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Post by billhammond on Sept 26, 2008 8:44:40 GMT -5
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Post by billhammond on Sept 26, 2008 8:46:44 GMT -5
Is that Adrian Legg back in the Pleistocene days??!?!?
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Dub
Administrator
I'm gettin' so the past is the only thing I can remember.
Posts: 20,004
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Post by Dub on Sept 26, 2008 8:52:07 GMT -5
Is that Adrian Legg back in the Pleistocene days??!?!? No, it's the incomparable (and late) Marcel Dadi. - Dub
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Post by billhammond on Sept 26, 2008 8:52:42 GMT -5
Is that Adrian Legg back in the Pleistocene days??!?!? No, it's the incomparable (and late) Marcel Dadi. - Dub Oh, how sad. Folks, he was on TWA Flight 800, in case you were unaware.
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Post by John B on Sept 26, 2008 8:53:51 GMT -5
And another one:
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Post by billhammond on Sept 26, 2008 8:56:56 GMT -5
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Post by Shannon on Sept 26, 2008 9:10:16 GMT -5
I was going to mention Glen Campbell.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2008 9:25:33 GMT -5
And another one: Yup! That's Glen with his signature "Wife Beater" model. You don't have to tell me, I know I'm a horrible person
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2008 9:29:06 GMT -5
In Bill's video notice that Adrian has 6 banjo D-tuners on his guitar. He can change tunings on the fly.
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Post by knobtwister on Sept 26, 2008 9:38:38 GMT -5
The Leggster always played a custom acoustic electric when I worked with him. That video must be pretty old.
Don
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Post by billhammond on Sept 26, 2008 9:43:33 GMT -5
The Leggster always played a custom acoustic electric when I worked with him. That video must be pretty old. Don Yeh, he was an Ovation clinician for quite a while. I wrote an article for the paper about one of his workshops. I'll see if I can dig it out of the moldy archives. Please stand by.
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Post by billhammond on Sept 26, 2008 9:48:55 GMT -5
Here it is, from June of 1995:
By Bill Hammond / Staff Writer
The pilgrims start lining up early. They're mostly guys in their late teens -- by themselves, in groups or with parents.
There's also a sizable contingent of men in their 20s, 30s and 40s. Curiously, there are only about 15 women. The pilgrims' T-shirts bear the names of fine guitar makers: Taylor, Bischoff, Martin.
They've gathered to hear a guitar wizard known to many players worldwide, but not to the vast music-buying public.
He's Adrian Legg, 47, and he's won a fistful of awards, including best overall guitar album in Guitar Player magazine's 1994 readers poll, which usually tilts toward rock and fusion players.
The British acoustic ace came to Schmitt Music in Brooklyn Center recently to play and philosophize for 150 acoustic enthusiasts. A warehouse with a high metal ceiling might seem less than ideal for an acoustic guitar session, but then the clinic is free. And the entertainment is priceless.
After a low-key introduction by an Ovation guitar rep, Legg saunters out and steps onto a small stage in shorts, T-shirt, crew socks and walkabout shoes. He's shortish, wears gold-framed wire rims and a close crewcut. He's missing a front tooth, but that doesn't discourage a winning, mischievous smile. He sits down behind a phalanx of electronic special-effects pedals, chats into the microphone a bit, then starts to play. The sound that pours from two speakers is instantly familiar to Legg-ophiles, but its fullness, character and clarity are still astonishing.
For the audience, it's the best of two worlds: a free two-hour concert with VIP seating, plus a living, breathing, interactive teaching video. Some Leggisms: -- "Creativity is just another manifestation of the will to live." -- "If all else fails, turn up the reverb." -- "The biggest influence on my playing is my mother - she hates the guitar. It's my revenge for potty training." -- "I came out of the country music scene with an alcohol problem and a completely unwearable collection of shirts." -- "Popular music is in a very bad state, and the guitar has gotten to an appalling state. . . . crass commercialism has turned the instrument into a tart." -- "We don't have much in the way of rites of passage for adolescents these days. Guitar actually works quite well."
Legg is one of a handful of nonclassical guitarists who can make a living performing without accompaniment or vocals. (Even hometown hero Leo Kottke exhibits his froggy baritone from time to time.) "I've no urge to sing," Legg says. "Just be glad for it." Playing alone calls for a big sonic wallop, and Legg delivers. His electronically enhanced sound combines crystalline highs and solid midrange tones with a fat, sustained bass. He uses a dizzying array of nonstandard tunings for exotic voicings, plus high harmonic "chimes" for punctuation. And with a flash of his left wrist, he twists banjo-style tuners to mimic the slurry voice of a steel guitar.
Even in a suburban warehouse with metal garage doors, Legg's music transports listeners to Roman cathedrals, Louisiana bayous, Celtic seacoasts and places far beyond. His melody lines are sometimes prominent, at other times woven into arpeggios and poignant chord changes. Rhythms can be as romantic as a waltz or as down-home as a two-step.
"The way we look at guitar can get so boring and narrow," Legg says between songs. "We should try taking a look at it from the viewpoint of other string-instrument players -- like the banjo. Never mind that banjo players are arguably lower on the food chain than guitarists -- although guitarists aren't that far up the food chain from drummers, so we shouldn't get too stuffy about it."
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Post by Supertramp78 on Sept 26, 2008 10:06:39 GMT -5
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Post by Supertramp78 on Sept 26, 2008 10:07:33 GMT -5
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2008 10:12:52 GMT -5
I received one for my birthday, once. Kind of like the loud tie, just pretended to be really pleased. Came with a too-high action, and never sits right when you play sitting down. The folks who do like them usually hail it as a great road-warrior.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2008 10:17:35 GMT -5
While I can understand the allure of cutting-edge materials (at least back in the day) and the state-of-the-art electronics, my big beef with them is that they'll never age. They'll sound the same on Day One as they will after you've had the thing for five or 10 years. Part of the enjoyment of a guitar (at least for me) is getting to hear how it changes over time. My J-45 sounds a lot different -- and much better -- than when I got it in '99. Same deal with the guitar MnHermit made for me. It sounded great out of the box, but sounds even better now that it's a couple of years old.
Still, plenty of fine players play Ovations, so I shan't bash them.
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Post by millring on Sept 26, 2008 10:17:59 GMT -5
If the top ever becomes unglued from the bowl-back, simply lift a corner, burp it, and seal it back down again. Easy as one-two-three!
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Post by RickW on Sept 26, 2008 10:33:33 GMT -5
Had an Ovation nylon for about 30 years. Spent a lot of quality time with it. And yes, it slides off my $##(*#&( lap. But I love it. Probably going to sell it, because I have too many, and my wife will make me before I can buy another....
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2008 10:47:31 GMT -5
One of my favorite players, he uses a custom McGill now.
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Post by omaha on Sept 26, 2008 10:56:54 GMT -5
Here's mine:
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