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Random Ramblings

A blog or blot or blob reflecting the complex issues facing us in todays society..... and also bits about baby vomit and other matters dear to my heart at the moment.

22/04/06 Over the past few months I have been looking around for a new acoustic guitar. What started as a casual interest soon became an obsession - eventually I couldn't walk past a music shop without going in to try something.

Here are my thoughts about the various models I tried:

Ayers DM

These guitars are a good deal - solid timber guitars with pickup for not much more than $1000. The model I played was nice, but didn't really stand out to my ears.

Gilet G1

This was the guitar I 'connected with' most immediately. It had a sound and feel that made me want to sit and play it all afternoon. Aaaaaah! Just a lovely balanced tone, great for fingerpicking. Unfortunately it just cost too much for me right now.

Maton 325

I have a friend with a Maton 325 and it seems to have a good balanced sound. It definately has a slightly 'dry' sound, bright, but not overly so. It and all the Matons I played felt comfortable to play. The pricing of Matons seem a bit over the top however - a 325 has laminate back and sides, yet a model with electrics costs over $1500.

Maton CW80

This has much stronger projection than the 325. Again, it has that dry, bright sound but with plenty of bass as well. I liked it instantly. It had a great feel and, like the Gilet, I found that 15 minutes after picking up, it had led me to play stuff I had never played before. The cost was a little prohibitive however. Second hand CW80s are of course in high demand and avid monitoring of ebay didn't reveal any great CW80 bargains. They're good and people know they're good...

Martin D15

This had a lovely warm sound and great projection of mid and low frequencies. One thing that frustrates me with Martins is that because they don't sell in huge numbers, most that you find in shops have old strings, making it impossible to really hear them at their best. The D-15 I played seemed to lack a bit of brightness, and it was hard to tell if this was caused by the strings or the style of guitar. The biggest negative was a thin neck. I found it uncomfortable to play but people with smaller hands might welcome this particular design quirk. I played others - D28s etc, some of which were suitably awesome to warrant their $4000 + price tag, and others that weren't inspiring at all.

Tanglewood (not sure of model)

I played a model with an Englemann Spruce top which is a timber often used for classical guitars and generally reputed to give a more mellow tone than Sitka Spruce. It was certainly mellow but didn't inspire me greatly - but then again I only found Tanglewoods in one small shop which happened to have a resident guitar-fly who seemed to live in the shop and talked loudly and incessantly. When he wasn't talking he played various guitars in a loud and irritating fashion. Not really an environment conducive to trying out guitars. Tanglewoods are competitively priced - they are beautifully finished all solid timber guitars and I seem to remember that the model I played had a good quality pickup in it and was not much more than $1000. If I had run across this brand in another shop I would have definitely given them another try.

Washburn

My old guitar is a 1994 Washburn D-12 with a ply top. It has some great qualities - very good intonation, warmth and a nice feel. I have found its strong overtones, boomy bass and uneven response to be difficult, especially for recording. I played a few new Washburns and found the same sound which, lets face it, would really defeat the purpose of buying a new guitar.

Cole Clark FL1A

As a competitively priced Australian made brand I was very interested to try Cole Clarks, but at first hearing my reaction was mixed. Their projection was outstanding - crisp and strong with loads of bass as well. The sustain of these guitars was also better than any guitar I'd played. I did find, however, that all the Cole Clarks I played seemed to lack warmth and also have a certain harshness to their sound. I persisted because of the good qualities and the pricing and because their pickups are renowned for their quality. I went back to play them a number of times, but I was still worried that the tone was too cold and harsh. I contacted Cole Clark about the timber options that would give the warmest sound and they were very helpful. I eventually decided that an all-Bunya guitar (i.e. Bunya pine back, sides and top) would be the best option. I bit the bullet, took the gamble, and ordered an all-bunya Cole Clark. WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

When it arrived the first thing that struck me was that this is a gorgeous guitar. Bunya has creamy pine coloured sections and also lovely pinky-brown stripes. My guitar has these stripes on both the front and back. It is definately warmer than the other Cole Clarks I played but it was only when I changed the strings from the factory-fitted Elixirs to more standard Martins that I made a discovery. The harshness I was hearing was entirely caused by the bloody strings! I can understand that using coated strings combats that problem of strings ageing in the shop but, having never used coated strings, I am surprised that they are really taking off. They sound bloody awful.

So my gamble has paid off - I am very happy with my Cole Clark - it has loads of bass without the boomy-ness that my Washburn had. The sound has wonderful clarity to it which makes it brilliant for picking out melodies on individual strings or for fingerpicking. Its sustain makes droning DADGAD-style playing really rewarding because you can get the whole guitar ringing out the droned notes without booming and swamping whatever other notes you are playing.

So there you have it...

18/9/05 Getting snatches of time to write some lyrics in between nappy changes. I am determined not to write too many songs of the traditional 'look at my beautiful son' type (well... perhaps just one per album). I have been thinking and writing about status and need and what fulfils people. Also about the delights of caffeine and our dodgy train service here in the blue mountains. Stay tuned.

6/9/05 Ok - I admit I am not writing this entry on the 6th- if I did, it would have read something like ;lasjhd)(*&h baby KKJH98hjakljh998((*&

Needless to say that Liams birth was the most incredible, overwhelming and, well... messy experiences of our lives. Everything has now changed.

1/9/05 I was very sad to hear of the death of Denis Kevans - one of the great characters of the Australian folk community, and a man very dear to many in the Blue Mountains. He was equally at home as a poet, a performer, a comedian, and an activist.

Denis was one of the few poets I have seen who could make his audience truly laugh with abandon, as he did many times at his home turf, the Blackheath Folk Club. Even more importantly, Denis's works capture a culture and way of life in Australia that should be remembered and treasured all the more because it is now under threat - the one-time working class inner-city neighbourhoods of Sydney, the careers that supported them, and the union activism that played such an important part in their culture.

Denis's work and memory will live on - songs such as 'When Blue Swimmers Come Back to Balmain' and 'The Roar of the Crowd' are already part of the Australian folk tapestry. In recent times, he turned his attention to the things most dear to us mountain-dwellers, the local native bush and the glorious landscape that we have the good luck to live in the middle of,

but my most enduring image of him is his peaked woolen cap, his two legs planted purposefully on the stage, a twinkle in his eye, a sweep of his hand and the words.....

' is byooteeful, it’s a beautiful colour, grey-ey-ey,

Nice and smooooth…..'

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