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<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<The Acoustic Guitar Wire<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
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1. Welcome to the Acoustic Guitar Wire No. 4
2. Music news
3. Meet L.R. Baggs, learn to play in dropped-D, and more!
4. Tips and advice: more guitar myths debunked
5. Highlights from upcoming issues of Acoustic Guitar
6. News from A.G. Wire Sponsor John Pearse Strings
7. Three-way guitar giveaway
8. New from String Letter Publishing
9. Win a free CD!
10. The joke's on all of us
11. Kids' Music Sites
12. A.G. Wire archives

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Welcome to the Acoustic Guitar Wire No. 4.

We bring you the latest acoustic music news, information
about happenings on-line, advance notice of special offers
and giveaways, previews of new publications and recordings
from String Letter Publishing, and a few jokes, plus tips
and advice about guitars, gear, and playing.
This newsletter is best viewed in 10-point Courier.
Our hyperlinks are formatted to be "hot" in most mail
readers. If your reader doesn't support click-through
linking from e-mail, just cut and paste the URLs into your
Web browser.

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Music News:

Texas is the home of some great music festivals, and two of
them take place next month.
The North Texas Irish festival in Dallas is the largest
Celtic festival in the Southwest. The nineteenth annual
weekend-long party runs March 2-4, and features concerts,
workshops, and dance parties, and jam sessions. To get
complete information about performers, schedule, directions,
go to:
http://www.ntif.org

Austin hosts the fifteenth annual SXSW (South by Southwest)
Music and Media Conference and Festival March 14-18.
Hundreds of musicians, industry moguls, and tune mavens
convene for five days of performances, showcases, workshops,
trade show exhibits, networking opportunities, and lots of
barbecue and beer. SXSW has become one of the key events in
the music industry calendar, and the roots-oriented event is
a sure-fire antidote to the late-winter blues. Get the scoop
at:
http://www.sxsw.com/2001/music/index.shtml

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New at Acoustic Guitar Central

Meet Lloyd Baggs! The electronics guru and founder of L.R.
Baggs will join us in the Guitar Talk Gear Forum on
Wednesday, February 21. Drop by to learn about pickups,
transducers, and the future of acoustic amplification from
one of the leaders of the field. You can read more about
Baggs at: http://www.lrbaggs.com/

To join the chat, just go to Guitar Talk. If you aren't
already a registered user, sign up today and enter to win a
free Seiko electronic tuner.
http://www.acousticguitar.com/ubbcgi/Ultimate.cgi?action=agree

This week we are offering a new free lesson on-line with
legendary guitarist Happy Traum. The founder of Homespun
Tapes will teach you how to play "Worried Blues" in dropped-
D tuning. The lesson includes tablature, notation, text, and
Real Audio sound clip examples.
http://www.acousticguitar.com/lessons/dropped_d/1.shtml

We brightened up www.acousticguitar.com last week with new
content from the March issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine.
Read an exclusive backstage interview with Steven Page and
Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies.
http://www.acousticguitar.com/issues/ag99/feature99.shtml

We also added the latest CD reviews, new artists' gear
profiles, and more. See it all at
http://www.acousticguitar.com

By the way, there's always a good discussion about guitars,
players, and acoustic music going in the Guitar Talk forums.
Register to participate and automatically get a chance to
win an electronic tuner. Sign up today at
http://www.acousticguitar.com/ubbcgi/Ultimate.cgi

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Tips and Advice: Guitar Myths Debunked

The "Acoustic Guitar Owner's Manual" is chock-full of handy
information for keeping your instrument in good playing
condition. In one chapter, contributing editor Richard
Johnston of Gryphon Stringed Instruments debunks common
myths about the acoustic guitar. Last month we gave you two
items from that chapter. Here are some additional tips. Look
for more in future issues of the A.G. Wire.

Myth No. 3.
Tight-grained spruce tops sound better than those with wide-
spaced grain.
There are too many variables to predict sound based on how
many vertical grain lines you can count across a horizontal
inch of spruce (the way it's often graded for strength). Old
Martins with sound to die for often have spruce with fewer
than ten grain lines per inch, but a modern luthier would be
shunned for choosing such an "inferior" grade. Stiffness in
any wood is determined by more than just the tightness of
the grain, and a top that's too stiff can produce an
inferior tone. Finally, it's the combination of top and top
bracing that counts.

Myth No. 4.
Wood used in guitar making should always be quartersawn.
It's certainly true that guitar tops and necks are stronger
and more stable if they have vertical grain, but the sides
and back are mostly reflective and not under the same
structural demands. Lots of highly valued vintage guitars,
both classical and steel-string, have what are commonly
called "slab cut" backs, and nobody is complaining about the
way they sound. And if you like Brazilian rosewood, there is
little hope these days of finding quartersawn wood of that
species that is wide enough for your dream-boat dreadnought.
For more tips and advice, be sure to check out the
Acoustic Guitar Owner's Manual:
http://www.acousticguitar.com/books/Guidebooks.html#agom

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Highlights from upcoming issues of Acoustic Guitar magazine:

The April issue (No. 100!) will be hitting the newsstands in
a couple of weeks, and it looks great!
-English folk sensation Kate Rusby (with music to play)
-Acoustic Jam Band Extravaganza! (with transcription)
-Summer Study Guide to Guitar Workshops and Camps
-Music to play from Eric Clapton and B.B. King

Coming Soon:
-The Big Blues Special in May with feature stories on Keb'
Mo', Eric Bibb, and Jerry Ricks, with lots of music to play.
-The Man in Black--Johnny Cash--graces our June cover.
-July features the Classical Guitar Special.
-Emmylou Harris gives us an exclusive in the August issue.
-Gear, gear, gear! (Did we mention gear?)

Don't miss out on any of these great features! Subscribe to
Acoustic Guitar today. Sign up on-line at
www.acousticguitar.com/service/service.html#subscribe
or call toll free (800) 827-6837.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SPONSOR~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John Pearse® Strings & Breezy Ridge® are proud to be the
first official sponsors of the Acoustic Guitar Wire! We
invite you to visit our revamped Web site at
http://www.jpstrings.com
You'll be surprised at the variety of John Pearse® string
sets we offer--or custom design your own set with our
Singles Selection. Our new Nuages® Guitare Manouche strings
are gaining recognition worldwide! The New Products Page
includes the K'Saire(tm) Humidifying System and Li'l
Nipper(tm) String Winder. The Luthiers, Dealers and
Wholesalers Page helps you find our products and our
Endorsees Page shows who is using them!
"Music Really Does Make the World a Better Place!"
Thank you!

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Giveaways

Enter our three-in-one giveaway and get a chance to win a
set of three guitars from LaSiDo. Get the details at
http://www.acousticguitar.com/giveaway2/lasido/index.html

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New books from String Letter Publishing

ROCK TROUBADOURS
This new book by Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers includes
exclusive interviews with Jerry Garcia, Ani DiFranco, Dave
Matthews, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, and others. Listen in
to rare conversations with today's great singer-songwriters
as they share the deeply personal process of nurturing a
spark of inspiration into a fully realized piece of music.
Item #21330752, $14.95.
http://www.acousticguitar.com/books/Guidebooks.html#troubs

ACOUSTIC GUITAR SLIDE BASICS
Learn the fundamentals of acoustic slide guitar, for blues
and beyond. If you have always wanted to explore the
haunting sounds of acoustic slide guitar, or are looking to
brush up on your bottleneck basics, the new, easy-to-follow,
step-by-step CD lesson book, Acoustic Guitar Slide Basics,
by master teacher, sideman, and solo performer, David
Hamburger will have you well on your way to mastering one of
the great styles of American roots music. Item #21695610,
$16.95.
http://www.acousticguitar.com/books/Lessonbooks.html#slide

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Win a Free CD!

We're giving away a free CD of acoustic guitar music to the
contributor of the best music joke or gig story. To enter,
simply send your favorite music joke or anecdote about a
gig from hell to mailto:jokes@stringletter.com. Be sure to
include a mailing address in case you win. We'll award a
new prize with each edition. Our prizewinner this month is
Tim Cole, who provided us with this cautionary tale.

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Three guys find themselves at the gates of heaven and
approach St. Peter. He asks the first one, "How much did you
earn last year?"
"$250,000," the guy replies, "I was a trial attorney."
St. Peter says, "OK, go on in".
He asks the next guy, "What did you earn last year?"
"I'm a surgeon," the guy says, "and I did pretty well. I
guess I made about $95,000."
"Isn't that special? Go right in," says St. Peter.
The third person was asked the same question and replied, "I
had a good year. I'll bet I made nearly $7,000."
St. Peter says, "Cool! What instrument do you play?"

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Hot Links to Cool Sites: Kids' Music Sites

The April issue of Acoustic Guitar will have a great article
by Jessica Baron Turner about Web sites designed to help
children develop musical skills. Here is a sample of the
many resources available for the musical children in your
life.

http://www.bigtop.com
http://www.childrensmusic.com
http://www.guitarpolis.com
http://www.happynote.com/music/learn.html
http://www.kididdles.com

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Free back issues of the A.G. Wire are available on-line at:
http://www.acousticguitar.com/wire_archive/index.shtml

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Send news, comments, and requests:
mailto:agwire@stringletter.com
Copyright © 2001 String Letter Publishing. All Rights
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Publishing.