fretless again

Yo Seth...I put this post on a few days ago, but it never made it
because of an error. I play a Goya G10 acoustic guitar, made fretless by
Starrett, and it has a marvelous sound. It has a pickup, so when I play
amplified I add a bit of eq to smooth it out...but, when I rehearse with
my koto friend, I play unamplified and it still sounds great. I also
have 19 and 34 tone acoustics, both Goyas...I seek these guitars out,
and I believe they were a superior brand, for some reason I am not sure
of. Almost all Goyas I've found sound superb. I also played my Roland GR
300 electric synth guitar on a show recently, made fretless again by
Starrett, and found the sound very full, no distortion. I am sure that
treating a neck can help sustain, but I also believe that some of the
sound/tonal quality is in the hands. Most guitar Maestros have very
strong hands, and it surely can make a difference...hope you get a good
axe made...Hstick

on 11/26/00 10:06 PM, tuning@egroups.com at tuning@egroups.com wrote:

> Message: 10
> Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2000 11:02:03 -0700
> From: Neil Haverstick <STICK@USWEST.NET>
> Subject: fretless again
>
> Yo Seth...I put this post on a few days ago, but it never made it
> because of an error. I play a Goya G10 acoustic guitar, made fretless by
> Starrett, and it has a marvelous sound. It has a pickup, so when I play
> amplified I add a bit of eq to smooth it out...but, when I rehearse with
> my koto friend, I play unamplified and it still sounds great. I also
> have 19 and 34 tone acoustics, both Goyas...I seek these guitars out,
> and I believe they were a superior brand, for some reason I am not sure
> of. Almost all Goyas I've found sound superb. I also played my Roland GR
> 300 electric synth guitar on a show recently, made fretless again by
> Starrett, and found the sound very full, no distortion. I am sure that
> treating a neck can help sustain, but I also believe that some of the
> sound/tonal quality is in the hands. Most guitar Maestros have very
> strong hands, and it surely can make a difference...hope you get a good
> axe made...Hstick

Neil,

Goyas are good quality instruments, one of those 60s brands that didn't
catch on like some others did. I believe Martin had something to do with
them for a time. These days, you can find them for the cost of a cheap
import, and it's all solid woods.

I'm following a few luthier leads, hopefully I should have myself a fretless
guitar soon. I'm thinking of altering a Martin Smartwood OM, they're nice
sounding guitars, with half the pricetag of a rosewood or mahogany acoustic.

Seth
--
"First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then
you win." Gandhi

--
Seth Austen
please visit me on the web at http://www.sethausten.com
email; seth@sethausten.com

Download a song (mp3) at www.mp3.com/sethausten

Seth Austen wrote:

> I'm following a few luthier leads, hopefully I should have myself a fretless
> guitar soon. I'm thinking of altering a Martin Smartwood OM, they're nice
> sounding guitars, with half the pricetag of a rosewood or mahogany acoustic.

Does Smartwood mean that it's a sort of green guitar?

--
* D a v i d B e a r d s l e y
* 49/32 R a d i o "all microtonal, all the time"
* http://www.virtulink.com/immp/lookhere.htm

on 11/28/00 9:12 AM, tuning@egroups.com at tuning@egroups.com wrote:

> Message: 9
> Date: Tue, 28 Nov 2000 07:37:10 -0500
> From: David Beardsley <xouoxno@virtulink.com>
> Subject: Re: fretless again
>
>
>
> Seth Austen wrote:
>
>> I'm following a few luthier leads, hopefully I should have myself a fretless
>> guitar soon. I'm thinking of altering a Martin Smartwood OM, they're nice
>> sounding guitars, with half the pricetag of a rosewood or mahogany acoustic.
>
> Does Smartwood mean that it's a sort of green guitar?
>
>

They're making these out of cherry back and sides, spruce top, supposedly
70% of the wood on this guitar is from sustainable yield forests... I was
talking to my luthier pal yesterday, he pointed out that it doesn't have an
ebony fingerboard, so he doesn't think it's such a great idea using that
instrument. I think he's probably right, so I'm looking again.

Hmmm, green wood guitars, combined with severe humidity deprived NH winters,
this could be a nightmarish instrument to keep in tune, let alone play....

Seth

--
Seth Austen

http://www.sethausten.com
email; seth@sethausten.com

Hi,

Strange day. Someone just called here asking for Monz (I don't think he
said M�ns, anyways), and mention of NH winters only just caught my
notice: Seth - my parents have houses just about either side of you, in
Melvin Village and North Wolfeboro!

> They're making these out of cherry back and sides, spruce top,
> supposedly 70% of the wood on this guitar is from sustainable yield
> forests...

Wurlitzer made similar claims in the 80s; meanwhile, I could put
stickers like "at least 70% post-consumer waste" on some of my
instruments!

> it doesn't have an ebony fingerboard, so he doesn't think it's such
> a great idea using that instrument.

A by-product of fixing innumerable cracks in a Rosewood fingerboard, I
discovered that thin superglue will impregnate stuff quite well, leaving
a denser material with a hard, glassy finish. As for sustainable and
barely commercial alternatives, you could probably find downed
Hophornbeam around your place, or buy some Dogwood or Persimmon cheap.

> Hmmm, green wood guitars, combined with severe humidity deprived NH
> winters, this could be a nightmarish instrument to keep in tune, let
> alone play....

Yikes, they even do in wood seasoned for 100 years!

Regards,

Clark

on 12/3/00 2:13 AM, tuning@egroups.com at tuning@egroups.com wrote:

>
> Message: 4
> Date: Sat, 02 Dec 2000 14:16:29 -0200
> From: Clark <CACCOLA@NET1PLUS.COM>
> Subject: Re: fretless again
>
> Hi,
>
> Strange day. Someone just called here asking for Monz (I don't think he
> said Måns, anyways), and mention of NH winters only just caught my
> notice: Seth - my parents have houses just about either side of you, in
> Melvin Village and North Wolfeboro!
>

Hi Clark,

Small world indeed. If you're up in the area, feel free to give a call, and
drop by. I'm off of Rte 171, in the old McDuffee's General Store, everybody
knows where it is.

Seth

--
Seth Austen

http://www.sethausten.com
email; seth@sethausten.com