 |
| Asleep in the study... |
 |
| Ozark Resonator |
Objet d'art: I work in this study (left) it sits between the living room and the kitchen in a Victorian house in Brighton and there are many distractions. Books and music, guitars and dreams, lots of dreams - and like the dreams each guitar is different. It looks a lot, I guess, and its not all of them, but I have been collecting them a long time. I sill have my very first guitar upstairs, which my Mum bought for me when I was 10 and it still plays really well. My favourite, desert island guitar would be the one to the left of the banjo. It is a Norman, handmade in Canada, the wood is wild cherry with a spruce top and it is the one I would grab, well alongside the 1960 Stratocaster, second from the left, if there was a fire. But my current fave and the one sitting in my kitchen as I cook dinner (where I play every night - as a way of winding down a working day) is this one (above right). I use it to play blues and slide guitar. Its a work of art in its own right. It is an Ozark Resonator; that title has something to do with the construction and sound holes. The 'biscuit resonator' which lies under the chrome metal plate relies on a single cone and the 'biscuit' - which is mounted to the base of that inverted cone - translates the energy of picking and strumming and the sound of the slide from the bridge to the biscuit to the cone - easy huh? But it has a very distinct sound, especially when playing slide. I am ok, I get by but would really like to be better - indeed am looking to see if I can get some lessons to speed up my understanding. This guy needs no lessons. I don't play mine on my lap like he does but i would if i could learn to play like this:
