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My new acoustic is a Dandy...


Phil O'Keefe

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A Gretsch G9520 Jim Dandy, that is!

 

 

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This one is in what they call Bronze Burst, although there are a variety of different colors they've made them in.

 

The thread title doesn't say NGD because it isn't - I actually got it at a recording session last Saturday. It was a gift from the lead guitarist in a band I'm producing... he sets them up for Nashville tuning and gives them to his engineer and producer friends. I'm fortunate to be one of them. :o:)

 

I've forgotten how much fun a guitar set up with Angel Hair can be. I used to keep an old Alvarez Yairi around for that purpose, but haven't had a guitar dedicated to that for ages - it's a really cool tool for layering parts in the studio, and brings a new vibe to patterns and parts due to the octave jumps.

 

I was surprised not only with the gift, but also surprised by the cool factor of this very affordable little Gretsch parlor guitar. As you can see, it's a 12 fret neck, which along with the small parlor-sized body and 24" scale length make it really compact.

 

The neck profile is also a very comfortable c-shape that people with smaller sized hands will have no problems playing. It's not overly narrow though - it has a width of 1.687" at the nut. It has a rosewood fingerboard with small vintage-sized frets and large pearloid dot position markers on a nato neck.

 

 

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The finish is painted on, and all matte - including the back of the neck and body, which are the same off-bronze color. It actually feels very smooth and comfortable.

 

 

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It has an agathis body all around - top, back and sides. The top is X braced.

 

 

 

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The retro cosmetics were definitely modeled after the pre-war parlor guitars. I love the "Steel Reinforced Neck" graphic - it reminds me of old Harmony guitars.

 

 

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The tuners are open-gear and seem to work fine. The white tuner buttons also add to the vintage vibe.

 

 

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The soundhole rosette, like everything else, is painted on. The single layer cream pickguard has a Gretsch G on it, and it comes with a protective layer of clear plastic overlay, which I still need to remove.

 

 

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There's a strap button at the rear, but none on the neck heel, so you can either add one, or tie the other end of the strap at the headstock. I probably won't do either one, since it's going to be used almost exclusively for recording and playing around the house, and that usually means playing when sitting down.

 

Remember when I said the soundhole rosette is painted on, like everything else? I meant it - the binding is faux too.

 

 

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The bridge is compensated, and the strings load from the top rear, similar to an Ovation. No pins.

 

 

 

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All in all, this is a surprisingly fun little guitar. It would make a very good beginner's guitar for a child or young adult. As a high strung guitar, it's darned near ideal, and with a price tag that's less than many stompboxes - around $169 (street) or so, it would make a great campfire or beach "beater" guitar too. Definitely something to check out the next time you're at your local music store.

 

Thanks again Mike - that was very nice of you!!!

 

 

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I've seen those from time to time - how does it work strung normally?

 

I haven't tried this one with regular strings, but I have played another one with a standard setup, and it played fine. Pretty midrange-y on the sound - would be a nice bluesy fingerstyle or slide guitar too IMO.

 

 

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nice one, this small guitars gimme often G.A.S.

recording king has also some nice models i need to resist :)

 

Don't resist Recording King. I succumbed and have no regrets whatsoever (although mine is a 000 so not really small).

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Don't resist Recording King. I succumbed and have no regrets whatsoever (although mine is a 000 so not really small).

 

i have already a very nice recording king dreadnought (RD-227) and a washburn parlor guitar. so unless i start spending much more time with my accoustics (which i don't see in near future), i cannot justify another one and i'm so far settled very well :)

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i have already a very nice recording king dreadnought (RD-227) and a washburn parlor guitar. so unless i start spending much more time with my accoustics (which i don't see in near future), i cannot justify another one and i'm so far settled very well :)

 

Fair enough :thu:

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Got me with a term I hadn't heard before: "angel hair". Like upper/higher half of 12 string set? Parlor guitars are a kick, like bumper cars for musicians. Got a second hand Olympia, new tuners, saddle, under saddle pickup. Dang sounds full plugged in. The grain was about as wide as notebook paper we used to learn cursive in 2nd grade...

You ought to put in a cheap non invasive pickup and fire that puppy up

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Got me with a term I hadn't heard before: "angel hair". Like upper/higher half of 12 string set? Parlor guitars are a kick, like bumper cars for musicians. Got a second hand Olympia, new tuners, saddle, under saddle pickup. Dang sounds full plugged in. The grain was about as wide as notebook paper we used to learn cursive in 2nd grade...

You ought to put in a cheap non invasive pickup and fire that puppy up

I hadn't heard the term "angel hair" before either but it was fairly clear from context. "Angel hair" pasta is very thin so it made a certain amount of sense. And yes, Nashville tuning is the octave half of a 12-string set. I had my beater acoustic set up in Nashville tuning at one time.

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Got me with a term I hadn't heard before: "angel hair". Like upper/higher half of 12 string set?

 

Angel Hair is another name for Nashville tuning. High-strung is another term that is sometimes used for the same thing - taking a 12 string pack and using the octave strings from it to string up a six string acoustic.

 

Actually, you don't need to do that anymore - D'Addario now sells High Strung / Nashville string sets. My buddy who gave me the guitar even tossed in an extra set of the ones he set the guitar up for - D'Addario XL's 10-26w - EXL150H. At three bucks a set, they're a lot more practical than cannibalizing an expensive 12 string set...

 

Parlor guitars are a kick, like bumper cars for musicians.

 

Well, you got ME with that one! :lol::thu:

 

Got a second hand Olympia, new tuners, saddle, under saddle pickup. Dang sounds full plugged in. The grain was about as wide as notebook paper we used to learn cursive in 2nd grade...

You ought to put in a cheap non invasive pickup and fire that puppy up

 

I have a couple of soundhole pickups around here somewhere that I could probably try with it... but I'm going to mostly be using it to record with. I definitely prefer mics for that over pickups.

 

 

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Angel Hair is another name for Nashville tuning. High-strung is another term that is sometimes used for the same thing - taking a 12 string pack and using the octave strings from it to string up a six string acoustic.

 

Actually, you don't need to do that anymore - D'Addario now sells High Strung / Nashville string sets. My buddy who gave me the guitar even tossed in an extra set of the ones he set the guitar up for - D'Addario XL's 10-26w - EXL150H. At three bucks a set, they're a lot more practical than cannibalizing an expensive 12 string set...

Many shops sell single strings. That's how I put together a set for mine.

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Many shops sell single strings. That's how I put together a set for mine.

 

I worked at a couple of music stores years ago that offered single strings for sale, but I haven't bothered with them myself for years - if I break even one, the whole set gets replaced; that's been my policy for a very long time. I don't even know if any of the local stores still sell single strings or not, because I haven't been paying attention. :idk::0

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I worked at a couple of music stores years ago that offered single strings for sale' date=' but I haven't bothered with them myself for years - if I break even one, the whole set gets replaced; that's been my policy for a very long time. I don't even know if any of the local stores still sell single strings or not, because I haven't been paying attention. :idk::0[/quote']

At least a couple of the mom and pop stores in the St. Louis area sell single strings. So does GC. I generally replace sets (I broke an almost new Ernie Ball flatwound D bass string and I refused to buy a whole new set) but it's nice to be able to buy singles when you're experimenting with, say, Gambale tuning.

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It's a reentrant tuning he developed that goes from A to A. Here are the details: http://mb.frankgambale.com/NonCGI/Fo...ML/003745.html

 

Interesting - he even gives his suggested string gauges. I wonder how the up a fourth, but with the two high strings down an octave thing sounds / works?

 

I may just have to try this sometime - thanks for the link and the details!

 

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