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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
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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
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