mervyn's "smoothtalkermaker" site on face book

Keira-WitherKay

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/mervyndavis.smoothtalkerguitarmaker?ref=nf

here's a face book group to join if you a smoothtalker fan..........

some cool pics of his expo in California and the pics of the 1st jaywalker...........

ok so what is the jaywalker a banjo???????? cos it has 4 strings and a 5th that only goes halfway up neck like a 5 string banjo's would

so is it a banjo???? this really had me staring at pic for a while ..... i'll go check on his website.......

it has nice lines..smoother lines (no pun intended) than the normal smoothtalkers......

anyway a first ....... and an interesting looking instrument

peace and light
Keira

MikeM

I really think I need to go do some "work" for Mervyn next year. Might include a ton of learning - maybe I should even offer to pay him, but he does some great work.

Keira-WitherKay

mmmmmmmm i checked the smoothtalker website.......... which is separate from mervyns webpage..... and unfortunately the site has not been updated yet so just says jaywalker .... and then to be released soon ... damn i was hoping for a discription.......

so now what do you guys think???? what is it ??? i have no clue........

peace and light
keira

Bob-Dubery

Keira WitherKay wrote
ok so what is the jaywalker a banjo???????? cos it has 4 strings and a 5th that only goes halfway up neck like a 5 string banjo's would

so is it a banjo????

Not really. He can and has made Smoothtalker banjos - or at least Smoothtalkers with the 4 1/2 strings and tuned however a banjo is tuned. The design is very adaptable because to make an oud (which he has) or a banjo (which he has) or a 10-string (which he has) all he has to do is change the neck - and the necks are bolted on.

It just so happens that this first Jaywalker was a custom order - the customer being Bela Fleck.

Bob-Dubery

Keira WitherKay wrote mmmmmmmm i checked the smoothtalker website.......... which is separate from mervyns webpage..... and unfortunately the site has not been updated yet so just says jaywalker .... and then to be released soon ... damn i was hoping for a discription.......

so now what do you guys think???? what is it ??? i have no clue........

Essentially a Smoothtalker. The differences between the Smoothtalker and the Jaywalker are cosmetic.

See
http://www.smoothtalkerguitars.com/content/unusual-smoothtalkers-any-size
for some examples of what he has done with the Smoothtalker concept - including a 5 string "banjar".

[deleted]

Bob Dubery wrote Essentially a Smoothtalker. The differences between the Smoothtalker and the Jaywalker are cosmetic.

+1

well I have seen them before. And am getting the 2nd one in December... ?

So the first 6 steel string Jaywalker is MINE ?

I'll post the pron when it arrives. I spoke to Mervyn yesterday again. It sucks having to wait so long tho!!

[deleted]

MikeM wrote I really think I need to go do some "work" for Mervyn next year. Might include a ton of learning - maybe I should even offer to pay him, but he does some great work.

Mervyns Workshop is tiny!! I don't know if two people can fit in there to work!! ?

Seriously tho...

Keira-WitherKay

mmm interesting design to be multi interchangable......... and i personally prefer the smoother lines of the jaywalker to the original smoothtalker .... but thats just personal taste....

any idea how heavy they are in comparison to say standard smoothtalker.... ? does this sleeker design cut down the weight ........ cos when i discussed it with mervyn a while back he said to me in an email his classical smoothtalkers were a lot heavier than a standard classical ......

ok so who is Bela Fleck when she's not at home? (remember i only been in jhb for just over a year now ...so don't know all the players and you mention her like i should know her ...i'm also assuming bela is a woman )

peace and light
Keira

Bob-Dubery

Keira WitherKay wrote any idea how heavy they are in comparison to say standard smoothtalker.... ? does this sleeker design cut down the weight ........ cos when i discussed it with mervyn a while back he said to me in an email his classical smoothtalkers were a lot heavier than a standard classical ......

Don't know. And remember that the one he has on show there has his smallest body - the size 1. Mine is a size 2, thus heavier.

Keira WitherKay wrote ok so who is Bela Fleck when she's not at home? (remember i only been in jhb for just over a year now ...so don't know all the players and you mention her like i should know her ...i'm also assuming bela is a woman )

She's a he. Fab banjo player.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_Fleck

Squonk

Keira WitherKay wrote
ok so who is Bela Fleck when she's not at home? (remember i only been in jhb for just over a year now ...so don't know all the players and you mention her like i should know her ...i'm also assuming bela is a woman )

Especially check Bela's bassist, Victor Wooten, one of the best!

Bob-Dubery

Fleck is not just about bluegrass and dead cows and cheating wives either. A while back I was loaned a record of his that was all collaborations - some of them across very genre boundaries. A lot of good playing on it, and nothing that made the word "Nashville" pop into one's mind. Wish I could remember the title so I could get a copy.

He made a trip to Africa to explore the roots of the banjo (which evolved from instruments taken to America by slaves). There's a documentary movie - it's title is Throw Down Your Heart. I am going to put that on my Christmas list for this year.