christmas blessings

[trapperhoney]

1 hour ago, OLD fashioned preacher said:

Don't put nylon string on it! It won't damage it but you'll not have anywhere near the projection nor tonal quality.

He can still learn the same technique on a cutaway dreadnought (which is what he has) even though the strings are closer together than on a classical.

If he ever gets a classical or flamenco guitar, DO NOT put steel strings on it because the wood is thinner and the tension on steel strings is MUCH higher and can warp the neck and potentially split the top!

Down the road he may want a classical and the dreadnought both.

Also, if he ever gets a 12 string -- I recommend tune 1/2 step to a full step LOWER than standard (again due to total tension issues).

Linear tension:   Nylon = +/- 103 lbs,   6 string Bronze/steel = +/- 179 lbs,   12 string Bronze/steel = +/- 258 lbs   The effective overall pressures are much greater when direct (string) and induced (body) vibrations are factored.

wish we had known you years before!  hubby rescued a 12 string from a dumpster on base probably 30 years ago.  the top had separated, and being a woodworker he worked on it even though he didn't know exactly what he was doing.  it held up though, but now there is a slight ripple.  I do thing the neck is a bit off, though.  He loves that guitar (12 string)

we got this guitar because it was blue and it had a tuner built in.  Bradley's favorite color is blue.  We just have to get new strings.  Hubby said one is about to break.

[OLD fashioned preacher]

I introduced my middle son to a 12 string several years ago and he fell in love.

You say you need strings? So, I take it this is a used instrument? Stings lose tone long before breakage. Don't go off of an individual's "time frame" for string life. It depends on (among other things) humidity, care, frequency of playing and primarily the make-up of an individual's body oils. Good rule of thumb is if the strings get to where they don't hold tune or won't solidly tune accurately, they need changing. Obviously not counting right after changing, they will take a little time and playing to settle (how long depends on the string make-up and little factors in installation technique).

If he's going to be utilizing a finger type playing style instead of a plectrum (pick) then I recommend a set 12s (so called due to the 1st string diameter being .012"). Some manufacturers call this a set of "lights", some call it a set of "mediums". Being a cutaway I'm loathe to recommend 11s (some call "light", some call "custom light") because I don't think the increased brightness will compensate for the loss of top surface created by the cutaway.

 

I, personally, use 12s (sometimes 13s) on my 1994 mahogany Washburn and 11s on my 1967 sunburst Silvertone.

[trapperhoney]

11 hours ago, OLD fashioned preacher said:

You say you need strings? So, I take it this is a used instrument?

Yes, we found it in a pawn shop and was able to put it in layaway, took almost a year to pay it off, but that made it just in time for Christmas!  Hubby looked it over real well before we decided to get it.  This is hubby's 12 string....  In the second photo I am attempting to show where the damage is.

 

[OLD fashioned preacher]

That is definitely over-stress damage. It probably holds the strings really high above the fretboard from the 3rd fret and beyond.

Curiosity, would you take a photo of the label area inside the soundhole of each instrument (I'll try to tell you what year they each are.)

[Musician4God1611]

I second what OFP said. I do play fingerstyle and I flat pic. I recommend D'Addario EJ16. They are 12s and a good balanced tone that makes them perfect for fingerstyle, but if he wants to use a pic, they transition well for that. You can get them at musiciansfriend.com and right now they have some on sale for $5 dollars (they're normally $14).

My recommendation, he shouldn't settle on one set style. Every style he learns can add to the others. Even if he doesn't "love" a particular style, there is merit in learning it.

The file I added is a arrangement of Jesus Loves Me that I threw together one day.

Bro._M_-_Jesus_Loves_Me.wav

[trapperhoney]

2 hours ago, OLD fashioned preacher said:

That is definitely over-stress damage. It probably holds the strings really high above the fretboard from the 3rd fret and beyond.

Curiosity, would you take a photo of the label area inside the soundhole of each instrument (I'll try to tell you what year they each are.)

hope you can read them....

[trapperhoney]

1 hour ago, Musician4God1611 said:

I second what OFP said. I do play fingerstyle and I flat pic. I recommend D'Addario EJ16. They are 12s and a good balanced tone that makes them perfect for fingerstyle, but if he wants to use a pic, they transition well for that. You can get them at musiciansfriend.com and right now they have some on sale for $5 dollars (they're normally $14).

My recommendation, he shouldn't settle on one set style. Every style he learns can add to the others. Even if he doesn't "love" a particular style, there is merit in learning it.

The file I added is a arrangement of Jesus Loves Me that I threw together one day.

Bro._M_-_Jesus_Loves_Me.wav

thanks for the info!  the arrangement was lovely.  it's best for him to work at one thing at a time.  he was a brown belt before he started taking sword classes (by brown he knew most of what he had to learn in karate) so I think he wants to finish this book on classical and then we'll have him try something else.  he expressed interest in Spanish guitar.  I really don't know much about music, except that I can sing by ear, lol.  frustrates hubby.  he KNOWS music, can play several instruments, was in band in high school and they competed internationally, and he was in jazz band.  several years ago I wanted to try my hand at violin, but he picks it up and starts playing, which kind of killed it for me.  there is a nice looking cello at the pawn shop and I'm debating on that, just not sure we have the room for it right now.  he reads music and can sing a song he doesn't know (he played trumpet in band and if he's singing a song he's not familiar with i'll see his right hand, resting by his side, working through the fingering as if he was playing his trumpet)  I, however, have to hear it, and they way I hear it is the way i'll sing it, whether the timing is right or not. our son, however, does well in math and seems to be picking up all that music stuff easily.  gives me a headache to listen to them talk, lol.  hubby predominantly picks, I think (in more ways that one, hee hee.)

[OLD fashioned preacher]

The serial # on the Yammer is probable stamped and I can't see in that portion of the sound hole, therefore can't determine the year of manufacture -- however,it is a thin body (which doubles my recommendation on not using 11s or "silk and steel" strings). It has a flamed maple top, nato back/sides/neck, Indian rosewood fingerboard. The color is listed as "Oriental Blue Burst", hence the OBB designation, FM shows flamed maple top (APX500M OBB). This is a discontinued model.

 

On to the Epiphone: March 1986, laminate spruce top, Indian rosewood back/sides/fingerboard, mahogany neck.

 

I saw some of these listed online used, of course) at $275-350.

[OLD fashioned preacher]

Even those who play by notation actually play by notation AND ear. Need proof? If they miss a note, ask them how they knew they missed it, because they SAW that they missed it or they HEARD the error. Case closed. Now if they would put up with the frustration of fumbling through their errors as they play songs they know the tune of (but don't have the music emorized), while blindfolded, they will increase their ability to play "by ear".

[trapperhoney]

27 minutes ago, OLD fashioned preacher said:

The serial # on the Yammer is probable stamped and I can't see in that portion of the sound hole, therefore can't determine the year of manufacture -- however,it is a thin body (which doubles my recommendation on not using 11s or "silk and steel" strings). It has a flamed maple top, nato back/sides/neck, Indian rosewood fingerboard. The color is listed as "Oriental Blue Burst", hence the OBB designation, FM shows flamed maple top (APX500M OBB). This is a discontinued model.

 

On to the Epiphone: March 1986, laminate spruce top, Indian rosewood back/sides/fingerboard, mahogany neck.

 

I saw some of these listed online used, of course) at $275-350.

awesome.  I can check for the serial number, where would it be stamped?  I didn't see anything else at the time I took the photo, but didn't look closely.

wow, an '86?  Hubby was in the Marines 85-89 and found it in the dumpster on base.  they threw away practically a brand new guitar.

Edited January 11, 2016 by trapperhoney
added info.

[OLD fashioned preacher]

Yamaha generally stamps it (in black) on an internal brace visible when looking in the soundhole. Sometimes on the back of the headstock (the name Yamaha is one the front of the headstock).

 

The original owners probably didn't have anything accurate to tune from, or made the mistake of thinking that since the 3rd to 6th pair of strings are tuned an octave apart (E/E octave, A/A octave, D/D octave, G/G octave) that the first 2 should be done that way (instead of in unison - B/B, E/E). Not sure they can do that without breaking strings, but stranger things have happened.

Again, I recommend tuning the strings Eb, Ab, Db, Gb (F#), Bb, Eb and capo on the 1st fret when playing with someone in standard tuning (G capo 1st when song in G, etc). OR, better yet, tune D, G, C, F, D and capo up two (D capo 3rd when playing Eb -- other guitarist may be playing C capo 3rd or D capo 1st [or less often, Eb no capo])

[trapperhoney]

1 hour ago, OLD fashioned preacher said:

The serial # on the Yammer is probable stamped

I found it!

[OLD fashioned preacher]

November 2010

After it is about 20-25 years old (around 2030-35) the wood will have aged a bit and it will have a mellower, richer, deeper tone than it does now.

[trapperhoney]

53 minutes ago, OLD fashioned preacher said:

November 2010

After it is about 20-25 years old (around 2030-35) the wood will have aged a bit and it will have a mellower, richer, deeper tone than it does now.

cool.  they can grow old together

[swathdiver]

Once those green socks got old, we now use them for rendering beeswax.  The kids and I fill them up with chunks of raw beeswax, tied off the end, put a scuba weight over them in an old pasta pot, fill with water and turn the heat on low until the wax melts and passes through the socks leaving the detritus behind.  Doing it twice makes it really clean and we can then just store the giant pancake or melt it again into one ounce ingots for storage until needed.

Not familiar with traps but do yours have coil springs or flat springs?  I reckon if flat springs, they can be replaced at home with scrap iron, old files, suspension springs, etc.