Jim at Mass St. Music, surrounded by some of his vintage favorites

I have had the pleasure to work with the PBS  television show Antiques Roadshow for the last 8 years as a musical instrument appraiser. The  show visits  six cities per summer,  setting up in large convention centers where about 5,000  guests bring in their family heirlooms, collectibles and unknown objects to be looked at and evaluated by ‘experts’ in the particular field.  My specialty is fretted stringed instruments, guitars, mandolins, banjos and some violin family instruments.  Out of the several thousand items that show up on the day of the show, only fifty or so actually have the “right stuff ” to be filmed for a television broadcast.  A good day for me would be to look at 200-300 items and find one or two that make for good TV.

This year’s itinerary took me to San Diego , Calif., Biloxi, Miss., and Des Moines, Iowa.  It was a great year, where I saw many interesting items, met lots of new people and found camera-worthy musical instruments in each city.  The most interesting, but not the most valuable, was found in Biloxi.  The guest brought in a large travel trunk with lift out, stacked trays full of percussion and sound effect instruments that were used by his grandfather behind the screen during the silent movie days.  The instruments ranged from cow bells, train whistles, to coconut shells to make the sound of the clip-clops of horses.  Great stuff and still owned by the original family.

The show affords me the opportunity to look at several hundred items in a fairly short 10-12 hour period.  It’s great fun and a great way to learn.  At Mass Street  Music we find that we are doing more and more with instrument appraisal, restoration and buying and selling of vintage instruments.  I have found the experience from the Roadshow to be very helpful  in determining the direction to take with customers’ instruments.

The  six shows that were filmed this summer will be produced and edited during the fall and will air after the first of the year.  Some of my past appraisals can be viewed by accessing the Antiques Roadshow website and viewing online.  I won’t know which  cities will be selected for next summer, but I always look forward to finding out and having the opportunity to visit new places, have some fun and hopefully see a few great treasures. - Jim Baggett

New Fender Hot Rod Deluxe delivers even better classic sound!

Fender has hit it out of the park on these new Hot Rod III series amps!  First thing worth noting is the new speaker on the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and 2×12 Fender Hot Rod Deville models.  The Celestion 80 GP12P-80 gives this amp a tighter low end, which is great for higher gain settings so it doesn’t get flabby.  This speaker addition also adds a nice richness and sparkle to these amps.  Cleans are more reminiscent of old blackface Fender tones.  The new footswitch Fender includes is built quite a bit better than the previous model.  It’s overbuilt with all metal casing and a stiff rubber material for its sides instead of plastic.  You can toss this thing around in your gear cases for years and have no problems! All around, Fender made great improvements on an already killer amp line. – Brian S.

Fender Blacktop Strat in Sonic Blue

We just got in our first Fender Blacktop Strat and Fender Blacktop Tele – both part of the new Blacktop series that also includes a Jazzmaster HS and a Jaguar HH, and frankly, we’re impressed as hell. These are built well (in Mexico), have great playability, killer pickups and are a steal at $449.  These have some nice details too like the cool reversed control plate on the tele, the vintage bridge and trem bar on the strat, and the skirted knobs. The coolest in my book right now is the strat with its 5 way switching – this thing can really run the gamut from the neck’s outer single coil to the inner single coils of both pups to both humbuckers full on and more.  These are Hot Vintage Alnico Humbuckers and they are fan-freaking-tastic. Would have been nice to see a gig bag included in the price, but those are not hard to come by. Brian’s giving the strat a spin right now too and will post his comments soon. When the Jazzmaster and Jag arrive, we’ll give run them through their paces too and post an update.

Brian’s take:
The fresh new Blackout Series from Fender makes me think of muscle cars from the late 60s/early 70s.  These are based on timeless classics, but have a hot rodded appearance and tone!  This particular Strat is too cool for school.  It has a classic 60s Fender light blue finish and a mint pickguard, but has been blinged out with chrome covered humbuckers!  It reminds me of buying chrome for my old Camaro in high school!  The five way pickup selector allows you to dial in full-on humbucking tones or split them for a classic Strat single coil sound.  Go from Chris Isaak to Eddie Van Halen with a flick of a switch.  The neck is a comfy C-shape and the frets are highly polished.  Gloss finished neck and headstock to boot!  Excellent value, seriously.  I’m getting one of these.

The Fender Blacktop Tele with Hot Vintage Alnico Humbuckers

Talk about a flame Maple top! This Bulldog is killer.

John Flynn – Anderson Bulldog

Amazing! This is an outstanding instrument on all counts.

The best of the best

Jim Baggett – Collings D1ASB Varnish

This is a great guitar!

Brazilian!

Tim Nelson – Collings D2HBaaaA Brazilian

This is a really outstanding guitar. It’s well balanced and good and loud, making it a perfect dreadnought for flatpicking. The Brazilian is about as straight as you will find on modern guitar.

This Martin GPCPA1 is a great player and made for performing!

Matthew Khomsi -Martin GPCPA1

This newly designed Martin guitar will really make Taylor fans second guess themselves.  The neck on it is very user-friendly and a joy to play.  The body is reminiscent of a Taylor Grand Auditorium, but the depth in tone is marvelous and will effortlessly please the traditional Martin enthusiast.

Brian's new favorite amp

Brian Soden – Germino Club 40 Style II 212 Combo

Being a huge fan of The Black Crowes, Gov’t Mule and Allman Brothers, I can’t help but make this amp my employee pick for August.  It’s pure roots rock/classic rock bliss.  This new Style II cab Greg offers just has something special going on with it.  I told Greg that last week and he totally agreed with me.  It’s like the fairy of killer amps came by and sprinkled pixie dust on it!  Absolutely not problem getting that famous Duane Allman howling sustain and Warren Haynes grind.  Plus, cleans up nicely with a surprising amount of sparkle!

Snazzy Wilcox pedal steel

Jason Jones – Wilcox SD10 Pedal Steel

Great player, very cool looking too – a great opportunity to get a solid pedal steel.

Super cool but I'm not seeing the samurai here...

Isaac Flynn – Yamaha Flying Samurai

It’s incredibly cool, and it plays great for a $250 guitar. The neck and head stock would also serve as a great hockey stick if I ever quit playing guitar.

Slick!

Anne Tangeman – Gretsch Corvette

Seriously sleek guitar, killer sound, with a Bigsby, at a nice price.  I LOVE this guitar!

That's Brian's Pez dispenser in the back (and his foot actually)

Chucho – Xotic EP Booster

Chucho says this is THE boost to have – super small and essential. Though he claims to have a pedal board, I have never seen this dog play an electric.

Play Well with Others Workshop - Aug. 28th - FREE!

Folks, we’ve some great workshops around the corner including:

Beginners Jam Workshop hosted by Martha Haehl & Mike Walker - August 28th, Sat., 9am – FREE

Martha & Mike, authors of the great ‘Play Well with Others’ guide to jamming, will take newbies & those just wanting to brush up on jamming etiquette through their paces. Just in time for Winfield! This is a free workshop!

Lil Rev Ukulele Workshop with Lil Rev – October 16th, Sat., 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm – $20

We’re very excited to have the great Lil Rev visit Mass St Music for this great workshop, suitable for all levels of uke players from beginners on up. Bring your uke if you like, we’ll also have some available to use as well. Lil Rev will also be doing a concert that night at Americana Music Academy…more details to come!

We hope you can join us for one or both of these great workshops!

Dave Rawlings & Gillian Welch check out Jim's Loar and '32 Martin D-28

We had a really nice surprise today when Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings stopped by to see their friend and our owner, Jim Baggett. These incredibly nice (and exceptionally talented) folks were just passing through after their recent Omaha performace for the Concert for Equality, making their way home to Tennessee. They jawed with Jim, but played some too in his office, including a very sweet rendition of “Hand Me Down My Walkin’ Cane”, which I was able to hear quite nicely at my desk.  They were kind enough to let me snap a few photos while they played, the results of which are here…man, I do love my job. Here’s a nice youtube video of them doing “Sing That Rock n Roll”. Enjoy.

Gillian Welch enjoying the first Martin D-28

Dave Rawlings giving the Loar mandolin a spin

Jim (left) & buddy Cas (right) with Jim's first guitar creation from 1977

In know I’ve said it before, but it’s true – you just never know what’s going to walk in the door here at Mass St. Music and yesterday was a great example. Cas Loth, former Lawrencian now living in Nashville, came by to say hi to his old buddy Jim Baggett (our esteemed boss) and he happened to bring along a guitar. This guitar was the first one Jim Baggett ever made, back in 1977.  It still sounds really great, has some beautiful finish crazing and a very simple label inside with Jim’s signature. This is one of only 5 that Jim constructed.  Thanks Cas for stopping by with the show and tell!

Cas shows off his "Baggett dread" from '77

Signed label complete with water stains from the sweat of Jim's brow. Kidding.

Voodoo Labs power supplies are new and quite amazing

John Flynn – Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus

A friend of mine turned me onto these when I was having some noise issues with my ever-expanding pedal board.  They are simply incredible.  No wonder they are on almost every pedal board of the pros.

'42 Martin D-18

Jim Baggett – 1942 Martin D-18

This is a very collectible guitar that’s a joy to play.

Wow. We all had a gander at this beauty

Tim Nelson – Collings D1ASB Varnish

Collings has done it again. The varnish finish on this(CLICK ‘Continue Reading’ below to read all Staff Picks –>) guitar beautiful. The Collings 1 style sunburst has long been a favorite of mine and I must say it looks even better in varnish. The guitar absolutely sings. The overtones are rich and bell like. This is one powerful dreadnought, a guitar that I believe will be cherished for a very long time.

Another amazing guitar as well as relic job from Dave Seuferling. Brian's in love.

Brian Soden – Seuf OF-20B

This guitar is beyond cool in so many ways.  The Mahogany used in this guitar is extremely lively and sounds beautiful with the low output Fralin in the bridge position.  Throw in a Bigsby that actually stays in tune and you have an alt-country player’s dream guitar!  Gorgeous Rosewood fingerboard and a lightly relic’d lacquer finish round out, what I consider, the best Seuf we’ve ever received on every level.  Absolutely incredible.

Jason's fave

Jason Jones – Ernie Ball Axis Super Sport HH

Fast and furious – this is a great guitar.

This Collings Brazilian caught Matthew K's eye

Matthew Khomsi – Collings D2HBaaaA Brazilian

This is just incredible. Beautiful tone, volume and looks.

Matt Christenot – T.C. Electronic Polytune

We just got a new shipment of these in and they are seriously cool. You don’t see something so innovative often in an essential item.

Josh in Repairs gives this Fender Bass a thumbs up

Repair Shop – Josh Baldridge – Fender Deluxe Active Jazz Bass

Vintage aesthetic with serious upgrades to the electronics…who could ask for more.  The combination of an Alder body and Maple neck with Rosewood fingerboard just feels great.  The electronics are American Deluxe Series controls and Vintage Noiseless Active pickups which give this bass a ton of tonal versatility.  I sat down with this instrument and was blown away with how easily it could produce a multitude of sounds.

Stingray 5!

Isaac Flynn – Ernie Ball Music Man Stringray 5

Seriously cool bass!

Anne's #1 this month - as Buster Poindexter once said, "hot hot hot"

Anne Tangeman – Grosh Retro Classic Black Cherry

Simply put, this RC is a sexy guitar with a great pickup configuration and it feels fantastic. Very, very cool.  I also have to second Brian’s pick of the Seuf OF-20B – it’s beyond cool and the photos don’t show the killer finish checking that Dave Seuferling does so well. Tremendous relic job on this one in addition to it just being a great guitar.

Chucho - Mass Street Music Coffee Mug

We’re not saying we feed Chucho coffee (he’s about the only one here who doesn’t drink it!), but nonetheless, he’s a fan of our mug. Perfect if your water bowl is missing.

Adirondack top, Mahogany back and sides, under $1000. Easily one of the best deals around.

If you’ve been following our blog for a while or checked out our store site, you’re already are hip to the fact that we love Eastman Acoustics for their great value (flattops are under $1,000) and exceptional build quality. It’s not a stretch to say that almost everyone in the store has purchased one. These are seriously good buys, made by folks who know what they’re doing and most of all, they sound fantastic. As John points out, they won’t take the place of a top notch Collings, but they are incredible instruments at unbelievably reasonable prices. We just received a few new ones in the store and thought you might like to know why we personally love and purchase these guitars for ourselves too.  Our staff, on their own Eastmans:

John Flynn on his AC312CE: Well, after owning and playing my Eastman AC312ce for a couple months I have to say (CLICK ‘Continue Reading’ below to read more of our Eastman kudos–>). that I am totally shocked by this guitar. Tonally it is absolutely fantastic. Rich, but still very clear and extremely dynamic. Playability is exceptional as well. This guitar has to be a serious contender for the player looking for an outstanding value in the under $1000 price point. Will this replace my 24 year old Collings OM-1?  No, that guitar has aged to acoustic perfection, but I will say that should I break a string live I have no reservations about picking up the Eastman. Granted, I do use this guitar predominately as a live instrument but I feel it would record beautifully and plan to use it on a project we are working on at The Art House. It’s also just a great guitar to sit on the couch with.

Jason Jones on his Eastman E10D: “This E10D is an absolutely amazing guitar for the money. Far and away one of the best sounding guitar under $1000.”

Matthew Khomsi on his AC320CE (he also bought an AC312!): “I love this guitar so much I bought one myself. It is one of the very best sounding acoustics for under $1K. If you want to upgrade your acoustic and what you want is an amazing sounding/feeling guitar, where you aren’t concerned about logos, get an Eastman.”

Brian Soden on his AC312: I bought an AC312 (without cutaway or pickup) and it’s been such a joy to play. There are a ton of guitars that come and go, but this one will be with me for a while! I also like the cutaway version, the AC312CE…the Fishman pickup system on the CE makes it an incredibly great guitar for live performance.”

Matt Christenot on his Eastman E10OM: “I couldn’t say no – it’s  just a great value with fantastic sound.”

In addition to the flattops, we also carry Eastman Archtops, mandos and occasionally stand up basses too.