Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi
Neil Young lands one of the cooler tributes imaginable… he gets a spider named after him.
Add comment May 13th, 2008
2008 Newport Guitar Festival in Miami Beach, Part 2
Julius Borges, who started the Newport Guitar Festival and produced two of them before passing it along to Henry Lowenstein, was there with two guitars. One was a fancy style 45 and the other was this, a rather austere mahogany OM. The mahogany OM had the wonderful dry, crackling tone that I only expect to find in vintage guitars and I couldn’t stop playing it. Julius said that he got the mahogany from a lumber mill that was preparing to cut it up for doors. If that wasn’t bad enough, because the wood had some figure in it, the doors were slated to be paint grade. Yikes!
Add comment May 8th, 2008
One of the country’s biggest guitar dealers goes to court…
but can’t get inside. -JV
4 comments May 2nd, 2008
2008 Newport Guitar Festival in Miami Beach
From April 11 to April 13, Jason and I attended the new Newport Guitar Festival in Miami Beach. We got meet plenty of readers and play a bunch of great guitars. My one complaint was that I was tied to our table much of the time so I didn’t get to check out as many of the guitars as I wanted to, but I did get to play enough to keep satisfied for the weekend. My full report is below the jump. Click on the photos to enlarge them. (more…)
Add comment April 22nd, 2008
The Cartoon Beatles Discuss Tax Policy
In honor of Tax Day, at least that’s what we’re celebrating here in the US today, here’s a clip from the old Beatles cartoon where they discuss tax policy with Robin Hood. Well, they don’t discuss tax policy as much as run around in a poorly animated fashion while “Taxman” plays on the soundtrack. Oh, and does anyone else think the line about declaring the pennies on your eyes when you die is perhaps a bit morbid for a children’s cartoon?-MJS
Add comment April 15th, 2008
Strictly for the Collings Guitars completists …
At the Newport Guitar Festival in Miami Beach last weekend, Bill Collings regaled us with tales from his latest hobby–Spec Miata racing. Here’s the video proof. At around :09, your favorite guitar builder is seen passing the car with the built-in camera. At around :22, Collings makes a mistake and drives off into the dirt. Like we said, this one is only for completists … even Bill admits this isn’t the greatest spectator sport to watch. -JV
Add comment April 15th, 2008
The First Ever Gathering of the Santa Cruz Guitar Company Tribe
I wrote about Tom Walzem’s great surf band, The Neptunes, back in issue 5. Apparently his musical life extends beyond twangy reverb-laden tones and includes an appreciation of mellower acoustic sounds because he’s putting together the first ever gathering of Santa Cruz Guitar Company instrument owners at Noon on April 26th, 2008. (Rumor has it that Bob Brozman, who plays an SCGC Bob Brozman Baritone,will attend.) It’s going to be in Santa Cruz at Bocci’s Cellar and if you are planning to attend you need to RSVP to Tom. You can find Tom’s contact info, along with directions to Bocci’s, here. And this YouTube clip of the Neptunes doesn’t have anything to with the Santa Cruz gathering, but it does answer the question, “What would it have sounded like if Django Reinhardt had retired to Southern California instead of Samois?”-MJS
1 comment April 9th, 2008
Update for Issue 9: Richard Thompson
Here’s a great clip from 1984 of Richard Thompson, our Spring Issue cover boy, talking about his ‘55/57 Strat. Or, as the interviewer called it, a Frender Stratocaster. The clip was forwarded to us by Allen St. John, who wrote the Thompson story for us. St. John is the author of Clapton’s Guitar : Watching Wayne Henderson Build the Perfect Instrument a wonderful book about hanging out in the workshop of a master luthier and watching how he puts a guitar together.-MJS
2 comments March 25th, 2008
It’s Good To Have a Backup Plan
Warren Buffet shows that if the whole billionaire investor thing doesn’t work out, he can always get a gig as a rhythm uke player in a western swing band. It’s important to have a good backup plan.-MJS
1 comment March 24th, 2008
Sign of the Times
I pass by this sign almost every day and today I happened to have a camera with me. The building it’s on is in Palo Alto and it used to be a gallery that sold Jerry Garcia’s artwork. The gallery went out of business a few months ago and, as you can see, the space is being turned into a day spa/nail salon. As many of you know, Garcia was missing the middle finger on his right hand, hence his unusual handprint logo. So, I was wondering if he had gone into a nail salon, would he have to pay full price for manicure?-MJS
2 comments March 21st, 2008
