A 12 ft. FEATHERLITE conversion

[Prem]

Lottery winner's daily driver:

[Prem]

Rainier and Earnest,

Another road trip photo from last August, in the John Day Fossil Beds, where there are lots of shale fossils of Metasequoia leaves from a long, long time ago. (Related to Coastal Redwood and Giant Sequoia, Metasequoia only naturally exists today in central China).

[Rainier70]

That is a nice piece of rock. It about looks as well defined as flowers my grandmother pressed in books.

BTW how is the tone on your cutaway guitar? Beautiful instrument.

[Prem]

Rainier,

Thanks for asking. It's a Mexican mariachi requinto by Oscar Schmidt/Washburn. The nut is a full 2" wide. A mariachi requinto is strung and tuned like a guitalele: A-D-G-C-E-A. I restrung it with regular, nylon strings so that it plays like a guitar and not a jumbo uke. The deep sound box and cedar top make it sound quite rich for a scale length of only 23 inches (versus 25" for a full-size guitar). The bridge is set way back on the sound box so it's a much shorter instrument than a standard dreadnaught guitar, so it travels well in the cargo trailer. I experiment with different tunings. Currently it's tuned Open D for all barre chords. I'm working on the scales. I also have a big Yamaha dreadnaught (standard tuning) and a Luna parlor guitar (tuned Open C-2) that I made into a 5-string because of the narrow nut.

Requinto specs here: http://www.oscarschmidt.com/products/acoustics/oh30s.asp

What do you play?

Prem

[roadinspector]

A feller could get used a view like that.
Earnest

[Rainier70]

I don't have one, but I love the tone a cedar top gives. Lucky dog!

I am a chicken to travel with either of my full sized classicals, so I got a Wright Soloette Classical travel guitar. http://www.soloette.com/nylonspecs.php It isn't effected by moisture, heat, or temperature changes like a more delicate instrument is. Plus it takes up very little room. With headphones it isn't too bad. When put together the frets and size of the guitar is about the same as my others so I don't have to mess with muscle memory changes. Great for practicing and plinking. You can also use a small amplifier with it and blast the bears out of the woods!

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Hey Prem

How about a little concert
I'm sure you would be a mega hit

Jerry

[Prem]

Rainier,

You're the first person I know to have one of those. Can you really pick it with no surface to anchor your pinkie finger on?

Jerry,

You missed today's keyboard solo of my 10-month old granddaughter sitting on my knee figuring out how to hit just single notes.

Earnest,

Oh, there are far better views than that here in Oregon. That place was 100* when I took the photo. Not habitable/campable. We were just coming back from the Alps of Oregon (the Wallowa Mountains), Wallowa Lake and the town of Joseph in the northeast corner of the state. Photo below.


Note: Do you think a massive glacier flowed slowly out of those mountains, carved the lake out, melted and flowed out at this end as a river?

[Rainier70]

Hmmmm on the picking I don't know. My fingers don't rest on the wood. There is 1 3/8th inches of wood below the strings. Enough?

I enjoy your pictures and the lots of mini camper designs.

[Prem]

Well thanks Rainier. I enjoy finding them and posting them for everyone to see. Never know when one might see something useful to incorporate into a CT conversion.

As far as picking goes, watch the right hand pinkie, even the ring finger, it/they are the pivot and anchor point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_7feGF9TA8 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wTVLIZaxMk

My favorite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMkKwXVJi18

[Rainier70]

Loved the improv group. The instruments were amazing, especially that big bass guitar. Fun!!

[Prem]

The name of that group is Son de Madera (The Sound of Wood). They make their own instruments. The big deep, 4-string base guitar is called a guitaron (gee-tar-OHN). The 8- and 10-string rhythm guitars are called jaranas (har-ON-as) and the funny looking cutaway that Ramon Gutierrez is playing is called a guitarra de son and/or a requinto jarocho (gee-TAR-uh day sohn)/(ray-KEEN-toe har-OH-cho).

Solo (Ramon with 5-string requinto electricfied): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6znUza4t6gs

Here's a 1-of-a-kind instrument, a variation on a Cuban Tres: A 9-string (in three courses) from Ramon's brother in Jalapa, Veracruz played by Hugo Arroyo of the California group Los Cenzontles (The Mockingbirds).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blMhqlxTKwc...and then the whole group: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b493gJuiuM
These people are ethnomusicologists, not just a street band. The (highly educated) chicano fellow playing lead with the big black guitar is a graduate of The San Francisco Conservatory of Music!

I find this kind of music from Veracruz somewhat more than soulful and addictive.

[Prem]

Home theater in a large cargo trailer:

[roadinspector]

Prem,
Thanks for introducing me to Wallowa Lake. This great country has more than one can imagine. Hopefully when I retire I will be able to explore more of it.

Earnest

[Prem]

Earnest,

My pleasure. Thanks for the kind words.

When in Oregon (in the warm weather only!), here are a few other beautiful spots to see:

* The drive from Jacksonville (Hwy 138) to Grants Pass to Gold Beach (Hwy 199 then Hwy 101)
* Lake of the Woods and Klamath Lake (Hwy 140)
* Tokatee Falls and Crater Lake
* The Columbia River Gorge around the town of Hood River
* The town of Sisters, Oregon
* The waterfront in Portland (only this one has no Forest Service campgrounds)

Prem