Aloha! I know that I usually talk about ukuleles and ukulele instruction here, but I wanted to talk about guitars today. Specifically about what makes a good beginner guitar. I’ve been thinking about this for a while now and came up with a list of what would make the PERFECT beginner guitar. See if you agree with me: 1) It needs to be affordable. This is pretty obvious, I … [Read more...]
Things I Like: June 2018
This is a roundup of a few things I’ve been enjoying this month: 1. Pete Thorn II - The new album from Pete Thorn. In addition to being a popular YouTube demo guy, Thorn is a world-traveling side-man, having played with everyone from Melissa Etheridge to Chris Cornell to Don Henley. This is his second collection of solo material, and it's an enjoyable listen for guitar … [Read more...]
The Charlie Brown Collection
By: Russ Aloha, everyone! Let’s talk books! Specifically, let’s talk biographies: One of the best (if not the best) biographies I’ve ever read is called Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaels. It’s a long one, I’ll warn you, but Michaels did a fantastic job giving the good, bad, and interesting of Schulz’s life instead of skewing toward any one direction and the result is a … [Read more...]
Four New Martin Guitars and a Ukulele at Summer NAMM
Summer NAMM is next week here in Nashville, and the announcements are starting to come in. Martin has announced four new models to debut at the show: a new OM-Arts & Crafts-inspired guitar, a D-28 Bigsby guitar, a Jimmy Buffett Custom Signature Artist Edition guitar, and a D-16EPD Poker Dogs guitar. In addition to these guitars, they're also introducing a Konter … [Read more...]
Bob Taylor on Fretboard Journal Podcast
Speaking of podcasts, last November Bob Taylor was the featured guest on the Fretboard Journal podcast. Taylor seems to be focusing his efforts on wood conservation and responsible harvesting these days, and it's interesting to hear about guitar making from that perspective. Few people know as much as Taylor does about these topics, so I enjoyed hearing him talk about them on … [Read more...]