or your songwriting, DE. Your original songs got the most requests if I remember correctly. Zurf was picking pretty good too. I must say that since I last got together at Derek house a few years ago with Detman, Derek's playing has improved quite a bit. Amy has a voice like an angel and I think we all could have listened to her singing all night. I'm sure I messed up playing my songs more than anyone else did, but the crowd was very forgiving for which I'm thankful. The whole weekend was a lot of fun. It was great meeting everyone and getting to hear folks live.

Hey Jeff, was the Mrs able to listen to the CD I gave her.?  I've been wondering if it even worked as I pulled it out of the door pocket of my Subaru where it had been laying for months.

DE

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899 Reply by Dirty Ed

(8 replies, posted in Acoustic)

Zurf wrote:

If anyone has some favorite left-hand (fret hand) exercises, please share.  Links to Youtube especially welcomed.  There are so many out there, it's hard to know which to use and which not.  So if anyone can help to separate the wheat from the chaff, it would be appreciated. 

Thanks.

- Zurf

I don't have any youtube links, however my main left hand exercise is:

Reach into cooler with left hand
Pull out cold bottle of adult beverage
Grasping bottle with left hand, remove bottle cap with twist of right hand
Raise left forearm (bending at elbow), bring bottle to lips
Ingest bottle contents - amount determined by thirst or mood
Repeat

Hope this helps

DE

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900 Topic by Dirty Ed

(4 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

I've been putting back a little money to purchase a 12 fret Blueridge BR-62 to add to my collection.  I own a 14 fret BR-73 and at the time would have preferred to buy a BR-63 which uses the same woods but lacks all the pearl and abalone ornamentation, however my local music store didn't have one at the time of my purchase. Me playing a fancy guitar is kind os like putting a show saddle on a plow mule.  The BR-62 is "plain jane" but also uses the same wood as a BR-72 and should sound like this:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNlOMlulaQM 

Anyway, today I was off work and my local paddle shop owner needed someone to drive a second vehicle to pick up some new kayaks for his shop.  Bottom line is I now own a new kayak and will have to start saving again for the guitar. Having several hobbies/passions is fun but also drives you to make choices.

Maybe if I unload a couple of my old axes on Craig's list I'll have a good start again on the Blueridge  ........................

DE

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