jimsoloway Posted August 30, 2014 Posted August 30, 2014 Most of you know that I was trying to sell the long scale H575 because of the the back issues that I was having playing it. It didn't sell and it's just too nice a guitar to give away for a bargain price so I'm committed to giving it another shot. I've always played archtops sitting down with the guitar in my lap and hunched over the body in order to get my arm comfortably over the top. Because of that I didn't even have strap buttons installed when this guitar was built. I've been experimenting lately with my cheap Ibanez arch top on a strap that holds the guitar well above my lap on an angle and it seems to work better for my back (although not so much for my arm), so I've had strap buttons installed and I'm prepared to give that a real try. I also had the frets worked over by my all time favorite setup mechanic and the results are spectacular playability. I played it for about 45 minutes this evening and I must confess, i had forgotten just how spectacular this guitar sounds and now it plays as well as it sounds. So I'm going to try playing it as much as I can for the next couple weeks and pray that my back holds up and my arm gets used to the feel and if nothing else I will most certain enjoy the sound.
Vanschoyck Posted August 30, 2014 Posted August 30, 2014 I hope that works for you. I need to use a strap when I play now. I can't get my wrist in a comfortable position without getting the guitar up off of my lap. Guys wear their guitars like they wear pants. When they're young they have them slung down low around their hips. When they get into their 30's they have them up up around their waist. As they get old they wear them up high, like up to their chest!
PrairieDude Posted August 30, 2014 Posted August 30, 2014 I'm glad you've, hopefully, found a way to make this guitar work for you!! It sounds to marvelous to let go. Good luck.
peterbright Posted August 30, 2014 Posted August 30, 2014 I never play without a strap. My humble suggestion is to work up to longer playing times rather than to rush it.
PunkKitty Posted August 30, 2014 Posted August 30, 2014 I really hope that works out for you, Jim. It's a beautiful guitar.
barrymclark Posted August 30, 2014 Posted August 30, 2014 Best of luck. Can't imagine anyone but you playing it!
Keith7940236 Posted August 31, 2014 Posted August 31, 2014 Best of luck, that is a really beautiful instrument
peterbright Posted August 31, 2014 Posted August 31, 2014 I was secretly hoping no one would buy it so that you would have to come to this well reasoned conclusion. I also heard somewhere that you can purchase and play multiple guitars and even basses.
jimsoloway Posted August 31, 2014 Author Posted August 31, 2014 Moderation has never been something I've been very good with and this was no exception. I experimented with two different straps and over the course of the day I managed to play about five hours with no immediate ill effects. We'll see how it feels over the next couple days but right now I'm very encouraged.
barrymclark Posted August 31, 2014 Posted August 31, 2014 I was secretly hoping no one would buy it so that you would have to come to this well reasoned conclusion. I also heard somewhere that you can purchase and play multiple guitars and even basses. That makes two of us.
jimsoloway Posted August 31, 2014 Author Posted August 31, 2014 I was secretly hoping no one would buy it so that you would have to come to this well reasoned conclusion. I also heard somewhere that you can purchase and play multiple guitars and even basses. I hear that as well but it's never really worked for me. I'm at my all time high right now at five guitars and three of them are for sale. Mostly I just play one guitar for months at a time and what I really need is three: one as my main player; one to be a backup for my main player; and one that I can leave permanently in standard tuning as a teaching/tutorial guitar.
Vanschoyck Posted August 31, 2014 Posted August 31, 2014 Maybe they could make another one for you exactly the same only thin.
jimsoloway Posted September 1, 2014 Author Posted September 1, 2014 Maybe they could make another one for you exactly the same only thin. I'm sure they could but I'd have to sell a lot of stuff to pay for it so I think adjusting to this one is a lot more likely. Here's a before and after shot of the playing position that resulted in all the pain and what I'm trying now.
peterbright Posted September 1, 2014 Posted September 1, 2014 Better posture for sure. I keep an extra 4 1/2" wide well padded bass strap around for guitars that want to be a pain.
jimsoloway Posted September 2, 2014 Author Posted September 2, 2014 It was a very good long weekend. I got in lots of playing playing, all on the short strap. No pain. No stress. Great tones and even got a bit of test recording done using a new microphone (complete with my wife crashing about in the background). Adjusting to the playing position with a guitar this size is still a bit of a challenge but it seems to be working out and it sure does sound good.
Beagle216 Posted September 2, 2014 Posted September 2, 2014 It was a very good long weekend. I got in lots of playing playing, all on the short strap. No pain. No stress. Great tones and even got a bit of test recording done using a new microphone (complete with my wife crashing about in the background). Adjusting to the playing position with a guitar this size is still a bit of a challenge but it seems to be working out and it sure does sound good. Happy to hear it! It is a beauty and I was sad that you had to sell it. I am glad that you reworked how to use her.
rockabilly69 Posted September 2, 2014 Posted September 2, 2014 That makes two of us. that makes three of us!
jimsoloway Posted September 3, 2014 Author Posted September 3, 2014 Right now I'm glad that you all got your wish. This is day five. It's the only guitar I've played since it got back and still no back pain. I'm also remembering how much of this I got right in the initial specs and how well some of those specs were executed by Heritage. The neck is especially wonderful. It's huge and comfortable and the guitar is incredibly expressive. I picked up a new recording interface yesterday (a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2) and I've been doing some test recording with it this morning. Here's a short clip of the 575 that I just did. There's absolutely no processing. What you hear is exactly what went in. [soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/jim-soloway/focusrite-scarlett-2i2-test2b-h575-hb-only[/soundcloud]
jazzrat Posted September 3, 2014 Posted September 3, 2014 Not sure how much better that could be Jim. Love it. I can tell by the tone that the strings release off your fingers in a most satisfying way. Each note has it's own space.
RSquared Posted September 4, 2014 Posted September 4, 2014 Thats one of the finest sounding hollowbody guitar's I've ever heard.
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.