Yup. Working with this new 12 string wasn't enough. I started to suffer from more serious GAS pains and ended up buying a Martin.

Its one of the laminate models, which is OK since I didn't need to spend a lot, but I wanted a 6 string dread and wanted to make it a Martin. Besides, I've played an Ovation for 30+ years, so a non-all wood guitar didn't seem weird to me at all.

Besides, as tone woods become more rare (and more expensive) I'm glad to see Martin has found ways to keep building their sound in a way that will become all the norm as times passes. Sure I'd love to own a Gord special edition D-18GL, but if I waited until one of those became available and I could justify the cost, the GAS pains would have become unbearable.

BTW for you non guitar playing Gord fans, GAS means: Guitar Acquisition Syndrome. A malady suffered by guitarists everywhere. One that can only be cured by obtaining another instrument!

Yup. Working with this new 12 string wasn't enough. I started to suffer from more serious GAS pains and ended up buying a Martin.

Its one of the laminate models, which is OK since I didn't need to spend a lot, but I wanted a 6 string dread and wanted to make it a Martin. Besides, I've played an Ovation for 30+ years, so a non-all wood guitar didn't seem weird to me at all.

Besides, as tone woods become more rare (and more expensive) I'm glad to see Martin has found ways to keep building their sound in a way that will become all the norm as times passes. Sure I'd love to own a Gord special edition D-18GL, but if I waited until one of those became available and I could justify the cost, the GAS pains would have become unbearable.

BTW for you non guitar playing Gord fans, GAS means: Guitar Acquisition Syndrome. A malady suffered by guitarists everywhere. One that can only be cured by obtaining another instrument!

and if you attend the November 2006 Massey Hall shows you will acquire PMS when you leave. Post Massey Syndrome.... ;)
you will be expected to bring your new acquisition along....
Char
;)

and if you attend the November 2006 Massey Hall shows you will acquire PMS when you leave. Post Massey Syndrome.... ;)
you will be expected to bring your new acquisition along....
Char
;)

I am not sure if I would be welcome if I was to venture across the Pacific in late 2006 to Massey. I would bring little more than a nasty case of B.O. to add to the gas and PMS...
( Bank Overdraft I mean...)

Hey - I live right here in the Toronto area and am still paying for Massey!
lol
c'mon up - you're gonna love it!!

Hey - I live right here in the Toronto area and am still paying for Massey!
lol
c'mon up - you're gonna love it!!

I've had the same Fender accoustic for more years than I care to remember. It really does have a great tone, this was before Fender accoustics went down in quality I love this one. But I have been looking and yes Martin's are pretty nice but so far have resisted GAS

Do you have an electric and if so what kind?

I've had the same Fender accoustic for more years than I care to remember. It really does have a great tone, this was before Fender accoustics went down in quality I love this one. But I have been looking and yes Martin's are pretty nice but so far have resisted GAS

Do you have an electric and if so what kind?

Kilgore,

The Ovation is an acoustic/electric, but I haven't plugged in in years.

I've never owned an electric, but I played a Gibson SG for some time, and played a friend's Telecaster for awhile.

I must be illiterate and dyslexic. Every time I see this topic I read "Mike bought 12 martinis"

Suzi,

I'm getting too old to try 12 martinis! That would leave far too much evidence.

A little "whisky from the highlands" still works though.

Mike, 12 martinis is a bit much for me also. Four is my limit.

Dorothy Parker wrote:

I love to have a martini,
Two at the very most.
After three I'm under the table.
After four I'm under the host.

Ahh, Mike...

Those GAS pains are an expensive ailment to treat. I really had it bad in August and came down with a case of Rickenbacker 360/12's. It's a FireGlo. Oh is it painful to pay for the treaments! But she sure does Jangle! :)

Glad to hear about the Martin! Very Cool! Never owned a Martin. Always been a Guild man. Up until the Rickster. I figure I've got one more GAS pain coming. It'll be a Guild D25/12 Mahogany to match the Guild D25/6. Ahhhhh, I can't wait for the pain to hit! :)

ambrose

Ahh, Mike...

Those GAS pains are an expensive ailment to treat. I really had it bad in August and came down with a case of Rickenbacker 360/12's. It's a FireGlo. Oh is it painful to pay for the treaments! But she sure does Jangle! :)

Glad to hear about the Martin! Very Cool! Never owned a Martin. Always been a Guild man. Up until the Rickster. I figure I've got one more GAS pain coming. It'll be a Guild D25/12 Mahogany to match the Guild D25/6. Ahhhhh, I can't wait for the pain to hit! :)

ambrose

12,or is it now 6-string Mike?
Congrats on the new axe.Did You hang on to the 12?? Being a Gord Connisiure{probably spelt wrong}I don't know how You could do without one.Anyway,You were were correct about the Alv. that I had,it was as You mentioned,the maple version. I'm sure You are happy with the the Martin.Can't go wrong there.I have 2 and have no regrets,still some "pains",but no regrets.Just a little side note,You don't have to have a D-18GL to get the sound,I use a D-18V{which I think is what Gordon is playing now}and it is very close to the GL model.
I mentioned to Florian a while back that I thought a seperate forum for the guitar enthusiast's among us might be an idea for this site.I think there are many of us here and I don't like to "ramble on" about guitar stuff,as I know everyone on this site are not into the acoustic side of Gordon's work's as we picker's are...I think we could do a lot with such a seperate avenue and not bore the non-pickers among us to death.The possibalities are endless for such a diversion on this site. Gordon has a lot of what I refer to as "Gord Chord's" that are specific to many Gord song's.I mentioned this to Wayne Francis quite a while ago and He replied that He thought about adding this "supplement" to his site,but,...I ain't seen nothing yet..
I do realize that Florian and Wayne Francis are busy people and it takes a lot to keep these site's going....
I for one would be more than willing to make a contribution to help out with the upkeep/and or whatever it takes to keep these great sites alive.I have so much enjoyed and appreciated what these people have done for so many years..... Just a thought.....

Brian,

Oh yeah, I kept the 12. It has been a lot of fun, and no small amount of work, learning flat pick rhythum after years of Travis-picking. Any strumming I did before was pretty straight forward 4/4 stuff. Until I got the 12, I never realized how complex Railroad Trilogy really is!

The Martin is a nice contrast to the Ovation too. For some songs the Ovation is too bright.

I imagine we could just start a guitar topic in the message board. It might bore some of the Gord fans, on the site, but it could also help non guitarists gain an new insight into the songs they love. As long as we keep it to playing Gord's stuff, I think it could work. If we get a separate forum later, so much the better.

Whaddya think?

Hope you don't mind my two cents worth, but I think it would be a great idea to have a thread or a section for the pickers.

Though I'm hesitant to play Lightfoot in public, I am so intrigued by Gordon's technique as well as Terry Clements and Red Shea.

Years ago a read a passage in an article about Gordon and how he crafts his chord progressions. For the life of me I have never seen it again and have no clue where I saw it to start with. Maybe it was a dream ... i don't know...

But in the meantime, I'd really like to exchange info on playing Gordon.

ambrose

Hope you don't mind my two cents worth, but I think it would be a great idea to have a thread or a section for the pickers.

Though I'm hesitant to play Lightfoot in public, I am so intrigued by Gordon's technique as well as Terry Clements and Red Shea.

Years ago a read a passage in an article about Gordon and how he crafts his chord progressions. For the life of me I have never seen it again and have no clue where I saw it to start with. Maybe it was a dream ... i don't know...

But in the meantime, I'd really like to exchange info on playing Gordon.

ambrose

Hey Iron,

Non-picker here and I'm not bored by your posts at all! It's interesting. I say, post on, men, and whoever is interested in the thread will read. The rest will choose other topics.

Sheryl

I think your idea is just fine Mike,and Sheryl also made a fine point.
Ambrose,I was just curious about being hesitant doing Gordon's work in public?
{I hope you did realize that I was just jerkin yer chain a little on that other post}

I'm not a guitarist, but I did once see a travel video of Spain and one place they visited was a guitar shop. The instruments were handcrafted with the tone woods Mike mentioned, and the artisan talked about techniques he had developed to build them. Someone played one of them, and it sounded wonderful. I wonder if GL has ever tried a guitar like that? Have you, Mike?

I'm not a guitarist, but I did once see a travel video of Spain and one place they visited was a guitar shop. The instruments were handcrafted with the tone woods Mike mentioned, and the artisan talked about techniques he had developed to build them. Someone played one of them, and it sounded wonderful. I wonder if GL has ever tried a guitar like that? Have you, Mike?

Ophelia,

I've never played a one of, hand built Spanish guitar. I have played some wonderful custom-made folk guitars made in the Blue Ridge Mountains. And I've played a 18th century style guitar made in Colonial Williamsburg. I had the chance to play this one prior to it being varnished.

Spanish guitars are usually, "Classical" guitars. They are played only with fingers, no picks, and use softer toned nylon strings. Many classical works have been composed for them, both solo and orchestral.

I don't know if Gord's ever done much with one. I know that Red played one on a few of Gord's recordings.

Gord uses steel string dreadnaught sized guitars. This guitar design was developed in the early 20th century to give Blue Grass guitarists more volumn in the days before amplification. Gord strums his Gibson 12-strings in songs like "Early Morning Rain," "Railroad Trilogy," etc. 12 strings have a gutsy jangle sound about them. In fact, one of the tricks, I'm trying to learn, is how to control some of the jangle. When to be in full jangle and how to vary the sound.

He strums his Martin D-18 too, but also plays it finger, or Travis style. Those songs include IYCRMM, Restless, Pony Man, etc. This is the style I've played the most, using the thumb and fingers to play patterns of individual notes on separate strings. It is akin to classical playing and many instrumental guitarists use the style. For singer-guitarists it is a way to accompany the vocal by working the patterns under the sung melody.

Varying the styles keep things interesting.

Mike, there's a lady guitarist whom I think plays Spanish guitar -- she is cross-referenced on either this site or Wayne's... she's excellent! If anyone else knows who I mean (I can't remember her name at the moment), let me know. She used to open for Gord, I think. They go way back.

Liona Boyd
http://www.lionaboyd.com/

Liona Boyd
http://www.lionaboyd.com/

Liona Boyd
http://www.lionaboyd.com/

Liona Boyd
http://www.lionaboyd.com/

From her convocation speech:

I mentioned before about being obsessive. Some see obsessiveness as only a negative trait. I see it in a positive light, as it goes hand in hand with passion and is an essential ingredient of the creative mind. My friends, the great Canadian songwriters Leonard Cohen and Gordon Lightfoot did not write their masterpieces by scribbling a line here and there in between a normal life. They fell in love with words and phrases and melodies, often staying up all night... writing...making mistakes... perfecting...rewriting... anguishing... until the magic happened and the song was born. I know about this as I do the same. Artists need to be loners. They have to be obsessive if they want to create something that resonates in the hearts and minds of others. Could Ludwig Von Beethoven have written such magnificent symphonies if he was a nice, sociable guy? Could Chopin have left us those immortal Nocturnes if he had not been so driven? Could Glenn Gould have recorded his Goldberg Variations if he wasn't consumed by his passion for the music of Bach?

From her convocation speech:

I mentioned before about being obsessive. Some see obsessiveness as only a negative trait. I see it in a positive light, as it goes hand in hand with passion and is an essential ingredient of the creative mind. My friends, the great Canadian songwriters Leonard Cohen and Gordon Lightfoot did not write their masterpieces by scribbling a line here and there in between a normal life. They fell in love with words and phrases and melodies, often staying up all night... writing...making mistakes... perfecting...rewriting... anguishing... until the magic happened and the song was born. I know about this as I do the same. Artists need to be loners. They have to be obsessive if they want to create something that resonates in the hearts and minds of others. Could Ludwig Von Beethoven have written such magnificent symphonies if he was a nice, sociable guy? Could Chopin have left us those immortal Nocturnes if he had not been so driven? Could Glenn Gould have recorded his Goldberg Variations if he wasn't consumed by his passion for the music of Bach?

I'd love to see a guitar thread. I've had a couple of Gibson 12 strings over the years...traded both away foolishly in the earlier mentioned "guitar acquisition syndrome".

Mike, and all Ye pickers and nonpickers abound,
Don't know if You got to work on Sea of Tranq. on the 12 yet but when You do,try some variations of palm muting on the A and E bass.Just mess around with it a bit and I think You will see what I'm talking about.
Bill,and anyone else with GAS ailments,I can help you with your affliction(s).
Send all of your spare money to:
Help Brian With His Gas Problem Foundation
If it helps just one person,would'nt you feel so good.....

I own a Martin D-15 and a Martin OM28V. The OM is a very expensive guitar, but I like the sound (and the smell) of the D-15 better. It has that nice mahogany tone.
I also own a Fender electric and a Behringer amp for when I get in the rock n roll mood, and an Ultrasound acoustic amp with various pedals for a little variety. I also have a banjo, a clarinet, a harmonica, a bass guitar, a Fender PA system, a trumpet that I rarely play, tambourine, ummm... a terrier dog... oh, she's not a musical instrument, but she sure can sing along to some of the sound effects on the amp. I'm going to buy a 12 string soon, but don't know which brand.
New 12 String Mike, are you by chance a member of the RMMGA guitar newsgroup? Gas is one of their favorite subjects!

Cathy
http://www.cathycowette.com

Cathy,


Nope I'm not a member. I picked up the term from the Acoustic Guitar Magazine website and the Ovation Fan Club site.

Is it the D-15's base you like over the OM? The lack of a good solid low E string made me go for my Martin after all the years with a roundback. I don't dislike the Ovation at all. Since I mostly play bare fingerstyle, it doesn't require quite as much effort to pull out the trebles. The Martin's sound is more balanced, though and I'm really enjoying it.

As I've said on my other posts, the 12 is a whole new experience. I believe you find it a lot of fun.

I just liked the overall tone when I fingerpicked the D-15. I like it so much that I didn't even pick up the OM when I recorded my album. I did it all with the D15. It has a Fishman Prefix preamp and equalizer on/in it, and it sounds great.

Cathy