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  #1  
Old 08-05-2019, 12:00 PM
AshleySofia AshleySofia is offline
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Default Newly Joined- Girl who loves guitars and REAL music

Hello! I'm new here, but I love guitars and old music and a friend of mine recently introduced me to this site. He told me I should make a post! So, here I am!!! my name is Ashley and I was born and raised in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains in upstate NY. I grew up watching my dad play and sing, and when I was 11, I asked him to show me everything we knew. We played and sang our hearts out to Crosby Stills & Nash, Neil Young, Paul Simon, The Eagles, John Denver, Jim Croce, Emmy Lou Harris... and those memories of me and him are the some of my absolute most cherished moments of my life. I live in Nashville now, but every time we get together, we find ourselves on a back porch, with our guitars, grinning from ear to ear while we strum and stretch our necks to hit the high notes.

I'm 29, but I was raised on music from the 60's and 70's. That was the time period I fell into while I was growing up, so even though I missed that iconic, culturally magnificent period of time, sometimes it still feels like I lived it because I've dove so deeply into the art and culture and sounds of that time. The radio and music these days (mainstream music of course) doesn't speak to me. I was always on my bedroom floor listening to the Beatles or Dylan or Joni Mitchell and that's the way I've kept it. I just keep diving deeper into older stuff.

I started songwriting in college, put out a record, toured, moved to Nashville, and I'm releasing my second album this September. I'm hoping so much to carry a little bit of the torch of the music that raised me. Those songs weren't just the soundtrack of my life, those songwriters built the very fabric of my being - my philosophies and perspective and identity. I don't claim to be half of the artist that many of my idols were, but I'll try with all my might, for all my days in music to keep the spirit and integrity of art, and the craftsmanship of music back then alive right now.

I was told by Nashville I didn't fit in a box and my lyrics were "too intelligent." and that if I were willing to co-write and "dumb it down" I had a deal. But I felt I couldn't do that. How could I possibly? The music I was raised on, the music that BUILT me, was so beautiful, and complex, and wildly powerful. I walked away from my contract, emptied my personal savings, asked for every favor I could pull in and made my own record. I wrote every song myself. I co-produced it and wrote bass parts and drum parts. I put a Sitar on this record. And Garth Brooks lead guitarist, Johnny Garcia laid a smoking 70's riff and lead on a track called Wasted Time. A six minute song with no chorus. There are nods to Led Zeppelin and The Beatles and Dylan and Prine and Joni and Jim Croce and Paul Simon.

I'm a folk rocker and I was born 30 years too late.

My other problem is my guitar. I've got a Taylor 814ce and it's so beautiful and resonates so gorgeously unplugged, but my Taylor Factory pickup makes it sound buzzy or plastic-y, or sort of like a tin can. Do any of you have advice for this or can you recommend a good pickup for my model of guitar? I've had it fixed twice and I think it (desperately) needs to be replaced entirely.


Thanks for all your time!
Looking forward to reading and diving deeper on this forum. I've heard great things about you guys. Hoping to chat with and meet some kindred spirits here!
-Ashley Sofia


If you'd like to hear a sample of my music:
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  #2  
Old 08-05-2019, 12:13 PM
lowrider lowrider is offline
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Great song, great singing, great video!

I'm writing to you from the mountains just west of Woodstock, a lot like where you grew up, to say ''stick to what you are doing!'', don't settle we need more of your music!

Oh yeah, welcome to the forum!
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Old 08-05-2019, 12:14 PM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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Nice song! Welcome to the forum.


Wade Hampton Miller
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Old 08-05-2019, 12:14 PM
beatcomber beatcomber is offline
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Welcome, Ashley!
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Old 08-05-2019, 12:20 PM
rstaight rstaight is offline
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Welcome to the forum Ashley. Can't help but admire someone who knows what they want and sticks to their guns. Wish you the best.
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Old 08-05-2019, 12:28 PM
llew llew is offline
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Welcome aboard Ashley...glad to have you with us. Love your non-compromising spirit! Good for you...wishing you the best with the new record!
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Last edited by llew; 08-05-2019 at 12:36 PM.
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Old 08-05-2019, 12:28 PM
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Tim McKnight Tim McKnight is offline
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Welcome to the forum Ashley. Great song and vibe.

I like K&K Pickups (pure mini) for solo and lower volume venues. They are very natural and woody sounding but can be a tad prone to feedback if you play in LOUD gigs or with other band mates. If the latter is more your case then I would suggest LR Baggs pick ups as they are practically feedback free and EQ flat. I just installed a Baggs Anthem SL in Marty Rabon’s second McKnight Guitar and he’s lovin’ it.
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Old 08-05-2019, 12:34 PM
Malcolm Kindnes Malcolm Kindnes is offline
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Welcome Ashley, very nice song and good video. The Taylor 814 is a fine guitar, perhaps there is something wrong with the pickup installation?
I have a son called Ashley, and when he was young he used to complain that it was a girls name, but I think he is happy with it now that he is grown up.
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Old 08-05-2019, 12:36 PM
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BoneDigger BoneDigger is offline
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Welcome Ashley! Great singing and playing and really nice video and song!

You will find that there are many here who enjoy folk music or Americana in general. There are some very knowledgeable people on this forum who can answer your questions about pickups or anything else guitar related that you may want to ask. Take a look around and become familiar with everything. Please also take the time to peruse the forum rules located here: https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/faq.php
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Old 08-05-2019, 12:37 PM
Edgar Poe Edgar Poe is offline
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Welcome Ashley, I love to hear stories of younger players leaning heavily on 60's 70's music. Not because I lived it, but because I feel it is an era gone by that has no equal, and never will have. The music after that period was just not from the heart.
I have areal good friend that moved to Nashville from California a couple years back, Vini Contreas. If you run into him tell him Dan from Cali said Hello.
I myself was born in upstate New York, Oneida, not far from Woodstock.

Ed
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Old 08-05-2019, 12:47 PM
jaymarsch jaymarsch is offline
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Welcome, Ashley!

What a great first post. You have a wonderful voice and a great vibe to your music and performance. Glad you decided to join in here. I am fan of folk, folk rock, Americana and generally independent singer songwriter music genres. I do not perform a lot so do not have a lot of experience with pick ups. My friends who do perform speak highly of K & Ks and L R Baggs products so I do not think you could go wrong with either of those options.

Best,
Jayne
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Old 08-05-2019, 12:55 PM
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fazool fazool is offline
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Great song Ashley (yes I can see the industry thinking it's too intelligent for the masses but that's a good thing)
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Old 08-05-2019, 01:13 PM
TRose TRose is offline
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Great song!
Welcome to the forum.
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Old 08-05-2019, 01:15 PM
jjbigfly jjbigfly is offline
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I have not been thrilled with the 814ce amplified either. I ended up (so far) going back to basics on the mixer. Setting the gain correctly and not just trying to dial it in quickly helps. The es-2 system sounds good once you get the settings correct. I ended up using headphones to dial it in. Turn off the vocal mic and the speakers and play something without the headphones. Play same thing thru the headphones. Adjust the mixer, repeat. When it sounds natural thru the mixer you have a good base setting. Tweak to your liking from there....
I have mine sounding like it should but I had to fool with it a bit. It really is a nice system.......
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Old 08-05-2019, 01:19 PM
ChrisE ChrisE is offline
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Welcome to the forum.

You'll quickly notice that any post that includes "I need opinions on ____" will be quickly answered by hundred different people with a hundred different opinions.

In other words...there's a lot of great advice to be had here.
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