Dave White

I use Boveda as well - I have them in all of my acoustic cases. They have worked well for me. My local guitar store sells them.

Wow - that is an ambitious project! I imagine that the most difficult part will be getting the top and back realigned with the sides. Looks like it might have originally looked something like this:

I have been using a Vidami Pedal for the last six months. If you are not familiar with it, it is a hands free video looper that makes it much easier to work with online content (for example YouTube videos). It is well built and incredibly easy to use. The biggest issue I had in learning to use it was to train myself to stop reaching for my mouse or keyboard when I wanted to stop, start, slow down, or loop a video. They have also just released (taking preorders) a wireless version.

Very nice - congratulations!

Congrats on the new guitar! It looks great.

He Ron, I visited Rumble Seat in July. It is a very small shop (with very few parking spaces) that is within walking distance from Gruhn's. It is worthwhile to visit just to see the collector guitars they have (one of Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitars - signed!) and other noteworthy guitars that could be in a museum. Everything is for sale - but bring a bank vault full of money if you are going to pick up Stevie Ray's or one of Ronnie Wood's guitars. They also had a wide assortment of amps and other music business related stuff as well as a handful of acoustic and electric guitars for sale. They were very friendly (the individual I spoke with used to work at Gruhn's). It was worth the visit. As far as visiting the shops go - since Artisan has moved into Nashville, I typically hit the shops all at once. Carter's is within a couple miles of Gruhn's and North American and Artisan are right next to each other about a ten minute drive to the east of Carter's. And not too far from all of them is Gibson's new shop - which is outstanding. Visit all in one day and then go back to follow up on anything you are interested in the next day. 🙂 Inventory was down a bit at some of the shops when I visited during in July. Call ahead to check on shop hours and to make sure you don't need to reserve a time slot. Don't forget to spend some time on the second floor at Gruhn's. Enjoy - and provide us with a full report!

I can't add much to what Diane and Greg have posted above. It was a great week of seeing old friends and making new ones. We were able see, hear and rub elbows with some of the finest talent in Nashville. Thanks to Gruhn's, Artisan, North American Guitar, Carter Vintage, and the new Gibson Garage, we saw and played more guitars than we would in a lifetime back home. Looking forward to next year. Below is a link to all the photos I took last week - starting from packing the car to the closing session. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/svwd4aeu4lpob35/AAACnryfaU3BwSUFb2hkIEcna?dl=0

Very nice @matonanjin - all mahogany guitars are great. I have an O-17 that I really like.

Congratulations on your new guitar!

Sounds like you might regret not getting the EC. You can always pick up a 000-15M.

Yes - your missing piece is a bushing. Do you have a local guitar shop you can take it to? They likely have a stock of extra bushings that would fit your guitar. Should be a quick fix.

No matter what strings I try, I always come back to phosphor bronze Elixir Nanoweb or John Pearse (both 12-53). I do have Martin's Authentic Acoustic Lifespan mediums (13-56) on a couple Martin guitars. I recently purchased some Ernie Ball Earthwood phosphor bronze (12-54) and some of the new D'Addario XS phosphor bronze (12-53) - but I haven't tried them yet.

Too late - already sold ☹️

This is available locally - if one of you purchases it, I will be happy to pick it up for you. 🙂

The conference is basically over when Steve distributes the tickets to NAMM on Saturday morning (at the NAMM show). I plan on heading home after I leave NAMM - however, I only have a five hour drive - which will get me home before dark.

Congratulations on your new guitar - it is a beauty!

Greg, I tried to play a traditional classical guitar - I actually found the same model that Steve plays - but I could not get used to the wide and non-radiused fretboard. I decided to go with a crossover model - slightly narrower radiused fretboard, and a cutaway. The model I have is a Cervantes (Crossover 1R). I am very happy with it. I am sure there are many other great choices out there. Best wishes in your search! Dave

Collings

Noting pathetic about a guy doing something he loves. Rock on!

This evening I spent some time admiring the Christmas decorations and listened to one of my favorite guitar Christmas CDs- Pete Huttlinger's 'First Light'. You can listen to samples at the link. What is your favorite?

@matonanjin – you are most perceptive. Yes – I did leave out the ‘What happened to that guitar?’ part of the story. So here you go. I had looked at Gruhn’s sinker OOOO’s when I attended the fingerstyle retreat last fall. Not needing another guitar, not being a big Martin fan, and not being interested in an OOOO-sized guitar, I didn’t even pick one up. Mark Cantwell (PapaMark) can fill you in on the details of those as I believe he eventually purchased one. At the time, I asked someone at Gruhn’s if they were planning to make sinker mahogany OM’s and they said ‘no’. However, as I wrote above, when I looked at Gruhn’s website before leaving on the trip, it listed a whole herd of sinker OM’s. My impression of the sinker OM’s? We played a lot of them and were not smitten by all of them. There could be a variety of reasons for that – they are all new guitars and are all tight (not broken in), they all probably had strings of varying ‘newness’ – and part of it could have just been us (what we were hearing). That is why I always like to have Collin along when I am trying out a guitar – he is a great player and has a great ear. The one we both liked had a big sound – I can only describe it as dreadnought sounding. It sounded like it was already broken in. So after playing all those guitars, I told the staff at Gruhn’s that I had an interest in THAT one (carefully noting the shop and serial number) and said I would get back to them. Then it began. [Be careful when you visit a guitar shop with fellow guitar “enablers”. It is a good thing I don’t hang with drug addicts 😊] “Dave, are you going to buy that guitar?” “Dave you should really buy that guitar.” “Dave did you buy that guitar yet?” Even Collin’s parents got in on the act. So, to make what should be a short story even a bit longer – before I left town, I called Gruhn’s and had them ship it to me. My fellow travelers were pleased, I assume the folks at Gruhn’s were pleased, and I am happy to own one of George’s sinker mahogany guitars. Greg did a nice job of setting it up for me and kindly installed a strap button as well.

William - Give Greg a call or ask for him at the front desk - he will make sure you get royal treatment at Gruhn's! Hope you have a great time.

Although the 2020 Guitar Gathering Conference was canceled, a few of us decided that we would like to visit Nashville anyway. We contacted Steve and he said he would be happy to see some familiar faces and could meet us one day for lunch. So the trip was on. After arriving in Nashville, Keith Morgan and I had a quick lunch and then headed into Nashville and guitar stores. North American Guitars (formerly Cotton Music) was first. We had a great time playing some very expensive guitars and chatting with shop owner Kim Sherman. We met up with Collin Hill and it was on to Gruhn Guitars. Gruhn has recently started carrying sinker mahogany OMs and I was eager to see what those were like. Between the two of us, I think Collin and I played about every sinker OM in the store. Greg Voros came down from the third floor and we talked a bit about the COVID impact on the shop (many of the employees have been laid off). Collin and I narrowed the sinker mahogany search down to one or two specimens and Greg took us upstairs to see if there were any OMs we had missed. George Gruhn joined us and suggested that we play in the shop stairwell (very nice acoustics). See photos below. On Thursday, we met Steve and Paulette for lunch and then headed back to the hotel for some rest and relaxation as well as a bit of guitar practice. Keith and I had intended to perform a song at the conference – Keith was ready – I was not 🙂 After an early Friday morning meeting with Instruments of Joy President Joshua MacLeod, Keith and I visited Artisan Guitars (where Keith played a killer Collings C100). We then headed to Clarksville to visit Collin and his family. In spite of getting lost - hey – we only missed their address by 16 miles – we eventually found Collin’s new home and got a tour of his new studio. After a brief tour of downtown Clarksville, which included a new guitar store owned by a former Gruhn's employee, we had a nice dinner, and then it was back to the hotel in Brentwood. By the way, the Holiday Inn Express in Brentwood was a great place to stay. It was convenient to both Nashville and the Franklin/Cool Springs area. The trip was over all too soon. Hopefully, we can all be together next year. Photos below: -Gruhn's new mural (under construction) -Collin playing the best sounding sinker mahogany OM -Collin playing in the stairwell -George and Greg listening to Collin playing -Our mini Guitar Gathering 2020 official photo

Hi everyone - Clive Carroll, who will be one of the guest artists at this fall's fingerstyle retreat will be conducting an online concert this Saturday evening (7/25). You can find the details here.

Awesome Joao - thanks much for all the work you have put into posting these lessons!