G Man

Glad to hear you're able to do some acquiring Rich, and Brent is a straight up guy to acquire from. And yes, this is definitely how the HFC rolls, best little corner of the internet bar none.

Those old martins are the bomb, I'm jealous. I remember playing a 1937 00-17 that just floored me with tone. Love vintage Martin's, truly the holy grail of tone.

Very very nice, story and bass.

Very nice pair you have there. Congrats!

Lately it has been my Front Porch 335, but that could very well change next week when I take delivery of the Newport Pro.

Bittersweet indeed. Lovely work though.

That's definitely the way to go, and if they won't their are any number of pickup winders out there these days doing really nice work who should be able to do the job right.

I'm looking forward to trying out one of the starcasters when they hit my local shop. I've always been intrigued with that particular bolt-on, semi-hollow, but the vintage pieces are drawing big money these days.

A little acoustic, from several years ago. And some trippy stuff from when I first got my Q-Tron,

I must be starting to lose it. I've never had the good fortune to play a talladega, but I suddenly have an urge to sell a few pieces and start saving towards a tally pro, with the sustainblock, phatcats and 25.5" scale. Are these guitars really all that, or should I put the camera away and settle back into enjoying what I already have, which is admittedly more than I need already? They just look, on paper/internet at least, to be about perfect.

Nice, that is the perfect answer. Thank you.

Well, I truly enjoyed reading this. Having finished it, however, I do have one question. Why no mention of the Talladega anywhere? Are we just not supposed to talk about it? As thorough as the book is, this seems like some odd revisionist history out to erase the reality of, what many think to be, one of Hamer's greatest designs. Reasoning? Inquiring minds want to know.

Hence the YMWV = Your Mileage WILL Vary.

I suppose that depends on whether you want to stay in that sad space and relish it, or find a way out. If the former, lots of dark alt-country stuff, ala Wilco. If the latter, live Dead from the late 70s. YMWV.

Got mine today, very nice quality and layout, looking forward to sitting down and reading it.

mc2, while I like your post, you may want to remove the image as per the qoute below.

Just got the email from Shiffer Publishing that my book shipped yesterday via fedex.

Nice, I'll be looking into those "other avenues" when mine arrives. A book signing/HFC get together sounds fun.

Slowly, very slowly, I improve a bit, year by year. I have spent the past couple of years trying to unlearn bad habits from my previous 25 years of un-taught guitar playing. I almost always form an open G with my pinkie on the high E string now, that took way too long to feel normal. Also been working on bringing my left pinkie finger into my lead work more as well, starting to see results there too. Both of these things have opened new avenues in my playing, which I like to think of as improvements. Ultimately though, for me, music is for fun and relaxation, so if I don't see any vast improvement over time, I do my best not to worry about it and remind myself why I pick up the guitar at the end of every day. I also really love the sound a good gear, so there are times where I just noodle night after night while focusing on my tone more. I guess if tone is all in the fingers, then I like to think I am improving in this realm as well.

Shawinggg!!!

I grabbed his new disc a month or so ago, good stuff, for the most part.

Just got my order in. Should be a fun read. Thanks for all the hard work to all involved.

Nice, I always think banjo when I think of Tony Furtado, can't say I've seen him play guitar, although he obviously does so quite well. Thanks for this one.

Yes.

I agree with the others, look for the local/regional micro-breweries and you are apt to find some terrific beer. Stay away from the big names, its all crap.