LETTERS
Shameless
Self-Promotion
At last I’ve found
nirvana—a magazine
that’s easy on the
pocket, has in depth
reviews of gear that
average Joes like me can
I run TDPRI and we have dozens of members
that have been disappointed by him.
Paul Green
I am honestly flabbergasted that you would feature Jay Monterose in your magazine.
Gordon Roberts
afford, and doesn’t cram “junk” articles down
my throat! I mean really—who CARES about
the vintage car collection of the guitarist from
Def Leppard? I love your reviews because of
your recommendations and scoring criteria.
Happy New Gear.
The “ 5 Tele-Style Builders You Should Know”
story [January 2009] generated more online
responses than usual, with many comments
pointing out Jay Monterose’s (Vintique) previous fulfillment issues—something we asked him
about in our profile. With that clearly addressed,
our focus was on the quality of the gear. We
believe we succeeded in profiling 5 Tele-style
builders our readers would want to know about.
guitar technology focused magazine? I come to
guitar publications to learn more about guitars/
amps and the tech aspects of the instrument—in
particular from this magazine—not for articles
about current political ideology shifts. We’re
in the key of G for Guitar not the key of P for
Politics. I know jazz guys have trouble staying
within key signatures, but please.
Benjamin J. Biller
We hear you loud and clear. Relevant to the
lives of working musicians or not, a column
involving politicians and policies elicited quite a
range of responses from our readers!
Eddie G. O’Connor Jr.
I’ve been a faithful reader for the past six years.
I can’t wait for the next issue. I’ve saved every
issue since day one.
Al Andrade
I have been involved with stringed instruments,
primarily guitars, since the late sixties. Since
that time, I have seen just about every magazine on the subject. In my opinion, Premier
Guitar is by far the best. The quality of the
content is amazing. My hats off to all those
involved in producing this magazine.
Bob Jameson
Thanks for the props, guys. It’s always good to
hear from long-time subscribers, too—wow Al,
you go way back!
The Key of P
While I have enjoyed Jim Bastian’s columns
in the past and certainly respect his stellar
educational background, I strongly take issue
with several of his points in the January issue
[“Obama’s Effect on the Music Scene”]. His column is filled with opinions, to which Mr. Bastian
is entitled, but also with the silly euphoria and
downright factual errors that have surrounded
the Obama candidacy. Please ask Mr. Bastian
to confine his columns to his subject, and leave
the politics to magazines more qualified, and
aimed at, that subject matter.
Jeff Thirey
5 Tele-Style Builders
Thanks for the story about the Tele-style build-
ers. I find it amazing that those early guitars
(including the ’ 51 blackguard that I let go of
like an idiot 20 years ago) were so visionary.
I think it’s great that so many luthiers want to
tip their hats to Leo and celebrate his design
genius. Today’s builders are doing amazing
things for us. There has never been a better
time to be in the market for a fast chickin’
pickin’ machine!
Ron Bama
Imagine my surprise when I got your newsletter this morning and noticed an article about
President-Elect Obama in the new issue! I
appreciate your putting Obama’s policies into
perspective for musicians. While I’m not a full-time pro, I certainly have fantasies about quit-ting my regular job and chasing that dream. I
watched the election closely, and paid attention
to Obama’s policies, but hadn’t thought of
them all in that light, and it made me think that
my dream might be a little more plausible.
Mark Nelson
The Sancturary Endures
Trent’s editorial in the issue I just read
[“Sanctuary of Soul” October 2008] spoke
to me. I was one of those guys who played
in bands in the sixties and sold my gear in
the seventies when I went off to college. ‘ 66
ES-335 and blackface Twin Reverb. Ouch.
Many years went by, I got a job, got married, had kids, etc. Then one day my son
started to show an interest in the guitar. He
took lessons and was off to the races. After a
while, I started to get the itch to play again
and started to borrow my son’s guitar. Then I
bought one. Then another. Now I have three
or four amps and four or five guitars. It’s
great therapy and my son has become pretty
damn good. He plays in a couple of bands.
He came home for Thanksgiving and brought
me a newly-mixed CD of some of his latest
work, and I almost teared up listening to it.
Such passion for their music, such commitment to their material—it was electrifying. I
hear something like that and I have faith that
the next generations are going to keep the
good music alive. There’s plenty of room for
them all in our Sanctuary of Soul.
Doug Goransson
Great to see the article about Ron Kirn, Chihoe
Hahn, Bill Crook and Rick Kelly. I cannot believe
you actually included Jay Monterose though.
I just opened this month’s copy of Premier
Guitar magazine, which I enjoy more than any
other guitar/amp publication because the focus
is usually all about guitars and amps. But, I gotta
say... why is Jim Bastian wasting the pages of a
Clarification: The historic machine PRS uses to
make wire for the 1957/2008 pickups in the
Modern Eagle II [January 2009] is an actual
wire making machine that was used to make
original PAFs. This is not to be confused with
the Leesona Model 102 winder that was used
to wind original PAFs.
Keep those
comments
coming!
Keep those comments coming! Please send your suggestions, gripes, comments
and good words directly to
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