Claescaster

Month: October, 2013

October 8, 2013

How to… fit a LR Baggs M1

Morris W-40 1973 My new Martin D-45 copy, a Morris W-40 Made in Japan by Terada in 1973

There was a bit of work that needed to be done when I first got my Morris W-40. First of all I polished the frets, cleaned her up and oiled the fretboard. Then I needed to take care of the action which was too low, imagine that on an acoustic guitar. There was a slight forward-bow on the neck which made a bit of rattle when I played solos in the middle of the neck, at least when I hit the strings hard. I adjusted the trussrod and gave her a slight bow the other way, meaning that cowboy chords still sound beautiful and the action is still very low for being an acoustic around the 12th fret. I changed the machine heads to a pair of Grover tulip copies in gold, maybe not the best ones but it looked so much nicer than the original plain ones in chrome. Then I fitted a strap button in gold, I can’t stand having to tie the strap to the head of the guitar. I’m still waiting for the Nitrocellulose lacquer I ordered so I can fill in the three dents on the back of the neck, which is going to be a new adventure since I have never done anything like it before. Last step was to fit my new L.R. Baggs M1 soundhole pickup. I’m getting pretty used to fit endpin jacks on acoustic guitars now so it was pretty straight forward even though it was a bit more hard work on this one. I’m not sure if it was because the wood is older, or the type of wood used in this, it’s Brazilian Rosewood and maple in the 3-piece back, Now it plays and sounds amazing, I’m really pleased with it.

Fitting LR Baggs M1
I prefer to fit the endpin jacks by hand, with a small round file and then even out the hole with sandpaper when it’s big enough

Morris W-40 1973
Morris W-40 1973
Morris W-40 Made in Japan by Terada in 1973, just look at that Brazilian Rosewood and maple 3-piece back

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October 3, 2013

Hank Williams 1941 Martin D-28

Hank Williams 1941 Martin D-28 Neil Young

This Old Guitar – Hank Williams 1941 Martin D-28
A one hour radio program of an interview with Neil Young on CD called Companion contains extensive insight into Prairie Wind’s recording, as well as, much other interesting stuff. In the interview by JODY DENBERG, Neil is asked about the Martin guitar that belonged to Hank Williams.

NEIL YOUNG: Yeah. I bought it from, uh, uh, off a friend of mine Grant Boatwright put me together with, uh, this fellow Tut Taylor he had an old, uh, collection of guitars. And, uh, I went down there and there it was, and he took it out of the back and brought it out and I bought it. I couldn’t believe that I could buy it. That I, you know, but I did. And now I have it. And, you know, I’ve got it for a while and I’m taking care of it.

JODY DENBERG: But you’re generous with it. You’ve lent it to some of your friends?

NEIL YOUNG: You know, Bob Dylan was using my bus. He, he didn’t have his own tour bus yet. And he was just getting into using buses, and, uh, so I let him use mine and, uh, when I gave it to him I, I told him that, uh, Hank was in the back and that if he wanted to use Hank, that Hank would be there for him. And so I don’t know what he did with it, but he had it with him for a long time. And I don’t know what he wrote or what he did, but I know, you know, something must have happened back there. Taken from Bob Dylan’s gear

Hank Williams 1941 Martin D-28 Neil Young

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October 2, 2013

The Sheepdogs

Tonight Araceli and I are going to see the pride of Canada, The Sheepdogs here in Barcelona. We saw them at the Azkena rock festival earlier this year and they were awesome. They make you want to buy an old Gibson Firebird and move to Canada. Here you can get your tickets for tonight’s show at Sala Bikini. See you there.

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