Cordoba has long offered good selection in classical guitar sizes, but primarily at the entry level. Their C5 dolce or 7/8 size is popular for smaller folks with smaller hands that still want an instrument with projection and depth. Due to that popularity they have now introduced a higher level guitar of the same dimensions, 630mm string length and 50mm width at the nut vs the 650mm string length and 52mm nut width we find on the 4/4 sized classical. The C10 parlor comes in two all solid wood options, cedar top with rosewood back and sides and spruce top with rosewood back and sides. You can also get a mahogany back and sides with cedar top option called the C9 parlor.
Trinity College TM-375 Irish Bouzouki
What an incredibly rich and full, evocative tone on this Irish Bouzouki from Trinity College! Tuned to G-D-A-E with bass strings paired in octave and treble strings paired in unison.
Trinity College TM625 Octave Mandolin
With a wonderfully rich tone, this instrument is tuned to G-D-A-E an octave below a standard mandolin. String pairs are tuned to unison.
Gold Tone Tenor Banjo Uke
With hard shell case
Eastman T386 Thinline Electric
Comes with hardshell case.
Handmade Djembe by Bill Mechuga
This drum is beautifully crafted from repurposed wood and a perfectly tensioned goatskin head. It has a completely unique tone due to an almost combo design between Ashiko and Djembe. The stave joinery in these drums is amazingly tight and the attention to every last detail is remarkable for the price! View some more detailed photos and other drums at Gold Line Drums.
Jeff Lang gives 1967 Gibson a workout
Slide player Jeff Lang knows his music and he knows his guitars. We had a great chat about both and he applied the requisite technique to the 1967 Gibson for sale in the shop right now. The result was impressive and he was impressed. In his words this Gibson is a very nice players guitar with near perfect neck angle, action and tone but not a collectors guitar. As in not mint condition, a few rough spots but nothing major, functional or structural.
Eastman Archtop’s new owner
Accomplished multi-instrumentalist Marty Hamilton tries out his new Eastman AR 810CE before taking it home! Apologies for the background noise.
Eastman Archtop B-stock
On occasion I have access to discounted instruments with minor imperfections and this is one such occasion. Perfect beyond some small pin prick sized bubbles in the finish in the bridge area this 17″ AR 810CE is a fully carved solid wood jazz archtop. Remarkeable value really, very few, if any, commercial guitar makers are creating solid wood, hand carved archtops in this price range. These instruments are truly inspiring to play if you desire an instrument to match your Jazz tendencies or aspirations!
Martin Jumbo CE
The jumbo cutaway Martin JC-16ME Aura Acoustic-Electric Guitar features a polished gloss lacquered body, European flamed maple back and sides and a solid Sitka spruce top. The fingerboard and bridge are crafted from striped Macassar ebony. Each JC16ME guitar is equipped with the acclaimed Fishman onboard Aura sound reinforcement system.
Action is perfect on this guitar, it plays beautifully and sounds fantastic!
1967 Gibson J-45
This guitar has the requisite patina of a vintage gibson as well having great tone. Love that classic chunky bass. Neck angle is good and the guitar is very playable with nice action. A pleasure to play and a pleasure to look at!
Internatinal C/R Oscar Schmidt Autoharp
This 21 chord autoharp is pre 78′ which means it was made in the USA! The zither pins are all working and it’s good shape.
Bob Carlin 350
This old tyme clawhammer signature series Bob Carlin banjo not only plays wonderfully but looks the part. Neck attachment strength and angle can be challenging with the old dowel stick system and although it looks like that’s the system on this banjo it’s not. Fake dowel stick over a modern, single co-ordinator rod, which is certainly more aesthetically pleasing to some.
Degas T/P Banjo
These 4 string banjos were intended, as I understand it, to be versatile. At 20 frets not a true 17 or 19 fret Tenor but also not a 22 fret Plectrum.
Theory being that one could tune it to either of the short scale tunings used in Irish music, GDAE or CGDA (also for Dixieland music) as well as a std Plectrum tuning of CGBE for traditional jazz.
Std aluminum pot of the Degas banjos which seems to produce good volume.
Can’t go wrong with this all rounder in good condition.
Not ready for a Sitar?
How about a Dulsitar?
Recently did a project for Nelson based accomplished musician Andrew Ross. Andrew asked for a left handed dulcimer on a guitar body with some sitar overtones. Only the two plain steel octave strings have the Jawari effect.
Andrew kindly posted a YT video of some inspired playing that arose shortly after he received the modified 1940’s Kay.
Moyo Marimba plays at Kuimba Choir concerts!
If you’ve never seen a marimba band playing instruments they’ve made and you like to dance, now’s your chance!
Karen Behns fantastic community choir will be performing in Argenta tonight at 7:30 at the Argenta Hall and Tomorrow night, Sat the 31’st of May at the United Church in Kaslo, also at 7:30pm.
Moyo Marimba will perform somewhere in the middle of their performance to give the choir a break, see you there!
We take care of the details!
The fact is that many commercial guitars and violins have poor setup, not all, but many. Here are some photos of a maple/ebony saddle in the spider/bridge of a brand new resonator. The core of this guitar is fine, with decent quality for the money and a very good sounding american made cone from Paul Beard. The saddle however is not that well done and unfortunately it’s an important part of good tone production. These are the sorts of details I address on any instruments that I carry. Most of what I carry doesn’t have these issues but occasionally some of the instruments I sell do need some attention and rest assured that if they don’t get addressed before going on the floor for sale I try to make sure they get addressed before they get sold and even then you need only bring the instrument back to me after purchase and I will deal with these factory oversights free of charge.
We do custom pickguards!
This client doesn’t like the traditional raised pick guards and associated hardware found on many mandolins. So we installed a faux tortoise shell directly onto the surface of his Eastman MD 505 A-style Mandolin in classic sunburst. Happy to say there was no significant affect on the tone of the instrument and he was pleased with the function and the aesthetic of the pickguard!
The top was refinished on this 70’s Gibson below (at the request of the owner!) and we used a clear pick guard to replace the original which had left a patch underneath that wasn’t so UV affected. Overall a neat effect as it looks as though the pick guard is made of the same wood as the top just a slightly different hue.
Larrivee binding swap
As well crafted as Larrivee guitars are this client wasn’t enjoying the aesthetic of the ivoroid binding around the fingerboard and requested ebony replacements. As with many folks cost was a concern so I assessed the situation and decided the binding could be swapped out without a refret which reduces the cost greatly. Tricky job, fitting the replacement binding under the overhanging fret ends but the end result was perfectly acceptable and, as stated, a lot cheaper.
The humorous part of this repair story is I had collected ebony fingerboard offcuts years ago from the dumpster outside the Larrivee factory while living in Vancouver. For all I know the ebony I used of this job actually came from the same piece of fingerboard!
I should add, lest there be any confusion, this client had this done to two Larrivee guitars, thus the different instruments shown in process photos.
LR Baggs violin pickup
We stock and install the popular LR Baggs Violin Bridge Pickup. Getting the most (tone production) out of any violin bridge requires proper fitting and carving of the bridge to your specific instrument. The bridges come as an oversize blank as seen in the photo below. Getting a perfect mate between the feet and violin top as well as correct thicknessing and bridge location are critical to good tone production.
This is especially true for the LR Baggs Superieur Despiau bridge with pick up as an integral part of the bridge. They are expected to perform acoustically and amplified, a bit of a compromise but fitted correctly they are certainly the choice of many violinists and produce enjoyable results in both realms.
Back to work and busy!
Well, for reasons unknown to myself, January is always busy in the repair shop. Thus my lack of attention to the digital realm. Many interesting projects and repairs in the shop right now and with a few more tweaks to the website I hope to share more of what happens in the back room at Mtn Fruit. Thought I would share a photo of this well loved Gibson J-40, almost looks sandblasted around the pick guard, still sounds great and is played regularily!
Mountain Dulcimer
Handmade teardrop dulcimer. A little rough in spots but is quite playable and sounds just like it should.
Happy Christmas from the Mtn Fruit Staff
Will be closed till Jan 3rd. Taking a much needed rest but must apologize for stating in the Valley Voice that I would be open on Christmas Eve till 3pm, I won’t!
See you in the New Year, thx for your support!
Adam Ruzzo
Adam casually wandered into the shop a few weeks ago and we hit it off immediately through our mutual love of all things Canadian. Especially the landscape and folk music.
Since winning the FCMF National Guitar Competition in 2010 at Montreal,QC Adam has turned his attention to solo paddle trips in Algonquin Park, Ontario. This park inspired many a painting from the ‘Group of Seven’ and Adam has followed in their footsteps composing original sketches on guitar and choreographing these compositions with film footage from his sojourns. The result is an ethereal beauty that immediately finds a place in the mystery of your adventurous, Canadian heart!
Thanks for sharing your creative energy Adam and we look forward to your upcoming winter album for which I know you are receiving great inspiration and suitable low temperatures in Yellowknife, NWT at present!
Check out Adams CD below and also the Adam Ruzzo’s Facebook for more info.
The guitar Adam is playing is a Cordoba C7 with Euro Spruce top and Indian Rosewood back and sides which can be played and purchased at Mtn Fruit.
You can also listen to this interview and more on Radio Free Kaslo with Randy Morse.
One Voice Concert with Cara Luft, Michael Kevin Jones and Karen Behn
This will be a fantastically eclectic concert merging some world class talent and completely diverse music genres. Collaborating on original and known music will be;
Reknowned Cellist, Michael Kevin Jones,
Juno award winning folksinger, Cara Luft,
And Kaslo’s own Kuimba Choir director, Karen Behn!
Join us, please, at 7pm tonight (Dec 6th), at the United Church in Kaslo for a skilled, musical and creative journey.