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PuaLynn
Lokahi
USA
120 Posts |
 Posted - 04/19/2005 : 9:13:43 PM
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Aloha all. My first post.
I'm a beginning slack key player, having played a bit of folk guitar many moons ago. Will be at the Aloha Music Camp on Moloka'i for the third year, but this year will be my first doing slack key. On the mainland, I have a wonderful old Martin 0-15 parlor guitar (1949) that I don't want to travel with. I split my time between Nevada City CA and also have a home in Hilo, so want to get a guitar to keep on the islands. I'm open to suggestions but want something that sounds good, that I can take inter-island, that will be ok in the Hilo humidity (although I'll keep it in a case with silica), and isn't too expensive.
A luthier friend suggested a Big Baby Taylor. Any other suggestions?
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Me ke aloha,
Lynn |
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islandboo
Lokahi
USA
237 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2005 : 04:51:03 AM
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Hi, Lynn!
I am absolutely of no use as far as the guitar question goes, but it is very nice to see you on the board and to hear that you will be back at AMC this year.
A hui hou!
Debbie |
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wdf
Ha`aha`a
USA
1153 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2005 : 05:25:56 AM
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Doug McMaster had a big baby taylor, in Hanalei, that didn't hold up well in the wet conditions.
You might want to look at the Rainsong guitars. They have models made from graphite which is pretty much immune to climate. They vary in price according to features, but in any case, they will be more expensive than the big baby taylor. CA guitars also has graphite models. An Ovation would probably fare well in Hilo.
However, any full sized guiter is problematic to travel with on a plane. Maybe a regular baby taylor would be a good choice. It fits in the overhead of most planes and is cheap enough to replace if and when it deteriorates.
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Dusty |
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chunky monkey
Ha`aha`a
USA
1022 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2005 : 05:34:14 AM
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| I agree with Dusty - get a RainSong if you can afford it. Otherwise, I'd look at the relatively inexpensive Martin parlors ($300). I've played them and I like them better than the Baby Taylors. There is a small guitar shop in Hilo (you probably know it), on the same street where they do the farmer's market. I'd go there and get their recommendation if you are going to keep one in Hilo. |
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PuaLynn
Lokahi
USA
120 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2005 : 06:54:20 AM
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| Thanks for the replies so far. I'll check out the RainSong and parlor Martins. Terry, were you at Patrick's Hawaiian Music Institute last year? Your picture looks familiar .. I think we talked. |
Me ke aloha,
Lynn |
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chunky monkey
Ha`aha`a
USA
1022 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2005 : 08:31:12 AM
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| Yes I was there. I remember speaking with someone who had a condo in Hilo (perhaps purchased recently?). |
Edited by - chunky monkey on 04/20/2005 08:32:55 AM |
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Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2005 : 09:35:32 AM
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Hey, it's not THAT bad a place for a Guitar!
I have a Guild that I kept in Florida mostly in non-airconditioned places at 85% average humidity and 80 degrees average temperature for 30 years with no serious problems. I also played an old spanish guitar that was kept up at Kalalau (next to Mt, Waialale - the wettest place on Earth) in 95% humidity for decades, and except for the spider that lived inside it, it was also in fine shape. If you bring an instrument that was made in, or has been in, a very dry climate (like Colorado), it may need a period of "adjustment", probably about a month with the strings slacked off, but otherwise I would not worry too much.
Just don't take the darn thing out in the rain or leave it in the sun or worse yet, leave it in the trunk in the sun after having gotten it wet in the rain!
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Mahope Kākou...
...El Lorenzo de Ondas Sonoras |
Edited by - Lawrence on 05/04/2005 8:28:14 PM |
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Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2005 : 11:19:10 AM
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Lawrence made a good point: where a guitar was made and its recent environment mean a lot, as does some sensible treatment and storage. Some statistics show that a wood loses moisture about 3 times as fast as it gains it, so drying, especially with heating (resulting in splitting), is more dangerous than high humidity. Changing any kind of environmental variable quickly is bad.
All the people we know in Hawai`i, with wooden guitars, don't really have a problem, and lots of them live in places that have about the same RH as Hilo. Kevin (Wai`ehu) and Bill (Pa`ia) both have Takamines and Bill also has a 1940's 00 Martin. David (Wailuku) has a Taylor or two. I forget what Duke (Hana) has, but it is wooden.
The humidity in James Goodall's shop in Kailua was about 75% (Temp about 80 deg. F.) when we visited - although his crew assembles guitars after they have been dried out to about 50%. But, then, they live in his shop with the doors and windows open.
We stayed in Hilo once, for about 10 days, and my Goodall changed not one bit (we rented a nice house for lots less than a hotel room would have cost). And we, and 2 guitars, were on the BI for about a total of 1 month with no effect whatever on the guitars.
...Reid |
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PuaLynn
Lokahi
USA
120 Posts |
Posted - 04/26/2005 : 10:03:54 AM
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| Thanks for all of the input so far. I'm going for a more inexpensive guitar to start with. My Sierra Foothills luthier has suggested a Blueridge for sound at a reasonable price, perhaps the BR-43 000. Anyone have comments on Blueridge, or on the 000 size for slack key starters? I'm strung out on stringed instruments (i.e. am addict), so I know if slack key clicks for me, I'll be getting another instrument when I can afford it. |
Me ke aloha,
Lynn |
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catheglass
Lokahi
USA
312 Posts |
Posted - 05/04/2005 : 8:15:23 PM
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Aloha Lynn:
I'm also bi-coastal, and I take my Baby Taylor to Hawai'i, have been doing so for some years - since I usually carry an 'ukulele onboard the plane as well, I pack the Baby in a full size case, surrounded by t-shirts and underwear or other soft clothes, and gate check it. works fine.
I've tried both the Parlor Martins and the Baby Taylors, and for me the Baby is best, much better tone, resonance, notes sing longer. What I found out is that every inidividual instrument is a bit different, and there are good Taylors and good Martins. I also like the construction of the Baby Taylor, especially the bracing and the detachable neck, better.
Okies, your turn - now tell me where I might stay inexpensively in Hilo before I go off to Uncle George's camp.........mahalo. |
cathe |
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PuaLynn
Lokahi
USA
120 Posts |
Posted - 05/14/2005 : 9:09:43 PM
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Aloha Cathe,
Sorry to take so long to answer. Work has kept me very busy this past week. I'm going to be getting a Big Baby Taylor from Ken at Hilo Guitars (where I first met you on my way to my first camp!) I figure the one I get will have lived for a while in Hilo so won't go through lots of changes.
As to inexpensive places to stay in Hilo .. I think the Dolphin Inn is supposed to be good and reasonably priced. I confess to not knowing much beyond the Hilo Hawaiian where Loren and I have stayed many times. They often have good web prices on ocean front rooms .. sometimes under $100. The hotel is a bit threadbare, but I like it and the people who run it. |
Me ke aloha,
Lynn |
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chunky monkey
Ha`aha`a
USA
1022 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2005 : 05:23:51 AM
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Aloha Cathe,
I know a B & B just outside downtown Hilo. Inexpensive and interesting. A little funky and needs some work; an old custom home (1930) run by a single woman who is basically gone all day dealing with horses. $75. Maureen's B & B; it's on the web. A couple of miles from Banyan Tree road - NE of airport. Worth a couple of days. |
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bbenzel
Lokahi
USA
130 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2005 : 06:40:18 AM
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Blueridge makes some great guitars for the bucks but their styling and sound profile is, to me, more oriented toward bluegrass. (I have a problem with their big, ornate headstock design in particular.)
As long as you're considering product made in China you might also take a look at Washburn. They're simpler in styling and very well made using modern CNC technology. There are two or three models in solid koa -- one I've picked up and played is a thinbody acoustic-electric solid koa back, sides and top that goes for about $500. Another is a full size dreadnaught with solid koa back and sides and a cedar top. I don't know if they make that one with a cutaway.
If you can find a Washburn dealer nearby you should play some of them before you make your final decision.
Bill |
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