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Thread: Stephen Owsley Smith Instruments

  1. #101
    Registered User Mike Anderson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Stephen Owsley Smith Instruments

    Quote Originally Posted by Eddie Sheehy View Post
    There's a small transparent pickguard on it that's probably saved the Cedar top. I had an old Foley and the Cedar top was pretty chewed up with pick marks...
    I don't want to drag this thread OT so will be happy to open my question in another thread, but - I see two remarks here about cedar CBOM tops chewed up by pick marks. Is cedar really so much less resistant to pick wear than spruce? What if, like me, you're using soft nylon picks and aren't doing any strumming? Reason I ask is that I've been considering cedar for my next bouzouki's top.

    Thanks for any input here, and by all means just PM me if you prefer.
    "But wasn't it all stupid nonsense, rot, gibberish, and criminally fraudulent nincompoopery?"
    - Neal Stephenson, Quicksilver

  2. #102

    Default Re: Stephen Owsley Smith Instruments

    All I can say is that's the way the Foley came to me, just as the SOS came pristine. I have other instruments that have Cedar tops and show little or no wear. Joe Foley's personal bouzouki(Cedar top) does not have heavy pickmarks and he uses a nylon pick.

  3. #103
    Registered User Mike Anderson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Stephen Owsley Smith Instruments

    Quote Originally Posted by Eddie Sheehy View Post
    All I can say is that's the way the Foley came to me, just as the SOS came pristine. I have other instruments that have Cedar tops and show little or no wear. Joe Foley's personal bouzouki(Cedar top) does not have heavy pickmarks and he uses a nylon pick.
    Thanks for this Eddie, and I'm very happy for you, obtaining those two citterns!
    "But wasn't it all stupid nonsense, rot, gibberish, and criminally fraudulent nincompoopery?"
    - Neal Stephenson, Quicksilver

  4. #104

    Default Re: Stephen Owsley Smith Instruments

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Anderson View Post
    I don't want to drag this thread OT so will be happy to open my question in another thread, but - I see two remarks here about cedar CBOM tops chewed up by pick marks. Is cedar really so much less resistant to pick wear than spruce? What if, like me, you're using soft nylon picks and aren't doing any strumming? Reason I ask is that I've been considering cedar for my next bouzouki's top.

    Thanks for any input here, and by all means just PM me if you prefer.
    Cedar is notably softer than spruce, though there is considerable variation in both. But playing technique and style also have a great deal to do with how much wear you put on a soundboard. Also whether or not you mount a pickguard, either directly adhering to the top or a floating unit.

    Chris Grotewahl, who owned Eddie's SOS 10-string, played it with 3-finger banjo technique, which wouldn't put much wear on a soundboard at all. I remember seeing it at one of the first Zoukfests in Weston MO, the year he got it. Looks about the same. I don't think Chris put much mileage on it....

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  6. #105
    Registered User j. condino's Avatar
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    Default Re: Stephen Owsley Smith Instruments

    Stephen came up in conversation today and I was curious if anyone knows how he is doing or has heard from him recently?
    www.condino.com

    Crafted by hand in a workshop powered by the sun.

  7. #106

    Default Re: Stephen Owsley Smith Instruments

    Quote Originally Posted by j. condino View Post
    Stephen came up in conversation today and I was curious if anyone knows how he is doing or has heard from him recently?
    Not current information, but just came across this YouTube vid featuring one of SOS's most exemplary works from his glory days. I don't know the player or how he came into possession, but the video gives a good idea of the SOS sound, clear, balanced, elegant:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Afu...&start_radio=1

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