GL's guitar's

[JohninCt.]

Originally Posted by podunklander

Good question, John (what Gordons 1st few guitars were).

I'm glad I have the Goya these days because I don't think I can play the Ibanez right now (I haven't tried though). I put light gauge, brass wound strings on a couple of weeks ago and didn't like the sound ...and the brass-wound did a number on my fingertips . I don't even think I'll ever play the Ibanez again and just going to wait until I can get another guitar.

It takes some time to build up callouses on you fingers and with steel strings you need them or the pain will come. I don't have callouses anymore either, so another reason for the slack of playing nowadays. Once in a while I do pick up the Martinez with the nylon strings, always good to have a nylon around to keep the mind and fingers active. I must admit, I don't know the situation on the quality of the Goyas after 1990, so I hope and expect they are decent in playing and sound quality. I do remember they went downhill when they left Sweden, but where are they made now? What do you think of yours?

[JohninCt.]

Originally Posted by podunklander

I'll take a photo of the Goya to post here -maybe even video a demo of me playing it..once I finish some 'must-complete before the end of the weekend', tasks at hand. It needs to be re-strung though and I've never strung this type of guitar before. I did manage the high E though, however I did it, seems to have worked. I think I still have the rest of the strings from that set.

Martin acquired the Goya from Levin in the mid-late 70's. I don't know when they actually started manufacturing them (in Korea) but they stopped in 1995. The # on my G 125 is: 9204000055 and I have yet to find the date of manufacture for that serial#. But I think it's from the tail end based on serial#'s I've come across on other Martin Goyas from the 90's.

I bought the guitar to re-sell...never intended to keep/play it. As I've noted (ok, complained ) in posts here -I have small hands, short fingers and struggle with wide necks. Anyway, it was sitting in my friend's antique store down at the shore ($160) and was taking a beating from people trying it out...which I can't tolerate seeing happen with any guitar so I took it home.

After about a month, I decided to try to play it one day and within minutes...I had 'written' an instrumental. I have no experience playing a classical guitar (though I've been meaning to sit down and learn some Rachmaninoff) and I really don't have anything to compare it to. It doesn't have the crisp yet still warm tone as would be favored by Liona Boyd -but I'm not about to compare a Goya to a Rubio.

I have decent callouses but switched from silk&steel to brasswound on the Ibanez and OUCH. I wanted to try the brass ot see if it would make a difference. Anyway, some discussions on this board awhile back helped me to locate the buzzing problem (B-string, I found the groove on the nut is too deep...and also, discovered poor-fitting pegs when I recently re-strung).

The silk & steel strings (I use Martin, only) have spoiled me. They are much smoother to run fingertips across/over and have a more crisp and obviously less-brassy sound than brasswound strings (even light gauge).

oh lol anyway...the Goya is what is is -best I can respond to what you have asked. It's cheap, but playable/passable?

What do you play when you pick up the Martinez? ok I best get back to my Turbo-taxing

If the Goya is playable and passable then it must be good. I had a Suzuki nylon a couple years ago that had such a wide neck that I could barely play it, I don't have big hands either. Needless to say, I sold it. I play along with some songs, but just chording nowadays. Like I say not much interest or time for it anymore. I used to use Silk and Steel strings sometimes. I liked them on most of the guitars I've had. The last few times I had strung any, I used light Martin Marquis, mainly because that is what I had in my draw at the time. Well, keep plucking, sounds like you are doing ok and really into it, that's when progress is made.
I guess I'll do my taxes this coming week. Good luck on yours, hope you get enough back to buy a Martin.

Originally Posted by JohninCt.

If the Goya is playable and passable then it must be good. I had a Suzuki nylon a couple years ago that had such a wide neck that I could barely play it, I don't have big hands either. Needless to say, I sold it. I play along with some songs, but just chording nowadays. Like I say not much interest or time for it anymore. I used to use Silk and Steel strings sometimes. I liked them on most of the guitars I've had. The last few times I had strung any, I used light Martin Marquis, mainly because that is what I had in my draw at the time. Well, keep plucking, sounds like you are doing ok and really into it, that's when progress is made.
I guess I'll do my taxes this coming week. Good luck on yours, hope you get enough back to buy a Martin.

I have Martin Marquis lights on the Ibanez right now (the strings that hurt my fingertips ). yeah, I feel like I'm making some progress the past year though the issues with my hands slowed this down. I can only play just a little bit everyday now -better than nothing! oh I forgot -I had a professional opinion about the playability of the Goya...that it was good for strumming, but I like it for picking.

So far I have an offset on my Fed. taxes...my college student saved me there

[JohninCt.]

Originally Posted by podunklander

Did a quick vid but thumbs were a'hurtin' . So ya know - this ain't perfect. On the Goya I picked a few from my own songs and then a little of Wayfaring Stranger..which I was just learning before the thumb surgery. Then I switched to the Ibanez so I could try a few bars of CRT and that was a disaster! Sorry! If you could see my face - I was mouthing some swear words and quite angry because of the buzzing...which can be heard. I think I can do a little adjustment to make that better but I just need a guitar I can actually play!!!

This is on the open mic youtube channel so I don't want to keep it on there for too long.

YouTube - Pam picking/strumming samples

Well that is pretty good. I understand about the thumb problem, but you seem to be doing fine. The Goya sounds decent and you don't seem to have any problem with the neck, so I would pick away at it too. You are making good and fast chord changes so no problem there either. On the buzzing of the Ibanez on the bass strings, if you raise up the nut on the neck, you might stop some of the buzz, but it might make playing it a little harder. It might be worth a try if you just stick a thin piece of wood under part of the nut, just under the E to D strings, to raise it only about 1/16" and it might help. Most nuts now are plastic or some other man made material, and they will bend just enough to keep the thin strings in the same place while raising the thick strings. The other thing is if the strings are new, they will tend to buzz more than on older set. Once they stretch out they may slack off buzzing a little. Also next time you try some new strings, try a different brand. Some times other brands work better than the most famous names. Nothing can slow a player down more than being dissatisified with their guitar. The Ibanez sounds like a typical Ibanez and their models with the cutaway usually don't have a strong bottom end. If you could find a reasonable priced and decent Yamaha/Ovation Applause or most anything with a non cutaway body, I think you will get better sound. I don't know if they have Pawn shops in your area, but keep a watch on them if so. The traditional full body usually sounds better in even the cheaper guitars. How long before your thumb is back to normal?

[fezo]

Hey, Pam! I can't believe your thumbs are up to that already! That was terrific.

the Goya sounds nice. The Ibanez indeed sounds like an Ibanez. That's not a bad thing - just a matter of what sound you want.

I'm all for trying brands and gauges of strings and seeing what yo like. I settled on D'addario phosphur bronze myself. almost always light gauge but sometimes medium.

Originally Posted by JohninCt.

Well that is pretty good. I understand about the thumb problem, but you seem to be doing fine. The Goya sounds decent and you don't seem to have any problem with the neck, so I would pick away at it too. You are making good and fast chord changes so no problem there either. On the buzzing of the Ibanez on the bass strings, if you raise up the nut on the neck, you might stop some of the buzz, but it might make playing it a little harder. It might be worth a try if you just stick a thin piece of wood under part of the nut, just under the E to D strings, to raise it only about 1/16" and it might help. Most nuts now are plastic or some other man made material, and they will bend just enough to keep the thin strings in the same place while raising the thick strings. The other thing is if the strings are new, they will tend to buzz more than on older set. Once they stretch out they may slack off buzzing a little. Also next time you try some new strings, try a different brand. Some times other brands work better than the most famous names. Nothing can slow a player down more than being dissatisified with their guitar. The Ibanez sounds like a typical Ibanez and their models with the cutaway usually don't have a strong bottom end. If you could find a reasonable priced and decent Yamaha/Ovation Applause or most anything with a non cutaway body, I think you will get better sound. I don't know if they have Pawn shops in your area, but keep a watch on them if so. The traditional full body usually sounds better in even the cheaper guitars. How long before your thumb is back to normal?

Thanks John though oooh I can barely manage the neck on the Goya and deadened/buzzed plenty there. If you noticed the poor positioning of my left (well, right too but wanted to show the picking) because I can't curve/cup with my thumbs just yet. Stitches are coming out in an hour . It's supposed to be about 3 weeks for recovery and I'm at 10 days.

I recently discovered the buzzing on the low E (mainly) is the saddle rather than the nut. The buzzing was coming from the B-string until I flip-flopped the saddle when I re-strung. Just wanted to experiment with that and it reversed the problem so I just need to lower the saddle for my bass strings.

I thought the issue was with the nut. I had the nut worked on and the saddle replaced during a repair -so this was the 1st time I was re-stringing since, and paid more attention to the saddle (something Cathy had suggested awhile back). And that's also when I discovered the poor-fitting pegs that had been replaced during the 'repair'.

I spent HOURS on the internet last week researching guitars and did a search for pawn shops in Connecticut and Mass. Looks like Waterbury is loaded with them.

But 1st I probably should skip over the border to Gordon Music (good name ) in Mass probably later this week. They've been around for a long time. Is actually where I learned to pick when I was 16! That's where I bought the Ovation Custom Legend and had really gotten a good deal on it. It was $1k 10 years ago and doubled+ in value since. From what I've checked out on the internet -I'd be really lucky if I found a used one in good condition for $1k now.

Originally Posted by fezo

Hey, Pam! I can't believe your thumbs are up to that already! That was terrific.

the Goya sounds nice. The Ibanez indeed sounds like an Ibanez. That's not a bad thing - just a matter of what sound you want.

I'm all for trying brands and gauges of strings and seeing what yo like. I settled on D'addario phosphur bronze myself. almost always light gauge but sometimes medium.

hey thanks, fezo! Believe it or not I'm already doing better than before the surgery .

[fezo]

"So instead of a guitar I decided to get a new muffler/exhaust"

Tough choice...

Originally Posted by fezo

"So instead of a guitar I decided to get a new muffler/exhaust"

Tough choice...

Well one's sounding quite a bit louder than the other right now!

[eagle670]

I think that my search for a new guitar is about over. I am going today to look at a Martin Guitar OMC 16 E. I have checked on Martins web site and it is exactly what I have been looking for. Hopefully it plays as well as it looks. This guitar retails for around 2500 and this individual has it priced at 1600. It is only a few months old. For those of you following my search you know that my orignal budget was around $1000, but I could not find anything in that price range that I liked.
Anyone know anything about this particular guitar??

http://www.martinguitar.com/guitars/...MC-16E%20Maple

[fezo]

You aren't going to go wrong with that guitar! The OM is essentially a OOO. Sweet. Will finger pick like mad.

With the maple back and sides you will have a brighter sound than you would with rosewood. it's also a very pretty wood.

[eagle670]

So is this a smaller body guitar? I played an 000-m and it was quite a bit smaller than the others. I didn't think that this one was that small.