Bluegrass and Taylor Guitars (long)

[GRW3]

I went to Camp Bluegrass with my Taylor guitars and was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t get even one negative comment. I guess when people get serious about music they just don’t have time for such pettiness.

I didn’t inventory all the guitars present but there were at least three people with Taylors beside myself. Two had Dan Crary (DCSM) models and the other had a 314. Of course the preferred guitar was Martin but that was not a surprise. I was surprised by how many Collings guitars I saw, considering their price, and there were also several Santa Cruz guitars.

There were three guitar instructors – Dix Bruce, Jim Nunnally and Adam Granger. Dix played a factory second Martin D1R (He told us there was ‘a guy’ in the San Francisco area that has a line on Martin seconds and sells them cheap, sans ID or warranty.) Jim has a 1946 Martin D-28 that sounds great but clearly shows its vintage status. Adam has a well broken-in (as in he had dropped it at some time and the repairs were evident) Santa Cruz Tony Rice model.

At our initial session the three gave some excellent demonstrations on flat-picking guitar followed by a general idea of what they would be covering. Dix was going to cover leads, Jim was going to do rhythm and Adam planned on covering right hand techniques and fret board knowledge. Initially I thought to go with Jim but changed my mind and went with Adam. I’ve been wanting to get a better feel for the fret board and I thought that lack of feel was as much a problem with my rhythm playing as anything. This proved to be a good choice.

Adam Granger is a dynamic teacher and very personable. Some of you may know that he is the ‘Granger’ in the book “Granger’s Fiddle Tunes for Guitar” wherein he has tabs for over 500 fiddle tunes. He has a great sense of humor and does not take himself very seriously. He is serious about music however. From the start he had us doing exercises to improve our picking and fretboard dexterity. In the evening jam sessions I found these exercises to have almost immediate effect.

We also had sessions where one, or more, of the instructors would talk about specific topics such as harmonies, backing techniques, playing on the road, gig disasters, etc. One of the most interesting was “Jim’s Right Hand” where Jim discussed his specific thoughts. The key point I took away was to keep your hand relaxed. In the jam sessions I found that every time I started to loose the beat it seemed I was getting tensed up. When I relaxed, and maybe just played the bass notes, I could get back on track.

In one of our last sessions we got on the topic of guitars. Adam noted that the Martin dreadnought was no longer the only choice. Not only are other manufactures coming into prominence but so are alternative body styles. Adam said that if his travels take him to places he has to plug in then he will take his Taylor 514CE, instead of the Santa Cruz, and use it for both plugged and unplugged venues. I took him up on an offer to review our guitars for any adjustments that might make them play better. He found my 414K to be just fine the way it was. Boy, did it sound good too!

I took both of my Taylors (710 and 414K) with me and played them a lot in class and in the jams. At the end of the week I came to the conclusion that the 414K was my preferred guitar. When I was buying my first Taylor I found the GAs to be more pleasant than the dreads and my 414K was the best sounding of those in my price range, so GA it was. I got a dread as a result of a deal too good to pass up. I’ve not heard or played a dread I like better than mine. I think it’s both a comfort and sound issue.

Camp Bluegrass was a great experience, one that I highly recommend. You get to spend a week learning and playing, all for a very reasonable sum. (This year it was $480 room and board included.) If you are a Bluegrass player, new or experienced, if you would like to learn about this form of music, or if you just want to improve your flat-picking keep this event in mind for next year.

[golfman]

Great review GRW3, and thanks!!

I would love to attend one of these camps and the more I read about people's experiences, the more I want to attend one.

I did have a 714CE at one point and did use it for bluegrass, believe it or not. The sound was really not the problem more than the breakage of strings. I play very hard and flatpick very hard and I kept breaking the lights left and right. So I went to the dreadnaught. I'll be getting a DCSM soon and was wondering you're impression of them, assuming you had a chance to hear one.

Thanks again for the review; sounds like you had a great time.

[chet]

I'm not familiar with this camp. Can you give location and length details? It sounds like it was very worthwile.

Thanks.

[golfman]

Originally posted by chet
I'm not familiar with this camp. Can you give location and length details? It sounds like it was very worthwile.

Thanks.

Chet,

I think he is referring to this camp.

http://www.campbluegrass.com/home.html

[GRW3]

Originally posted by golfman


Chet,

I think he is referring to this camp.

http://www.campbluegrass.com/home.html

Yep... That's the one!