Comments

• [Deleted User]

  April 2018 Posts: 0

  Here's an oldish video of my playing. In the next week or so I'll be uploading more videos. The tune here is Old Man Sunshine.
  
  
• adrian AmsterdamVirtuoso

  April 2018 Posts: 545

  nico.didonna wrote: »

  I'm beginning to play professionally in Marty Grosz's tuning which is an alternative take on Carl Kress's tuning.

  
  Nice — can you share what exactly the tuning is?
  
  Adrian

  soundslice.com/users/adrian
• [Deleted User]

  April 2018 Posts: 0

  Sure thing, Adrian. The tuning is Bb, F, C, G, B, D. The bottom four are the same as a cello or tenor banjo/guitar(C, G, D, A) but tuned down a whole step while the upper group of 4 strings is identical to plectrum banjo/guitar(C, G, B, D).
  
  
• Bones Moderator

  April 2018 Posts: 3,319

  Cool, glad to hear someone is working with Mr. Grosz. He seems like a real nice guy and I love his playing. Please keep us posted on your progress. I was once interested in learning that tuning but never pursued it.
• Lango-Django Niagara-On-The-Lake, ONModerator

  April 2018 edited April 2018 Posts: 1,855

  Longtime Marty Grosz fan here, ever since discovering him in the 1960's on the album "Jim Kweskin: Jump For Joy".
  
  I double on plectrum banjo, so actually that crazy Kress/Grosz guitar tuning does make some sense to me, but I've never had enough patience to really master it. But I'm glad to see it's not totally forgotten!
  
  The thing about that style is that it requires a lot of memorization, and if you get a gig after not playing for a few weeks, God help you!
  
  Anyway, I've had the good fortune of meeting Marty several times in Toronto at the now defunct Canadian Collectors Congress.
  
  He's a real live wire, as I think the following photos will attest...
  
  Will Wilson

  

  Paul Cezanne: "I could paint for a thousand years without stopping and I would still feel as though I knew nothing."
  
  Edgar Degas: "Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.... To draw, you must close your eyes and sing."
  
  Georges Braque: "In art there is only one thing that counts: the bit that can’t be explained."
  
• Lango-Django Niagara-On-The-Lake, ONModerator

  April 2018 edited April 2018 Posts: 1,855

  Nico, I'm going to send along an MP3 of a recent live recording of my trio, "Dr. Jazz and the Jazzbugs", in Buffalo, NY.
  
  I hope you will hear echoes of all my acoustic guitar heroes: Eddie Lang's marvellous rhythm playing, Django's single-string work, and Marty Grosz's eccentric chord soloing...
  
  However... all the 'clams' are totally my own innovation...
  
  Will

  

  Paul Cezanne: "I could paint for a thousand years without stopping and I would still feel as though I knew nothing."
  
  Edgar Degas: "Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.... To draw, you must close your eyes and sing."
  
  Georges Braque: "In art there is only one thing that counts: the bit that can’t be explained."
  
• MarkA Vermont✭✭✭ Holo Epiphany, Gibson L-5

  May 2018 Posts: 108

  Glad to see this, thanks Nico. What gauges do you use for that tuning?
• alton Keene, NH✭✭ 2000 Dell'Arte Long Scale Anouman, Gadjo Modele Francais, Gitane DG-330 John Jorgensen Tuxedo

  May 2018 Posts: 109

  Hi Nico! I met you a couple of months ago at a jam at that store in Chicago. I remember asking what your low E was tuned to. Now it all makes sense! Great playing!

  
• [Deleted User]

  May 2018 edited May 2018 Posts: 0

  Bones wrote: »

  Please keep us posted on your progress. I was once interested in learning that tuning but never pursued it.

  
  Thanks, man. The next video I plan on sharing is Carl Kress's Peg Leg Shuffle.
  
  
  

  Lango-Django wrote: »

  Longtime Marty Grosz fan here, ever since discovering him in the 1960's on the album "Jim Kweskin: Jump For Joy".
  
  I double on plectrum banjo, so actually that crazy Kress/Grosz guitar tuning does make some sense to me, but I've never had enough patience to really master it. But I'm glad to see it's not totally forgotten!
  
  The thing about that style is that it requires a lot of memorization, and if you get a gig after not playing for a few weeks, God help you!
  
  Anyway, I've had the good fortune of meeting Marty several times in Toronto at the now defunct Canadian Collectors Congress.
  
  He's a real live wire, as I think the following photos will attest...
  
  Will Wilson

  
  Will, it warms my heart to hear your words. Fun story, I have a friend that collects instruments and he happened to have a mid 30s Gibson L7 plectrum guitar that belonged to Marty. The case still had a name tag in it with Marty's name on it. I got to play it and it was good fun. Lovely photos of you and Marty. He certainly is a lot of fun. Great work on I Aint Got Nobody too. I just finished converting Eddie Lang's Fingerboard Harmony book to Marty's tuning. I've gone to far to turn back and honestly I don't mind. Having played standard tuned guitar by ear all my life I never actually understood what i was doing so with this tuning I'm glad to be able to restart and actually really learn something.
  

  MarkA wrote: »

  Glad to see this, thanks Nico. What gauges do you use for that tuning?

  
  Mark, the gauges are as follows.
  
  Bb- 85
  F- 54
  C- 37
  G- 26
  B- 17
  D- 14
  
  That'll get you the right tension however intonating it will be tough. Your bridge will have an extreme slant to get it right however if you find any Gibson guitar made in the mid to late 30s you'll notice that the pins for the bridge are offset. Unfortunately changing the bridge is usually one of the first things that happens with people that buy these instruments. Below is a photo of the Gibson L5 Special that Kress designed with an example of what I'm talking about with regards to the bridge.
  
• Cuimean Los AngelesProdigy

  May 2018 Posts: 271

  I'm a big fan of Marty's dad.