Waltz for Rebecca by Al Petteway (cover)

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by cefobe

Amazing song and playing

Thank you very much, Marcus! I'm so glad you liked this!

- Glenn

[superbitterdave]

Great job. And I agree with some of the other posts, it's great to see you play an instrumental. Nothing against your singing but this truly showcases your excellent playing. Well done!

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by LWSog

Beautifully expressive playing and interpretation of a beautiful song! One of the many things I enjoy about your recordings, Glenn, is listening to the variety of great guitars which you own.

Each guitar certainly adds its own "flavor", and choosing the right one for a given piece of music can turn a very good recording into a great one. Wonderful job here Glenn!

Thank you Larry for the very kind words and support!

Regarding the guitar, I very much agree that the Santa Cruz FS is an outstanding instrumental guitar, particularly for a song in DADGAD like this. With the capo up on there on fret 5, this guitar still has amazing warmth to the sound. So, yes, I do agree that having choices on these guitars is a real treat, and I take none of this for granted.

I'm so glad you liked this piece.

- Glenn

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Mr. Paul

Ahh, sweetness and light. Fabulous sounding guitar.

What'dya pay for it?

KIDDING

Hi Paul,

Thank you for your kind words, Paul! It is a sweet song and I'm gratified to learn that you liked what I did with this.

The Santa Cruz FS is a fairly expensive guitar new. I think they run about $6K these days, https://www.laguitarsales.com/index....-s-n-1208.html but I routinely see FS models come up for sale in the AGF Classifieds for $2800-3200, many in pristine condition. I think at the used prices that this guitar is a real bargain. Even compared to a luthier built guitar, the new price is reasonable. Jeff Traugott is one of the guys who worked on the prototype for this guitar, and Traugott guitars are much more expensive than the FS model. It really is an outstanding instrumental guitar.

- Glenn

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by superbitterdave

Great job. And I agree with some of the other posts, it's great to see you play an instrumental. Nothing against your singing but this truly showcases your excellent playing. Well done!

Hi Dave,

Thank you! I appreciate your comments very much! And I very much understand that for many guitar players, singing is just not their thing. They want to hear a guitar.

The trouble is, learning an instrumental piece is a whole lot more work compared to learning accompaniment for a song with singing. But hey! It's good for the mind to learn an instrumental piece like this!

I always wanted to be a half way decent guitar player, not just a singer with a guitar. I'm glad that I have a few instrumental pieces to share here. I really should go learn more...

Thanks so much for listening and commenting here!

- Glenn

[Rogerblair]

Wonderful guitar work, Glenn. Beautiful sounding guitar. How does it work as a vocal accompaniment guitar? Just wondering.

Roger

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Rogerblair

Wonderful guitar work, Glenn. Beautiful sounding guitar. How does it work as a vocal accompaniment guitar? Just wondering.

Roger

Hi Roger,

First, thank you for your kind comments!

Second, I agree. The Santa Cruz FS is a beautiful sounding guitar. I bought this guitar from Ted at LA Guitar Sales a few years ago. I had not been able to find one to play, so I bought it on a bit of a gamble. But from the very first time I tuned it up and played it, I knew this was a stellar guitar, and it was not going back.

You ask a very good question about how it is as an accompaniment guitar. I rarely sing with this guitar. It seems that the only time I pick it up is when I intend to play some instrumental pieces. If this were my only guitar, I would certainly sing with it, and I'm sure it would be okay for accompaniment. But, I have a nice group of guitars, and I'm usually looking to give each of them some time.

The model FS sort of makes notes jump out at me. I don't really know how they were able to make a guitar do that, but it seems to me that this guitar makes it happen. So it's a pretty magical instrumental guitar, I think. But because of that character, maybe call it a boldness (?), the guitar sort of jumps out as an accompaniment tool, which is in some cases not what a singer really wants.

But I don't know if that's just a prejudice on my part, or if the real truth is that I really don't need this guitar to be anything else but a fingerstyle solo guitar since I have so many other really great guitars for accompaniment.

Another reason that I don't use it often for accompaniment is that I tend to leave the FS in DADGAD. I have about a half dozen instrumental pieces that I do in DADGAD, but I do no singing accompaniment in DADGAD. So, maybe that's the real reason I rarely use this guitar for singing accompaniment.

Someone asked me this question before, and I remember tuning it to standard tuning and using it to play the accompaniment to James Taylor's "Secret O' Life" http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=475910. And I remember concluding, "well, this works just fine."

So, there you go, Roger. Truth is, I have no idea how to answer your question!

- Glenn

[TBman]

I had to listen to it a few more times. Glenn, that guitar has great clarity up the frets. Even with the capo on it rings out.

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by TBman

I had to listen to it a few more times. Glenn, that guitar has great clarity up the frets. Even with the capo on it rings out.

Hi Barry,

It's interesting to get your thoughts on this video when you know "Waltz for Rebecca" so well.

Yes, it really does maintain great clarity and very clear bass with no muddiness. And wonderful sustain, too. That yoke style capo helps a little with the sustain, too.

The guitar is western red cedar top over East Indian Rosewood, a material combination you might expect to be a little muddy. And the body is fairly large though not overly deep. I think the large body helps with bass but the somewhat shallower depth of the body helps with clarity. And of course, how this guitar is braced has a big impact.

These Santa Cruz FS guitars are not all that common, so hopefully it's instructive to hear what this thing sounds like. I remember when I bought the Mel Bay transcription book on the pieces on the Caledon Wood album being quite surprised that "Waltz for Rebecca" was played way up on capo 5. But when I started learning the song, I remember being pretty startled to realize that this song still sounded good, with plenty of bass, way up there on capo 5. Of course, Al Petteway's Ryan Nightingale sounds great up on capo 5, too.

If I had a choice, I'd trade my Santa Cruz FS for a Ryan Nightingale right now, but the difference in cost between these guitars is VERY significant. In comparison, the Santa Cruz FS is a bargain, though even then, it's a fairly expensive guitar.

Thanks for your thoughts, Barry.

- Glenn

[RodB]

Really enjoyed that - I like the rise and fall in the melody, and your phrasing - I'm not familiar with the original, but think it's great when someone puts their own stamp on a tune, especially when that evolves over time. (just caught up with this as I didn't realise you had posted an instrumental)

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by RodB

Really enjoyed that - I like the rise and fall in the melody, and your phrasing - I'm not familiar with the original, but think it's great when someone puts their own stamp on a tune, especially when that evolves over time. (just caught up with this as I didn't realise you had posted an instrumental)

Thanks so much Rod for watching and commenting.

I'm afraid I do tend to take liberties with other people's music. I wrote so much music for so many years that I'm afraid that I tend to approach just about every piece as mostly malleable. It's kind of like hiring a contractor to work on remodeling your house. You give him drawings, but in the end, he tends to do his own thing regardless. I'm afraid I am just as free wheeling in that regard.

Thanks so much, Rod, for taking the time to comment!

- Glenn