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Post by andyhowell on Jun 13, 2013 8:54:44 GMT
I've been mentioning to write about this for a few weeks or so.
A couple of weekends ago I popped into a major guitar store here in Birmingham to have a mooch around. I found that they had a Lowden Bensusan model which they let me play. The guitar was tine in standard tuning and seemed to be strung with light strings (which I thought sounded too thin). I suspected that they knew little about this guitar or Bensusan himself.
I played the guitar for about an hour and a half in the end mainly because the store manager was pleased to listen to something else other than thrash guitar. He showed a lot of interest in what I was playing and I could see his mind ticking over.
He got out his iphone. Is this tuff you are playing typical of this fellow? I explained it kind of was. If I wanted a Bensusan album which one would you recommend? Before I could blink he was downloading Intuite.
I had to hand it to him. By the time I had left the shop he had realised that it was designed to be played in DADGAD and he had a good idea of Bensusan's sound! I guess the next person in the shop would have benefited from a full sales pitch :-)
I don't know about you but I thought it was a little odd that they knew so little about a guitar selling for £5K. It was certainly not set up to reproduce the kind of sound that I suspect a Bensusan fan would want.
Or are these just being sold to collectors?
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Akquarius
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Post by Akquarius on Jun 13, 2013 19:31:39 GMT
Sounds a but weird, indeed.
Your advice about Intuite (PB's best, in my opinion) was probably the best thing that could have happened to him.
Now he deffo knows what this splendid guitar is made for.
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Post by philw on Jun 14, 2013 4:34:42 GMT
Pierre is touring the UK in either feb or june 2014, so will try to go see the man. Having not heard him before (hangs head in shame) its prob a good time to invest in the above album and have a listen (feet shuffle off to the amazon store)
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Post by andyhowell on Jun 14, 2013 13:29:58 GMT
Bensusan's technique is fascinating — he play solely in DADGAD but it is his touch and feel and composition skills that stand out.
Intuite is his only pure instrumental CD. The new CD Vividly mixes instrumentals with some French songs. I don't mind the songs but then I speak French! His vocal style can be something of an acquired taste. Live I think you will find he is mainly playing his instrumental pieces which are knockout!
Have a great time.
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Phil Taylor
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Post by Phil Taylor on Jun 14, 2013 14:50:20 GMT
Pierre is touring the UK in either feb or june 2014, so will try to go see the man. Having not heard him before (hangs head in shame) its prob a good time to invest in the above album and have a listen (feet shuffle off to the amazon store) I can also recommend 'Altiplanos' as well as 'Intuite' - both absolutely brilliant albums. 'Altiplanos does have two songs on it but I love them as much as the rest of the albums. Get them both and play them loud Cheers Phil
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Post by jackorion on Jun 17, 2013 9:35:01 GMT
I've been mentioning to write about this for a few weeks or so. A couple of weekends ago I popped into a major guitar store here in Birmingham to have a mooch around. I found that they had a Lowden Bensusan model which they let me play. The guitar was tine in standard tuning and seemed to be strung with light strings (which I thought sounded too thin). I suspected that they knew little about this guitar or Bensusan himself. I played the guitar for about an hour and a half in the end mainly because the store manager was pleased to listen to something else other than thrash guitar. He showed a lot of interest in what I was playing and I could see his mind ticking over. He got out his iphone. Is this tuff you are playing typical of this fellow? I explained it kind of was. If I wanted a Bensusan album which one would you recommend? Before I could blink he was downloading Intuite. I had to hand it to him. By the time I had left the shop he had realised that it was designed to be played in DADGAD and he had a good idea of Bensusan's sound! I guess the next person in the shop would have benefited from a full sales pitch :-) I don't know about you but I thought it was a little odd that they knew so little about a guitar selling for £5K. It was certainly not set up to reproduce the kind of sound that I suspect a Bensusan fan would want. Or are these just being sold to collectors? I think the thing to remember here is that maybe the store manager just isn't/wasn't a fan of fingerstyle acoustic guitar. Maybe his speciality is electric blues and all the guys that come in wanting to buy a strat and a super reverb amp praise him on their forums for his knowledge of the genre and recommendations of equipment that was just perfect for them. Yes, maybe he could have done a little more research on the guitar itself, but also maybe the shop had the guitar setup with lights in standard as they thought that would make the guitar appeal to more players. It's a good idea to remember that not everyone shares the same passions and, just because someone works in a guitar shop, doesn't mean they are going to know everything about every guitar and player!
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Post by matt on Jun 17, 2013 12:45:20 GMT
^well said.
In the bigger shops there are hundreds of guitars... we really can't expect that the store manager or a salesman of a bigger guitar store would know every guitar better than we aficionados know our favourite stuff.
Having said that, I have sometimes wondered, what is the point of selling >4K acoustic guitars in an electric-guitars-and-cheap-acoustics -oriented shop that doesn't have proper storage climate and knowledgeable staff... But I guess most of these shops have at least one specialist of acoustic instruments; I have learnt that it is good to make a phonecall in advance and tell that I want to test Lowden or Collings this and that, and ask, who should I talk to.
...hmm, I played a Lowden Bensusan model that was set up at the factory, and I think it had 12-gauge Elixirs on.
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Post by Mike Floorstand on Jun 17, 2013 23:12:44 GMT
I think the Martin 000-18 "Martin Carthy Signature" model was shipped in standard tuning with lights...that would be a marketing decision by the company and quite possibly the right one as if they had used Carthy's strings they would probably sell a lot fewer (and possibly cause damage to a few that got put in standard!)
I wouldn't necessarily blame the store manager - I personally would not know what to look for in say a Jimmy Page or Robert Johnson or countless other signature models, if indeed there is such a thing.
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Post by andyhowell on Jun 20, 2013 8:50:52 GMT
I'm sure you are all right about the commercial considerations of the store - I understand those.
But this is a £5k guitar that simply didn't sound like guitars that were much cheaper - and. There were reasons for that!
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