Hi Jason, No I don't have the black L-5 anymore. It's a great guitar and the guy who now owns it brought it to a gig a few years back and let me play it. It's a great guitar! Wish I still owned it. Duke

Hi Duke .. I know this is a hard question .. but why were those guitar's special?

For me, some really nice guitar's I've played just seem to sing, project and resonate on my chest.  The other for me is how they fit my body.  I'm curious as to your answer as you've played so many, you've played some of the best and you're insight is way past mine.

Duke, do you still have that black L-5? I saw you use it several times. I thought it was very cool. I've never seen another black one before. 

that's a big question Mike! I can honestly say I have enjoyed most all of them and to pick a few would be hard. I suppose I could say the 40s D'Angelico New Yorker is one I miss sometimes. Or one of the Gibson ES-5s I have owned. I have owned a few Epiphone Deluxe Zephyr Regents whick are one of my favorite archtop models. The 54 Stratocaster was nice and the 51Nocaster I bought in the 70s for $600 was pretty special' and it was mint! But any guitar that has the feel and sound and make me play at my best is the one for me now.

Mike, I think SF Guitarworks, on Potrero in SF might carry Eastwood. I know they did a while back. 

I didn't know much about Eastwood guitars .. so found a post on YouTube .. sounds great and this guy can really play.  I wouldn't mind learn a couple riffs from the first song he is playing.

Hi Duke .. of all the guitar's you've owned, which ones have you enjoyed the most .. and why?

As I sit in Toronto's Pearson international airport, I crossed my mind to start a little forum about buying /owning a guitar and what are the deciding factors for choosing a particular guitar. Sometimes people ask me what guitar they should buy for a particular stlye of music. the simple truth is that the type or style of an instrument one uses is a very personal question depending on many factors. First, what one can afford is probably the first important factor. Although it's nice to own a "real" Gibson Les Paul or ES335 or an American made Fender guitar. There are many options of guitars built in Japan, Korea, China and Mexico that compare in playability, craftsmanship and tone. Sometimes a simple pickup change can turn an inexpensive guitar into a great instrument. I personally have owned in my 45 or so year career nearly every desireable collectable guitar, often one at a time. With the exception of a few hand built guitars made specifically for me (by luthier James W Murphy) I rely on Epiphones, Eastwood Airline guitars and Mexican made Fenders for my work of giging and recording these daysand. Guitars of course, can be an addiction the is hard to break. I really admire the artist that buys a guitar and sticks with it his entire career. I have probably owned nearly a thousand guitars since I began playing. But truthfully I could have stuck with one or two of them for my whole career. Having a neck that fits your hand correctly is very important. Gotta board my plane now, to be continued!    

Hi Bruce .. thanks for the kind words.  Yes, Duke and Corey are great artists and teachers.  

The vision for Sonic Junction is create a place where people can learn, hang out with and create with award winning artists.   From a design / technology perspective, we're trying to keep the experience minimal and transparent as possible ... and focus on technology that can make the communication with Duke and Corey as rich as possible.

Would be great to get your feedback.  We're still refining the experience and design ... so it's a great time to share your input.  Thanks.

Hi Alpha Testers .. we updated the stream view over the weekend.  Would be great to get people's thoughts.  If you click on Duke Robillard, you will also notice you can now see all of his lessons on the right hand menu.

Coming soon .. full bio pages for Duke and Corey .. and a How I Teach page as well.

Thoughts and feedback appreciated.

Mike

You've brought some great talent to this website and I am enjoying listening and learning. I like the overall design of the site. It's clean and uncluttered. I think the quality of the content is promising. Not sure what your business model is, but there are enough people out there who are into playing the styles of guitar that Duke and Corey teach that it could work. I've run across some minor things that seem odd, and I apologize that I haven't yet brought all of them to your attention. A lot of unexpected stuff is happening in other aspects of my life, so I'm dividing my time. I will be away for the weekend, but will try to provide more detailed comments on stuff next week. 

Well I'm curious about the other folks who are now and will be using the site, so it would be great to be able to see what they've witten about themselves. Also it would be cool to have small icons of the videos and audio recordings people load up. 

Hi Bruce.  Yes .. that's a part of the experience that is going to be implemented in the next iteration.  

What would you like to see in terms of the design?

Thanks.

Mike

I'm only seeing the first couple of words of the profile info text on people's profiles and when I click on the name, It doesn't open the full profile text. Not sure if I'm missing something or there's something not happening that should be?

You got it Mike

Hi Jason .. that's a great suggestion.  

Just to confirm so I get it right .. if you're on the Memphis Grind Part 1 Lesson Page, there should be a link to Memphis Grind Part 2 so you can go right to the next lesson page.

It would be nice if you could add links to the multi part lessons to the other parts. i.e. a link to part 2 from the part 1 window.

Duke's teaching Memphis Grind for his first series of lessons.  Here's a live performance of Duke in Michigan playing Memphis Grind.  

Enjoy.   

Hi Mike, I assume you mean the solo section where it goes into the groove?

I would love to learn the version of Danny Boy you play on the Guitar Groove A Rama album.  Especially the second part.

Get ready to have some fun!