Rob Armstrong Guitar Owners

Here you can discuss details about instruments, equipment and all those other bits that non-musicians won't understand !

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Stevo
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Rob Armstrong Guitar Owners

Postby Stevo » Sat Jul 14, 2007 9:07 pm

I was just wondering how many Rob Armstrong Guitar owners we had here on Gordons Forum.

Mine is a small/parlour size acoustic with aged Spruce top and Teak back and sides, made in Feb 2004. It sounds amazing. A very well rounded sound with plenty of volume. The small dimentions of the body make it very comfortable to play.

I remember seeing Gordon play a Rob Armstrong Parlour with a VERY tight waist, and narrow upper and lower bouts. It may of had a small scratch plate, I can't recall. But ever since then, I wanted one.

So come on, whose next?

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GORDON
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Armstrong guitar and more.

Postby GORDON » Sun Jul 15, 2007 9:44 am

Hi Lee.

Thanks for your posting which for me is a golden opportunity to ask all our guitar playing friends out there what their favourite guitars are in THEIR collection.

I am SO lucky to own some of the best guitars (for me) money can buy, many of which are featured on various CDs and DVDs. For me they are all different and each one has it's own inspirational voice. For example, the guitar that Roger Williams made for me suits the music I play with Ray Burley in our duo Double Vision, because it has a very classical feel and sound to it. My Armstrong's speak for themselves in terms of the variety of his guitars I use in concert, The Baby, the Baritone, and my favourite figure 8 1980 model bought second hand quite a few years ago now. For sheer elegance and warmth my new custom cedar top FYLDE is improving and maturing by the day, and this guitar is the one I am using for my current recording project with the great Wakeman! Of course the odd ball in the collection is the car boot guitar, which to a degree is a sort of Blue Peter project.

The list goes on really, and let's not forget the late Dave Hodson who made the most amazing Gypsy Jazz guitars, one of which I borrowed to record Three Legged Horse on the Drifter album. This guitar is now owned by jazz supremo and old friend John Etheridge, who loves it!

I recently acquired a cracking Yamaha J-8 acoustic from the nineties, and what a great guitar that is turning out to be, and with a bit more 'tweaking' methinks it will be a stunner. Also the best Martin guitar I have EVER owned is my Martin M3M George Martin signature model, an outstanding instrument.

DO tell us about YOUR guitars.

Warm Regards from you Anorak friend.

Gordon.

P.S. Oh and forgot my Variax of course which is a great fun guitar... :D

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GORDON
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YAMAHA LA-8

Postby GORDON » Sun Jul 15, 2007 11:06 am

I got the WRONG model number for the YAMAHA...It's an LA-8 model,rosewood back and sides with ebony fingerboard and bridge, orange tint spruce top and gold tuners...VERY posh!


G.

leesguitar
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Postby leesguitar » Sun Jul 15, 2007 1:14 pm

Hi Gordon , ive also owned an LA8 but mine was a later model , i was told the early ones had solid back and sides and the later ones were laminate, it was a lovely sounding guitar and as most L series yamaha fantastic value for money , and superb quality. There is a 20 min video on youtube showing the Yamaha factory making Lseries acoustics , they are the top end LL26 and above [£1500+] and it is very interesting. As ive mentioned that unspoken word amongst luthiers l******e , how do you feel about using laminate in guitars , i use a K Yari handcrafted acoustic and reciently found out that the back and sides were lam mahogany , not that youd notice , as the sound is superb . I read that Mr Yari uses lam in some acoustics he hand builds , he must be the only luthier doing this. Right best acoustic ive owned , after just staggering through my 50th year , the first good one i bought , 17 yrs old i got a bank loan and went to Kitchens in Leeds wanting a Martin 00018 and ended up with a Yamaha FG1200 handcrafted acoustic , best sounding guitar ive had , later swapped it for a Gibson sg , and 30 yrs later im still ducking and diving . Mind you back then the sun always shone , 4 foot of snow in the winter and beer was tuppence a pint , was the Yamaha really that good Lee
K YARI G1F ACOUSTIC

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GORDON
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Postby GORDON » Sun Jul 15, 2007 8:16 pm

Hi Lee.

Believe it or not, mostl of Rob Armstrongs guitars are laminate back and sides,the interesting thing is that the sound changes with the different laminates he uses. The most important thing is the top which is where of course the main sound comes from.

Thankyou for the info on the LA-8, I must check to see if mine is all solid, I think it is because the grain inside matches perfectly the grain on the outside so I guess it is.

Funny you should say about the memory playing tricks with the passage of time. Maybe that early guitar wasn't as great as you thought it was eh!

I have 'revisited' some early guitars that I thought were fantastic at the time only to realise that they weren't as good as I remember. One being a Hagstrom like the first one I recorded with, and the other being a B45 Gibson 12 string! I think modern acoustics have a great deal to offer, and guitar construction generally has come on in leaps and bounds.

Be Well Sir.

G.

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GORDON
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Hi Steve,sorry about the name mixup.

Postby GORDON » Sun Jul 15, 2007 8:19 pm

Hi Steve.

Many apologies for writing to you as LEE, old age and confusion creeping in :oops:

Best Regards.

G.


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