Acoustic Guitar

84 Pages·011.662 MB·English

by  coll.

PLAY THE BLUES LIKE CHARLEY PATTON | SAME GUITAR, NEW SOUNDS
3
DEEP RIVER BLUES

Doc Watson S
O
WITHIN YOU WITHOUT YOU
The Beatles N
G
AVALON
Al Jolson S
FEBRUARY 2018 | ACOUSTICGUITAR.COM
LEARN
FROM
THE
BEST
PLAN YOUR
SUMMER GETAWAY
TO GUITAR CAMP
RE-INVENTING THE
LOCAL GUITAR STORE
INDEPENDENT SHOPS RISE
TO TODAY’S CHALLENGES
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®
By Collings Guitars
Modern Playability,
Vintage Soul.
Founded by master luthier
Bill Collings, Waterloo guitars
are handcrafted in Austin,
Texas to capture the vibe and
character of the very best
Depression era guitars.
WL-14 “Boot Burst” Edition www.waterlooguitars.com
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CONTENTS
Steve Earle tries out a guitar at
Carter Vintage Guitars in Nashville.
S
R
UITA
G
E
G
NTA
VI
R
E
RT
A
C
OF
Y
S
E
RT
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O
C
‘It’s of critical Features Special Focus Miscellany
Learn from the Best
importance for
34 The State of the 10 The Front Porch
people to play a Independent Guitar Store 18 Summer Guitar Getaways 12 Feedback
Established retailers adjust The Best Events. The Top 81 Classifieds
guitar. If you have
to changing times Instructors. How to Prepare. What 81 Ad Index
a critical ear, you’re
By Brian Wise to Expect. Making it Last.
taking a chance by Advice from Happy Traum, Jorma
38 Matt Umanov Kaukonen, Molly Tuttle, Frank
ordering online.’
Guitars Closing Vignola, Bryan Sutton, and more
WALTER CARTER Historic shop ruled By David Lusterman
p. 3 6 in Greenwich Village
By Brian Wise 32 Top 25 Summer Camps
Instruments, Activities, Styles
40 Same Guitar, New Sounds As recommended by Acoustic
Uncover your guitar’s many voices Guitar readers
by trying different strings
By Kate Koenig
February 2018
Volume 28, No. 8, Issue 302
On the Cover
Clockwise from top center:
Molly Tuttle, Jorma Kaukonen,
Brooks Robertson, Al Petteway,
Clive Carroll, Bryan Sutton
AcousticGuitar.com 5
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SPONSORED
CONTENTS
HOW TO USE
DYNAMICS TO IMPROVE Tim Frick crafts one of his unique archtops, p. 66
YOUR PERFORMANCE
WITH ALEX DE GRASSI
Fingerstyle master Alex de Grassi
demonstrates the interplay of dynamics
between the thumb and fi ngers as an
orchestration tool. It adds color, nuance
and refi nement to fi ngerstyle play.
N
E
“I get more volume, a balanced sound, KS
C
and my strings last longer when I use ERI
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—Alex de Grassi H
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14 Guitar Talk 66 Makers & Shakers
Whether you are a virtuoso like Alex
Matt Sweeney and his web series Guitar Moves Luthier Tim Frick pushes the creative envelope
or just getting started, nothing should
get in the way of your tone. 16 The Beat 68 Ask the Expert
Highlights of the 2017 Woodstock Invitational How to shop for a used guitar, Pt. 2
Elixir Strings is still the only brand to Luthiers Showcase
coat the entire string, protecting not 74 Review: Yamaha AC5R I FEEL AS THOUGH
only the outer string surface, but also PLAY and LJ16BC Billy Corgan
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the gaps between the windings. As a MY SONGWRITING IS
Moveable chords can expand your mix modern features and silky playability
result, Elixir Strings retain their tone
harmonic palette
longer than any other string, uncoated MIXED MEDIA STRONGER BECAUSE
or coated.* 46 Weekly Workout 77 Playlist
Using melodic tools to express chord changes Tommy Emmanuel and David Grisman are
THIS IS ALL I HAVE.
*Elixir Strings Player Survey Pickin’ together; Julian Lage and Gyan Riley
52 Woodshed play John Zorn; Elvis Presley’s Sun masters;
How to play the blues like Charley Patton Mali meets Louisiana on Boubacar Traoré album
-DANIEL CAESAR
Learn more:
AcousticGuitar.com/Sponsored SONGS 82 Great Acoustics
56 Deep River Blues 1958 Martin 00-18G nylon-string
Learn Doc Watson’s arrangement
60 Within You Without You
George Harrison’s Indian classic for guitar
64 Avalon
A gem from the Great American Songbook
SPONSORED
PARAMOUNT® SERIES: PM-1 DREADNOUGHT ALL-MAHOGANY #HEREFORTHEMUSIC
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6 February 2018
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I FEEL AS THOUGH
MY SONGWRITING IS
STRONGER BECAUSE
THIS IS ALL I HAVE.
-DANIEL CAESAR
PARAMOUNT® SERIES: PM-1 DREADNOUGHT ALL-MAHOGANY #HEREFORTHEMUSIC
©2017 Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. PARAMOUNT® is a trademark of Jackson/Charvel Manufacturing Inc. All rights reserved.
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THE FRONT PORCH
AcousticGuitar.com
I live in San Anselmo, California, a town lucky CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
Editor David A. Lusterman
to have a community music store. Amazing Managing Editor Kevin Owens
Grace Music, founded in 1970, has been the hub Senior Editor Greg Olwell
Senior Editor Blair Jackson
of old-time, folk, and roots music in Marin
Associate Editor Anna Pulley
County, especially since fiddler and luthier John Contributing Music Editor Adam Perlmutter
Pedersen and banjo player Judy Kaufman Editor at Large Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
Production Manager Hugh O’Connor
acquired the shop in 1982. It’s the place where
Contributing Editors Kenny Berkowitz,
musicians hang out, party, and explain to each David Hamburger, Steve James,
other how the world is changing for the worse. Pauline France, Orville Johnson,
Richard Johnston, Pete Madsen,
Five weeks or five years can pass between my
Sean McGowan, Mamie Minch,
visits, and I always get the same welcome— Jane Miller, Doug Young
though it has been quite a while since John has
CREATIVE SERVICES
offered me a glass of whiskey, now that I think Creative Director Joey Lusterman
about it. When the locals need a beginner Art Director Bill Evans
acoustic guitar for their kids, Amazing Grace is
SALES & MARKETING
the first stop. When someone wants to sell some- Chief Revenue Officer Lyzy Lusterman
thing old but not exactly vintage, it will probably Sales Director Cindi Olwell
Sales Managers Ref Sanchez,
show up on the wall. When a member of the
Amy-lynn Fischer
substantial immigrant population of neighboring Sales Associate Vanessa Averbeck
San Rafael needs an accordion, Amazing Grace is Marketing Services Manager Tanya Gonzalez
Product Marketing Manager Kelsey Holt
the place that welcomes him.
Magazine Marketing Coordinator Lauren Boyd
Don’t get the impression that it’s a friendly Single Copy Sales Consultant Tom Ferruggia
place, though. John Pedersen is the curmudgeon
from central casting, and his motorcycle is noisy.
He keeps an eyebrow cocked. He’s been known to
make droll, caustic, and even dry remarks to the
customers. I guess that’s one reason we love the
place. It’s real. As their website says, “We consider Stringletter.com
ourselves to be the exact opposite of chain or mall
music stores. We pride ourselves on knowing how Publisher and Editorial Director
to set up, maintain, and repair virtually every David A. Lusterman
instrument and accessory in this shop.” RIS FINANCE & OPERATIONS
Until 2012, Amazing Grace occupied a OR Chief Operations Officer
N
dilapidated Quonset hut with traffic rushing by E Anita Evans
PI
in both directions on what used to be railroad KIP Bookkeeper Geneva Thompson
Accounting Associate Raymund Baldoza
beds. Funky is an understatement; you could
Office Assistant Alex Lydon
have watered a large garden with the conden- of shopping, buying, and selling evolve. In this
General Inquiries [email protected]
sation on the single-pane windows during one issue, the owners and staffs of some of the coun- Customer Service
of their famous Christmas parties. When the try’s best-known independent acoustic music [email protected]
property went on the market, many feared stores speak their minds to Brian Wise about the Advertising Inquiries
[email protected]
the end had come. Then San Anselmo’s most state of the business. I urge you to take the time
Send e-mail to individuals in this format:
celebrated resident, filmmaker George Lucas, to view these community resources through the [email protected]
quietly bought the building, froze the rent, and eyes of their operators—especially the next time
Front Desk [phone]
eventually relocated Amazing Grace to a newer, you think about trying out a guitar in the store
Customer Service [phone]
more spacious location next door. Lucky? No. before you buy it on Amazon! General Fax [phone]
That’s the kind of treatment a 42-year old com- And please drop me a note about your own Secure Fax [phone]
munity institution deserves. local music store. There are good stories in
MAIL & SHIPPING
Not every music store has or needs a bene- every one of them. 501 Canal Boulevard, Suite J,
factor. But nearly all of them are becoming —David A. Lusterman, Editor Richmond, CA 94804
increasingly creative and adaptable as our habits [email protected]
Printed in USA
Doridsetrrsib@uatieddc vtto.c tohme music trade by American International Distribution Corporation (AIDC), 800-765-8737, pyoauy ry osuurb bscillr,i pretinoenw. ,A g isvein ga lge ifits, scuhea ncgoes ytso u$r 6a.d9d9r;e sasn, ainnddi vgideut aaln sswubesrsc rtiop taionny qisu e$s2ti9o npse yro uye mara;y ihnastvietu atiboonuatl Marc Quigley
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10 February 2018
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