Mike Hoodenpyle

Thanks, guys! Glad you liked it!

My version of the Don McLean classic. This is based on an arrangement I found on You Tube posted by Tim Van Roy, who posts a lot of instructional videos. The first time through, the verses and chorus are pretty much how he taught them, except for some fills. I made quite few changes to suit myself on the rest of the song, including playing parts of the third and fourth verses with harmonics a la Chet. This performance has quite a few warts, but I'm sick to death of it, lol, so it is what it is.

I like it a lot. Very well done.

That's a beauty. Congrats, and play it in good health!

Congrats, and enjoy! I like your guitar budget logic.

I played one of those years ago, and another one recently. Both were stellar. Congrats and happy playing!

Thank you all for your interest and comments. I'm loving this guitar. I'm working on a piece in drop D right now, and it's glorious.

I’ve been looking at all koa guitars for about 15 years, but never pulled the trigger on one until now. I don’t normally buy acoustic guitars without a test drive, but I took a chance on this one, and I’m glad I did. It sounds amazing, plays like a dream, and has without a doubt the most beautiful koa top I’ve ever seen. Happy and blessed. (I can't take photos nearly as good as Sweetwater does, so these are all from their listing except for the last one.)

That's too bad. I hope you get to see him sometime.

Got my tickets, aisle seats on the sixth row, center section. I can hardly wait until Nov 13th. We saw him a few years ago, and he puts on a phenomenal show.

I'm no Martin expert, but I've played both of those models in the past. For my taste, I'd go with the EC. That said, I wouldn't buy either without playing it first.

I don't think the minor scale intervals are in the course. It's nice to know info, but it's really much easier to work off of the major scale all the time. Glad to be of help.

Hi Kenneth, Relative major and minor scales have the same notes, and the relative minor of each major scale begins on the sixth degree of the major scale. As an example, the C major scale has the notes: C - D - E - F- G - A - B, then up to the octave C The sixth degree of C major is A, so the relative minor scale of C is Am, and the notes are: A - B - C - D - E - F - G, then up to the octave A If you were trying to determine a minor scale's notes and didn't know the notes of its relative major scale, you could build a minor scale using intervals. This is done the same way as building a major scale, but the intervals are different. Whereas the major scale intervals, starting with the root, are W - W - H - W - W - W - H, the minor scale intervals, starting with the root, are W - H - W - W - H - W - W. Hope that helps, Mike

I've had two Ovation Elites and a Breedlove 12-string in the past, and currently have two Breedlove six strings. Never had any problems with any of them, and I think the pinless bridge is a great design. Like Randy, I protect the top behind the bridge when I change strings, but I use the cardboard string packaging.

That's a fantastic project. Great playing from people all over the world, and a really nice mix and video. Well done to all involved.

Congrats! Sweet looking guitar, and it's making me drool.

Nothing wrong with flesh only. Experiment with your attack and you'll find you can get actually get some pretty bright tone. If you play a lot, your fingertips will toughen up a little and give you more options.

Thank you both very much!

Thanks very much! Yes, TE really gets after it. He's amazing.

Thank you! Thanks. Yes, it was a challenge, and I could never play it the way TE does.

Thanks very much!

Thanks very much.

I'm slipping in just under the wire with my acoustic cover of "Classical Gas." If I could point to one song that inspired me to play guitar, this would be it. I remember seeing someone (most likely Mason Williams) play it on TV when I was nine or ten years old and I've loved it ever since. The original version, released in 1968, included an orchestra. This is a cover of the guitar solo released on the 1970 album Handmade. Thanks for listening.

Thanks very much! Maybe the problem is mainly my speakers.