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Looper's Delight
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Richard- You can call me Hal (everyone makes that mistake). We corresponded briefly about HTM awhile back. I think I told you about the HTM reunion, which yielded a new recording "The Muse Awakens", a match for their 70s LPs... or darn close. I last talked to Stan as I was contemplating buying Kris's Archtop, because Stan plays one. His comments sold me on it. Stan and Frank have a very HTM-ish band called Oblivion Sun, and they just put out a CD. See http://oblivionsun.homestead.com/home.html. I was supposed to see them in Vienna, VA this past Sun. but bailed due to a really persistent cold. I had seen them at Orion Sound in Baltimore last Fall - tremendous. Personally I'd like to see them doing newer-sounding stuff, but they have an audience for what they do ( not exactly a stadium-filler, but I think they can at least move some units online to the far-flung HTM fan base). That said, with the exception of one clunker the CD sounds great. Anyway, Stan is playing and singing splendidly and is a happy, married guy. Stan and Frank built Paul Reed Smith's new studio and recorded the OS CD there. Frank has been a builder for many years. What role Stan played in this I can't say. They clearly remain close to Paul. Oddly, I found the support at PRS concerning the Archtop to be pretty determinedly nonexistent. No wiring diagrams for the piezo-equipped guitar, and a resolute message of "you're on your on". It probably in the end is not important, though in reading more about the Graphtech Ghost system today I find myself over my head when the electronics and switching options are the topic. I'm hoping the guitar tech I'm talking too will grasp all of this. By the way, Richard McClish is one of the nicest people you could ever encounter. Unbelievably helpful, a real gentleman. When I was first contemplating getting an archtop and was bewildered by the abundance of options, most of them very costly, he sent me pictures of his Buscarino. That is about as gorgeous as guitars get. Got 10 grand lying around? One last - if you knew HTM you might also have known However. Those guys are all still active to one degree or another. Cheers... oh, and I will say hi to SW for you. Hal Dean ________________________________ From: Richard Sales [mailto:richard@glasswing.com] Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 12:13 PM To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com Subject: Re: AXON AX 100 Thanks Dean Yup! I'm the guy who knew Stanley Whittaker. Do you know him? Have you seen him lately? If you do, tell him Richard Sales from the Happy The Man days and the Cellar Door says hello! I have (somewhat) kept up contact with Kit Watkins. Great player! No... incredible player. He recorded on some of my stuff back in the stone ages. I thought and still think Happy The Man was one of the most inventive and listenable bands ever. I heard they might reunite. Any knowledge on that? Stanley had one of the first PRS guitars I ever saw. At that time I knew Paul was fixing guitars but hadn't seen his own. He'd worked on my guitars before that. Oh man! That guitar, and especially in Stanley's hands, made me take another look at Paul. I would contact Paul or the PRS people about pickups on their guitars. I seem to remember he'd fiddled with the idea of MIDI pickups on his guitars. Thanks again for all the data. I only know what the AXON can do from the demos on the Terratec site.... and it is incredible. richard sales glassWing farm and studio vancouver island, b.c. 800.545.6846 250.752.4816 www.glassWing.com www.richardsales.com www.hayleysales.com www.blueberryfieldsfarm.com On 31-Oct-07, at 6:03 AM, Dean, Hal wrote: Richard, While there are those who argue that tracking with the Roland GK system is good, they are a distinct minority; I am not among them. The majority opinion, by far, is that either the RMC system or GraphTech's Ghost system are far superior in terms of tracking and accuracy. Both operate on the same principle - piezo saddle pickups that feed into a "translator" module. The RMC system has been used in Godin's MIDI-ready guitars, such as the Multiac and LGXT, for years. I have both those guitars as well as an RMC-equipped classical guitar I had made. I am currently researching how to install a MIDI pickup system in a Paul Reed Smith Archtop (which BTW I bought from Kris Hartung) and find that Ghost may be more suitable in this instrument, for reasons I won't go into here. In the course of researching this I've seen comments on the midiguitar forum to the effect that the build quality, specifically connectors, and balance are not as good with Ghost; supposedly, both these issues can be overcome with some careful installation techniques. Both RMC and Ghost systems will be costlier than the Roland system. Both can also provide a nice piezoelectric sound to blend with any pickups you have already. The Godin Multiac is a great acoustic guitar with just the piezo sound, and the MIDI capability. I will miss mine when I sell it - which I need to do to make up for buying the PRS! I would love to have an Axon. I have an older Roland GI-10. Everyone that has used the Axon and the Roland GI-10 or -20 says the Axon is better. You certainly have that part of the signal chain well covered. Take a look at http://www.graphtech.com/ghost_info.php and http://www.rmcpickup.com/. OT- Am I remembering you are the guy who knew Stanley Whitaker? Hal Dean ________________________________