Page 1 of 1

Minor Groove Blues + a n other

Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2021 11:05 am
by VikingBlues
About time I tried something at least slightly blues on a recording.

Acoustic guitar - tuned to DADGAD - minor blues. Based on an arrangement by Rob MacKillop. but butchered / arranged by me.

:music1:


Minor Groove Blues.mp3 - (3.53 MiB)

If I can just throw in a non-blues recording too. First vocals for a year or so - excuse the croaking.
The words are from an old poem by my wife.

:music1:


Butterfly.mp3 - (4.97 MiB)

Same acoustic guitar as the blues recording. Standard tuning though. The guitar arrangement was improvised on the hoof.

The guitar is new to my collection.

Re: Minor Groove Blues + a n other

Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2021 1:02 pm
by VikingBlues
TW45 Full.JPG
TW45 Full.JPG (5.98 MiB) Viewed 9921 times
The guitar that's new to my collection.

In 2007 I bought my first good quality acoustic. A Tanglewood TW45 NS. OM sort of size with a cutaway.
Sounded so much better than the others in the shop.
7 years on and i hadn't been using it much - I found it an awkward shape and size with playing electric so much.
So it got sold and i got a smaller parlour size that was more comfortable.

7 years on and I'm very used to playing acoustics and have a couple larger than the TW45.
I'd been looking to add to the collection and suddenly a used TW45 DLX popped up. Very similar to the one I had.
It must date from around 2004. In real money I bought this for the same as I sold the old one, and got a decent padded gigbag thrown in.

Very comfortable to play now. It's natural sound is quite a rich tone and it gives off a very solid feel.
Solid Cedar top and Solid mahogany back. Bone nut and saddle. Grover tuners. Gloss body but semi satin neck for a better playing feel.

Love it!!! :high5:

Re: Minor Groove Blues + a n other

Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2021 8:46 pm
by 12bar
Congrats to your new old guitar! :handshake: guitar_fire::

It sounds really great and like a very comfortable playing. Only essential notes, a warm voice, nice lyrics (as far as I can understand :big_smile: ), just a pleasure to listen. :clap:

Re: Minor Groove Blues + a n other

Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2021 10:31 am
by VikingBlues
Thank you! :D

I quite enjoyed the freedom of improvising the guitar accompaniment while singing the fixed lyrics.
But, it's not happened again yet. Maybe it'll be a one off. :icon_whoknows:

The electrics attached to the TW45 include a Shadow P7 EQ unit - I'd never heard of this brand before - it's nearly all Fishman these days.
I believe they were made in Germany and I see Shadow Electronics are still on the go but in the USA. Looks like the P7 has long since been replaced with newer units.
Not that I like the sounds from Piezo pickups generally. Very rarely sound like anything but a generic piezo pickup sound rather unlike the guitars natural tone.

I'll maybe get a replacement bone saddle done at some point - it looks like the previous owner let his pet rat gnaw on it, and I suspect the wee jagged bits might sometimes effect the sound if they're in contact with the strings at all. The height is perfect though, so it'll do fine for now.

Re: Minor Groove Blues + a n other

Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2021 1:05 pm
by 12bar
VikingBlues wrote: Wed Sep 29, 2021 10:31 am The electrics attached to the TW45 include a Shadow P7 EQ unit
I don't have an acoustic with PU, but didn't Kalle from Sweden here on the forum have a Tanglewood with it?

Re: Minor Groove Blues + a n other

Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2021 11:06 pm
by VikingBlues
:icon_whoknows: You might be right.
But I suspect that was back in the days before I took much interest in acoustic guitar - if it was I probably wouldn't have paid much notice.

To be honest the only acoustic guitar I own that has a pickup system that's worth using is the Vintage Gordon Giltrap Signature - it's worth using because it has a piezo and an internal microphone arrangement and you can mix the signals how you prefer.
Ends up producing a sound much more like the real guitar and with less of the generic typical piezo sound.