Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Your guitar; show & tell

My CS21-11. The poor thing is awesome but doesn’t get out much as it deserves. Dreads and my shoulder don’t get along for extended playing and my D18 is my default dread, so this poor girl just doesn’t get enough love.

CS21CS21 Back

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https://od.lk/s/MF8xMTUzOTYyNjdf/Acoustics%201.jpg Clockwise from top left: Martin M38, Martin 000-15, Silver Creek T160, Seagull M12, Blueridge BR180 https://od.lk/s/MF8xMTUzOTYyNjlf/Acoustics%202.jpg
Clockwise from top left: Giannini flat series classical, Giannini Craviola Classical, Recording King RD316, Great Divide SST-N (travel guitar)

This is the current stable of acoustics. I recently added a Bristol BM-15 that I use in a work environment that is not humidity controlled since it is all laminated. For such a cheap build, it is quite a nice instrument, but more on that another time.

To be clear, I purchased the Martin 000-15 for my wife and she really uses it. The only one I rarely play is the Seagull M12, but I am reluctant to sell it, as the day I sell it will be the day I need one…:wink:

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Wow Mike, you’ve got a whole fleet there!

Is the 000-15 painted? It looks darker than mahogany.

Nah, it is just dark mahogany and the lighting is not that great in the pics.

Here is me doing Banjo Ben version of salt creek
on a historic Blueridge BR-140 Guitar

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Great Job Paul

Love that Blueridge BR-140. Nice playing and what an awesome setting to be playing in.

Smooth playing. :+1:

Sadly, I cannot see the picture… in Safari on my iPad.

From these comments, I imagine it looks amazing! :thinking:

Seriously, I am even more impressed that you made it?

That is soooo cool!

Hey WillCoop,
I’m guessing that you are responding to the original post. Your iPad is working just fine; that picture vanished awhile ago, but not to worry there is another homemade guitar coming in a few weeks. I’ll get a picture of of both of them posted here. What didya think of that Heritage Paul posted above? It’s even nicer to hear as well as see the guitars folks play!

I guess I’ll post a couple of pics of the archtop I built many moons ago. Curly maple back. Neck is a curly maple, Indian rosewood combo. Indian rosewood accents and a nice, tight grain Spruce top. Can’t remember the origin of the Spruce.

Fun to build, but I had never played an archtop before building this one and didn’t realize that archtops typically don’t have that deep tone I like from a dreadnaught.

Looks pretty on the wall, though. :slight_smile:
FullSizeRender

FullSizeRender

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Beautiful! Unless my eyes deceive, your archtop is relatively thin body, like an ES-330? Did you put a pickup in/on it? Love the fiddleback maple.

Thanks Dan! I bought the maple back around 1995/96. It was one of the first internet purchases I ever made and had to take the guy’s word for it that it was beautiful. I was NOT disappointed.

It must be the perspective. The sides are a standard 3" front to back. I used Robert Benedetto’s book to guide me through the process.

Lots of fun. I really need to get my wood shop set up again.

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Yes… but Banjo and Mando too!

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Mark, beautiful guitar! That back is killer. I know it doesn’t sound like a dread, but I bet you can find something it is good at… have you tried swing chords on it?

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Thanks Mike! A labor of love, for sure.

I have not, and I bet you’re right. I may just have to slap a new set of strings on it and give that a try. Thanks!

I went through a couple nicer Guitars. Had a Martin D-35 for years. It didn’t have a truss rod in the neck. Tone was to die for… but the intonation was the death of that Guitar. I spent a lot for a shop to fix it… Didn’t improve it. I had to bend the strings into tune on the higher frets. Very annoying.
Began recording… Had foundation tracks laid for half an album. Stumbled across a Taylor Guitar at a music store.
I was hooked. Traded in a load of gear… Plus cash…and started the Album over again.

The Taylor is long gone. I've turned into a gear head... Playing with effects... Enjoying the luxury of turning a dial and modifying tone, volume and attitude.

    Recently, I've had the delight of teaching guitar at a grade school as a hobby. I've been buying guitars from the internet, fixing them up, and handing them off to students and friends. 
The worst challenge I've been successful at... A broken guitar neck... Turned out really well. 

   I turned my hand at installing pickups in acoustic guitars. 
 Here is a picture of my current project.

   (The file is too large... Will try altenate way to share photos)

working on the song

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Sounding great Paul.

Another excellent video. I notice you hold your pick like Ben teaches too.

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