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Thanks for the very informative video. I own a Lyon & Healy Style 101 from the 1880's, similar to the one you have but much more beaten up. They are beautiful instruments
Excellent demo, and super nice selection of period guitars! Great playing too! I just got myself a 1933 Kalamazoo KG11 flat top that is showing a lot of potential; once I get it all set up it should rival most any Blues box out there... Apparently Robert Johnson played a similar 00 size Kalamazoo on his recordings. Fortunately so far I have found no evidence of any diabolical contracts inside mine! ;)
Yep. The KG11 is a nice guitar. My friend ‘Blind Boy Paxton’ plays one. I have the KG14 as photographed with RJ and potentially used on the last session. There is conjecture about what he used on which session though. I’ve done deep research. Could be a Kalamazoo archtop on the last session. I’ll do a video one day!
Cool video 👍 lovely guitar collection you've got yourself there! Interestingly enough I think the ladder braced guitar and the Gibson (not archtop) are the most pleasant to my ear. Well done sir and nice playing
As generalizations . Individual guitarists played what they liked and/ or what they had . At 8:30 in the video , you showed Mother Maybelle Carter with her 1928 Gibson L-5 . If you accept the Bristol , Tn recording sessions as Ground Zero of Country Music , Maybelle was the founding guitarist , who is still a major influence upon Country guitar playing . National/ Dobro/ National- Dobro/ Regal / etc , were offered Round Neck or Square Neck at no cost option . The Other Link in evolution was the Lap Steel Guitar aka Non Pedal Steel . Trivia - The first distorted electric guitar solo was recorded in 1937 , by Junior Barnard , playing with Bob Wills & Texas Playboys .
That’s kind. These videos are weird as to which get views and don’t. It’s not terribly important to us. We’d like to be a resource and hopefully in time people might find us tap into the information and perhaps discover our music too. If we wanted loads of views we’d be dropping click bait bull shit. 🎯
It’s got it’s uses. Out of all the guitars here I think the Parlor would be the one if I was going into make an acoustic record and could only take one guitar. Dig in and it barks.
@@TheWashboardResonators The story is, as a teenager i kind of grew up with listening to Robert Johnson and stuff like this and then when i wanted to buy an acoustic guitar i expected it to sound like on those old records - unfortunately that was the 1980s and there was none of all that retro stuff, and living in Europe also no chance to find vintage ones - so i sat there in the music store with that Yamaha Dreadnought and was very unhappy with what i heard.
That’s something I’ve heard so often. We’re about to release a whole range of Robert Johnson videos shortly and have looked through almost all research and interviews with people that knew him. One video will be about all the instruments he played. The recordings have three guitars and although all different it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what’s what. If you’re playing a Yamaha dreadnought then it’s a great guitar but not close to the L1 (San Antonio recording day one), borrowed archtop and then Kalamazoo KG14 used on all the Dallas sessions. It’s easy now with reverb & eBay if you’ve got deep pockets but a good ladder braced acoustic will get you close to the old time sound. Hard to put them down!
Very informative. Always wondered what the reason for an archtop would be. Like your Robert Johnson style acoustic. Those guitars also had a lot of that really sticking to the fundamental in their tone as well. The old blues guitars always sounded woody and simple to me - which is just what you want for the style.
Very interesting! I like your washborn for sure. I found a nice rebuilt 1920's Vega ladder braced with brazilian RW back and side and spruce top that has similar bright snappy tone like your Washborn and just perfect for my old style blues. The waterloo WL-S is a good copy of an old ladder braced stella, if people don't want to deal with the love hate relationship of maintaining an ole pre-war guitar, but they are getting hard to find and pricey.
I’m really enjoying your content! However it is believed that Robert Johnson did not own the infamous guitar in the Hooks Brothers Photography Studio. Most believe this was a prop based on testimony of other bluesmen at the time that said he mostly played Kalamazoo’s. He is probably holing a Kalamazoo KG-14 in his photo booth pictures. Please keep up the great work and picking. JR, North Carolina, USA
Hey, thanks for the kind comments, It’s an easily disprovable myth that he didn’t own the L-1. I’m pretty certain he did got lots of provable reasons that I’ll share on a future video. Also, easy to prove that the KG-14 wasn’t on the first session as they hadn’t quite come out and Don Law the producer claims to have borrowed him a guitar because his guitar was smashed by the police when he arrived in Texas. Looking forward to sharing nearly two years of Robert Johnson research on a 15 part video series soon. 🎯
@@TheWashboardResonators ok either way I’ll look forward to watching that series! Also do you think Son House used a resonator guitar on his 1930’s recordings or did he start playing Nationals after his rediscovery?
I think its a terrible trend that some companies recently seem to buy up huge numbers of vintage ladder braced guitars and convert them to X-bracing. Lost forever.
Yep. Can be put back but still, you’re right. The one that absolutely boils my piss is the one that takes these guitars with tailpieces and put oversized pin bridges on with a modern rounded profile. It’s bad enough the destruction of the guitars but, they could put era looking pyramid style bridges on at least. I’ll be buying up a bunch of these old ladder, tailpiece guitars just to save them. The annoying thing is that they sound great when fingerpicked for old blues and gospel. I’ve seen beautiful original 1920s Stellas turned to x-brace with ugly pin bridges. Those people are criminals as far as I’m concerned. Two companies spring to mind. One of them carry great instruments that don’t get molested but I wouldn’t want to do business as it supports the destruction of the others.
That Washburn looks amazingly clean as if brandnew (and sounds fabulous!). Fingers crossed that you'll be able to retrieve the Duolian that you traded in for that Gibson L-1! Cheers!
It was rebuilt by Steve Evans of Beltona instruments who is a genius. There was a bump on the top that he flattened out and refinished the top in shellac as it was originally. The Duolian has moved on again but it’s in safe hands and I’m down on first refusal again. Many vintage guitars lined up for purchase when the plague subsided and I can work again!!
I got it on eBay. The neck was bent and someone had dropped something on it which dented the top. My luthier reset the neck and fixed the dent but refinished the top with the original style shellac. The rest is original. It was very clean before anyway and is a touch cleaner now. Can only assume it’s owners over 120 years barely played it. It’s a fabulous instrument. 👌🏻
Hello South Carolina. A beautiful place I had the pleasure of travelling through in the fall of 2011 with the Gibson L50 on the way back to family in Virginia. A stunning part of the world.
Absolutely not! On our beginners slide video we demonstrate a 1939 electric Archtop. It’s a great sound. Check Bob Log III for a monster Archtop slide player:
@@TheWashboardResonators I wasn’t sure it was you. Couple lads playing some ragtime stuff - very well incidentally- but the guitar player was using a spider bridge dobro (old guitar nerd eye here) so that made me suspect it wasn’t you. As an aside the woman managing Matt Umanov Guitars on bleeker street pushed a ‘26 L-1 flattop into my hands when I was in there a few years back, so I played ‘I he’s troubled’ on it and she danced and told me I know the blues. I could have died then and been content.
Hello Martin, I have just got a Recording King Parlour Resonator. This may be impossible to answer,but do you know the string gauges a new resonator guitar may be supplied with?They are heavier than my usual acoustic guitars strings,what's the new normal going to be?
I would suspect 13s. If you’re doing slide then most players would go 15s / 16s. The John Pearse or Newtone sets come highly recommended and you may want to run it over with a specialist luthier.
Hi Martin, what model is your newer Martin? I had a 000-M from I think the early 00's. I sold it to get a 1962 00-18 which is great, but I regret getting rid of the 000-M, it was a lovely guitar.
000-16. It’s nice but as a vintage guitar nut I do need an old one! Played some 1940s/50s 000-18s in the US last year that were stunning. Someday I’ll get one.
@@TheWashboardResonators I can definitely relate to that. I sold the 000-M as I'm much more into vintage guitars. The one I have now is a 1960 00-18, not a '62 (was getting mixed up with my old 0-18). It's a beauty and sounds fantastic. I had a 1962 0-18 a while back which was a great little fingerpicking guitar but I wanted a slightly bigger body for more low end.
You happy with the 60s ones? I’ve played nice ones and they’re infinitely more achievable than say a 30s / 40s. When this covid is over and I can work then a vintage Martin is a definite purchase.
@@TheWashboardResonators Very happy with the 60's ones, I only sold the 0-18 to buy a 00-18 as I wanted more low end (it was such a sweet sounding guitar though), I ended up getting an amazing price for it and actually tripled my money, it was enough to buy a 40's Martin but instead I bought the 1960 00-18 and a 1950 Gibson L-4. There are a couple of vids of the 0-18 on my channel (Bob Dylan covers), I haven't recorded the 00-18 yet but will be doing. I've played an early 50's 00-18 and honestly can't say it sounded any better than mine. I don't think you would regret a vintage Martin purchase, 60's or otherwise.
Lots of instruments from back in the day are associated with classic blues musicians. All these are selected and owned because of this. Of course these instruments would have been used in all kinds of music across the world during their working lives.
Help by clicking the description above;
🎯Put something in the tip jar.
🎯Subscribe to the mailing list.
🎯Find us on other social media.
Thanks all!
❤️❤️❤️
Thanks for the very informative video. I own a Lyon & Healy Style 101 from the 1880's, similar to the one you have but much more beaten up. They are beautiful instruments
They’re superb. They gave the beautiful old time tone.
Thank you for another very interesting video. Cheers!
Glad to be of service.
Excellent demo, and super nice selection of period guitars! Great playing too!
I just got myself a 1933 Kalamazoo KG11 flat top that is showing a lot of potential; once I get it all set up it should rival most any Blues box out there... Apparently Robert Johnson played a similar 00 size Kalamazoo on his recordings. Fortunately so far I have found no evidence of any diabolical contracts inside mine! ;)
Yep. The KG11 is a nice guitar. My friend ‘Blind Boy Paxton’ plays one.
I have the KG14 as photographed with RJ and potentially used on the last session.
There is conjecture about what he used on which session though. I’ve done deep research. Could be a Kalamazoo archtop on the last session.
I’ll do a video one day!
Classical and flamenco guitars have fan bracing not ladder bracing. - luthier here btw.
Absolutely. Good point.
Cool video 👍 lovely guitar collection you've got yourself there! Interestingly enough I think the ladder braced guitar and the Gibson (not archtop) are the most pleasant to my ear. Well done sir and nice playing
They’re beautiful guitars for sure. Killer instruments with stories to tell!
Just a note on strings. "Catgut" strings were made from sheep intestines, no cats were harmed in the process. 😺
I prefer the sound of cats 🔪
Good lord this guy's got some gems... The song will write its self on that L-1
All the good toys! Always writing new songs. 🎯
Interesting. Informative. Educational. Lovely beard. Would recommend
May your heart soar through your dreams like a loving shower of wind.
Great vid, thanks!
🎼🎯🎼
Very nice demo. I particularly liked the Washburn ladder bracing sound. Thanks
Thanks! The Washburn is particularly fantastic!!
As generalizations . Individual guitarists played what they liked and/ or what they had .
At 8:30 in the video , you showed Mother Maybelle Carter with her 1928 Gibson L-5 .
If you accept the Bristol , Tn recording sessions as Ground Zero of Country Music , Maybelle was the founding guitarist , who is still a major influence upon Country guitar playing .
National/ Dobro/ National- Dobro/ Regal / etc , were offered Round Neck or Square Neck at no cost option .
The Other Link in evolution was the Lap Steel Guitar aka Non Pedal Steel .
Trivia - The first distorted electric guitar solo was recorded in 1937 , by Junior Barnard , playing with Bob Wills & Texas Playboys .
All marvellous points! 🎯
Great educational reference here! Thank you very much!
Thanks! Hope it helps!!
Another gem, that hopefully more will discover in this labyrinth called RUclips.
(I have shared the link, 😊 )
Thank you, Martyn.
That’s kind. These videos are weird as to which get views and don’t. It’s not terribly important to us. We’d like to be a resource and hopefully in time people might find us tap into the information and perhaps discover our music too. If we wanted loads of views we’d be dropping click bait bull shit. 🎯
I LOVE that compression, like small tube amps.
It’s got it’s uses. Out of all the guitars here I think the Parlor would be the one if I was going into make an acoustic record and could only take one guitar. Dig in and it barks.
@@TheWashboardResonators The story is, as a teenager i kind of grew up with listening to Robert Johnson and stuff like this and then when i wanted to buy an acoustic guitar i expected it to sound like on those old records - unfortunately that was the 1980s and there was none of all that retro stuff, and living in Europe also no chance to find vintage ones - so i sat there in the music store with that Yamaha Dreadnought and was very unhappy with what i heard.
That’s something I’ve heard so often.
We’re about to release a whole range of Robert Johnson videos shortly and have looked through almost all research and interviews with people that knew him.
One video will be about all the instruments he played.
The recordings have three guitars and although all different it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what’s what.
If you’re playing a Yamaha dreadnought then it’s a great guitar but not close to the L1 (San Antonio recording day one), borrowed archtop and then Kalamazoo KG14 used on all the Dallas sessions.
It’s easy now with reverb & eBay if you’ve got deep pockets but a good ladder braced acoustic will get you close to the old time sound.
Hard to put them down!
Very informative. Always wondered what the reason for an archtop would be. Like your Robert Johnson style acoustic. Those guitars also had a lot of that really sticking to the fundamental in their tone as well. The old blues guitars always sounded woody and simple to me - which is just what you want for the style.
Exactly. The old style of playing doesn’t always sound good on complex sounding and expensive instruments.
Great video, very informative, and also great playing.
Many thanks!! 🎯
Very interesting thanks for posting
A pleasure! Thanks so much.
Very interesting! I like your washborn for sure. I found a nice rebuilt 1920's Vega ladder braced with brazilian RW back and side and spruce top that has similar bright snappy tone like your Washborn and just perfect for my old style blues. The waterloo WL-S is a good copy of an old ladder braced stella, if people don't want to deal with the love hate relationship of maintaining an ole pre-war guitar, but they are getting hard to find and pricey.
Stick some carbon fibre rods in the necks and get the frets dressed correctly and who’d need a new guitar!!!? 👌🏻
I’m really enjoying your content! However it is believed that Robert Johnson did not own the infamous guitar in the Hooks Brothers Photography Studio. Most believe this was a prop based on testimony of other bluesmen at the time that said he mostly played Kalamazoo’s. He is probably holing a Kalamazoo KG-14 in his photo booth pictures.
Please keep up the great work and picking.
JR,
North Carolina, USA
Hey, thanks for the kind comments,
It’s an easily disprovable myth that he didn’t own the L-1. I’m pretty certain he did got lots of provable reasons that I’ll share on a future video.
Also, easy to prove that the KG-14 wasn’t on the first session as they hadn’t quite come out and Don Law the producer claims to have borrowed him a guitar because his guitar was smashed by the police when he arrived in Texas.
Looking forward to sharing nearly two years of Robert Johnson research on a 15 part video series soon.
🎯
@@TheWashboardResonators ok either way I’ll look forward to watching that series!
Also do you think Son House used a resonator guitar on his 1930’s recordings or did he start playing Nationals after his rediscovery?
I think its a terrible trend that some companies recently seem to buy up huge numbers of vintage ladder braced guitars and convert them to X-bracing. Lost forever.
Yep.
Can be put back but still, you’re right.
The one that absolutely boils my piss is the one that takes these guitars with tailpieces and put oversized pin bridges on with a modern rounded profile.
It’s bad enough the destruction of the guitars but, they could put era looking pyramid style bridges on at least.
I’ll be buying up a bunch of these old ladder, tailpiece guitars just to save them.
The annoying thing is that they sound great when fingerpicked for old blues and gospel.
I’ve seen beautiful original 1920s Stellas turned to x-brace with ugly pin bridges.
Those people are criminals as far as I’m concerned.
Two companies spring to mind.
One of them carry great instruments that don’t get molested but I wouldn’t want to do business as it supports the destruction of the others.
That Washburn looks amazingly clean as if brandnew (and sounds fabulous!). Fingers crossed that you'll be able to retrieve the Duolian that you traded in for that Gibson L-1! Cheers!
It was rebuilt by Steve Evans of Beltona instruments who is a genius. There was a bump on the top that he flattened out and refinished the top in shellac as it was originally. The Duolian has moved on again but it’s in safe hands and I’m down on first refusal again. Many vintage guitars lined up for purchase when the plague subsided and I can work again!!
@@TheWashboardResonators Thanks for the reply.
Orgulho para nós brasileiros!
🎵🎵🎵
I love Washburn to pieces. How in the heck did you get one from 189? That doesn't have a scratch on it?
I got it on eBay. The neck was bent and someone had dropped something on it which dented the top. My luthier reset the neck and fixed the dent but refinished the top with the original style shellac. The rest is original. It was very clean before anyway and is a touch cleaner now. Can only assume it’s owners over 120 years barely played it. It’s a fabulous instrument. 👌🏻
I loved it
Wonderful! That’s super kind of you to say. 🎯
@@TheWashboardResonators love y’all from South Carolina
Hello South Carolina. A beautiful place I had the pleasure of travelling through in the fall of 2011 with the Gibson L50 on the way back to family in Virginia. A stunning part of the world.
@@TheWashboardResonators thank you so much it truly is a great place
Driving over the mountains in fall and everything was golden. Friendly people. Beautiful towns. 👌🏻
Is it blasphemy if I play slide on my 1940s archtop? I don't care, it sounds great (amplified)! There's always some voodoo in those old guitars!
Absolutely not! On our beginners slide video we demonstrate a 1939 electric Archtop. It’s a great sound. Check Bob Log III for a monster Archtop slide player:
Bob Log is a crazy guy! 😆
Hey. Was it you played at a certain test cricketer’s wedding a couple of years back near Sheffield?
If we did I didn’t know it!
@@TheWashboardResonators I wasn’t sure it was you. Couple lads playing some ragtime stuff - very well incidentally- but the guitar player was using a spider bridge dobro (old guitar nerd eye here) so that made me suspect it wasn’t you.
As an aside the woman managing Matt Umanov Guitars on bleeker street pushed a ‘26 L-1 flattop into my hands when I was in there a few years back, so I played ‘I he’s troubled’ on it and she danced and told me I know the blues. I could have died then and been content.
We do lots of weddings but we’ve never used a spider bridge on a gig. Very exciting to think there is someone nearby doing it!!
Hello Martin, I have just got a Recording King Parlour Resonator. This may be impossible to answer,but do you know the string gauges a new resonator guitar may be supplied with?They are heavier than my usual acoustic guitars strings,what's the new normal going to be?
I would suspect 13s. If you’re doing slide then most players would go 15s / 16s. The John Pearse or Newtone sets come highly recommended and you may want to run it over with a specialist luthier.
Thank you,great advice.
Hi Martin, what model is your newer Martin? I had a 000-M from I think the early 00's. I sold it to get a 1962 00-18 which is great, but I regret getting rid of the 000-M, it was a lovely guitar.
Ah, just read the description which answered my question!
000-16. It’s nice but as a vintage guitar nut I do need an old one! Played some 1940s/50s 000-18s in the US last year that were stunning. Someday I’ll get one.
@@TheWashboardResonators I can definitely relate to that. I sold the 000-M as I'm much more into vintage guitars. The one I have now is a 1960 00-18, not a '62 (was getting mixed up with my old 0-18). It's a beauty and sounds fantastic. I had a 1962 0-18 a while back which was a great little fingerpicking guitar but I wanted a slightly bigger body for more low end.
You happy with the 60s ones? I’ve played nice ones and they’re infinitely more achievable than say a 30s / 40s. When this covid is over and I can work then a vintage Martin is a definite purchase.
@@TheWashboardResonators Very happy with the 60's ones, I only sold the 0-18 to buy a 00-18 as I wanted more low end (it was such a sweet sounding guitar though), I ended up getting an amazing price for it and actually tripled my money, it was enough to buy a 40's Martin but instead I bought the 1960 00-18 and a 1950 Gibson L-4. There are a couple of vids of the 0-18 on my channel (Bob Dylan covers), I haven't recorded the 00-18 yet but will be doing. I've played an early 50's 00-18 and honestly can't say it sounded any better than mine. I don't think you would regret a vintage Martin purchase, 60's or otherwise.
What's a "blues guitar"?
Lots of instruments from back in the day are associated with classic blues musicians. All these are selected and owned because of this. Of course these instruments would have been used in all kinds of music across the world during their working lives.