QI'm told that some manufacturers produce steel-strings with wide, classical-style necks. Can you recommend one in the neighborhood of $500?
Bertram J. Chatham
Stockton, California
ANot many inexpensive steel-string guitars are available with wide fretboards. One exception is the Epiphone Songwriter. Seagull, made by the Canadian company La Si Do, offers some wider-necked models that are close to your price range as well. Also be on the lookout for a used Takamine F-312 (a copy of Martin's 0-16NY) and other similar Japanese guitars from the 1970s and '80s, which were often called "folk models."
--Richard Johnston
Q Where I can find a transcription of the song "Under the Double Eagle"?
Gene Connor
New York, New York
A "Under the Double Eagle" was written by march king John Phillip Sousa, but somewhere along the way it was adapted by guitar players into a Carter-style rendition. A whole generation of guitar players believed that when you could play this tune, you'd arrived as an accomplished guitarist. There is a fine arrangement of "Under the Double Eagle" in the book Bluegrass Guitar, by Happy Traum (Oak Publications, distributed by Music Sales). The book also includes one of those old sound-sheet records so you can hear it played. Recorded versions of the song can be heard on Norman Blake's Whiskey before Breakfast (Rounder) and Willie Nelson's Willie and Family Live (Sony).
--Dylan Schorer
Q I have come into possession of a banjo-mandolin made by the Gibson company. Any ideas as to when these instruments were made?
Hugh Peacock
Americus, Georgia
AGibson and most other manufacturers called them mandolin-banjos, referring first to the type of neck. Gibson began making them in the fall of 1919, hoping to attract mandolin players who wanted to join the banjo boom the easy way. The company still had three models in its catalogue 20 years later. The mandolin-banjo evolved considerably during that time. The early ones had bodies similar to open-back (or old-time) banjos, and the later models were jazz-age heavyweights with big resonators.
I'd recommend taking some good photos and sending them to dealers familiar with off-the-beaten-path American fretted instruments. Vintage Instruments (1529 Pine St., Philadelphia, PA 19102; [215] 545-1100), Intermountain Guitar and Banjo (712 E. First South, Salt Lake City, UT 84102; [801] 322-4682), George Gruhn (Gruhn Guitars, 400 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203; [615] 256-2033; www.gruhn.com), or Elderly Instruments (PO Box 14210-FE46, Lansing, MI 48901; [517] 372-7890; www. elderly.com) are just a few experts who come to mind.
--Richard Johnston
Q I have a guitar with the old-style tuners (closed but with a little hole for lubrication). What kind of lubricant should I use and how often should I use it?
John Evans
Edinburgh, Scotland
AYou shouldn't need to lube the tuners very often; they're packed with grease that should last for several years. If they do start to feel a bit tight or harder to turn, I'd use no more than one drop of Three-in-One oil or Tri-flow (but not sprayed directly from the can), either of which can be purchased at a hardware store. Over-lubing tuners gets oil into the wood and under the finish, which can cause the lacquer to lift in the future.
--Rick Turner
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