Mark Schmieder

I picked up the Gold Tone mahogany model at Victor Litz in Gaithersberg MD today, and they have three more as it's more cost-effective for them to order four at once. Strongly recommended; I was going to save up for a $2000+ boutique model in koa but I actually prefer the sound and feel of this model. Gold Tone is well known for providing bang for buck at every price point in their catalogue, and I have found Victor Litz to be one of the best music stores in North America, consistently working hard for the customer and carrying stuff that is hard to find anywhere, online or otherwise. I feel good giving them my business for the fourth time since moving here. I had no idea how much I would love this instrument, as I have already been in a growing love affair with lap steel and resonator guitars for a few years now, but I think I may well like this one the best of them all. Such a warm sound and very dynamic despite the lack of fretting. I am using Shubb's SP-2 model tonebar as the best match. The Weissenborn guitar is the granddaddy of them all; pedal steels, lap steels, and resonator guitars to my knowledge all came afterwards and were inspired by the original acoustic lap steel creation. It seems that they are called Weissenbergs more than Hawai'ian Acoustic Lap Steel at this point, even though that was originally a brand name, like Kleenex. Victor Litz also had Gold Tone's Banjolele and Gretsch's Resonator 'ukulele. I don't really find the spider bridge changes the sound much on something as small as an uke or that it even amplifies it much. The banjolele is slightly more interesting. Ultimately, all of these instruments also owe homage to the Weissenborn as it led to the resonator guitar design.

Musical got back to me right away, but I'm going to be too busy with gigs and taxes for the next few weeks to feel confident deciding which of their many sitar models to order, other than that I know I will be going for as Ravi Shankar model vs. the other main style (which has less shimmer).

They've come a long way. I could use iZotope RX Music Rebalance to do what the tool's name implies, on all-in-one mono band tracks, but it didn't really achieve stem isolation. On the other hand, the latest version of SpectraLayers, now owned by Steinberg (it has had a slew of owners), is a true miracle worker and does achieve usable stems from combined tracks, even with challenging instrumentation.

After way more research tonight, I've decided there's no need to go the electric sitar route. A friend told me years ago that you can't get even a semi-decent acoustic sitar for less than $3500, but people have told me the same thing about Spanish (aka classical/concert) guitars and Flamenco guitars, and yet I found ones I am very happy with, for $750 and $1400 respectively. I'm going to pick one of GS Musical's acoustic models and ask if it can be ordered without the pickup. I've done enough research to know they're one of the top brands. Some other brands didn't pass the smell test after further digging. https://gsmusicals.com/product-category/sitar-acoustic/ Anyway, the article I linked earlier, really does a great job of explaining the most important aspects of sitar buying, sitar styles, tuning, playoing, etc., so I have conquered my years-long intimidation factor that was caused by purists telling me so many things that don't apply to my specific goals and needs.

I'm pretty close to being in the same situation, so I have a pretty good feeling what he's going through, trying to get back to full functionality on his computer. I hope he is able to resolve everything. It's getting harder and harder to keep our tools running.

I think I am likely to skip the guitar-style electric sitar upgrade and go straight to a traditional acoustic-electric sitar, now that I know about this company that is well-respected at all budget levels and is recently available for order from the USA: https://highvibrationstation.com/the-sitar-buying-guide/ GS Musicals gets recommendations in many places, and great reviews, but is still relatively unknown in the USA. Not sure what I'll get yet, but I am fairly convinced that anything I get from them will be better bang-for-buck and be more of the sound I want than my current Danelectro Baby Sitar or a Coral-type harp-guitar. It's very strange that stores post used Italia Modena sitars for several hundred more than what they cost new, but maybe this is due to Italia not responding to potential customers and direct order being the only way to get them (for the most part, although there is a store in Florida that occasionally posts a new one for sale). Years ago, the general warning was to not buy a traditional electric sitar or an acoustic model under $1500, but that advice was based on what was available at the time for ordering from the USA and/or UK/Europe. I wanted the semi-traditional Pygmy Guitar with sculpted frets a number of years ago but it ceased production (UK-based, I think).

Unquestionably the olive green EHX Big Muff Pi bass edition with its three-way toggle switch that I usually keep in its bass-unique position (the reason I didn't go for the Nano for bass, though I have that edition for guitar). I've owned a lot of fuzz pedals over the years, so that's saying a lot. This one preserves the articulations and dynamics but simply overlays that fuzz character. I presume you are referring to true fuzz pedals and not using the term generically for other stuff such as overdrive, filters, etc., for which I have different choices.

Don't bother: price is NOT the impediment these days. I am so far below bottom-dollar way-under-market prices on no-response ads that I am convinced people are simply afraid to spend at the moment, and rightfully so. The eBay situation remains mysterious but I think it is as I described, unfortunately. I've never sold on Reverb but have good buyer experience there. Music-Go-Round can have some decent stuff at good prices; I think they sell on consignment so their take might be smaller than GC's.

I'm always amazed at how many of my bass heroes played basses I don't get along with. :-). But for my first 20 years of playing, I dictated my choices accordingly, and only after a fair amount of pro studio work did I switch away from modern, active basses and towards a Fender P-Bass as my mainstay that isn't all that frequently supplemented, despite having done a lot of sessions without it at hand. At any rate, I by now know better than to try to own instruments my heroes play. They would probably sound about the same on a cardboard box, their technique is so good! Even so, it is always interesting to hear what was used.

I found a number to call, and left a message, asking them to at least leave a message to say whether the buy button on their site works and will result in an order placed and shipped. No response so far. I called some local stores in the region for some other hard-to-find items listed on their sites, and all were gone, plus some numbers were no good. My experience with the internet since COVID started is that most small players have fallen by the wayside or no longer keep their web presence up to date. It's very frustrating.

I finally figured out why nothing I post is even getting views, bids, or reasonable sale prices, on eBay anymore, despite others selling bad condition copies for over twice what I'm asking: If you don't pay a large fee to "sponsor" your ad, it doesn't even show up in a FULL LISTING of similar items when you look at a sponsored listing or just do a search. This is in stark contrast to a year or two ago, before they added this "feature". But who can afford to pay the bribe, which is a set fee (around $20?), especially for cheap items, and as their new almost 20% commission is based on full sale including taxes and shipping? I sell a lot of stuff that's under $20. Have people moved to Amazon Marketplace and Etsy at this point? I have positive experiences on Sweetwater Gear Exchange when they happen, but it still seems to be a little-known site, although I have by now gotten four people onto the site as sellers and buyers, through other avenues, and they too are very happy with how the site operates. There is a minimum of $25 though, and a large percentage of stuff I want to sell is less than that, unless I create bundles that are unlikely to get buyers. For instance, high-end patch cables, guitar slides, lap steel tone bars, etc.

https://guitar.com/news/industry-news/sammy-ash-ceo-sam-ash-music-stores-passed-away/ Not sure if the timing of this move relates to the recent passing of the COO.

Isn't Zzounds owned by Sam Ash? I seem to recall looking into it a few years ago, but it might have been a different store for the connection. I just remember a lot of similarities in product write-ups and layout, but I may also be confusing with another on-line retailer (not one of the ones GC owns) whose name I now forget but who I used a lot in the early days alongside Zzounds.

When I went to the one in Hollywood well over a decade ago, it had a better selection of keyboards and acoustic guitars than GC's flagship store across the street. That remains the only Sam Ash store I have ever seen. I lived in Durham NC for half a year near the start of COVID and didn't know Raleigh had a Sam Ash store! Otherwise, I have never lived anywhere that they served, so it is hard for me to know how sudden the closures may seem to staff, if they weren't selling anything?

Nope; that one isn't as good as the Italia model, which is why I spent so much time late last year examining every possible option, after first carefully reviewing the recently rereleased Danelectro model with the harp strings. There's a bunch of Jerry Jones models on Reverb at the moment, and they are definitely very good, but at insane prices! The Italia is one of the few that isn't 24.75", which makes a big difference for e-sitar.

I never realized the connection as I had not paid attention to who was at the head of Access. Seems like he's had a streak of successes across different parts of the music industry!

https://www.italiaguitarsusa.com/product/modena-sitar/ I am priced out by the $7K cost of the electric sitar I'd really like, but I do feel if only for the longer scale length that this Italia model will be a step up from my Danelectro Baby Sitar. The challenge is in how/where to buy it. No one gets back to me at the listed resellers, nor does Italia USA, after several attempts since the Thanksgiving timeframe. I thought maybe they'd gone out of business, but they had a showing at NAMM this year.

Did he mention that Devo started as an ELP tribute band?

That makes sense, especially given its likely target audience. I think NAMM had so many new releases this year because manufacturers felt they'd sell better if they waited then if they were perceived as "old" products by the time the pandemic started to wind down.

Sorry, I didn't notice it's a zombie thread, but that explains why it wasn't shown at NAMM. I must've missed all the fanfare in 2022 :-).

He's always struck me as a bit like Jeff Beck, not particularly embracing the limelight, and always ready to try something new.

I love Hackett's solo material and even his stint in the commercial GTR project. I wish I hadn't been too busy to catch him on his pass through the DC area last year. He is said to be an easy person to work with. Always a fish out of water in terms of rock stardom, but he's done a good job running a successful solo career anyway.

Progress comes in little steps... Perhaps by the next Millennium, they will catch up.

There is a song that one of my bands covers, called "2 Kool to be Forgotten". Rolling Stone has inverted that song's meaning, to be "2 Afraid 2 Not Be Kool". In other words, Rolling Stone wants to "prove" they are "with it" by randomly elevating people from different eras and genres to show they are "current" and "balanced". Having said that, I also dislike lists that solely include mainstream rock guitarists from the 60's through the 80's. Perhaps someone could strike a happy balance?

I almost didn't check this thread at first, thinking someone had misspelled Piano and that it was a duplicate of the discussion regarding the Poetic Piano. Is this a brand new model from Korg or some sort of continuation of a product I was never aware of? I don't even remember it being announced at NAMM!