Compton and Long in Santa Barbara

[uncle ken]

The workshop and concert were well organized with the workshop at a lovely home up in the hills of Santa Barbara and the concert at a big old house in the town.

[uncle ken]

Here is David playing an F4.

[uncle ken]

They spent alot of the time showing the right hand techniques.

[uncle ken]

The pick grip.

[uncle ken]

Another view

[uncle ken]

The house concert.

[mandopete]

Great pictures Ken! #I love the close-ups of the pick grips. #I have always wanted to see a close-up of the that closed finger style grip.

What kind of mandolin was David playing?

[Jim Hilburn]

I heard that some guy from Australia made it.

[Don Grieser]

Great photos. I saw them in Durango, CO in November.

His f hole model is an x-braced Gilchrist with a wide neck and flat fingerboard. According to David, Steve Gilchrist had been using it as his own mandolin. I forget the year it was made. That pick is one of the Tortis triangle picks, and it had some serious wear on it when I saw it. The points were just about worn down to round.

[jasona]

I was wondering if that was Tortis or shell--thanks Don!

[uncle ken]

Here is another shot of the pick grip from above. I have decided to try to switch to this grip, it's taking some getting used to but it seems to work. The key is to get a loose grip and loose flexible wrist. They also suggested imagine holding a ping pong ball so that you don't close your fingers too tight.

[uncle ken]

Also by using the ball of the thumb and curling the index finger you will get more down force especially for the Monroe style down picking. I also noticed that Dave Apollon used a similar grip. From his recordings you can hear he could play very loudly and very fast.

[jasona]

That last picture nailed the pick grip for me. In the ther images the fist looks more curled, which locks my wrist up. The last image shows the index finger less tightly curled--more the way I currently hold mine. Boy, he shows a lot of pick doesn't he?

[mandopete]

I heard that some guy from Australia made it.
One of those old things? Geez, you think with all of $$$ David's making playing bluegrass he could afford a nice mandolin.

[pickinNgrinnin]

I switched to this pick grip yesterday and immediately noticed and improvement in my tremolo. For the past umteen years, I've been holding the pick between the pad of my thumb and pad of my index finger - pinching it. It will take awhile to get used to this new grip but I'm liking the results already. Makes my right wrist feel looser. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[Tim Saxton]

I heard that some guy from Australia made it.
One of those old things? Geez, you think with all of $$$ David's making playing bluegrass he could afford a nice mandolin.
Yeah, after all, I am sure he could afford a real nice American made one and Not some Pacific-rim built job. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Tim Saxton

[gnelson651]

The pick grip looks about like the one Thile shows in "Essential Mandolin." Once I changed my gripto the same way I also noticed a better tremelo and faster playing improvement.

[LeftCoastMark]

I had a ton of fun putting that event together. Mike and David, thanks for making a stop in Santa Barbara. And thanks to everyone who attended the workshop and house concert.

During intermission, some schoolkids were raising money for their school by selling cookies and cider in the dining room. After the show was over and most folks had cleared out, I heard a "hey" and looked up to see Mike standing in the dining room doorway. "How much for all the rest of the cookies?" he said.

Needless to say, the man didn't have to pay for any cookies.....he was packed into that old red Cadillac with a ziplock fullofem'!