Brent Faloon's Page

Here are the other Bluegrass strings I use...they seem to be pretty much the same as the Martin one's...which means that Gibson could probably come out with their own! Edward

Hey it's funny you should mention and use the Martin Bluegrass strings...I use those on both my Gibson acoustics too. I ordered a new J160E from Gibson in 2004 when they first offered it with a solid "X" braced top, and I noticed that when I played a little agressively with a flatpick the low "A" and "D" would buzz a little, and I just wrote it off to it being a new guitar and I needed to get it set up for my string gauge choice, which was lights. Then that same year I went to the Philly Vintage Guitar show and bought a 1994 J100 Extra and when I strung it up with lights, it too buzzed the same way! I took it to a local well respected repair guy and he took one look at them and said go get yourself a set of Martin Bluegrass strings (Med.Lights) and that'll fix the problem, no charge, see you later. I walked down the street to the guitar shop and bought two sets...he was so right...now I buy them buy the case! Martin came out with a new set called Bluegrass SP's but they are a step up in heavyness gauge-wise. Also, there is a John Pearse set called Bluegrass too and I have used them and they work just as well! I think Gibson needs to come out with their own version, as a matter of fact I might just email them that suggestion! Edward

Check out this story too:

http://www.vguitar.com/features/brands/details.asp?AID=2525

And this one:

http://www.guitar-museum.com/guitar-23115-GIBSON-MK-35-Mark-35-Vintage-Acoustic-Guitar

How about this:

How about this:

Brent,
I saw John Sebastian on a talk show and he played "Welcome Back" and then sat with the interviewer (who was probably Merv Griffin) for a few minutes propping the Mark 35 against the back of his seat. The next guest came out and John moved down one seat to allow the new guest to be interviewed...the guest moved that seat and toppled the Mark 35. He looked back at it and then at John and then turned back to the interviewer without so much as a sorry or howdy do! Even at my young age, a Gibson lover, I gasped. John turned and set the guitar upright and then under his breath very sarcastically said, which picked up on the mic for us all at home to hear, "That's all right, it's only Gibson!" An event I guess has faded into the past for everyone who caught the show but myself! I will never for get it. I read up on the Mark guitars and they were pretty cool, in concept and theory...don't know if all the science made a big difference, but it was a cool departure for Gibson at the time! Also, note the headstock is shaped suspiciously like the PRS headstock...or would it be the other way around?!?!?!?
Here is some interesting reading for you:
http://theonesthatgotaway.blogspot.com/2008/09/gibson-mk-35.html
Edward
http://mysite.verizon.net/emsparks/index.htm