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Lunchpail
Aloha
Canada
8 Posts |
 Posted - 12/28/2005 : 8:19:35 PM
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Hello, all!
New to this forum. Long time fingerstyle player, just becoming addicted to slack key!
Need some advice .....
Want to buy a guitar for slack key, and need to know what top woods and side/back woods are recommended.
Also would like your recommends re body shape. Dreadnaught? OM? Concert?
As a point of reference, I really love the tone Keola Beamer gets on his instructional DVD!!
Thanks in advance for your help.
Cheers,
BK
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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2005 : 8:25:08 PM
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Welcome, Lunchpail!
We're all addicted here, so jump right in.
I think Steve Grimes would let you order the Keola Beamer model double puka guitar if you have several thousand bucks laying around:) I think they're on backorder, though.
Enjoy the good company here.
Jesse Tinsley |
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chunky monkey
Ha`aha`a
USA
1022 Posts |
Posted - 12/29/2005 : 05:50:00 AM
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welcome lunchpail,
everybody has a preference. I play a rosewood/spruce Taylor that I like a lot. However, I've never heard better slack-key sound than what John Keawe gets out of his Gomes Koa. My second choice for sound that I've heard is Mark Nelson's Taylor 400 series Koa. I sold a Taylor Koa to buy a Goodall. I wish I still had the Taylor. There's a pattern forming here. Getting there is most of the fun. |
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Mika ele
Ha`aha`a
USA
1493 Posts |
Posted - 12/29/2005 : 08:40:50 AM
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Aloha Lunchpail (why lunchpail?),
This is what Keola Beamer and Mark Nelson say in their ki ho'alu book about what you need to play slack key, (c) 1999 Mel Bay Publications: quote:
Slack key guitar can be played on any style of guitar -- there are proponents of both steel string and nylon string acoustics, and even some electric players!
They also talk a little bit about strings: quote:
You don't want to use a real light guage string.....a medium guage is probably the best for steel players. Too light and they're flopping all over the place.
For nylon players, use a good medium or high tension string. 'Cause you are really getting pretty slack with the low C.
IMHO, there are some songs in certain tunings that sound great on nylon and not as good on steel and vice versa. I have also heard some songs that really shine in a big boomy jumbo with solid bass overtones and then don't play as well on a small bodied nylon string guitar. Some songs sound great on a 12-string and need extra fillers to round out the song on a parlor with six steel strings. My recent experience with a very small nylon string (tenor ukulele body) guitar has some songs responding well (same arrangements) and some not. There are all the fine points about string sustain, timbre, tone, twang, bendability, vibratto, free-stroke -vs- rest-stroke that can completely change the texture of a song from one guitar to the next.
You can buy an entire library of Ki ho'alu Albums and find 30 different recordings of "Hi'ilawe", for example, and few people would agree on their top 5 versions. They will vary in tuning, artist, arrangement, guitar, strings, number of instruments, rhythm, and key. It really becomes a personal preference -- one not locked in time.
I just heard John Keawe live, last week, his Gomes Guitar is in the shop, and what he produced from his Goodall steel string was outstanding. I've heard Daniel Ho play live on two Yamaha Silent Series guitars -- no acoustic body, just a neck, pickups, and plastic body fillers (one nylon, the other steel) and he was able to coax some very beautiful sounds from them.
I would think that if you really like the playability of your "fingerstyle" guitar, you will be able to shift to ki ho'alu with ease and grace. The only adjustment may be your guitar "action" as the loosened strings pull less on the neck and the action can get lower than what you are comfortable with. Lower the sixth string to C and hit a good solid free-stroke with your thumb -- if it hits the frets and buzzes out -- your action may be too low. |
E nana, e ho'olohe. E pa'a ka waha, e hana ka lima. |
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Karl Monetti
`Olu`olu
USA
756 Posts |
Posted - 12/30/2005 : 3:23:50 PM
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Lunchpail
Much to your chagrin and your wife's delight, any one of the 37 guitars you already own woudl be jsut fine for slack key. But, if you;re lookin for an excuse to buy another one, what better excuse than to play this wonderful music. Find the nearest Taylor distrubotor and look no further (IMnotsoHO)
Don't let any of us scare yo away:} |
Karl
Frozen North |
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Karl Monetti
`Olu`olu
USA
756 Posts |
Posted - 12/30/2005 : 3:24:57 PM
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Luchpail
Forgot to ask how far north and west you are in Canada you are. |
Karl
Frozen North |
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Lunchpail
Aloha
Canada
8 Posts |
Posted - 12/30/2005 : 5:10:51 PM
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All,
Thanks so much for your welcoming posts. This is obviously a great place, and I already feel very comfortable here. I look forward to getting to know you all!
BK |
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Lunchpail
Aloha
Canada
8 Posts |
Posted - 12/30/2005 : 5:14:09 PM
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Karl,
I live in Calgary, Alberta. I am just east of the Rocky Mountains, just north of Montana.
I note that your signature is "Frozen North". Alaska?
Cheers,
BK
PS- I love Taylors, but I really don't care for their "Expression System", otherwise I'd be all over that. :-) But thanks for the recommend. |
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Lunchpail
Aloha
Canada
8 Posts |
Posted - 12/30/2005 : 5:19:25 PM
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Mika'ele,
Thanks for the post. In answer to your question "Why Lunchpail?" .....
When I used to teach guitar, I found that my young students all wanted to call me "Mr. Kiely". I wanted to be on more informal terms with these younger students, so I would encourage them to each make up a nickname for me, something they were comfortable with, so we could be better friends. One young student came up with "Larry Lunchpail", and (even though my name isn't Larry) I kinda liked it.
:-)
Cheers,
BK |
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Karl Monetti
`Olu`olu
USA
756 Posts |
Posted - 12/31/2005 : 10:36:17 AM
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Larry
I am not that impressed with the Exspression system either. But,then, I am not much of an expert on the sound of amplified guitars. Form all the stuff you read in teh magazines there is a huge lexicon of adjcteves, nouns, adverbs, prepositions and dangling participles surroungding this arcane, sport of who's got the best sound. I just know what sounds nice to me, adn the Expression deal is not at the top of my list. But, the guitars are still good, and i bought mine before that system was invented. My pick=-uo is still steam powered!
Actully i had an undersaddle pickup installed at the factory on my older 910 Jumbo. It soujn ds OK through an amp, but the acoustic sond is not as good any more. ery disappointing. On the cutaway 614 i dont have antyhing, jsut use a Dean Markley sound hole deal with cored attached. Not a great signal, so needs a pre-amp to soiujnd any good. None of my other guitsrs are electrified. I do like the soujnd of my 910 with a Guitar Plug (brand name) that goes directly into the computer and gets modeled by the garageband program.
Anyway, pick out what sounds good to you!
North Pole, Alaska (i'm santa's vet for the reindeer) |
Karl
Frozen North |
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Lunchpail
Aloha
Canada
8 Posts |
Posted - 12/31/2005 : 11:31:26 PM
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Karl,
Yup, Taylor makes great guitars.
And that whole amplification thing is a challenge. So many choices. So much hype.
I'm kinda intrigued by the Takamine solution. The new Cool Tube thing, which also accomodates an auxiliary source. Seems like one might be able to tweak and twist until something useable is found.
Or not ......
Stay warm, my friend. And Happy New Year!
Cheers,
BK |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2168 Posts |
Posted - 01/01/2006 : 1:44:35 PM
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| I use my old Martin D-18, light guage phosphor bronze strings, Fishman Thinline pick-up and use a Fishman pre-amp if I go into someone's system. Works for me. The most important thing is "the player playing music". You can even have a good time with a cheapo guitar. Your mind is the real instrument. Good tools aid in producing quality products, though. Speaking of Canada, I've liked the Larivees I've tried. |
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