Times change. In the old days. I mean a long time ago we used to talk about Jap crap.
We don't say that any more!

Thumb pick

Something has been bothering me for some time. Can the pooled wisdom of the community enlighten me. There must be someone who is privy to the answer here.
On the side or the top of buildings in Cape Town I see these prism shaped devices that are mounted in such a way that they revolve slowly and
send out a reflective flash of light every now and then. I have asked various people and no-one that I know seems to have any ideas.
They are all over the place. I dont know what powers them but the revolve constantly.

Join a music club.

Nice repair job. I like it!

I have some plans and its on my imminent to-do list. Just a matter of getting some timber from Rarewoods and then do it.

Marshals in Cape Town. I have often seen ukuleles there as well as Bothners in Plumstead. They had some Martin ukuleles that go for a good sum. There are also some Arias at a very reasonable price.
I have a few ukuleles including one that I made myself. Give me a call when you are in Cape Town if you want to come and take a look.

Speaking of traveling with a guitar and specifically on the subject of guitar injuries I just had to mention this. I came upon this story recently and I thought it was good for a giggle. The movie clip is also cool!

A musician named Dave Carroll recently had difficulty with United Airlines.
United apparently damaged his treasured Taylor guitar (worth $3500) during a flight.
Dave spent over 9 months trying to get United to pay for damages caused by baggage handlers to his custom Taylor guitar.
During his final exchange with the United Customer Relations Manager, he stated that he was left with no choice other than to create a music video for youtube exposing their lack of cooperation.
The Manager responded: "Good luck with that one, pal."

So he posted a retaliatory video on youtube. The video has since received
over 6 million hits.
United Airlines contacted the musician and attempted settlement in exchange for pulling the video. Naturally his response was: "Good luck with that one, pal."

Taylor Guitars sent the musician 2 new custom guitars in appreciation for
the product recognition from the video that has led to a sharp increase in
orders.
Watch it here.
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You can get some latches and stuff at a place called Yebo Electronics in Plumstead. You can also get some stuff at Fairheads, the leather people.

Im ticked off that I cant make the image bigger. Ah! Cool, I did it!

OK. Here's my demo. :?
Its in open G tuning


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Pity the pics are so small. They were much bigger on my pc and on photobucket.

Although guitarists have traveled with their instruments to every corner of the world, lugging around a full-size jumbo guitar can be quite a drag. And while getting a guitar into the cabin of a plane has become increasingly difficult. Even checking in a guitar complete with a suitable protective case has become riskier than it once was, because luggage can no longer be locked.
But you don’t need to be a seasoned traveler to appreciate the advantage of small guitar designed for travel. If you enjoy taking a guitar along when you’re hiking or camping, or if there’s little room left in your car after loading up the kids and dogs off for the week end, a compact and lightweight instrument may make the difference between having music with you or not. The question is choosing the one that suits your own preferences and as with the free market system there are so many to choose from.
There's likely to be many factors which make the best travel guitar for you different from the best travel guitar for someone else.
Little Martin, Martin Backpacker, Baby Taylor, Blackbird, Amigo, Applecreek, Johnson variations, Aria, Yamaha, Montana, Applause (by Ovation), Washburn, the list is endless, well almost. There is even something called a Pignose that has built up a respectable following.
As for me, I was looking for something essentially wooden, with steel strings, and a realistic scale length that played like a real guitar. I was not into anything plastic or composite. I also wanted a bit more noise than the silent guitars made by Aria and others.
After reading the reviews and looking at the pictures and even a few clips on Youtube, I decided on those that appealed to me were like the Johnson Trailblazer, the Amigo and the Montana.
The Amigo, Montana and Hora have a similar appearance with an interesting teardrop shape. Rather like a lute or bazouki, which appealed to me as opposed to the scaled down traditional guitar shape. To my minds eye the Washburn designed travel guitar was not very appealing at all.
There is the Brunner whose neck slides back into the full size body. And the Voyage-Air whose neck is hinged and folds back over the body. Besides being prohibitively expensive, the idea of stretching and relaxing the strings each time did not impress me. There are also some cheap copies of the Martin Backpacker available. But I wasnt only going for cheap. And after covering the shipping you wouldnt get away with less that R600 so pay a bit more and get something approaching decent.
Most of these brands, mostly American in name and tradition, are made in China. So when the Hora caught my eye it held my focus and I ended up buying a teardrop shaped travel guitar straight from thre factory in Romania. I paid 73 euros which is around R730.00 plus 29 euros for shipping.
They packed it well and 10 days later it was in Johannesburg. I am in Cape Town and it took another two weeks to get it from Johannesburg to my local Post Office! (Well done SA Post Office)
It has a solid spruce top with mahogany sides and a laminated lime back. Thats a first. The fretboard, some kind of blackened acacia wood.
It has a classical style bridge as it is built for either nylon of steel strings. I was a bit concerned about this but the bridge seems to be strong.
The machine heads have plastic lobes.
The scale length is 610mm which is only slightly shorter than a standard 650mm of a standard guitar. The neck width at the nut is 48mm. The overall length of the instrument is 890mm by 220mm wide and 60mm deep.
I bought a scratch plate locally just to protect the finish.
It has a nice clear tone with no rattles or buzz. It has a good volume although it cannot compare with a jumbo in either volume or sound quality. But hey, that's what you sacrifice for a compact little instrument like this. Having a small body makes it something to get used to and I had to find a new way to caress my new prize. A strap would help to hold it in a suitable playing position.
It comes with a gig bag and I made a strong case so that I can cram it into any luggage compartment or car boot without it sustaining up any injuries. Its a strong case now that I can stand on or even jump on!!

You can see their website at www.hora.ro

I hope these pics load ok!!



resize :-[

You can get a good Yamaha C40M for R800 maybe a little more. You cant go wrong on that!

Thats a great collection. I like it!

I did all these kind of comparisons a while back and ended up buying a Hora travel guitar. It doesnt sound as great as a jumbo but that is what you sacrifice for a small body. It has a teardrop shaped body.
The overall length is 8850 and scale length is 6150. So it has an (almost) standard scale length. It comes with a bag but I made my own hard case.
Im happy with what I got.

Yes I will take a few pics and put them together when Im done.
Now . . . . for that dog bowl !!!

So I have always wanted to own a resonator guitar. Somewhere in the back of my mind it has lingered there over the years. Nothing electric mind you just a simple single cone down to earth acoustically driven resophonic guitar.
So when someone handed be a really beaten up Angelica steel string guitar, I decided that this was my opportunity.

I cut the hole in the top. Filled in the original hole. Added some very sexy F holes. Ordered a tail piece from eBay. Now Im looking for a cone and cover-plate at some kind of good price.
Failing that Im gonna use my dogs stainless steel drinking bowl and then fashion a shiny cover plate out of something I find around the place.

So my question is; Where can I find these kind of things in Cape Town?
Its got to look good. If anyone has any clues for me Im Ready and willing to hear.

I did my home work (google) and I find that there are ways of doing these things. Im looking to use the type of single cone thta sits with a biscuit bridge on the top. The biscuit bridge will be simple to make.

In spite of all the chancers you can still pick up some bargains on Gumtree but you really have to look closely and over a long period of time. It seems to me like most of the guitars on Gumtree are in Cape Town (if Im not mistaken).
Anyway it never ceases to amaze me at people who will advertize a guitar or other instrument and not even mention its brand name. Its probably the first detail I need to hear.
One guy I replied to and asked what make is it and he replied "Havent a clue mate"! Another thing is, all these ads for guitars "Brand new, Still in the box" for R249.00

У вас есть уникальный стиль гитары. Вы должны были играть как это в течение долгого времени. Я смотрел некоторые из ваших песен на Youtube.