[Drew]

So, today is gorgeous out. Absolutely gorgeous. It was about 60 when I left my apartment to drive to work today, so I rolled down the windows, threw in the Stones "Exile on Main Street," and drove off.

Driving with the windows down on a warm early spring day with "Rocks Off" blaring is a pretty damned good way to start your morning, I feel.



And on that note, my acoustic is sitting in the back of my car - time to go grab that and a picnic table near the river behind our office, and bust out some acoustic goodness out in the sun.

[noodles]

I deem the Stones true.

65F in DC right now. I hate being inside on days like this. I deem it false.

[Drew]

Spent 45 minutes outside in the sun with my acoustic. I deem that true.

My foot fell asleep from sitting on it so long. I deem that false.

[noodles]

What kind of acoustic?

[Drew]

Martin MC16-GTE. It's like a "real" Martin without the cosmetic appointments, which is fine by me because I think they get a little garish. It's also quite a bit cheaper, and I don't feel as if I'm a good enough acoustic guitarist to drop nearly $2k on a guitar I'm just going to play like it's an electric (honestly, I was tyring to see how much of the first lead break to "Flying in a Blue Dream" I still remembered out there - not much, but who plays legato on an acoustic? I mean honestly, lol)

[noodles]

Damn, it's not on their site. What are the specs?

I've got a D-28 that I bought new in '96, when I thought I wanted to play lots of acoustc guitar. Harder to play than newer acoustics with bolt-on necks, but the sound is supreme.

Nevermind, found it:



Nice looking.

[Drew]

Hmm. Mahogany back and sides (matte finish), gloss spruce top of some sort (I'm not really up on my acoustics), ebony fretboard, 14th-fret neckjoint with a cutaway and a Fishman Prefix preamp (which I think has something fucked up with the grounding - I'd have it looked at, but I never use it although it's actually one of the better sounding peizos I've ever used).

I bought it shortly after I started my first "real" postgrad job - I was home visiting my parents for my, um, 23rd birthday, and we were out for coffee and dropped into the old neighborhood music shop I used to frequent while I was in the area. I was playing some Taylors, which I've always loved, and then spotted this used Martin next to them on the wall. I picked it up and initially the highs sounded a little constrained, but within a few minutes it'd grown on me and I actually found myself really getting into the tone and feel of the guitar.

I made it as far as the parking lot before I decided I needed to go back and buy it, lol. $800 cased, and probably the best $800 I've ever spent:



Clearly, it needs some attention from Eric's Guitar Polish.

A ten-year-old D-28, eh? i bet that thing sounds heavenly.

[noodles]

Martin is a company that makes guitars with character. They definately sound different from most everything else out there, and I can speak from experience when I say they only age like fine wine.

My D-28 was pretty shrill at first. Too much attack would decapitate people. It is mellowing with age, though, and now has a very complex sound. It's one of the most touch sensative acoustics I've ever played. Finger pick it for warm, earthy mellowness. Strum it and it is thick and meaty, with plenty of bass response. The harder you pick, the more the highs come out and slap you in the face. The bass response it absurd, and the volume it is capable of is pretty staggering--this is the only acoustic that will get the neighbors pounding on the walls. Then again, it was designed to match up with the volume of a banjo, which explains the cannon-like response.

Go listen to Tragedy's Peak for a fairly decent mic'ed recording of it (the mix on the track sucks, but the acoustic guitar intro came out all right). It is a really hard guitar to capture, because it has so many things going on to make the sound you hear.

I'm thinking of finding a part tim ejob this summer to pay for some stuff that I've got coming in. It's the only thing I could sell right now to cover stuff, and I just can't bare to part with it. My only other choice is my Collen Archtop, which I also don't want to part with.

[Shawn]

Yeah, that's a nice acoustic, Drew, and the Stones do rock, I love that tune too.

I took the top down on my car today, it was so gorgeous out, I was listening to Tony MacAlpine's Violent Machine though but later on I listened to "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys -it was on the radio as I was surfin' through the stations, great tune for driving with the top down I thought

First thing I did when I got home was go for a mountain back ride, it was awesome. Great day today.

[Drew]

Ok, we should hit a high of 72 today. God damn.

Nice Shawn, I love prog metal as much as the next guy, but as far as feel-good, welcome-to-summer music it generaly just doesn't cut it. The Beach Boys on the other hand, well, they sorta invented the genre. And mountain biking, eh? Nice, I haven't done any serious riding in ages, and since I made the switch to clipless right before I really stopped (not my fault, you try to find somewhere nice to ride in downtown Providence, lol) I'm a little afraid to start again.

Noodles, I'll listen to that when I get home. Myself, I've always thought a liquor store would be a pretty badass place to have a second job, but, well, I'm not sure how much money I'd actually take home...