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Posts: 11039
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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Posts: 12759
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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RT on Adamas Guitars
