jwhitcomb3

I used Tracktion 2 to track several of the songs on my last CD (though I mixed them on Digital Performer). It's a nice, intuitive package. If I had any impending recording projects this offer would tempt me. -Jonathan

I usually like to listen to albums, although with the advent of iTunes I also like making playlists and listening on random play. But I do like the continuity of a good album. Hell, I bought the two original Led Zeppelin boxed sets, and then re-organized them into album playlist for iTunes (and while studying for finals have been listening to them for comfort). Most recently, Caitlin Cary and Thad Cockrell's "Begonias" is a great listen from beginning to end. Also: "Get Guilty" - A.C. Newman "Aptos" - The Moore Brothers "Blame It On Gravity" - Old 97's "Clouded Staircase" - Starling Electric "Bearsick" Billy Harvey "Enjoy The Music of the Famous Volcanoes" - Famous Volcanoes "The Trials of Van Occupanther" - Midlake -Jonathan

30! Mine is #10. -Jonathan

Well, for one, I don't have time to play the guitars that do fit my style these day! And my taste in guitars changes over time. By the time I actually get time to start playing again, maybe it will be in vogue! -Jonathan

I wish I could answer, but I've never played a stock Studio Custom. The closest I've had was an Archtop GT P90 (until I swapped out the P90's for minibuckers), which was a different animal. And being a minibucker/P90 kind of guy, the 30th is my least played guitar. It feels great to play, but I have little use for full sized humbuckers. Maybe I should have figured that out before I bought it! The chambers and antiquity pickups ought to make the differences more than cosmetic though. I like to keep it around for the jaw-drops it produces when I break it out! I'm sure EM 10 produces the same reaction! -Jonathan

WOW!!! WANT!!! -Jonathan Here's my 30th LTD

They are from neck to bridge: "sweet", "kinky", "nasty" and "you filthy whore say my name". This belongs in the manual! Can I get a Tally with this engraved on the top? -Jonathan

+1 I play my best looking guitar the least. It feels great to my hands, but it just doesn't sound right to me. And I paid more for it than I paid for four other guitars that I play more often combined. None of 'em look as good. Two of them are more ergonomic (the other two less). But all of them sound better. So yeah, I've got a $150 Korean made Dean that I play more often than a $3K+ Hamer USA. My Eclipse, Artist Korina and Newport all jockey for #1. -Jonathan

GREAT album(s)! I thought I was getting a great deal a few years back on ebay for $26 and the bastard sent me a CD-R!

I sold a copy of "Bath of Bacon" by the Jazz Butcher on eBay for $150. I sold a DCC gold CD of Jethro Tull's Aqualung for even more! I think the most I paid was about $40 for a copy of "King Strut and Other Stories" by Peter Blegvad. Great album! -Jonathan

+1, except mine was a '94. Loved that thing. Eventually swapped out the p90's for minibuckers and loved it even more. Sadly, a downsizing casualty. -Jonathan

Heh...might be a very long wait! They made 30 of 'em. -Jonathan

Here's my 30th (#10): Awful pretty guitar! But that natural burst is very hard to photograph...have never been able to capture it. It says more "class" than "flash". -Jonathan

Considering the economy, I wouldn't be surprised if Hamer opts just to wait until 40. -Jonathan

Woo-hoo! I'm so pleased that Alison Krauss and Robert Plant swept all 5 awards they were nominated for! I first saw Alison Krauss at the Lowell Folk Festival in 1989 (I think...it could have been '88 or '90). She was only 18 and a co-worker told me about her. We saw a few other acts and then the whole festival was brought to a halt by a 20 minute torrential downpour. We then went over to see Krauss' scheduled performance (it wasn't even on the main stage, just one of the smaller side venues), but the rain had dispersed most of the crowd and had knocked out the sound system. So Alison invited the 50 or so of us waiting to hear her to crowd around the front of the stage, where she and the band perched themselves on the edge and gave a wonderful, intimate un-amplified performance. Her fiddle playing just knocked me out, and of course even back then her voice was angelic. Alison Brown was playing banjo in that band...really great! I was hooked, and have seen her several times since, each time in successively larger venues. She was always shy, and it the first time I saw her in a 500+ person venue she was clearly nervous (but still put on a great show). The last time was in Concord NH about eight years ago with Union Station, where Jerry Douglass' dobro playing just floored me. My only disappointment is that over the years her fabulous fiddle playing has been increasingly overshadowed. Who'd a thunk that we were watching a future superstar at that soggy stage! Oh, and that Plant guy can sing too! -Jonathan

Just to be clear, H&D plays a bunch of games with their 00s to make them extraordinarily loud/balanced that they don't do in their larger guitars: lighter bracing, thinner tops, cedar neck, so have to use light strings on them. The larger H&Ds are great guitars and plenty loud, but I just don't want to set you up to think that a larger H&D is as much louder than other large guitars as their 00 is over other small guitars. Had a jones on for a CM for a while... -Jonathan

If I had the scratch, I'd be all over this one. Profile of an OM, depth of a dreadnaught, plus the cutaway for upper fret access. Huss & Dalton are excellent USA made small shop guitars, and nowadays hard to find in this price range. -Jonathan

I agree with tombo: there are some great Canadian builders. Boucher is a wonderful Canadian builder. I tried several of these in Montreal last summer, including a very cool all-spruce guitar (the "Spruce Goose"). Archambault in Montreal used to carry Stonebridge guitars (Czech), which seemed a great bang for the buck. Are you looking to buy new or used? -Jonathan

Great score! Looking forward to the tone report! -Jonathan

Building on the Badgercaster: Talladega with 6-in-line headstock, no body binding, forearm bevel and belly cut. Minibuckers would be cool too. -Jonathan

Happy Birthday!

Finally got a moment to pop in the CD tonight. WOW!!! First thing that jumped into my mind was this sounded like an updated version of The Feelies (which coming from me is high praise indeed). Hot stuff, guys! Thanks! -Jonathan

No problem. Let me know if any of the stuff has P90's ! -Austin Oh, Man... I did not need to see that! -Jonathan

Yep. Those pickups in that guitar are just right. My first Hamer was an Archtop GT that had the stock hot Duncan P-90's and while it was fun, they were too hot and too noisy. But one of the great features of Hamers are really well voiced volume and tone controls, so make sure you work those before swapping out. Hamers also seem very responsive to different types and gauges of strings, so that's another very cheap alternative to swapping guitars or pickups. Oh, and welcome! -Jonathan

Woooiiieee! I just got invited to Minneapolis for a job interview (date pending). Perhaps I can catch a show! Great stuff on the MySpace page. -Jonathan