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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | JW asks:
I'm curious to know if, in past years, you've given an Adamas guitar a go? If so, any recollections?
RT responds:
When the Ovation-type guitars first appeared, they seemed like the answer to performing the unnatural act of making an acoustic instrument louder. I think better systems began to appear soon after, and for me the tone of the plastic back and the piezo pickup aren’t really ‘real’ enough – but everyone’s reality is different. The Adamas is obviously top of the line, but for me it just isn’t woody enough. |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | If "woody" is what he is looking for, then his comments are dead on.
Certainly can't argue with the results. |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | he goes on to say...
" I think you can find a great Martin, or a great Taylor, and Collings might be the best of the ‘factory’ guitars out there. In the 60s, you could go through a stack of 30 Yamaha 50 quid guitars and find a really good one. What I love about Lowdens is the consistency – they’re all good, and some are great, and this is only achieved by obsessive and relentlessly applied production standards. George Lowden runs the tightest ship in the the acoustic guitar world, plus he has made some of the biggest innovations in recent times, some of which have been liberally copied by other manufacturers. Check out the website – you can even buy my signature model!" |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | For those who don't know who this RT is that you're obsessed with, maybe you should identify him. Is that how you discovered Lowdens? Last time I checked his website, he seemed pretty good at answering his fans. That will probably stop when he figures out you're stalking him. |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | So far, so good... He didn't even have security thugs toss me out when I met him at 2007 NAMM.
(And if y'all don't know who RT is . . . well, you should just be ashamed and sit quietly and contemplate your profound ignorance. Have a nice day!) |
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Location: NJ | ". . He didn't even have security thugs toss me out when I met him at 2007 NAMM . ."
which is bizzarre in itself, as he was disguised as QueenVictoria at the time . . . |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | I'll bite.. who or what is an RT ? I couldn't even find the Lowden site when I put it in google.
" just isn’t woody enough." sais it all for me too.
Always wondered why anyone would want something that is supposed to make "tones" and "notes" sound like "wood." When I strum an A chord, I don't want it to sound like a wooden A or a Plastic A or anything other than an A. To each his own. My "perception" I guess is probably from playing more electric than acoustic. The sound of a clean, flat-eq, non-effected note or chord, from an amplifier, is what I expect an Acoustic guitar to sound like, if it doesn't it fails.
The fact that an Adamas, played through a proper amp, like an L1, sounds the same plugged-in or not, to me is as near to a perfect guitar as one can get. |
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Location: Scotland | Originally posted by Mr. Ovation:
I'll bite.. who or what is an RT ? An RT is a Richard Thompson. Every home should have one. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Robin Trower?
Ovations don't sound 'woody' enough? What crap!
That is like the folks who will tell you that an electric Piano doesn't sound real, even tho' the electronic sound analyzer tells you it has the same properties.
It is just bias, and following the 'hip' crowd. My buddy loves his old Gibson just because it is a Gibson (and that is his prerogative, it is a nice old guitar). But my old decrepit beater 1121 sounds better. I have other Ovations that sound a LOT better! [And why are finish cracks a sign of character on an old Gibson, but a finish crack on an Ovation is a sign of a crappy product?)
All guitars sound different. |
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Location: Cicero, NY | Originally posted by Paul Templeman:
Originally posted by Mr. Ovation:
I'll bite.. who or what is an RT ? An RT is a Richard Thompson. Every home should have one. |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | The tiara cost me a fortune...
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Location: NJ | nice how th'veil hides the backhair . . . |
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| OK so for the galactically stupid........Who is Richard Thompson that I am supposed to care anyway? |
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Location: south east Michigan | Hmmmm...
Jeff... you want to handle that question??? |
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| Never mind I found him. He is a great guitarist it seems. Never heard of him but then that's not surprising, I do not keep up on musicians or musician news very well.
for the rest of us uninformed here ya go, I am not nearly so cryptic.
http://richardthompson-music.com/ |
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Location: Copenhagen Denmark | Fairport Convention...now that rings a bell..however , I do not understand his comments on Ovation`s , the BEST stage A/E in the world , and certainly less prone to feedback , exept for an acoustic with humbucker , like , a J160 , but then acoustically those do n`t have that good a sound..( when strung with electrics )
Vic |
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Location: South of most, North of few | Originally posted by stephent28:
If "woody" is what he is looking for, then his comments are dead on.
Certainly can't argue with the results. Got to go with that one. I really don't care what whoever says about any guitars pro or con. Just because he can play better than me doesn't mean he has better taste in sound quality. To me, it all depends how I perceive their sound, and the experience of playing them . I really like my Martins and they sound plenty woody. I really like my Adamas because it does sound different. The O's fall somewhere in between, but they still sound appealing to me. As it's been said many many times before...different flavors.... |
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Location: East Tennessee | Originally posted by cliff:
nice how th'veil hides the backhair . . . 
If we every had a contest for post of the day....
This one would win hands down. |
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Location: SoCal | How can I think that Richard Thompson is any good when he doesn't even play a Taylor? |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | If you ever have the chance to see RT live, you WILL become a believer!
.....and his Lowden sounds frickin fantastic. |
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Location: Japan | I might add that most world-class players sound fantastic and more than a few of them are playing Adamas.
I really like Adrian Legg for one. |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | RT is OK. But like most Brits he has very strong opinions not necessarily shared by all but he goes on to share them with all anyway. His opinions are not wrong, but they are not the last word. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Now, Bill, you're overgeneralizing. Within 2 minutes of picking up a British clientat the airport, I learned that Porsches are grossly overrated, Mustangs were better except the steering wheel was on the wrong side and the problem with the American economy was that we didn't build anything we just bought companies. I think he was right about the economy.
RT is an old folk singer. That's what they do. Vincent is a classic, but I suppose the Harley guys might not like it. |
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Location: SoCal | Originally posted by stephent28:
If you ever have the chance to see RT live, you WILL become a believer!
.....and his Lowden sounds frickin fantastic. Saw him live last year. Puts on a great show. He could probably make a Taylor sound good.
Local young woman opened for him. She was great. Another woman from Austin TX came up next (tourinig with RT). She was rode hard and put up wet and wanted to educate all of us politically. Coulda lived w/o that. Then RT. Outstanding even while making his political statement at one point (and only one point). |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | He preached a little when I saw him here, too, but I forgot about it till now. Now I remember thinking that every liberal in Idaho must have been in the audience and that's why he booked a theater that only held 300 people. No politics intended by this statement. |
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Location: SoCal | Unless somebody is just laying it on thick (like the woman who was on before RT), I just tune it out.
There was somebody, I can't remember who, a few years ago who played the Irvine Ampitheater, which is a fairly big place. He tried to talk politics and got boo'd for it. In an interview later, he complained that he was just trying to have a dialog and how intolerant the people here are. Somebody who was there wrote into the paper the next day that to "have a dialog" required both sides to be able to state their views and that this performer just wanted to preach. I got a good laugh out of that.
I don't want to talk politics when I go to listen to music..... |
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Location: NJ | Last Monday, JohnB. & I took th'Ladies t'see Crosby&Nash.
There were a couple passing political "comments" (which is kinda' t'be exPECted w/these guys), but nothing overt . . it was mostly about the music (as it should be), and these two guys can still NAIL th'f@ckin' notes, and harmonize FLAWlessly after all these years . . . |
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Location: Scotland | The list of artists you should avoid will outnumber those you would go to see by a huge margin. There is one-sided "dialog" in every aspect of society and it is the right, and in opinion of many, the duty of artists to add some balance, write songs about and comment upon whatever they see fit. If you don't like it don't buy their albums and don't go to see them perform. Just like you don't have to buy the New York Times or watch the Daily Show. But going to see an artist known for holding strong opinons and bitching when they air them makes as much sense as watching a porno and complaining about nudity. |
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Location: SoCal | I didn't mind RT, it was the hoss that played before him that I didn't know would be there.
And I usually complain about the nudity in porns. Not nearly enough of it! |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | porn was ruined when they started writing dialog with plots! |
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Location: NJ | It was ruined when they did away with the cheesey moustaches and the bass/wah-wah soundtracks . . . |
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Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | Originally posted by cliff:
Last Monday, JohnB. & I took th'Ladies t'see Crosby&Nash.
There were a couple passing political "comments" (which is kinda' t'be exPECted w/these guys), but nothing overt . . it was mostly about the music (as it should be), and these two guys can still NAIL th'f@ckin' notes, and harmonize FLAWlessly after all these years . . . You said it! It was the first time I've seen them without Stills and or Young, and I was amazed at how good they sounded. As Cliff said after the first couple of tunes, "Stephen who??". |
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Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | Originally posted by cliff:
It was ruined when they did away with the cheesey moustaches and the bass/wah-wah soundtracks . . . That's sort of what I thought the first time I saw you play without Barth! |
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Location: NJ | ". . "Stephen who??". . ."
Actually, I uttered that after that first electric guitar solo that Dean Parks played w/them . . . |
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RT on Adamas Guitars