Categories
Bluegrass Music

Cirrus Jam/Bluegrass in Superclass/Craigslist

I don’t usually attend open jam sessions, as being a songwriter, I tend to lean more toward writing and co-writing original material instead of playing covers, especially with other musicians of varying competence and choice of songs. However, I did want to attend a particular one held this past Thursday by Mike Frank, the gentleman who built my Cirrus acoustic guitar. The jam session was held in a small waiting room/lounge attached to his workshop, and was co-organized by his assistant Steve.

Mike and Steve were extremely welcoming to everyone there, which totaled eight jammers including myself and those two. Mike provided refreshments and was more than willing to show everyone around the shop and the guitars they are working on. Mike showed me a list of bluegrass musicians he has orders from, so his reputation for a solid guitar at an affordable price is getting around.

Two hours were spent playing covers of bluegrass, folk, and Celtic songs, with an abundance of acoustic guitars, although Steve did pull out his banjo and mandolin, and there was another banjo player there. While I would have liked to have done more classic bluegrass songs, it was good to hear what others liked to perform. The doors opened at 5:30 in the evening, the jam started at 6:00, and wrapped up a little after 8:00. Being once per month makes it something to easily fit into my schedule without growing tired, so I will definitely be attending again. Many thanks to Mike and Steve.

I took Friday off of work to get my windshield replaced, and afterward took a trip to Toledo (actually, suburban Oregon, OH) to attend the second day of the three-day Bluegrass in Superclass festival at the Maumee Bay Lodge. Google sent me on a crazy route to get there, and the wind advisory all day that was tossing my subcompact care around didn’t help. The lodge is a really nice place to be sure, and they had a hall set up for the performances with ample seating.

The big reason I went down is that the Kody Norris Show was headlining. The band is definitely one of my favorite live shows, it’s no wonder that they keep winning SPBGMA awards every year. As I was walking around the hall, Kody spotted me and came over to say hello. Soon the rest of the band came along and were happy to see me as well. I was able to spend a few minutes talking to fiddler Rachel Norris about some original material as well as getting more press for the band. She actually inspired me to consider doing an online magazine dedicated to bluegrass musicians and instrument manufacturers, eyeing the musicians themselves as the potential readers.

Of course, they put on a fantastic show. I video recorded one of the band’s songs to send to a co-worker. I won’t post it here, as the room as not well lit and it came out grainy. Unfortunately, I was not able to stick around for the second set, but we made an agreement to get together for some writing at SPBGMA in two weeks.

As for the festival, it makes a great getaway for those of us in the area needing a bluegrass fix in the middle of winter without having to drive 12 hours to a festival down south. I do plan on keeping this one in my calendar for next year, even if only for a day. I also found a much better way to get there without Google’s help.

So as far as my music stuff listed on Craigslist, I got a real doozie of an email last week. I decided to put up that Dean Playmate bass up for sale, and listed it for $70.00, knowing full well that I would probably accept a lower offer and lose a few dollars on the overall deal. Well, I got an offer that has made me and everyone I have told about it just scratch their heads and laugh.

Someone emailed me to offer a trade on the bass for a 2025 Nike hat with adjustable headband. Really? A Nike hat isn’t worth more than $20.00 brand new (I’m sure his was worn). Not even a music-related hat, just a Nike. And he never said if it was limited edition or if someone like Tom Brady autographed it. It was such a joke of an offer that I only responded “No thank you,” as I usually reply with an explanation. That offer didn’t even require an explanation, it was embarrassing. Obviously the guy didn’t get the hint of “get lost,” as he has to write band saying “well, then I will pass on the offer.” Uh, I didn’t make a counter offer, but I let him have his last word.

This incident was almost worse than the exchange I got a few months ago. I have a made in Mexico Fender Stratocaster on CL for $500.00. One guy wrote me that he would take it for $225.00 CASH (his emphasis, not mine). Oooh, like I would consider being paid by Venmo or PayPal and I was that desperate for cash. Similarly, I wrote back a no-thank you reply, but did give him a little explanation.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bass Guitar Lutherie

Dean Playmate Bass Guitar

I spent a few weekends over the past month taking a good look and working on the Dean Playmate bass guitar I purchased back in August at the US-12 Longest Yard Sale (https://luegra.design.blog/2025/08/09/us-12-yard-sale-2025-sembma-picnic-2025-misc/). Upon closer inspection, I see that the thing has been through a lot of abuse. I never planned on keeping it, but it would need a lot of work cleaning up to make it playable again.

The first thing I did was remove a bunch of stickers with the help of Goo Gone. That took a lot of elbow grease to be sure, but I was able to get them all off without taking off any paint. The biggest concern with the bass was that the pickguard was not original, but a generic P-bass replacement. Dean had cut a special pickguard for this bass, and whatever happened to it I will never know. I did some research on this bass, and Playmate was made as a low-cost alternative to Dean’s professional line of guitars and basses. This particular bass was made sometime in the 1990s, so I knew that finding an exact pickguard replacement would be impossible.

The replacement pickguard fits over most of the original area, but left a gap right around where the output jack is mounted. I first thought of cutting a special section of pickguard to cover the area, but then did not want to invest much more time and money into the bass, so instead I traced the current pickguard area, filled the uncovered cavity with some wood putty, sanded it down and applied some similar-color artist paint to the area. Not professional, but it does the job, and again, I didn’t want to pour more money into this cheap bass.

The replacement pickguard also had holes drilled for a thumb rest. Again, I didn’t want to invest more money into it, as a plastic rest would have cost around $10.00 plus shipping if I ordered it. Instead, I cut a piece of hardwood to fit, painted it with a Sharpie pen, and it serves the purpose.

Setting it up for playing was another story. The bridge saddles were set up totally opposite to what should be for a guitar, in that, if you look at the saddle placement on a typical bass, the E string saddle is usually set back a bit farther than the G string saddle, with the A and D string saddles compensated likewise. This one had the G saddle adjusted way back, and sure enough, the intonation was off considerably. As I said before, this bass must have been though a lot of sweaty hands, and the bridge/saddle area was full of surface rust. I cleaned it off as best that I could, and adjusted the saddles for better (not perfect) intonation. The screws and springs on the bridge were heavily corroded, so even with the best of cleaning, there is still some corrosion showing. It would be too much cost to replace with a similar bridge.

Looking back, I paid a bit more than I should have for this bass, and perhaps I should have given it a better once-over before handing over the money. Dean has a good reputation for its guitar lineup, but this one is over 20 years old, and the Playmate series today just consists of an acoustic bass guitar. Used Playmate solidbody basses from the previous few years go for about $150.00, give or take a sawbuck. As I said, I don’t plan on keeping it, and from the original cost I paid, along with the time and pocket change I invested, I figure that I will be losing some money on this. If I don’t sell it within the next year, I’ll probably hand it off to some young kid interested in learning the bass. It did teach me a few things about buying used equipment, as well as working on guitars that I haven’t done before.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Home Recording Lutherie Songwriting

My 2025 in Review

Taking a look back at 2025, there are a few things that I learned about what I do related to music, both positive and negative. Here are some thoughts:

Freelance writing – I pretty much confirmed earlier this year that my last regular freelance writing gig dissolved. Fiddler Magazine hasn’t published online in over a year, and the print version left us about two years ago. I still have not heard back from the editor/publisher regarding what has happened, and I received a Christmas card form the former editor Mary Larsen checking in, which I truly appreciated. I am not sure how much more I will keep freelancing, as it is extremely difficult to find paying gigs thanks to AI. So many publications are folding, going online, or just keep their few contributing writers on. I loved writing, interviewing artists, reviewing releases, and networking. However, that outlet is drying up fast, and there is little motivation to pursue it further. This blog will at least keep my writing chops up.

Cirrus Guitars – After 40+ years of playing guitar, bass, and a few other instruments as a hobby and live on stage, it was exciting to have a guitar specially built for me. While my specifications were not elaborate, I loved the fact that it was my choice of what went into that acoustic guitar. The wait of three months was well worth it. Mike Frank at Cirrus was such a great person to work with, keeping me updated on the progress. My Martin D-28 is still my wife, but playing the shorter-scale Cirrus acoustic has got me playing bluegrass flatpicking leads a little easier.

Lutherie – While I’ve always done a lot of basic maintenance on my guitars, and have done simple modifications throughout the years, this year, I did a lot more hands-on work with repairs and building. It started with a major repair to a mandolin late last year that worked out well, and now getting DIY guitar kits that I could finish on my own. My first kit taught me a lot, especially with finishes and knowing that it takes a lot of time to get a good look. I have a few more kits that I got good deals on, including a P-bass kit that I plan to do a pickup modification. Another positive experience from this work is that I motivated a co-worker to get into the guitar-building hobby. She has done previous woodworking, but was so impressed with my last job that she has jumped right in. I got her a simple Tele-style kit, and within days, she was already staining the body. It does my heart good.

Suno.com – Now that I am recording my song demos on an 8-track digital recorder, I can do a lot more instrumental and vocal layering. When I was talking to Brent Baxter from SongwritingPro.com during my last trip to Nashville, he was praising Suno for its AI embellishing simple demos to sound like a studio recording. I joined Suno at their basic $10/month rate. This only allows you to upload a song and do basic editing of length. I decided to go for the Premium Studio rate at $200/year. Well, I downloaded a basic guitar/vocal song, and was not happy with with the results. First off, if you don’t have the most up-to-date computer (you cannot use it on a phone app), you cannot get into the Studio application. Next, it uploaded the lyrics it sensed, which were incorrect in a few places, but there was no way to correct them. Finally, this song is a fast-paced bluegrass number, but the Studio application (when I was able to get in) turned it into a mid-tempo pop-country number. I am totally disappointed with this program, and I am out $200 unless I get a better computer, which isn’t likely for a while. In short, Suno seems to be set up for people who write lyrics and need a ready-made studio band to put music on his/her words.
For 2026, I plan to do more guitar-kit building, songwriting and recording, hopefully more co-writing, and as a non-related goal, find another full-time job that is not as stressful as my current one.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and that 2026 will be prosperous for all. Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Americana Music

Joe Ely RIP

It’s getting sad that I keep having to talk about the death of a talented musical artist every week, but here we are again.

Joe Ely flew under the radar when it came to the mainstream country and rock worlds, but he was revered in the Americana, roots-rock, and even punk music crowds. His live shows were powerful, yet it was his songwriting and vocal performances, so soulful and gritty, that hit the listener hard in a good way.

Ely passed away on December 15th at the age of 78. Although his final residence was in New Mexico, he was a Texan blood and bones. His first legendary work came in 1971 when he joined two other Texas troubadours, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, to form The Flatlanders. They recorded an album the next year, but broke up soon after its release. That album, All American Music, was only released as a limited 8-track tape for contractual obligations, but became a cult classic among roots music audiophiles. There was such a high demand for the music that Rounder Records re-issued it in 1990 as More a Legend Than a Band. The trio reunited occasionally throughout the years, but began recording again, beginning in 1998 for The Horse Whisperer in 1998 (director Robert Redford had asked Ely to write music for the soundtrack).

Ely began touring and recording full-time around 1977. During a tour of London, he became friends with the punk band The Clash. Besides performing together, The Clash mentioned Ely in their song “If Music Could Talk,” while Ely donated background vocals to the band’s hit “Should I Stay Or Should I Go.”

Along with the long solo career and work with The Flatlanders, Ely was also a member of Los Super Seven, along with Raul Malo who passed away two weeks ago. That band won a Grammy in 1999 for its self-titled album in the Best Mexican/Mexican-American category.

In 2007, Ely received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association. In 2016, he was crowned Texas State Musician for that year, and was entered into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame in 2022.

In 2002, The Flatlanders appeared at the Americana Music Association’s conference and awards show. This is where I got to meet Ely, and he was one of those guys who appreciated people appreciating him and his work. We talked for a while, and I hung out with the trio for a while after their private performance. It was a prayer answered to be able to meet the man who recorded one of my favorite roots-rock songs, “Musta Notta Gotta Lotta.” Talk about showing your love and respect for the pioneers like Jerry Lee Lewis!

Joe, thank you for all the wild and fun music that you have given us, and I hope that God is giving you a honky-tonk to perform at up there.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Americana Music Country Music

Raul Malo RIP

One of the greatest voices in music today unfortunately passed away on December 8th. Raul Malo, lead singer for the country/Americana group The Mavericks, died from colon cancer at the age of 60. His voice was undescribable, up there with Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, and even Luciano Pavoratti.

Born of Cuban immigrants, he co-founded The Mavericks in the late 1980s in Miami, fusing country music with rockabilly, pop, and Cuban/Latin influences. The band had a totally unique sound that made them not only popular in the country music scene, but in the alternative music scene as well.

It was that VOICE, one of those that no matter what Malo was singing, the emotion was there. It was often said that he could sing the phone book and make it sound romantic. The band had a few country chart hits, and won awards early in its career, but like most country acts, its star fizzled. As the band descended in interest with country fans, the emerging Americana music fan base embraced it wholeheartedly.

The Mavericks went on a hiatus in the early 2000s, and Malo recorded a number of solo albums that still stand the test of time when it comes to passionate vocals. He also fronted an Americana supergroup Los Super Seven. He also got heavily involved with the Americana Music Association, serving on its board for a few years. This is where I got to know him and work with him on a number of occasions. The man was one of the friendliest, most humble people in the music industry, never turning away from a fan or fellow music lover.

The Mavericks reunited around 2010, and toured extensively for the next decade and a half to packed houses. Every time I saw them, Malo was up in front, enjoying the hell out of the situation. And that voice, I swear, it could melt women in the crowd like a candle. In a way, he knew he had that tool, that weapon, but he never used it, being faithful to his wife for decades.

Malo announced his fight with cancer this past summer, but continued to tour and perform up until a few weeks ago when the fight had taken its toll. He left Nashville for treatment in Houston. Just days before his death, the remaining members of The Mavericks came to his hospital room to play for him one last time.

The music industry has lost an amazing voice, to be sure. I have been pulling up YouTube videos of Malo and The Mavericks all week, still knocked out by his singing. I know that no one lives forever, and that we all must meet our Maker, but I feel that he still had some more to give us. I will truly miss Raul Malo, as there will never be another voice like that for decades to come, if ever.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Guitars Rock Music

Steve Cropper RIP

On December 3rd, one of the coolest rock and R&B musicians passed away. Steve Cropper was was 84, but he gave the music world enough joy to come from four or five lives. He was a guitarist, songwriter, and producer during a time when pop music was exploding in the 1960s, and his stamp can still be heard in the grooves of modern performances.

My first experience (as well as many others) was seeing and hearing him play guitar with John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd in the Blues Brothers Band. When they were forming the band originally as a skit for Saturday Night Live, Belushi wanted to have the best available R&B studio musicians to re-establish that original powerful sound. Thus, he nabbed Cropper and bassist Duck Dunn, who were two of the most stable musicians from the Stax Records studio.

After hearing the band’s version, I sought out the original version performed by Sam &Dave. Belushi even copied the “play it, Steve” shout to Cropper that’s on the original. That Sam & Dave song got me to look more into Stax artists, and with Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Rufus Thomas and others, Cropper laid down the guitar tracks on almost all of them.

Cropper, along with Dunn, Al Jackson, and Booker T. Jones, made up the instrumental supergroup Booker T and the MG’s, which not only served as the basic Stax studio band, but also had a number of instrumental hits, including, “Green Onions” and “Time is Tight.” They also worked with the Memphis Horns as the moniker the Mar-Keys. Cropper was so influential during the mid-1960s that the Beatles wanted to record with him in Memphis at the Stax studio. Unfortunately, manager Brian Epstein put a halt to that due to security reasons. Ringo Starr would have Cropper appear on a number of his solo albums during the 1970s.

Besides his guitar skills, Cropper was also a prolific songwriter. His best-known writes and co-writes include Eddie Floyd’s “Knock on Wood,” Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour,” and Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay” (which also includes some of the most beautiful guitar licks Cropper ever performed).

Stax was highly influential, as it was one of the few record companies that had both black and white musicians working together to create a unique R&B sound. Unfortunately, by the end of the 60s, tensions grew within the organization, and in 1970 Cropper had left Stax to open his own TMI Studios in Memphis. There he would work with Starr, Rod Stewart, and Jeff Beck among others.

In 1975, Cropper moved to Los Angles for continued studio work, and was in the works to re-form Booker T and the MG’s until drummer Jackson was murdered. In 1978 he and Dunn would work with Levon Helm. This soon led to the duo becoming members of the Blues Brothers Band, and appearing in the two films (The Blues Brothers and Blues Brothers 2000, playing themselves).

In 1992, Booker T and the MG’s were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and Cropper would then tour with Bob Dylan for Dylan’s 30th Anniversary Tour. In 1996, Mojo Magazine named him ‘the greatest living guitar player. Keith Richards was quoted as saying that Cropper was “Perfect, Man!” In 1998, Cropper made a video autobiography entitled The Interview – Play It, Steve! In 2004, he and Dunn worked with Eric Clapton at the Crossroads Guitar Festival in Dallas. The following year, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Over the following two decades, Cropper would continue to produce albums for other artists and perform live. At this time, the cause of his death is unknown, but the music world had definitely lost one of its star performers.

For any musician, especially guitarists, wanting to know how to perfectly blend rock, blues, country and R&B, I implore you to seek out recordings that Cropper was on, most notably his guitar work on those early Stax sessions., He was one of the few guitarist to take the Fender Telecaster beyond its twangy country roots and give it an all-encompassing sound. He will surely be missed, but he has left us a truckload of music to enjoy and learn from.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Dobro

A Little Bit About the Dobro

First off, I hope that everyone here in the US had a good and safe Thanksgiving!

So because I do a lot of web searching for both musical instruments and bluegrass-related material, I get a lot of pop-ups on items for sale that (by a long shot) have some connection to these two areas due to my algorithms. I usually just delete them and move on, but recently I got one that piqued my curiosity.

It stated that a bluegrass resonator guitar was on sale for $159.00. Now reso guitars, better known with the bluegrass crowd as a dobro (one of the original manufacturers was a company called Dobro, formed by the Dopyera brothers), are not as “affordable” as beginner acoustic guitars. Even low-end dobros are rarely under $300.00, and many of them are used models. So I clicked on the ad.

Acoustic Electric Guitar, Rich Sound, Built-in Preamp, Deep Cherry Finish

It turned out to be what I expected. This was round-neck reso guitar set up for guitar players. Some blues and folk guitarists like to play a reso guitar to get a swampy sound from it, courtesy of the metal cone that replaces where the soundhole would be on a regular acoustic guitar. They have a brighter, more metallic tone, but can be louder than a normal acoustic. Players like to use a bottleneck-style slide on them to get that bluesy slide sound. The brand name is Pyle, better known for high-fidelity and guitar amplifier speakers, so I am sure it is just contracted with them. I am also certain that these are probably made in some Asian country with very cheap labor. The funny thing is, the actual item is listed as an acoustic-electric guitar with built-in preamp.

The dobro models that are used by bluegrass players almost always have a square neck. This is for stability, but also serves as a better anchor for a dobro capo. This type of capo, rather than clamping down on the fretboard, rests solely on the strings. The string height on a dobro is much higher than a regular guitar so that the slide will move freely along the strings and not come in contact with the frets (which only serve as a note marker). While it is easily possible to play a round neck by raising the strings at the nut with a special nut (available from sources like Elderly Instruments, Guitar Center or Sweetwater for under $20.00), you are still limited if you want to play upon strings in a different key than the standard G tuning on a Dobro.

Another aspect of a bluegrass dobro player is that they almost always use fingerpicks and a thumbpick, similar to a banjo player. Tut Taylor was one of the few dobro players that used a flatpick, but he is an exception. The finger/thumb combination allows for rolls on the strings like a banjo player, but with the different G tuning than a banjo, the rolls sound much different.

I have seen a few bluegrass dobro players use a round-neck model, but again, they were usually having to stick to playing barred strings when in different keys. Now I am not saying that a round-neck reso guitar would be a good starter model for the beginner, especially if one of those raised nuts is installed over the regular nut. Most beginner dobro lesson books and videos are going to instruct the basics in the key of G anyways.

When I was working at the musical instrument petting zoo at the Charlotte Bluegrass Festival last June, one young girl was very interested in trying out and playing the dobro. I explained to her parents that while the cost of a good dobro may be high, there are many low-cost alternatives for beginners, including converting a regular acoustic guitar with the nut-raiser and playing it sideways like a dobro. In such a case, if the student takes a true interest in playing the dobro, money can be saved up for a regular square-neck model.

I was fortunate years ago to get my hands on a Regal dobro for a very good price. I still have it, and althoughj I don’t play it as much as I would like, it is a great sounding dobro that I use to embellish some demos of mine. If I ever got the time, I definitely would like to work more on it.

The dobro is often thought of as a minor instrument in the bluegrass field. Josh Graves and a very few others were the purveyors, and the greatest dobro player out there today, Jerry Douglas, has helped to promote it in the bluegrass and country music fields more than anyone. It has a unique sound that does change the overall composition of a bluegrass band, whether you like that sound or not. However, it does make a great bluegrass instrument for beginners to consider if not interested in the sometimes complex fretting of a banjo or mandolin, or the coordination of a fiddle. I would encourage parents to offer the dobro up as a possible instrument to play to their children interested in bluegrass.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Music

Bluegrass Unlimited’s Annual Talent Directory

Every November, Bluegrass Unlimited puts out its Annual Talent Directory. This lists a number of bands, artists, and songwriters that request appearance. I have been included for a number of years, and every July I get sent an application which I take five minutes to fill out and email back.

The Directory takes up about 12 pages of the magazine, and includes from around the globe, although the international representation is quite small. However, what surprises me the most about the listings is that there are so many bands and artists that do not take the time to request inclusion.

I can understand some of the A-list bluegrass bands such as Alison Krauss & Union Station, The Del McCoury Band, and Ricky Skaggs choosing not to, as they are well enough established that they do not need any type of recognition in the listings. However, looking through list, there are plenty of bands that I am familiar with that have performed at festivals and conventions I have attended that do not appear.

I am sure that it has little to do with not knowing about the directory. Bluegrass Unlimited is pretty much the only print publication exclusively covering bluegrass, and if anyone in any bluegrass band subscribes to the magazine, he/she would be aware of the Directory submission usually appearing in a summer issue. The listing is free of charge, and bands/artists are able to enhance their listing by submitting a photo for a small charge, as well as note that they are available for school programs.

I do see that managers/publicists such as Penni McDaniel and Wilson Pickens Promotions take full advantage of the Directory, listing all of the artists that they represent. This is great on both fronts, as it allows them to show who they represent, as well as any interested festival organizers to contact a single source for a few acts.

I highly doubt that the following is the reason, but perhaps a lot of bands do not want to promote themselves that much, preferring to playing occasional parties and VFW halls. I would think that any band that takes the time to continually practice in order to sound professional would take that five minutes to have themselves listed in the Directory, if only to show some reader that there is a bluegrass band that is in his/her vicinity, so that he/she can keep an eye out for a possible show in the near future.

As I do not do much performing these days, I choose to list myself in the Directory more for networking with bands and other songwriters for possible collaboration. Moreover, some promoter/manager may get in touch with me to find a location for he/her band to perform in the area.

The Directory should be filled with a lot more artists than it is, but Bluegrass Unlimited can lead a horse to water but not make it drink. Bands and artists themselves need to be more productive on their end and take the few minutes to fill out the form. I do not see how in any way that it can hurt the band.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Music Nashville

A Short Trip to Nashville

I got back from Nashville late Thursday evening, and while I was there for only two days, there is some stuff that we can talk about.

  • I rented a car so that I could put my car in the shop that needed a few days of work. While I requested an economy car, I was given a small SUV. Comfortable, but it was a 2025 model that had way too many bells and whistles that was confusing me while on the road. The auto-bright-lights feature was throwing me off, as I thought that I was turning them on when going around a curve. Just give me four wheels, an engine and a steering wheel.
  • Sirius/XM Radio. It was on the rental car, and trying to find decent radio stations through Ohio is a pain, so I kept the satellite radio on. I dropped my subscription with Sirius/XM a few years back, and now I realize one of the reasons that I did. I kept the radio on the Bluegrass Junction station the whole time. I swear, they have a rotating playlist of about 12-15 songs that seem to get played every two hours, sparsely interspersed with a few classics by Bill Monroe or Jim & Jesse. The repeat ones were all modern songs, and as I listened, they were less like bluegrass and more like acoustic country/folk/pop. They also played a lot of Billy Strings, but at least they varied the song selection. No, not worth the cost for me.
  • Songwriter sessions. One got canceled (I’m not going to get mad, as I hope to reschedule in January when I go down for the SPBGMA conference), and the other, which was more of a Q&A session, I was late due to a stalled train at a crossing. The session was helpful to say the least as Brent (who runs SongwritingPro.com) got me interested in Suno.com, a website that helps make demos sound a lot better by providing instruments and vocals mixed in at the songwriter’s discretion. I haven’t used it yet, but plan on it soon!
  • Jack’s BBQ/Frugal MacDoogal. Two places that I can never pass up while in Music City. Jack’s has the best pulled pork I have ever eaten. I always order the three-meat special so I get the pork, beef brisket and smoked sausage, while dipping in six difference sauces! Enough to have lunch the next day. Frugal MacDoogal is the Wal-Mart of liquor stores! I always pick up a stash for my friends and brother while I’m in town. Prices are way lower than in Detroit.
  • Rosine, Kentucky. For me, it is worth the hour detour to visit the birthplace of Bill Monroe, I always visit his grave and lay a quarter on his stone for myself and one for my buddy Ken. This time, I was running a bit later than usual, so I was able to visit the Bill Monroe Museum. The place is filled with Monroe’s furniture, instruments, and loads of other memorabilia. As I was the only one there, the cashier/manager Christie walked around with me. I ended up telling her more about Monroe than she knew. She insisted that I take a photo with the cardboard cutout of Monroe in front of a microphone. I also went up to his boyhood home on Jerusalem Ridge. The dossier there named Ken was staying in his truck to keep warm, as the house was not fully heated. He told me that Doyle Lawson has been there a few days before just to look around. This town should have so many visitors because of Monroe, but there is no signage on the highways passing by, so really the only people that show up are the true fans like me, and those that come to the annual Bill Monroe Days Festival in September. The authorities that handle the state’s tourist functions need to get their heads in gear!
  • Theresa Kereakes. This is one of my dearest friends, not just in the music scene, but in my life. We text a lot, however, we don’t see each other much due to distance, so we make a plan to meet up whenever I am in Nashville. We worked together in the early days of the AMA AmericanaFest, and I can honestly say, if the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame had a Den Mother category, Theresa would be the first enshrined. I won’t even begin to list the artists she has worked with behind the scenes, but I can say there are a few that are legends in the business. For years I have told her that she needs to write a book of her life stories and anecdotes, and fortunately she recently has started on it. If you want a taste of her adventures, visit her blog at http://punkturns30.blogspot.com . Anyone that loves rock and roll with love her insights.

I won’t get into much else. Road construction down there is worse that here in Detroit, and that is saying a lot! Also, drivers down there are way worse. If they pulled the crap they do up here in Detroit, they would probably have their windows shot out!

As stated, I’ll be heading back down there in January, so the next two months will be busy emailing inquiries and recording a few more demos.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Acoustic Guitars Lutherie

Tone Traveler/ToneRite – Are They Worth It?

Have you ever heard of the Tone Traveler? How about the ToneRite? While these products have been around for a few years, they (especially the Tone Traveler) have been in the acoustic guitar news as of late.

Their purpose is to “break in” a brand-new acoustic guitar so that it has the sound and characteristics of a well-worn model. The device basically vibrates the strings by attaching it to the bridge/saddle, let it run for a few hours (even days), which is supposed to translate into months/years of breaking in the guitar so that the wood stretches in its expected way in relation to the strings. The Tone Traveler looks like a microphone head capsule or a small Bluetooth speaker, with the ToneRite module is a square piece about the size of a large pack of gum. Both are plugged in to a power source to operate.

There are a number of reviews of these devices on YouTube, mostly with positive reviews. The player will leave them on for a few hours, then proceed to show before and after video clips. Some show the devices working, which vibrates all six strings by self-vibrating or producing specific tones. Think about how it sounds when you pluck all six strings without forming a chord. Now imagine that dissonant sound going for hours, even days! A few reviewers have said that they put it in another room (or in the basement) with the door closed so as to muffle the irritating sound.

With that said, by listening to the before/after results on both my laptop and phone speakers, I heard absolutely no differences. I don’t plan on hooking up the computer ot a stereo sound system to try and decipher the changes. I guess that one would have to be sitting in front of the guitar’s soundhole to shear any differences.

As readers may know, I recently purchased a Cirrus acoustic guitar. I also have a 1991 Martin D-28, the Sevillana 2208 dreadnought, my Blueridge dreadnaught dating probably from the late 1980s, and a few other lower-cost models. Each has its own distinct tone, but not as diverse as, say, a Gibson Les Paul humbucker and a Fender Stratocaster single-coil played through the same amp. However, there are differences in the woods used, the scale length, and size of the body. Even the string gauge can affect the sound.

The argument for one of these products is that a new guitar sounds too new, not broken in. Yes, that may be true, but is spending $150-$250 just to break in the guitar more important instead of actually playing it for a few months? With my new Cirrus, I want to break it in myself, like raising my son or daughter. The change in sound will be subtle over the months/years, and it will be your work, not some plug-in device.

If the “aging” is that important to anyone, I can perhaps see a guitar dealer or luthier using one of these products to break in the new guitars in their showrooms. It can be a selling point to a customer. However, customers rarely buy more than one guitar at at time, and don’t trade in or buy another for years. It seems to buy one of these for a one-time use and put it away for years may not be worth it. It’s not like a tuner or string winder that will be used often.

I plan to spend a bit more time researching these items and what they actually do. If vibrations is their main purpose, I am wondering if the use of a vibrating hand or body massager laid over the bridge/saddle can serve the same purpose for a lot less money (and has another use, of course). If it is tone generator-oriented, perhaps building a cheap tone generator (there are kits out there) may work.

Chew on it and comment.

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