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  1. Up The Neck

    I wrote this in the Two Pointer Social Group but decided it's probably better off here--in the blog section. Just another of my two cents.....


    For the most part, Ive been a first position player. Every now and then, when the fingering order fits, I might "escape" all the way up to the tenth fret.

    Bluegrass Up The Neck by Niles Hokkanen has been highly recommended on the Cafe and his YouTube video is exactly what I strive to play-----so I ordered his ...
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  2. Going into the Studio

    Bandleader, Tim, of Señor Circus has booked time at a recording studio way up north near Mount Shasta CA. Both Tim and the engineer want me to bring "everything." "Everything?" says I. "Everything" says Tim.

    The engineer is apparently excited to see how I got such a convincing Santanaesque tone without a guitar. He also wants to see the mandocaster. Plus we'll be doing a couple of acoustic gigs in the area. So...

    Two amps, two emandos, ...
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    Recording Sessions
  3. Contra Dance music

    I have always seen this music as a subset of Old Time, what a number of folks would call Northern Old Time, as it has so much New England and French Canadian, and Irish/Scottish influence as Appalacian. If it is its own category of music, well thats great, I would not argue.

    It is a body of tunes. I recently checked out a contra-dance web site in an entirely different part of the country from where I live, a place I have never been, and I found their set list was entirely familiar ...
    Tags: contra dance
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  4. Converting an Epiphone Mandobird into a Mando(la)bird

    I bought this Epiphone Mandobird new in 2005. Musician's Friend was selling off their stock of gold sparkly and seafoam green models. The cool to cash ratio was extremely high because the price was so low.

    After playing with it for a little while I decided that the E string was too quiet. And because I'm not handy with a soldering iron, I decided to resting and reintonate for mandola tuning rather than buy 1k pots and install them.

    Mandola tuning has another advantage ...
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  5. Suzuki Bowl with new fret board...

  6. Ode to a <gasp> 12 String Guitar

    I bought it new in 1990 from a little shop in Davis, California that no longer exists called plainly enough, Davis Music. It shipped in from St. Louis on special order. It was magnificent, my first new guitar. But it was summer and St. Louis is very different in the summer from Davis. The neck settled and the 12th fret sprung within 2 weeks. But a trip back to the shop and a visit with their luthier set it right.

    It was my main guitar for 7 or 8 years. Gigged with it in dozens ...

    Updated Aug-01-2009 at 2:27pm by Daniel Nestlerode (added photos)

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  7. Lamentations for James Moray -- by Gow

    here are the files folks!

    Thanks OS -- I never got arount to exploring this feature!
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  8. Changes a Year Brings

    Running a large web site is a pretty odd sort of thing to do with one's life. I'm continually evaluating what is this thing I spend so much time on and where is it going. The explosion of social networking over the past few years is proving that the biggest challenge to web site owners these days is going to be that they simply remain relevant! Who needs a web site when there's Facebook and Twitter?

    Looking back a year at the Cafe, some changes:

    Around September 1 we ...
  9. New Invention to Improve Mandolin/Guitar/Fiddle Sound

    For many years (over 20 now) I have been improving the sound of my own stringed instruments with mechanical attachments. The latest one is a major breakthrough for mandolins, guitars and fiddles because the volume and sound quality improvements are no less than stunning! My provisional patent arrived at the patent office mail room only yesterday and I am waiting for them to log it in. When they do I'll put an ad with pictures and an explanation about how it works in the Cafe classifieds, probably ...
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  10. Mandocaster love 3

    This is the final installment about a somewhat rare, but not highly sought-after, Fender electric mandolin. In the first installment I explored the production-line instrument, and in the second installment I recounted my acquisition of it. In this installment, I’ll document the changes I’ve made to it that have turned it into an excellent mandolin that sounds great and plays well.

    When the FM-988 arrived it was in original condition, as though it had rolled off the factory floor. ...
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