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Thanks mate. It was in Sawmill tuning but possibly tuned down from the usual gDGCD. All the best. Lew

Thanks mate. I used to own the Blueridge BR60-T. Lovely guitar and wish I still owned it. I hope you enjoy yours. Give CGCG a go too. Oodles of fun.

Hi mate, sorry for the delayed response. I really liked the Alvarez but sold it as I didn't have the means or the time to play it much. I can't comment on the GS Mini having not played one before, although I would assume it has a more rounded and less boxy "bluesy" sound in comparison to this Alvarez. Cheers

Cheers mate 👍

Thanks for your nice comment. To be honest I bought it before really knowing the difference and just liked the colour! However, having owned a Lightning and a Blues 28 I just found the Blues to be a bit more ballsy and simple, which I like. The Lightning is a bit sweeter and perhaps has a bit more sustain. The '28 is probably a better all-rounder but lacks the volume. I haven't played one of Michael's Fiddle Edges so I can't really comment on that one. Any of the three (Blues, Blues 28 and Lightning) are the best option unless you can stretch to a good NRP, a Fine Resophonic or a National, and certainly better than the other Far Eastern competition. I'm not entirely sure that's very helpful!

Oh I should mention that traditionally the Fiddle Edge will have a spider cone so quite different sounding to both the Blues and the Lightning with their biscuit bridge cones. More nasal, very sweet and loads of sustain but maybe less attack. Cheers again. Lew

@@lewisford1541 thanks, yes I knew about the spider cone but I think you can order it with a biscuit, not sure what it would sound like then, anyway thanks for doing the videos.

@@jamesnorman7552 if you search Snakehips and MM Fiddle Edge I think he did a video of his Fiddle Edge with a single cone in. In terms of comparing some Messer guitars, you may have already seen this but if not - ruclips.net/video/X8RY8bgItYM/видео.htmlsi=GDEJdBo7vVQ9AYpm Thanks again for your kind comments and let me know what you end up going for 🙂

Cheers mate!

Cheers Rose :)

That's right Dippy 😉

Thanks mate. Nice guitar this, lots of fun for these sort of tunes :-)

I'm oop nurth in't Lakes Lew! (with no signal most of the time).

Crumbs! Err, the steel body Blues has a lot more oomph and volume. The wood body Blues '28 has a more nasal quality...can sound more middley but also more twangy. Sorry, not very technical language here! If I could only own one, which is the actual case, then I'd go for the steel body Blues. It is worth considering the brass body Lightning model too, which is sweeter sounding that the steel Blues with more sustain, but less hair on the bones.

Cheers Dippy Hippy. I think I like the brass best, but they're all super-duper slides. Ben Burrow definitely knows how to make a slide!!

😘

Afraid I don't know how to add a chord chart, but if you just fret the top string up two semitones then you'll get the same sound as if you were in CGDA tuning.

Thanks mate. It's a great tune by Adam Franklin.

Thanks Ed. Another guitar that got away! It's definitely tuned CGDG on this one. If you check the G7 fingering near the end of the video I am fretting the major 3rd at the 4th fret of the 1st string instead of the 2nd fret of the 1st string had it been in CGDA :-) Thanks for taking the time to watch the video.

@@lewisford1541 Well, so much for my ear! Still, it was a pleasure. All the best!

@@edcohen9843 hehe thanks Ed. Such lovely comments make me wanna play tenor guitar/banjo more, and perhaps even turn the thing I'm playing into an actual song! If you have any vids of yourself playing then please send me some links. All the best mate. Lewis

@@lewisford1541 Ha! Funny thing: I thought it WAS a song, but just that you were being kinda casual with it. The changes are really elegant. I think you should give it a slightly tighter structure, so that it "announces" itself as a finished piece. It's hard to make tenor guitar sound so sweet, and you do it. (Sorry if you don't still have that particular instrument.) Although lately I have been dabbling in single-reed instruments (clarinet & sax), I used to be a bit of a ukulele troubadour. Here's a vid I made a few yrs ago (under my musical name, Emile Coco): ruclips.net/video/-I98JqNaYRk/видео.html It's a Martin style "O" soprano uke. And me singing "It's Been a Long, Long Time." -----cheers, Ed

Hey Ed, sorry for the delay in replying. Just checked out some of your vids and subscribed. Sublime stuff mate 😎🙂 I hope the clarinet and sax practice is coming along nicely 👍😊

Thanks Conner. Sadly I had to sell that banjo a long while ago, and before I had time to get used to playing a fretless! Did try to buy it back last year from the guy I sold it to but he was having none of it 😲🤣

@@lewisford1541That’s unfortunate he would not sell you the banjo back. Do you own any other banjos still?

@@conner8770 yeah he was a proper banjo enthusiast though, I think he had 7 or 8, and he was a good player and nice guy, so at least it went to a good home. I currently have a Grafton A scale Clipper 3 Whyte Lady 5 string, and an old and unbelievably heavy Ashbury resonator tenor banjo. It's somewhat heavier than my Michael Messer steel body 'Duolian' resonator guitar!! You?

@@lewisford1541 That’s fantastic, never can have too many banjos! The only banjo I have is my Gold Tone OB250. I have a couple videos of me playing it on my channel.

@@conner8770 oh blimey, you can really pick!!! I'm very jealous of your ability to keep both pinky and ring fingers down on the head. Your playing is excellent!

Hey, thanks for the nice comment. It's a great tune by Adam Franklin which helps the playing look good! Tbh when I bought this guitar I didn't know much about the difference between the two models and just went for the 12 fret as I think it was the older of the two designs of National style guitar. 12 fret guitars tend to have more bass due to the position of the bridge in relation to the scale length and body shape, but I've played the 14 fret version and that sounded plenty nice and bassy too! I generally prefer 12 fretters but that may be just as much down to their appearance than anything else. All the MM guitar models are fantastic and in my experience they're easily the best option if you don't have upwards of £2K to spend. If you have a 14 fret OM then I'm inclined to suggest trying a 12 fret MM Blues, Lightning or Blues '28 ~ all 12 fret guitars. A bit more "hair on the bone" so to speak! I hope that helps. Perhaps you can find someone locally who would be willing to let you try theirs? It's worth asking on the MM forum...friendly and hospitable crowd 😊

@@lewisford1541 i really appreciate your prompt reply! It is all about the tunes and being inspired by great musician composers. It is so easy to get carried away with GAS! I am not and will never be in a position to be a collector and acquire the best and most famous brands. Many are certainly superb instruments worth every penny but I am more comfortable with a great sounding musical « tool » in my hands and without any holes in my pockets!

@@MrPhotomiked sounds like you're in the same boat as me 👍 I'm lucky that I get to play a few friends' posh guitars from time to time 🤣 Seriously though, you can't go wrong with the MM steel body!

Thank you! They're wonderful instruments 🙂😀

Ah they're just regular chords glammed up a bit 😉

Haha cheers Andrew. I think my brother in-law cameraman was just trying to spare the world from my face!! I will try to come along, head and all.

It's a fair question Andrew! I think I was just doing a quick demo for its new owner pre-sending it to them :-)

Ah thanks man

Ha ha I hear that! There's a nice Blueridge BR371 on eBay at the moment 😉

@@lewisford1541 Thank you, I have been watching eBay. Just need approval of the bride before I buy another one. They are great guitars like the Alvarez. These companies are making amazing instruments these days. Considering the old Airline. archtop I started with in ‘63.

@@752brickie Good call! And agreed, I just bought a small Alvarez guitar in fact. I did a very quick video of it should you want to give it a quick listen :) It's in my other videos.

@@lewisford1541 I shall check it out Lewis ! I have probably owned at least 8 over the years !

Thanks mate.

Hey, the action is a smidge higher than on my go to flat top. At the 12th fret it is 3mm, which is pretty standard on these things and is perfectly fine for fingerstyle fretting and bottleneck. I believe the action on my flat top is 2.2mm on the top string.

Hey Gear Head, replied to your comment on the other video, but not about the first five frets. I'm away at the moment so can't measure for you but it's pretty standard...maybe a teeny weeny bit higher than a regular acoustic or electric. It's perfectly playable for all them open position cowboy chords. I probably use it more for fretted work than slide tbh. Great guitars, I highly recommend them mate.

Hi, sorry for the slow reply. The neck is comfortable, decent string spacing. I put a new saddle in mine with slightly wider string spacing at the bridge end but to be honest it was fine before. The nut is 46mm I think. Plenty of space. The repair was due to my recklessness. I lent down to pick something up whilst wearing the guitar and in the process accidentally whacked the guitar neck against a unit, which caused damage to the neck heel. I 100% recommend these guitars, particularly the Blues or the Lightning models, unless you have £2K plus for a used NRP etc. Cheers

@@lewisford1541 Thanks for getting back to me. I recently ordered one from a dealer in Canada; can't fine them here in the States. I picked up a new National deuco in 2017 that had been given that gold acid finish and I play it all the time. It's a fun instrument but I'm not much of a player any more....age, arthritis, slowing waaaay down and that kind of thing. I keep my National in Open D and I plan to play the Messer in Open G. I dearly love resonators as it stands but many times I wish I was a young man again so I could seriously focus on playing just resonators. Cheers....

@@58landman Great news! I hope you like your MM Guitar 🙂

@@lewisford1541 I will let you know. For sure

And a jolly good one too Adam :-)

Ta mate

Hey Dan, they're both great but I only have the Blues now. The Blues'28 in this video was a regrettable sale though! They're both great but I'd go for the Blues...just.

Cheers Brian. They're nice guitars for sure. Not quite as loud as NRPs or some Nationals but when A/Bing against friends' NRPs and Nationals in the past we all agreed the MM Blues sounded more like the National than the NRP so if the vintage sound is what you're used to then you should hopefully be happy with your new guitar :-) That is by no means a negative comment about NRPs btw ~ most of them that I've tried have been awesome! One day eh?! Cheers

@@lewisford1541 Thanks for the response. I knew what you meant about NRP’s. They are great guitars but they are expensive as well. The budget resonators are really inconsistent. I think Michael was able to get it right with these while keeping the price affordable. My two vintage Nationals are off the charts good guitars. I wanted one to take for a weekend away. This MM Blues is going to be that guitar. Thanks for posting these great clips and great choice of songs.

@@brianmckinley6177 Cheers Brian. I think I saw your new guitar and boots on Michael's forum (great photo!). Glad you're already enjoying your MM Blues 🙂 Videos please kind sir! Spread the good word etc 🏖

Cheers mate

Thank you

Cool Oscar. Sadly I sold this guitar about 4 years ago. On the look out for another! All the best 🙂

@@lewisford1541 GDAE Tuning isn't just for Irish playing, it's also great for Jazz

@@RockStarOscarStern634 agreed, although I think the jazzers tend to tune five semitones up to CGDA with lighter strings 😊 I've realised I made a mistake in the title as the guitar is actually tuned to GDAD in the video 🙈 Cheers

@@lewisford1541 GDAE Tuning actually has a much smoother and mellower sound that fits in with Jazz. The Kmise Tenor Guitar strung with John Pearse Strings would sound awesome. It's made out of mahogany.

@@lewisford1541 ruclips.net/video/snoCfde-sRE/видео.html Take a listen to this

Cheers

Hey Rejean, apologies for the delay in replying. In my experience the metal body Messer is louder and more resonant sound than the wooden Blues '28. All three are nice guitars but I prefer the brass Lightning and the steel Blues (like in the video) models.

Thanks 🙂