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  #1  
Old 11-21-2021, 05:16 AM
woland woland is offline
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Default Mirabella Archtop Guitar

Hello,
Here's some videos of my Mirabella Trapdoor Custom.
It has a very full and warm acoustic tone which I love, hope you'll like it to

https://youtu.be/eYRhkXB6x4k

https://youtu.be/REqONLSwEFA
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Old 11-21-2021, 06:42 AM
iim7V7IM7's Avatar
iim7V7IM7 iim7V7IM7 is offline
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Cris makes fine guitars…
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A bunch of nice archtops, flattops, a gypsy & nylon strings…
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Old 11-21-2021, 08:38 AM
darkwave darkwave is offline
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Wonderful playing - thanks for sharing!
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1998 Larrivée C-09
1977 Gibson MK-35
2020 Breedlove Wildwood Concertina
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Kremona Verea VA Crossover Nylon
2005 Rogue Biscuit Resonator
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2008 Eastman AR810-7 Archtop
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Old 11-21-2021, 02:02 PM
RJVB RJVB is offline
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The instrument certainly sounds good, but the period perfomer purist in me thinks that if you have to play that kind of repertoire on this kind of instrument, at least use the appropriate right-hand technique

Is that a 1"7/8 nut or even wider, or am I getting the scale all wrong?
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Pickle: Gretsch G9240 "Alligator" wood-body resonator wearing nylguts (China, 2018?)
Toon: Eastman Cabaret JB (China, 2022)
Stanley: The Loar LH-650 (China, 2017)
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Old 11-22-2021, 01:15 PM
Bluemonk Bluemonk is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RJVB View Post
The instrument certainly sounds good, but the period perfomer purist in me thinks that if you have to play that kind of repertoire on this kind of instrument, at least use the appropriate right-hand technique
Um, isn't that a bit like saying if you have to get from Point A to Point B in a car rather than a horse, at least use the appropriate saddle. FYI, in the 1930s there was a prevalent style of "classical" music played on archtop guitars with a pick (I believe more commonly referred to as a plectrum in that era).
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Old 11-22-2021, 04:03 PM
RJVB RJVB is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluemonk View Post
Um, isn't that a bit like saying if you have to get from Point A to Point B in a car rather than a horse, at least use the appropriate saddle.
I'll let you answer that yourself O:-)

Quote:
FYI, in the 1930s there was a prevalent style of "classical" music played on archtop guitars with a pick (I believe more commonly referred to as a plectrum in that era).
I know and while I practice that kind of music with both techniques (very constructive in my experience) I'd probably only perform it with a pick.


FYI go back far enough and you'll find repertoire and instruments that call for a plectrum (the use of which was abandoned subsequently because it wasn't ideal for the polyphonic music that came in vogue)
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Pickle: Gretsch G9240 "Alligator" wood-body resonator wearing nylguts (China, 2018?)
Toon: Eastman Cabaret JB (China, 2022)
Stanley: The Loar LH-650 (China, 2017)
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  #7  
Old 11-23-2021, 08:00 AM
woland woland is offline
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Hi!
Thank you for you kind comments.

Guitar has a 3/4 nut.

Yes, this repertoire was made to be played with classical guitar technique (and on a classical guitar too!)
I can really relate to that, since here in Europe we really feel the "weight" of a classical historical repertoire, and even any slight change is seen as a lack of respect.

I've studied classical guitar but I plectrum technique has began my speciality since I've attended (for many many years) Guitar Craft courses with Robert Fripp.
I love classical music, plectrum style, archtop guitars, Guitar Craft tuning (I use CGDAEG)... and I believe that altogether makes a very peculiar sound, which I love.

I'm not interested to sound like a classical guitarist, otherwise I would have played it with a classical technique and on a different guitar.

It's also true that some repertoire calls for a pick: ie. the compositions from Raffaele Calace on Liuto Cantabile.
Here's an excerpt adapted on the guitar:

https://youtu.be/MSLTEnYwa4A

But I enjoy playing with my fingers too.
It's not easy on steel strings, so I had to came up with a different technique involving mostly just thumb pick and middle finger, in order to keep tone more consistent.

https://youtu.be/KqfMFDxYAQo
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Old 11-23-2021, 08:54 AM
RJVB RJVB is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by woland View Post
Yes, this repertoire was made to be played with classical guitar technique (and on a classical guitar too!)
I don't know the exact date of the composition but the classical guitar as we know it probably didn't exist yet, so probably one like this

(the modern equivalent might be a nylon-strung parlor like Dowina's Bona Vida).

Quote:
I'm not interested to sound like a classical guitarist, otherwise I would have played it with a classical technique and on a different guitar.
FWIW, that was not the point of my remark. Musicians in former days were much more often multi-instrumentalists than we tend to be nowadays, but even if they chose one instrument over another because of the sound they wanted or needed, they'd probably be using similar techniques as far as possible, and as demanded by the repertoire.

Quote:
It's also true that some repertoire calls for a pick: ie. the compositions from Raffaele Calace on Liuto Cantabile.
Interesting, I wasn't aware of classical repertoire calling for a pick. This reminds me of mandolin repertoire, and I *suppose* a pick is common there.

The tremolo piece is a nice example of how I'd like a classical guitar to sound (rather than like a Steinway as many apparently prefer...). That's based on listening over small computer speakers btw, where I don't even hear anything particularly metallic sounding (but not much bass either )
I can't comment on tremolo on nylon vs. steel strings as I haven't even begun trying to learn the technique myself, but respect if you're using the thumbpick for upstrokes too (and for getting a sound that balances nicely with the finger/nail sound!)
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I'm always not thinking many more things than I'm thinking. I therefore ain't more than I am.

Pickle: Gretsch G9240 "Alligator" wood-body resonator wearing nylguts (China, 2018?)
Toon: Eastman Cabaret JB (China, 2022)
Stanley: The Loar LH-650 (China, 2017)
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