I'm not Chris nor do I play him on TV but I'm going to say that a 1946 J_45 with Nickel Bronze strings would, in my experience, be the very opposite of "harsh and loud." A J-45 of that vintage (I had a 1945 Banner) is one of the smoothest, warmest strumming guitars ever made, and the NB strings are quite mellow. Until I read your post carefully I would have guessed you were using some clangy brand new 80/20s that needed some time to break in. 
I'm guessing it's not so much the guitar or the strings as something in your strumming technique. I've found that a relaxed right hand is super important, along with actively trying to strum gently and quietly. A thinner pick can help, but you do sacrifice some flatpicking tone. You've got really good taste in guitars. 

Angeline the Baker FTW. 

Superb job, Kip. 

And if anyone said anything like that about my playing, I'd sell all my guitars, and declare victory. 

My playing also brings people to tears...but not in a good way. 

That guitar sounds absolutely heavenly. Tell us more, please, Chris.

Nice job, James. Just listen to the final strum in both versions. In the first version (which is still really good) you're whacking the gutiar pretty hard and the tone is a little harsh because it's overdriving the guitar. At the end of this version, which just seems more relaxed, that strum is much gentler, but you still get plenty of volume because the guitar is resonating. 

Bryan
I love Blue Chips too and managed to not to lose any of the three I've acquired. (On UMGF and Mandolin Cafe there's a pretty active market where you can trade and buy and sell lightly used Blue Chips for $25 all day long.)
That said, I recently bought a handful of Dunlop Primetones, and while they're not as super slick as a Blue Chip, they're a surprisingly good $1.50 alternative for stuffing in a jeans pocket or wallet, or where you might drop a Blue Chip in the (blue)grass, never to be found again. 

I like the shape of these which are pretty close to a Blue Chip TPR 45, but they make them in a variety of sizes and materials.

https://www.amazon.com/Dunlop-515P1-3-Primetone-Semi-Round-Sculpted/dp/B00JB4WA54/ref=pd_lpo_267_tr_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QV75C2X5F3YPR0K3GJ7N

I'm not the fastest learner and this one came relatively quick, even learning it more by ear than by tab. 
Good luck, Kip. I'm sure you'll nail it. 
Will OG be Critter's  "Whiskey Before Breakfast?" (some guy with a beard and a big ol 12-fretter played that one pretty good IIRC

#grimesandpunishment

But seriously, Chris. A question/idea. In figuring out this melody in the first position, I also (thanks to the encouragement from your WBB lesson) worked our OG up the neck. 

Here's my question. (And maybe Grimes isn't the ideal tune for the answer because it's pretty much a single line as you play it.)
A lot of the fun of playing WBB is the opportunity for crosspicking around the C and F shapes in the first positon.
Or that slick little chunk o' chords tag in the "Norman Blake" version of Soldier's Joy. 

Unfortunately I've discovered that those little "guitaristic" techniques/positions, don't alway work/translate when you're playing the melody up the neck.
I'd love to see a lesson where you explain how you go about finding an approach that's different, but equally cool, when you're moving around/up the neck. A way to make your playing fit the opportunities that a particular position gives you.
I don't expect a reply next week, of course. This is just food for thought for a future lesson. Looking forward to your smart answers to my simple questions. TIA. 

Great minds think alike. Or one great mind anyway, Critter. 
After seeing y'all at Rockwood, I decided that I'd try to learn Old Grimes off the record. 
Got some cheezy internet tab, and made a pretty decent start on the A part.
Now a chance to learn from the Master. 

asj

P.S. What's a Grimes? The plural of "Grime?"

Thanks Mike. I love Chris's teaching style, but I do think that having chords and scales in addition to the tab on certain lessons will allow us to spend more time thinking about his musical ideas and less time trying to rewind the video to figure out "Is he on the 12th fret of Bs string or the high E string?" 

I think that Boyd may be hitting on an issue that goes beyond slowing down the video stream. 
I went back to the up the neck version of Whiskey Before Breakfast. Great lesson. 
But it would have been greater if in addition to Critter *explaining* the major scale up the neck, we also got a diagram of the actual scales, with the root notes marked. 
I had to go off the site to find that scale information to bridge the gap between the video and the tab and it was a bit of a pain.
It wouldn't be hard to add to the lessons, just a quick PDF page, and it would help make them more accessible to everyone.

Both guitars sounded great, thanks to that big ol' Neumann (?) mic.
The only way the show could have been better is if you actually played *in* Katz's Deli. Right behind the pastrami carvers.
Half-sours and dills on the side.

Lageridge was pretty good on Thursday. Almost as good as my sandwich from Katz's. 
But seriously, what impressd me was how atttentive--and how flat out quiet--the SRO crowd was. 
I can't recall too many better hours of guitar music, so don't miss them if they're coming to a town anywhere near you. 
(Mr. E: What guitar were you playing? It looked like it had more playwear than I remember on the '39.)

Anyone going to see our esteemed teacher and his friend Mr. Lage at Rockwood in Manhattan tonight? (Thurs March 9)
The new record is a killer and I can't wait for the set. I'l be there--and at Katz's for dinner beforehand--so if you see me, say hi. 
I'll be wearing a Henderson Guitars baseball cap and shouting "Freebird!"

cheers
Allen St.. John 

Thanks so much, Chris.  I do think we're at an interesting place string-wise. Used to be D'Addarios or Pearses in phosphor bronze. Or 80/20 if you were thinking crazy. 
Those remain good solid choices, but I've found Newtones (a UK boutique brand) sound great on certain vintage guitars, applying a kind of Brazilian "ring" that's perfect on mahogany, but too much on a rosewood guitar.
Martin Monel "Retros" are also great in a different way, really warm and fundamental. Endorsed by Tony and great for vintage pieces.
And now D'Addario has a nickel/bronze hybrid coming out next month that sounds super promising, according to a vintage-nut friend (and monster player) who was a beta tester. 

I thought the name was a Herschel Sizemore shout-out. Or maybe Herschel Walker. Hopefully not the one-legged guy from The Walking Dead. 

Here's a link to a not-great pic of the herringbone backstrip  that was posted on UMGF back in the day. 

ChrisEldridge-D-28-5.12092010.jpg

Show us a picture of the back, pretty please. 

I was talking to Wayne Henderson about that batch of herringbone-backed herringbones just last week. Someone had brought one into the shop. Not quite as nice as yours--it had been retopped by Martin with Sitka sometime in the 1960s.

And why Herschel? I've got a guess, but...
While we're being gear geeks. What kind of strings do you prefer?
And I know you're a Blue Chip guy, but what size/thickness pick do you use?

Here's Norman Blake, Flatpicking Superhero, playing the song on a vintage 12 fret D-18

Not impressed? He'll see your D-18 and raise you a herringbone. A 12-fret herringbone. A shaded top 12-fret herringbone.

Amazing when a working musican could afford guitars like these.

(Webmaster: I tried embedding these videos but I think all this vintage Martin awesomeness overloaded the site. Maybe you can get it to work?)

Another great lesson, Chris. A comment and a question. 

Seeing what you were doing with your relaxed wrist reminded me of an instructional where Norman Blake is using the same kind of loose-wristed, slightly strummy approach. More the look, actually, more than the sound.

Which brings me to my question. 
Where do you stand on strict, George Shuffler-style crosspicking: down-down-up, repeat as necessary?
Here's a cool video of George playing and talking about his style.

 

You use an alternating pattern for Banks of the Ohio. 
Is that because only a few of the rolls have adjacent strings, or is that your preference on pretty much all crosspicking? 

Sorry if I'm getting ahead of you again...

Totally stumbled upon this: Norman (and Friends!) picking Soldier's Joy on Hee Haw. Norman's playing that mystical 12-fret D-28 shade top.
So fun I thought I'd share.
And thanks for the great arrangement, Chris.