NEWS FLASH: In June 2011 we moved to Winston Salem, NC. Here is a quick update: In April 2011 Christie and I began looking for a home in North Carolina. We had narrowed our search to this state for a variety of reasons: mountains and ocean access, good climate, good housing prices and choices, tons of old time and bluegrass music, and a favorable cost of living. There is lots to do here, amazing history in this region to explore, and I have family in this area. We had considered many other places that had some of these things, but NC had everything we were looking for. Still, it was a difficult decision since Christie's grown children and our grandkids live in California. We do miss them! But it was time for change in our life, and so off we went with a list of homes we had seen on the internet as our starting point. We had connected with a fabulous realtor here in Winston Salem, Doug Patterson, and he did an amazing job of guiding us through the process. We looked at 19 homes in 4 days, and the 19th one was the one we were looking for. We made an offer, haggled a little, and the deal was done. We closed on May 15th and the moving truck left San Diego on June 13th. We drove out and met the movers on June 20. We have been so blessed to have moved into a neighborhood where everyone is friendly and we now have several new friends nearby. The music scene is incredible, and I have already played with various musicians and even played a dance on September 20. We have been invited to concerts and festivals and are just getting settled enough where we can begin exploring all the venues. We get to see my Dad on a regular basis, and he is 'tickled pink', as he says, that we are here. I have also reconnected with my cousins in Winston Salem and other places nearby. So we are settled, excited, and grateful. Now...here is what my site is about: Welcome to my website about old guitars, old time music, and acoustic guitar in general.... I've been picking the flat top guitar for 46 years and have come to like vintage Martin and Gibson "small body" guitars in particular. This site has photos of my old small body guitars as well as some of the musicians I play with around the country. I've also included a few articles about related topics that you may enjoy. Feel free to contact me if you share my interests or have something you'd like to add to my site that is appropriate. A little history about me and my guitars... I have always been an acoustic picker and only dabbled in electric music a little bit in college. Fingerpicking was my initial passion, but I learned a little about flatpicking while playing blues and rock when I was in my late teens and early twenties. By the time I was 30 I had been working at a "real day job" for 7 years, not playing much, and was looking for a way get back into my music. My '73 Guild D-40 had been under my bed in its case for several years, and I wasn't sure where to begin. After exploring some jazz guitar solos and then playing some Irish stuff, I was introduced to the world of Old Time Music at a local contra dance. Before long I was in a community pick-up band in Dallas called the Winfrey Point Volunteers. It was during this time that I discovered the music of flatpickers like Norman Blake, Tony Rice, and Dan Crary and I also revisited the music of Doc Watson whose fingerpicking had inspired me as a teenager. Within three years I was playing in a trio with Kirk Hunter on Fiddle and David Allen on Banjo and we called ourselves PigAnkle. In the late '80s I got interested in old, vintage guitars and bought a 1944 Martin D-18. Soon thereafter I bought a beat up, unplayable, 12-fret Gibson L-00. I bought it because it looked so cool, and not because I knew anything about these amazing small body Gibsons. I began playing it more and more, and by 1995 I had fallen under the spell of the L-00's greatness and bought another one, a 1933 model with a 14-fret neck. I have included a story about these two guitars on another page of this web site that you might enjoy. In 1995 I got to play a1936 00-18 (14 fret mahogany) that a friend in North Carolina owns. I was amazed at how powerful it was, so I set out to find me one. A little by luck and a little by accident, I ended up buying a 1937 00-21 sight unseen. At the time I ordered it I wasn't aware that the 00-21 was a 12-fret neck, slot head guitar; but once I played it I became a believer in this instrument's excellent design. I was also fortunate in buying the 00-21 because it was a Brazilian Rosewood guitar that gives it a unique, rich tone. Lucky for me, the interest in small body guitars had not developed much back then and I was able to acquire mine before prices skyrocketed. So here I am, in the 21st century playing old timey music on 75 year-old guitars. I wouldn't have it any other way. |
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Below Left: 1937 Martin 00-21, 12 fret/slot head, "My Favorite Martian"   ABOVE: The Martin 00 size guitar was introduced in 1877. A few 00-21s were made between then and 1898. The first year in which 5 or more 00-21s were made is 1898, the first year that serial numbers are recorded. The 00-21 has always been made as a 12 frets-to-the-body, slot-head guitar. In the early 1930s when other models began being made as 14 fret, solid headstock guitars, the 00-21 continued without any changes, keeping the 12-fret/slot-head design. It was "discontinued" as a regular production model in 1987 but has always been available by special order. 1966 (200 made) and 1967 (213 made) were the top production years (the Folk Music Boom). The year mine was made (1937) only 41 were produced. List Prices: 1898: $32.50 1937: $55.00 1987: $1700 Today? Who knows? Good luck finding one. |
Below Center: 1930-31 Gibson L-00, 12 fret, "Blackie". This is my first "double-0".   The evolution of the L-0, L-00 and L-1 is complicated. Even the "experts" who list what features determine which model you have are not conclusive. Below is a link where you can find some information about them...but these descriptions and features are not the absolute, indisputable truth. The guitar above has some combination of features that would put it in both the L-0 and L-00 identification. However, there are no features that would eliminate it from either model's description. |
Below Right: 1933 Gibson L-00, 14 fret, "Beastie Too", with floating fingerboard.   Below: This L-00 "had" a "floating fingerboard". According to one expert on L-00 Gibsons, this feature is only found on some of those built in 1933. This sunburs it sometimes called Cremona Brown; it is not black, and the yellow burst is smaller compared to later models. I've heard it referred to as a "small dot" sunburst. I recently found a great luthier in Lexington, NC, Aaron Morris, who finally fixed the neck so it will play right. The fingerboard is no longer 'floating', and it sounds great, plays great, looks great. Aaron builds L-00 style guitars and does excellent restoration work. His prices are reasonable, and he gets the work done very quickly.  This is what the floating fingerboard looked like. It was not a good design concept, as there was not enough in the dovetail joint to keep the neck from pulling up. The fingerboard is now flush with the top of the guitar, like any normal guitar, and it plays and sounds great. Was Gibson just using up some necks left over from archtop production or what? Who knows? But it wasn't a good design. |
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