Acoustic Trivia Thread.....

[AugTPD]

Ok, so another message board I post on is big on these trivia threads, some of them end up being 100+ pages long! If it works here cool, if not oh well. They are usually fun and interesting. So here are the rules....

 

1. All questions must be somehow related to acoustic guitar.

2. Once someone is confident they have answered the question correctly, they may ask the next question.

 

 

Pretty simple and typically quite fun. I'll start the craziness... (we'll see if the trivia thread catches on here.)

 

Question: A guitar was once produced by a major U.S. acoustic manufacturer with a back of half maple/half indian rosewood and named it after a T.V. show featuring artists playing their music "unplugged". Name the guitar and maker. Extra credit for pics....

[Freeman Keller]

That one is easy

 

[AugTPD]

Yup that's it, the Martin MTV 2 Unplugged guitar. Now Freeman gets to attempt to stump everyone.

 

and I know it was easy, I couldn't start with something hard or the thread would never take off!

[Freeman Keller]

OK, another really easy one. Where does the brand name "Dobro" come from? Bonus point, the name also means something is another language. One more point if you know the name of the original company (it was not Dobro).

 

More bonus points if you can tell who took over the original company, and yet another if you can tell how he pronounced his last name.

[mikechoate]

OK, another really easy one. Where does the brand name "Dobro" come from? Bonus point, the name also means something is another language. One more point if you know the name of the original company (it was not Dobro). More bonus points if you can tell who took over the original company, and yet another if you can tell how he pronounced his last name.

 

Where does the brand name "Dobro" come from? A combination of the Dopyera brothers, who formed the company and the Slovak word for "good"

 

The name also means something is another language: Good?

 

name of the original company (it was not Dobro): Dobro Manufacturing Company

 

who took over the original company: Alexander Allen

 

how he pronounced his last name. ???

 

 

Do i get partial credit?

[Freeman Keller]

Where does the brand name "Dobro" come from? A combination of the Dopyera brothers, who formed the company and the Slovak word for "good" The name also means something is another language: Good? name of the original company (it was not Dobro) : Dobro Manufacturing Company who took over the original company: Alexander Allen how he pronounced his last name. ??? Do i get partial credit?

 

 

Right on the first two (and I'm shooting from memory but I've been reading Bob Brozman's incredible book on the history of the ******** guitar, which I believe, was the first name of the company). "Dobro" was the company the brothers formed when they patented the wood bodied spider bridge guitar. A former partner (and musician), George ********* took over the original company, altho there continued to be infighting and lawsuits. I just learned how to pronounce George's last name.

 

It is an interesting and convoluted history, Adolph Rickenbacker was involved somehow and lots of fascinating connections to the music world of the late 20's.

[AugTPD]

Brozman wrote The History and Artistry of National Resonator Instruments. The company that you are talking about was the National String Instrument Corporation and it was founded by John Dopyera and George Beauchamp. The first ones were produced under the National name in 1927. Dopyera left National in 1928 and formed the Dobro Manufacturing Company where Dobros were produced with the single inverted cone design.

 

Thank you Wikipedia.....

[AugTPD]

Well, if that answers Freeman's question I'll pose another.

 

What was the name of the founder of Ovation Guitars and how did he come up with the composite oval back of his instruments??

[Freeman Keller]

And, according to Brozman, Beauchamp was pronounced "Beech-um"

 

Ball is back in your court, AugTPD, is anyone else going to play?

 

btw - wrt to your MTV Martin, I've also seen pictures of a guitar with a half spruce half cedar top, but I can't for the life of me remember where.

 

Lets see, another from the National theme (and, again from memory). Which of the following has not been offered by National (either the original company or the new one)

 

Tricone guitar

Biscuit bridge guitar

Spider bridge guitar

Square neck tricone guitar

Tenor Guitar

Baritone Guitar

Mandolin

Uke

Violin

 

 

oops, we're out of phase...

[AugTPD]

I don't think anyone else is going to play. Sounds like the trivia idea didn't catch on all to well here. Oh well, worth a try.

 

At least I got a nice history lesson on the whole Dobro thing.

[denvertrakker]

Jeez, give us a chance!

 

Charles Kaman was the founder of Ovation. He got the idea from his experience making helicopter blades.

 

...and I don't care what anybody says, I still want one. For good or bad, whenever I hear a recording of someone playing an Ovation, for good or bad right away I know it's an Ovation.

 

Yeah, yeah, I know....well, at least I wouldn't string one with El***rs!

[AugTPD]

Jeez, give us a chance! Charles Kaman was the founder of Ovation. He got the idea from his experience making helicopter blades. ...and I don't care what anybody says, I still want one. For good or bad, whenever I hear a recording of someone playing an Ovation, for good or bad right away I know it's an Ovation. Yeah, yeah, I know....well, at least I wouldn't string one with El***rs!

 

 

That is correct sir! If you want to keep it going, the next question is yours to ask.

[Hamhand]

Jeez, give us a chance! Charles Kaman was the founder of Ovation. He got the idea from his experience making helicopter blades. ...and I don't care what anybody says, I still want one. For good or bad, whenever I hear a recording of someone playing an Ovation, for good or bad right away I know it's an Ovation. Yeah, yeah, I know....well, at least I wouldn't string one with El***rs!

 

Well, I have a 1985 Collectors series I'm gonna off. It's nearly perfect. PM any offer. Sorry for the threadjack guys........carry on.

[Krash]

 

Charles Kaman was the founder of Ovation. He got the idea from his experience making helicopter blades.

 

 

 

I'll post a question out of turn -

 

What do guitars and helicopter blades have in common?

[babablowfish]

 

I'll post a question out of turn - What do guitars and helicopter blades have in common?

 

 

They will both float, except for the helicopter blade. The guitar floats because it is made out of wood. But a duck also floats. Therefore, if Charles Kaman weighs more than a duck he is made out of wood and is a witch.

[Terry Allan Hall]

 

They will both float, except for the helicopter blade. The guitar floats because it is made out of wood. But a duck also floats. Therefore, if Charles Kaman weighs more than a duck he is made out of wood and is a witch.

 

 

Can't argue w/ that...got a question?

[denvertrakker]

 

That is correct sir! If you want to keep it going, the next question is yours to ask.

 

 

Oooohkay....here's one:

 

There are loads of brands out there with fake Spanish-sounding names attached to their acoustics. Which very large non-Spanish company has a legitimate claim to theirs, and why?

[denvertrakker]

...Therefore, if Charles Kaman weighs more than a duck he is made out of wood and is a witch.

 

Yeah, but he's our witch.

 

(Gratuitous Firefly reference)

[babablowfish]

 

Oooohkay....here's one: There are loads of brands out there with fake Spanish-sounding names attached to their acoustics. Which very large non-Spanish company has a legitimate claim to theirs, and why?

 

 

 

I believe it is Cort which was originally Cortez and had a Spanish luthier do their early work. I think. Maybe. I could be wrong.

[missedmyexit]

 

I don't think anyone else is going to play. Sounds like the trivia idea didn't catch on all to well here. Oh well, worth a try. At least I got a nice history lesson on the whole Dobro thing.

 

 

I'm enjoying the trivia I just don't know any of the answers...

[denvertrakker]

 

I believe it is Cort which was originally Cortez and had a Spanish luthier do their early work. I think. Maybe. I could be wrong.

 

 

Sorry, baba, that's not it. But in a way you're getting closer.

[babablowfish]

 

Sorry, baba, that's not it. But in a way you're getting closer.

 

 

 

OK. It is Aria, because Jose Carreras used to sing to the luthiers while they worked. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[AugTPD]

Ok, I think I have this one.

 

Ibanez is the answer. The Hoshino Gakki company of Japan imported guitars from a luthier named Salvador Ibanez in Spain. When his workshop was destroyed in the Civil War, they bought the rights to the name Ibanez and started manufacturing guitars under that name. Several decades later the company moved to Bensalem, PA under the name Hoshino U.S.A. with the collaboration of both Gakki and an American named Harry Rosenbloom, who had previously made instruments under the Elger name brand.

 

I think that's all I've got, and I must confess I knew none of it before an internet search!

 

So here is the next one (assuming that was the desired answer!). Who is Antonio De Torres Jurado and why is he important to the history of guitars?????

[Freeman Keller]

 

So here is the next one (assuming that was the desired answer!). Who is Antonio De Torres Jurado and why is he important to the history of guitars?????

 

 

Again, shooting from memory. The modern fan braced classical is called the Torres design so I assume he came up with it (copied by Hauser and all the other great modern builders).

 

and hey, should Googling the question be fair? I would propose the rules are that when you post a question you can check details with some sort of reference, but not the answer, eh? If the trivia is so esoteric that nobody knows the answer, what is the point. I mean, I've got a copy of a Phd thesis on the non-linear partial differential equations of the vibration of a guitar top - want me to post that one?

[smatel]

 

I mean, I've got a copy of a Phd thesis on the non-linear partial differential equations of the vibration of a guitar top - want me to post that one?

 

 

Yeah sure, but do you understand it?