[BarbaraM]

I have a Zager Parlor, and love it for both its sound and small size. You can’t find them in a guitar store, they sell direct. I don’t think they are going out of business; the founder, Denny Zager (of “In the Year 2525” fame) is retiring and his son is taking over. (The only thing that is going to be “gone” is the signature of the founder on the back.) They do have a 30 day try-out policy with free shipping both ways if you want to return a model. I had purchased an OM 50 originally as it was smaller than one of their “big” guitars, but even that was too long of a scale length for me and exchanged it for the Parlor, which is “just right” so I call it Goldilocks. The only thing I miss is the 14 frets to the body; the parlor only has 12.

They are fine guitars, well-built, with very good sound. And they are easier to play than, say, my Baby Taylor.

P.S.- Very rarely you will find one on Marketplace; people tend to keep them!

• This reply was modified 3 months, 2 weeks ago by  BarbaraM.

[BarbaraM]

I do play for much longer than 10 minutes, often 45 min to an hour. Some on the lesson until I feel I understand it, if not play it proficiently, and some on songs I’ve been working on. It’s just when something comes along I don’t like, or can’t do at all that I spend the minimum on it, or find something else to play.

[BarbaraM]

Braden, you hit it on the nail–imposter syndrome! “I ‘should’ be getting better after all this time.” I have to remind myself not to “should” on myself; it serves no purpose especially that of motivation, or sense of accomplishment of the small wins. I’m also relieved to find I’m not alone in finding certain skills are essentially impossible for me.

That said, I did find a lesson venue online that Pete Langer suggested for additional help and encouragement, and finally discovered how to not mute when playing the C chord. It’s going to take muscle memory as I’m not used to it, but I can do it even with my small hands.

Unfortunately, I have no one to jam with around here. I work on my own repertoire; sometimes I play them straight, or throw in various embellishments I’ve learned here. So I AM progressing, not stuck in a rut!

Thanks for your encouragement, and everyone else as well.

[BarbaraM]

Thanks for your comments, RiverRooo. While I don’t have a lifetime membership in TAC, I do play every day at least 10 minutes, more if I have the motivation/energy.

[BarbaraM]

Can you please send me privately the names/links to programs A and B? If you’d rather not, I understand. Thanks.

[BarbaraM]

I wasn’t going to mention FBW, but I agree it is somewhat lacking. While I understand the concept behind it, I can’t even do any of the CAGED parts, aside from the various scales (which patterns are next to impossible to understand) as I cannot barre due to my small hands. And when an instructor online says things like “just do the A#m here on the 14th fret” or something, I have to stop and think Ok, where is the 1, the 3, and the 5, on which string the notes I don’t know of, then know which one to flat or sharp etc. I watch a good player on youtube, and marvel at their ability to reach notes and know which ones to reach for. No, I’m not comparing myself to them; they had to start at the beginning at some point.

There is only one place that I know of near here that teaches music, but I wouldn’t know if they are any good unless I try. But I am on a pretty tight budget in any case, so that is probably not much of an option. That said, it wouldn’t hurt me to spend more time on stretches, various scales and other exercises. And to remember why I wanted to take up guitar! 🙂

[BarbaraM]

Thanks for responding Pete. I’m not sure it’s doldrums or boredom with the material, though I certainly do sometimes get bored with the benchmarks. This is different, though mixing things up could certainly help. I see various other teachers when scrolling FB, but I’m only on my phone and can’t really delve into anything on a screen that small. If I made a specific effort to go on my computer each day to do that with my guitar on my lap it could only help. (Duh! New guitar routine!)

No, what I seem to have is an intermittent inability to do things I could do before. Maybe it’s boredom, maybe it’s something else. That’s why I wonder what could be going on.

[BarbaraM]

Thank you for responding. Skyman! I am (sort of) glad I’m not alone. I was wondering if it was some kind of intermittent sub-clinical depression, or even a subconscious belief that I can only get so good at a thing and then plateau out of it–it’s happened before in other areas. Other times I have wondered if there is a subtle physical issue that comes to the fore periodically. I do have rheumatoid arthritis, but it is fairly well controlled and rarely painful.

I haven’t lost interest in improving, and I really like the format of TAC. I know can opt out of certain songs/techniques that just don’t do it for me, and do a skill course or repeat another challenge instead. And I’ve picked up a couple of books that help fill in some of the gaps (yes, there are some).

Maybe it’s just a couple of really discouraging (skill-wise) challenges back-to-back that makes me feel I’m never going to be able to cut it. But I enjoyed playing for my sister and BIL a couple years ago when they came to visit (no pressure).

But it’s this intermittent inability to perform the most basic things that worries me.

[BarbaraM]

There is no triangle piece on this Baby Taylor or either of my other
guitars (Zager and Johnson); what does it look like? Is it common?

[BarbaraM]

Oh yes, I must have missed your comment on that. Well I didn’t examine it closely, but the string peg(s) at the saddle were what was loose, as well as one of the tuning pegs. I didn’t look to see if the tuning peg was damaged or just not tight. I will examine it later.

[BarbaraM]

Not sure if I would even bother at this point; I couldn’t do any of this myself. I seem to recall when I took it to the luthier that he said he added a shim under the saddle/bridge (I get the bone part and the wood part mixed up as far as names) or he did something to it. I can see a very thin shim under the neck where it screws onto the body, but can’t see anything under the bridge. Doesn’t mean there isn’t one.

Thank you guys for your help, I learned a lot more about guitars than I knew before!

But I’m still not sure about my original question, about tossing the guitar with the loose string/peg. I’m not sure the veterans can use it if it needs fixing, and it’s a youth size anyway–narrow neck (even for me), and anyway the top is warped too. Maybe I will use it for practice restringing, or offer it to a theater group as a stage prop…

[BarbaraM]

Not sure if you can see it, but most of the bow is from the 5th fret back to the nut. Higher up there is still a slight bow but it seems more even.

[BarbaraM]

Yeah that was confusing; I do tend to over-explain.

No I don’t have buzzing until I start to lift my finger off. Then, if it’s still ringing, it will buzz as the pressure loosens. I guess that’s a thing, because the Zager does it too, just noticed. Could it be the Martin strings? I was talking to a player at an event the other day and he said he didn’t like Martin strings. I also noticed the thinner strings are kind of rough feeling, up around the 5th-8th frets, where I never play with the Taylor. Lower and higher, the strings are perfectly smooth. Corrosion???

[BarbaraM]

I don’t know how well it shows, but there is a huge difference in the string height from the nut to 12.

[BarbaraM]

NO NO! Not touching my beautiful Zager. I was only talking about the Baby Taylor I got second hand. An independent Luthier raised the bridge as I said the action was too low (what did I know at the time). So now it doesn’t buzz hat the low frets but if you were to measure the string angle from the nut to the bridge, it’s too close at the nut and too high at the bridge.