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10-08-2022 11:10 AM
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From the same series: Taylor Roberts
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For showcasing the acoustic qualities of these guitars I prefer the approach of the guy who also made the recordings...
This is probably the my preferred among the guitars I've heard:
The Aquisto is a bit jangly to my taste but does have a nice open sound otherwise:
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I have enjoyed Ted Ludwig's Blue Guitar presentations. And to expand: similarly many wonderful unplugged performances within and outside this Forum. But who are these meant for? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe there are few if any opportunities of playing unamplified chord-melody stuff before a live audience, and if yes, only for the very best. YouTube vids typically reach a few hundred fans max.
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This is an interesting point. Even the guitarist won't hear the soundboard at its fullest. And the archtop began as a "percussion" instrument in a sense anyway. But an excellent use of the archtop is to simultaneously use a microphone near the soundboard and blend in a standard pickup's sound through an amp.
Originally Posted by Gitterbug
As much joy playing an acoustic guitar has, it still is best heard from someone sitting in front of the player. Ironic. It's a cosmic curse.
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Here's more of the Chinery collection of blue guitars. Note they have turned green as the finish aged.
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This makes my greenburst Heritage Johnny Smith look more, well, normal.
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How many Chinery guitars are still blue? We should ask that question every few years. It would be like measuring the retreat of glaciers.
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Who are these for? You'd have to ask Chinery who commissioned a collection of acoustic archtops that clearly lack pickups. I see "real archtop guitars" as "what could have been the American classical guitar", with which recitals could be given like the recitals given with classical guitar (but with an appropriate repertoir that would probably include jazz). And that would undoubtedly include some form of ambient amplification, active acoustics or whatever is used to make an unplugged guitar loud enough to be heard by a larger audience in a ditto venue.
There may be few opportunities now to perform this in front of a live audience but that demand won't increase as long as there is hardly any offer. For comparison: HIP practice also started with a handful of pioneer players with a very tiny audience - and they didn't even have the access to the kind of great instruments and builders as archtop plays have.
Does anyone know how big the audience(s) was/were during the presentation(s) of Anthony Wilson's Seasons (and/or if these was/were public concerts)? The recording of this concert is of spectacular quality and I have to assume the public also had a listening experience that was worthy of the venue.
I don't think that's entirely accurate, even the first L5 was meant to be a versatile guitar AFAIK (I doubt Loar would have put a Virzi in a percussive instrument, for instance). From what I understand, the association with jazz and big bands came when these guitars turned out to be as audible as banjos but also able to sound nice. Originally Posted by Marty Grass
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The whole point of these guitars is that they didn't have to be meant for anyone. The entire collection was commissioned at by a single patron. He also set all of the build parameters. The purpose of the project was so that he could provide a creative challenge for a group of builders who he considered the elite of the elite with absolutely no concern for the commercial viability of the instruments. Originally Posted by Gitterbug
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Early Dixieland jazz commonly had banjos as rhythm instruments that had a strong percussive quality and helped keep time. Technically not a true percussive instrument, it was used to help carry the beat. It did support the melody and added harmony. The piano also served for rhythm, harmony and melody but was far more versatile. The guitar replaced the banjo for the most part by the 1920s, long before amplification was popular.
Now the guitar is smacked as a percussion instrument with flattops.
In summary, early Dixieland and swing featured the guitar's bright percussive sound. It technically wasn't a percussive instrument generally but has been described as that.
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They did start out blue. History - The Blue Guitars
Here is a link to the Heritage blue 18". It wasn't built for Chinery and wasn't made to the specs. But it's a big blue archtop from around the Chinery build period.
Heritage Super Eagle 1998 Blue Sunburst Rare Archtop Guitar | Reverb
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This one is pretty cool.
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Cool blue, maybe. Originally Posted by Marty Grass
Here's some real blues about colours
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