Martin DH28 and Hawaiian Slack Key
Rick Ciaccio
posts-- a real nice friendly group it seems.
This is my situation...
I am greatly inspired by many of the Hawaiian slack key greats-- Keola Beamer,
Ozzie Kotani, Sonny Chillingworth and others. This is some of the most beautiful
solo guitar style I have ever heard.
I have great desire to learn this finger picking style. I have sent for Keola
Beamer's books, video and tablature and called slack-key instructor Hal Kinneman
in Hawaii to get his advice on how to proceed.
In my exhaustive research I have had great support from everyone I've talked to.
The following seems to be the message on guitar choice:
1. get as much guitar as you can possibly afford
2. buy a guitar that will be valuable later if you don't stick with things
3. get a dreadnought style with nice warm bass, 14 frets to the body
4. electrify it for playing through your stereo to music
5. start out on the best-- a bad guitar won't motivate you to play
6. use John Pearse #800 slack key strings
I have gone out and looked at guitars. The closest I found to the sound I want
is a nice Gibson for around $1200. I've decided to skip all the browsing for a
"deal" on a guitar that I "think" sounds right and go directly to what seems to
be by popular opinion, one of the best sounding guitars ever made-- Martin D28.
I doubt I'd regret spending the money for one of these. There is a DH28 in the
paper for $1400 which is said to be immaculate. I'm considering buying it.
Keep in mind that I'm just starting out but have great desire and passion to
learn slack key. I am looking for some friendly feedback on this from you
experienced guitar players.
What is your feeling on what I'm about to do?
Peace,
Rick Ciaccio
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Sherry Katz
Rick Ciaccio wrote in message <36bb5077....@news.earthlink.net>...
>
>Keep in mind that I'm just starting out but have great desire and passion
to
>learn slack key. I am looking for some friendly feedback on this from you
>experienced guitar players.
>
>What is your feeling on what I'm about to do?
>
From what I've seen a dreadnaught is the wrong guitar for slack key. It's
more of a fingerpicking style and a smaller, fingerpicking style guitar is
better. Led Ka'apana, who to me is the God of slack key guitar, plays a
shallow bodied relatively inexpensive Guild electric acoustic. He also uses
a cutaway because he plays a lot of notes high up the neck. When he plays
in his back yard he plays a small bodied older Martin. However, he sounds
incredibly fabulous on any instrument that he plays. His backup twelve
string player plays relatively cheap Takamines.
A really cheap guitar will discourage you and make playing unpleasant - I
know because many eons ago I started playing on a really cheap guitar. But
I've seen literally dozens of sub $500 guitars that are only marginally less
satisfactory sounding than $2000 guitars. Don't get caught up in the
equipment hype. I've generally been able to sell just about every guitar
I've ever owned - except really really cheap ones - for at least what I paid
for them when I was ready to sell them.
You can't possibly really know what you want if you haven't developed your
style and you don't know your sound. No need to pour a bunch of money into
it unless your ego requires you to have the biggest . . . An inexpensive
guitar can always later double as your knock around guitar.
Anyway one thing I know is that a dreadnaught is the wrong guitar for slack
key. The bass would be overwhelming and you'd lose a lot of the subtlety.
The HD 28 is not the right guitar for slack key, and it's too expensive for
a beginner because you don't yet have a clue what you are doing. If you
must get a Martin, then an Auditorium or Concert size would be a better
choice.
However, a better choice would be something like a Seagull folk model -
inexpensive, good sounding, and a better balanced guitar for slack key.
Another good choice would be a baby Taylor - which has a strong mid range -
you'll want that - and which you can continue to use as a travel guitar when
you move on to something else. You've got a lot of sweat ahead of you,
boring repetition and sore fingers before an expensive guitar is going to
make a difference.
J Yoshida
with Ozzie snd he uses a small bodied taylor and martin. many students
have seagulls and seem to like them. We have quite a few people that
have the bigger guitar, I guess they like the Bass. I play a small
Taylor and like it alot.
Keola is coming out with a book soon and from what I hear it's huge (30
+) songs and put together well (like everything else he does) It's
published by Mel bay.
Ozzie also has a good book out with tape and I would recommend starting
there. call Harry's music on Oahu they should have it and L. kwans great
book too.
good luck and enjoy the music
aloha, Joe
Russell Letson
for slack key (and particularly about generalizations on
dreadnoughts):
1. Sonny Chillingworth, Cyril Pahinui, and Leonard Kwan all play
Martin dreadnoughts on their Dancing Cat CDs. If you look at photos of
the Gabby Pahinui Band from the 1970s, you will see several
dreadnoughts among the instruments in use.
2. My own favorite slack-key guitar (and I have several good
fingerpickers to choose from) is a Guild D-40 (a mahogany
dreadnought). My other favorite is a 1920 Martin 0-18. Go figure.
3. On the other hand, Ray Kane's favorite guitar for a decade or so
was a high-end Lowden (and not a little one, either).
4. On the third hand, Ozzie Kotani and Pekelo favor small mahogany
Martins.
5. On the fourth paw, lots of Hawaiian performers (Rev. Dennis
Kamakahi among them) play amplified Ovations or (gasp) Takamines.
6. Further examples have been omitted to avoid getting into octopus
territory.
The players I've talked to all have their preferences, but they also
tend to say that slack key isn't in the guitar, it's in the heart. (Of
course, that didn't keep Uncle Ray from saying that his Lowden was "da
best!") I've played my pitiful bit of slack key repertory on old
parlor guitars, Guilds of all sizes, luthier instruments, and even my
Epi Broadway, and there's something there with every guitar, if you
pay attention to how each instrument wants to speak.
So I guess what it comes down to is the usual advice: within the
limits of your budget, buy with your ears and your hands. If you can
play some slack key already, use that as your test material. Have
someone else play it so you can hear it. Check out LOTS of guitars,
and so on. I would look for good playability (lots of slack key
happens up the neck a ways), responsiveness (you don't want to have to
work too hard for your sound), sustain, and a sweet, round tone. But
they're *your* hands and ears doing the looking (interesting anatomy,
no?), so ignore any of the foregoing that doesn't suit you.
--
Russell Letson
rle...@cloudnet.com
http://www.cloudnet.com/~rletson
Sterling Yee
Just take a look at the Dancing Cat album covers. Sonny Chillingworth, George
Kahumoku, Ray Kane, Leonard Kwan, Cyril Pahinui all play dreadnaughts. In fact,
Gabby Pahinui played 12 string Martin dreadnaught.