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Old 10-25-2009, 03:56 AM
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Default great day at mccabes - a great guitar and a free lesson :)

so yesterday we were at mccabes putting a payment on my husband's t-5 and trying stuff out. after playing with the goodalls, a collings and martin in the "good stuff" room, i'm looking for something small but not too small, and was revisiting the taylor big baby when i ended up in conversation with a man who had been playing some pretty cool fingerstyle around the store. we got to talking, and he pointed out something i had missed - how easy it is to remove the big baby neck if you want to shim it.

anyway, one thing lead to another and we were pointing out guitars to each other. he asked me if i had ever seen a voyage-air folded. i hadn't, so he pulled one off the wall - i believe it was a VAOM-06 - and showed me how. wow! i can't believe how easy it was. but more important, when he unfolded it he played it and it sounded very good - rich, with lots of lows and beautiful highs. i was surprised to discover it was a laminate back and sides guitar, 'cause it was probably the best sounding guitar in the back room.

i mentioned to the guy that i'm trying to learn some more finger picking stuff to my arsenal, and turns out he's a guitar teacher there. he gave me an entire lesson, including more information than my previous teachers had given me altogether, taught me a new pattern and then ran off and came back with three pages of tab - two that went with what he had showed me and one for freight train.

all in all, a great day

btw, if you're in the l.a. area and want to try a lesson with a fingerstyle bluegrass, blues and folk teacher who explains things very well, the guy's name is Pete Steinberg and he does private lessons and some classes as well

here's an interview with him http://www.bobfelten.com/pete_steinberg_1.htm
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Old 10-25-2009, 04:33 AM
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What a great way to spend an afternoon!
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Old 10-25-2009, 09:24 AM
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McCabe's is special place. What a great story. So did they sell you a guitar after all that?
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Old 10-25-2009, 09:34 AM
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Great story! People that actually like to teach and are good at it are TRUE GEMS. Thanks for sharing!

I've heard about Mccabes from some friends in a Folk band. Can't wait to go down there!
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Old 10-25-2009, 10:23 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by patticake View Post
...
btw, if you're in the l.a. area and want to try a lesson with a fingerstyle bluegrass, blues and folk teacher who explains things very well, the guy's name is Pete Steinberg and he does private lessons and some classes as well
I've met Pete, and wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of his skill, teaching ability and unending desire to show people cool stuff! Pete attended Puget Sound Guitar Workshop as a student a couple years ago during the same session as me, and I learned a great deal from him in late night jams. If I lived anywhere near LA I'd be a regular student, that's for sure.
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Old 10-25-2009, 10:28 AM
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The thing I love most about McCabe's is that it's not just a guitar shop, it's an institution. It's where I buy nearly all my guitars and most of my accessories. Matt and Mike in the repair shop are second to none and keep all my stuff in great shape (and they're great guys, too!). You can see some awesome shows there in a very intimate venue and there is a teacher there to match almost any instrument they sell.

I know a couple of people who have studied with Pete and speak highly of him, though I have not met him. But I have taken both group and private lessons from Fred Sokolow, who is something of a legend in his own right in the world of instructional guitar books, having published a couple of hundred over the years.

Peter Case, founder of the Plimsouls and songwriter extraordinaire also teaches there and I highly recommend his songwriting classes.

And if you have a hankering to play the McCabe's stage, be sure to check out Sue Fink's Vocal Performance Class that puts on a Showcase after 6 weeks of class work.

Great place and it's my guitar home away from home. Here's to McCabe's.
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Old 10-25-2009, 10:54 AM
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HE CUT OFF HIS FINGERS AND CAN STILL PLAY??????? WOW!

I don't know Steinberg, but I have an enduring love for McCabe's and have spent a lot of money there. The best part, it has changed little in the 30 years I have been going there. Seemingly a small place yet surprisingly large.

The acts that play there are phenomenal too. For example, I have seen Jerry Jeff Walker at the Hollywood Bowl and at McCabe's, the latter was the better concert.

If it weren't all the way across town from me and the traffic wasn't so bad, I would go there more often.
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Old 10-25-2009, 11:12 AM
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HE CUT OFF HIS FINGERS AND CAN STILL PLAY??????? WOW!...
For those of us that don't know the rest of the story, can you fill us in?
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Old 10-25-2009, 01:07 PM
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he told me he cut off the tips - he definitely had part of those fingers as far as i could tell - and that's why he prefers narrower guitar necks.
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Old 10-25-2009, 01:46 PM
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Hmmm, I'm LA this morning. I may have to look it up. Close to Venice I hope...
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Old 10-25-2009, 01:54 PM
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pretty close, yes - maybe 10 minutes away. just go north on lincoln, turn right on pico and go till you get to 3101 pico, which will be across the street from the wienerschnitzel.

http://www.mccabes.com/#holidays

remember the back room has a lot of guitars but the far side of the front room is where the goodalls, high end martins, collings and so on live

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Hmmm, I'm LA this morning. I may have to look it up. Close to Venice I hope...
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Old 10-25-2009, 01:59 PM
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The "high end" room is called the Banjo Room.
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Old 10-25-2009, 02:04 PM
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i thought it was called room 1 (or was that room a?)

btw, min7b5 - if you go, be sure and try out the goodall grand concert. you won't believe how much bass a guitar of that size can put out!

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The "high end" room is called the Banjo Room.
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Old 10-25-2009, 02:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Taylorplayer View Post
For those of us that don't know the rest of the story, can you fill us in?
Read the link in the OP.

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Originally Posted by min7b5 View Post
Hmmm, I'm LA this morning. I may have to look it up. Close to Venice I hope...
McCabe's is on the north side of Pico Blvd, just maybe 1/4-1/2 mile west of Centinela. You can get off the Santa Monica Freeway (aka "The 10") at Centinela or Bundy (it is a little farther from Bundy) and go west on Pico Blvd. If you come to the Wienerschnitzl on the south side, you just passed McCabes. Maybe 5 miles from Venice?
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Last edited by raulb; 10-25-2009 at 02:19 PM.
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Old 10-25-2009, 02:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by patticake View Post
i thought it was called room 1 (or was that room a?)

btw, min7b5 - if you go, be sure and try out the goodall grand concert. you won't believe how much bass a guitar of that size can put out!
Room 1 (I was just informed yesterday, lol) is the room for lessons right above the main room when you walk in. Not sure where Room A is.

One of the luthiers there told me it was called the Banjo Room as well as one of the Sales Managers. But then again, that might just be their cutesy name for it. As it happens, there are Banjos in there, too...
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