CLC Newsletter - September 2011
September 2011
Hello again from the west coast of Ireland. There was a complete transformation of the Larkin garden on August 23rd when we hosted the party to celebrate the wedding of our youngest son Kerry to Cristina from Venezuela. This involved having a large marquee installed and decorated, arranging catering, building a bar, organising a band, borrowing stuff from friends and vast amounts of stress for the Lovely Syra who was pretty well full time involved in planning this for six weeks. It turned out to be a wonderful evening which went on until 5am the next day. We had started with an invitation list of 100 guests which soon turned into 120 and we thought we had settled on 130 on the day. In fact when 130 were seated and eating there were about 40 others still queuing for food! You know how bored you can get when looking at other peoples' wedding photographs? Well prepare to be bored a little! This includes a picture of me in a suit which is a rare event.
I do!
The ring.
The embarrassing speech!
The party venue.
I have not included any pictures of the partying that went on as I did not wish to upset any readers of a delicate disposition but I have to say it was rather good and you should know that Venezuelans know how to party - there were about 25 0f them who attended.
Below is a section of the band which comprised of friends and customers, all pros, who had never played together before and who rocked the night away. In this pic are Cuen on drums, Nick on keyboards, Jimmy on bass and JP on guitar. Not in this pic are Andy on bouzouki (he took the picture) and Tommy on sax, flute and whistle. Christoph (bass), Pod and Paul (guitars and vocals) also sat in at various times.
Also a special mention to Wayne and his daughter Ali who played for us at the wedding service. Worth a pic of them too.
Tech Bit -A quick one.
A customer asked me how to tighten a loose jack socket. Actually he asked me something more complicated than that but this bit is relevant to a lot more people. Pretty well every jack socket comes loose at some time and, unless you can stop the whole unit from turning, it is impossible to get it to fully tighten. At least with most electric guitars you can dismantle the socket and hold the internals while you turn the nut on the outside but for acoustic and semi acoustic guitars this can be difficult. So this is what I do for all types. Stick a flatbladed screwdriver into the socket hole so that it jams. This will hold the internals while you tighten the nut with the correct wrench. Obviously you don't use much force on the screwdriver otherwise you could distort the socket hole.
If you have a topic that would fit into the Tech Bit slot then let me know and I'll try to cover it. Or write your own and send it to me.
In the Workshop.
Last month I saw a few old guitars. Here is a 1963 pre CBS Strat that has had one owner from new who worked it almost to death and then put it under his bed. He decided he wanted to get it working again so brought it to me. It was unplayable thanks to a brutal partial fretting job and seized bridge saddles. When I get a chance I will do a refret and get some original style bridge saddles and it should be good for another 48 years!
Not quite so old is this ASAD from the first series which has a serial number from 1986 which makes it officially vintage (I'm told 25 years and over defines this). Some beautiful quilted maple and in very good condition in every way.
The 'nerdy' amongst you will have spotted the differences between the first series and the later ASAD models - 22 frets instead of 24, control positioning (much further back on the first series) three way toggle instead of a rotary switch, less curvy body lines, symmetrical and wider headstock. Additionally the three pots each have push/pull switches fitted which enable single coil switching on each pickup and a phase switching. Also the 'really nerdy' may have spotted that the tuners are M6 rather than M6 minis. Why the bridge and tuners are different colours I can't understand!
Not strictly "in" the workshop but he has been many times. Dom O'Driscoll's wife Elaine sent me a link to a YouTube vid of Dom playing his ASAPJM and singing one of his own songs. This is the link. More songs from Dom on his myspace page here.
Reader Article.
My good friend and owner of probably the best bass shop in Europe, Joaquín Garcia sent me this. The content is, in places, embarrassing!
"More than a guitar"
I was travelling through Ireland with my wife Susana around (must have been around 2000). I spent a year in Ireland in 1990 teaching Spanish at University College Cork (UCC) and I've been playing Irish, celtic and folk music in general for as long as I can remember, so going back to the green island was something I was really looking forward to. I opened my music instrument shop Dr.Music in Burgos in 1997 and almost from the beginning I started to work with Chris Larkin. He is in my opinion one of the most gifted luthiers in the world and I am lucky to have him as a friend too.
On that trip in 2000 we were driving through County Kerry so of course we had to visit Chris and Syra. Have you ever heard about Irish hospitality? That's what we got. After a lot of guitartalk, I set my eyes on a beautiful acoustic bass that was in the shop. I am a bass player, and I can honestly say that must have been about the only time I've tried a REALLY good acoustic bass. It sounded like a high end acoustic guitar, one octave lower. I don't like cars, I'm not really into sports, and instruments are my passion, my hobby and my job, so I tend to be carried away when I see a really nice instrument while travelling and usually that instrument will end up at home. Did I buy the bass? No I didn't. The reason was I tried a little acoustic guitar that literraly blew my mind. It was an ASAP guitar with a walnut back and sides, spruce top, ebony board with no face dots, and about the biggest and most compensated sound I'd heard so far in an acoustic guitar. So I bought that guitar in the spot. We were in the middle of our trip and didn't want to take the guitar with me in the car and leave it in Bed & Breakfasts so I asked Chris to send it to my shop in Burgos (Spain) in a few days. We returned home and the wait started. A few days passed and no guitar, so I started to get worried. I tried online tracking but didn't get much information. I waited while Chris tried to find out where the guitar was. To cut a long story short, the guitar was stolen in the way from Ireland to Spain and never made it home. I was devastated and so was Chris. Actually he always seems to find a way to take these things in a different manner, trying to see the positive part of it and he will define such situation as "interesting" where most people would say it is plain horrible (this was a lesson I learned from him then, thank you Chris). Fortunately the guitar was fully insured so nobody lost any money. I then had to make up my mind if I should order a similar guitar, as I didn't know if it would sound and play as good as the stolen guitar did. I ended up ordering the same exact guitar, keeping my fingers crossed so it'd be as close to the original as possible. I only made a minor change and that was a wider neck (47mm nut instead of 43mm). Being a bassplayer I really prefer a roomier fingerboard. A few months later I got the new guitar and even though I obviously could not compare both instruments, I'd say it sounded and played exactly like the "old" one. The wide neck proved to be a success in my case, so I was happy again.
Around 1 year later, a famous Spanish pop singer/songwriter contacted me because he was looking for a good guitar for stage use. He had tried a few of the big names and was not really satisfied. I offered him to take my guitar to a gig and use it live to really try it and then he could place an order for a similar guitar. The day after the gig he phoned raving about how good the guitar was; the sound tech literally ordered him not to use any other guitar from now on. He said he'd like to buy MY guitar, which I really didn't want to part with because of the previous story, but in the end I did it and he was a happy customer. He seemed to be happy with the wider neck too.
What did I do? I ordered a new guitar, of course. Same woods, same specs, same everything. I didn't want to take any chances here. A couple of weeks before I got this new guitar (the 3rd by then) the same guy phoned and said he wanted a new guitar for studio work, leaving the other one for the stage. He was in a hurry again and didn't want to wait fro the usual 3-4 month build up time. I told him about the guitar that was about to arrive but warned him it was the SAME guitar and maybe he'd like a different shape, finish or neck dimensions, but he was happy to have a twin for his beloved ASAP. So yes, he got that guitar as soon as I received it. I was left with no guitar, again.
What did I do? Go for the 4th one, of course. Same specs, same everything. This was starting to get funny. I got my new guitar in 2003, and that's the year when my daughter Sara was born.
I have to say that I don't use this guitar in any band and just play it to my own delight (and hopefully my family's) at home. There's something about this instrument that just transcends music. It is hard to put in words, but when I am stressed out or feel bad or even have migraine I'll sit in a quite place at home and will just play the guitar for a while not really thinking what I'm playing, and I'll feel much better after a while. No other instrument I've ever played has this effect on me, and I can't explain why. I use standard and altered tunings, as I like to get carried away by sounds; it is as if there's a lot of music inside this guitar just begging for someone to play it. It plays effortlessly with 0'12's or even 0'13's and it just seems to play itself!!
I used this guitar a lot to play to my daughter when she was born and also in the next few months. A guitar player from a very successful Spanish band was interested in buying a good acoustic around 2004. He was friends with the guy who bought my two guitars and knew he was really happy with them so he wanted a Larkin acoustic and contacted me. I offered him to take my guitar to a gig, but this time I made it clear it was not for sale. The sound tech was the same as for the pop singer/songwriter, so after the gig I got a phone call from the guitar player begging me to buy my guitar, but I said no, no, no... I then placed an order for a similar Larkin guitar for this customer and he got a few months later. He's really happy with it.
Once I made the decision to keep that guitar for a lifetime I showed it to more professional players and got quite a few orders for similar guitars with similar specs and I am happy to report that they are all happy customers now.
Long story, I know, but I just wanted to share it. Sometimes my ASAP will stay in its case for months, but even if I only play on a few occasions every year, it must have been about the best spent money and a true investment in a piece of art that has healing powers and boosts sales. What more could I ask for? Thank you, thank you, thank you Chris for making such things.
Here's a picture of the guitar in the garden, where it gets played the most with my two kids Sara (now 8) and Hugo (2) next to it.
Here are some links for Joaquín:
My bass specialist shop (with some Larkin basses in there): www.doctorbass.net/en
My band: www.lugubre.org
Special feature on Larkin instruments in my Blog : http://doctorbass.net/blog/?p=721⟨=en
So it could be you!
Why not contribute an article for the Newsletter yourself? Write a paragraph or two about something relevant and get a chance to shamelessly publicise yourself and/or your project in the Newsletter. Send your effort to me along with a suitable pic/video/soundclip/url/link, etc., and I'll see if I can include it (if I don't lose it). It does not have to be about how good your guitar is (even if it is!) but maybe something about a situation it got you into, a gig experience, the design and ordering process or anything related to it. Use your imagination! Or simply send me a pic of you and your Chris Larkin gigging.
Stocklist plug!
So these are the instruments that I have in stock in the workshop which can be bought now. Clicking on the image will open a page with more information and pics of that instrument.
Did I mention these are for sale? Here they are.
Probably not suitable for jazz but does like to scream and wail a bit with ridiculously low action.
The Syra 4 three pickup passive bass has all the sounds from deep bass to cutting mids thanks to the individually wound custom pickups and 5 way switch.
Did you say jazz? then this is The One. It has 'that' tone when amplified and a sweet voice acoustically. And it is very pretty.
The ASAD 2HB is so truly versatile I'm thinking of asking it to write the next Newsletter. And it has a face of beautiful Irish maple.
All available now. More details on the Stocklist and you can contact me for other pics and details if you would like to know more. If you are in Kerry, call and arrange to meet with one or more of them and it could be the start of a long term relationship.....
And Finally....
This month's recipe is from Murray Clark who is our son-in-law. Murray is a superb vegetarian cook and we look forward to his visits! He also has an alternative persona as Leggo Beest. You can check out his music and stuff here.
Here's the recipe. It will be worth trying!
Classic Tomato/Arrabiata Sauce (Serves 4)
This recipe has been honed over 20 years from student days when I was finding ways to make a tin of tomatoes interesting. The long cooking time is essential to the end product.
Ingredients (in order of appearance)
2 tins of whole or chopped toms
Cup of water
A ¼ of a tube of tomato puree
Large glug of olive oil
½ onion or 3 shallots
2 level teaspoons sugar
¼ teaspoon salt and a good twist of pepper
Pinch of chilli (in any form)
One clove garlic
¼ bottle red wine
2 heaped teaspoons dried oregano
Sprinkling of fresh basil
And if making the sauce into an arrabiata-
some extra chilli and 3 large desert spoons of mascarpone or a large glug of sour cream.
Empty the tomatoes into a high pot (The sauce spits) and add the water. Let it boil and keep boiling vigorously for 7 or 8 minutes poking and stirring to encourage the toms to break up. In the meantime prepare and add the tomato puree, olive oil, onion/shallots, sugar, salt, pepper, chilli, garlic and finally the red wine. Keep stirring making sure the sauce does not get too dry; if it does add more water. The mixture should cook for another 10 to 15 minutes or more until it looks like a sauce (Of course!). Add the oregano, take off the boil and let the sauce sit for a minute then add the basil (Extra chilli and Mascarpone/sour cream if you want to make it arrabiata style)-Perfecto!
Obviously anything can be added to the sauce, really thinly sliced mushrooms right at the end with the basil are especially good. Serve with pasta, bread and a glass of red.
And finally, finally....
In the USA for many years there has been legislation to protect wildlife known as the Lacey Act. In recent years this has been amended to cover the importation into the USA of 'tainted' products which would include the obvious such as ivory and endangered species of plants and animals. Now wood products are included and, in order to be imported into the USA, any goods with wood in their construction have to be accompanied by full documentation proving where and how the wood was sourced. For somebody in my position who sells musical instruments into the USA this is an inconvenience especially as it is sometimes difficult if not impossible for me to say how and where wood that I have had in stock for up to 30 years has come from. After hearing dreadful stories of instruments being confiscated from other makers (and even kitchen manufacturers) I am seriously considering no longer offering to sell my products in the USA due to the impossibility of totally proving the providence of each piece of wood that they might contain. The most recent events at the Gibson factory which are documented here make it likely that even owners of musical instruments containing wood could be criminals in the eyes of the US Government and show what was a well intentioned idea has got completely out of control. A Google search of the Lacey Act will bring up some other interesting anomolies!
And finally, finally, finally....
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