win a handmade acoustic...... REALLY!!

martinedwards · 03-01-2008, 04:42 AM

Hi folks and welcome to the handmade guitar giveaway.

The backstage crew have allowed me to used CGR as one of the hosts for this little competition I'm going to run..........

yes, I'm going to make someone an acoustic guitar, bass or mandolin and mail it to them for FREE!!

The REASON that I'm doing this?

Two of 'em. One is, I've been given a load of wood and luthier bits & pieces over tha last couple of years. I believe firmly in a "pay it forward" concept where if someone does me a good turn, I'll do someone ELSE a good turn.

The other reason comes from the old testamnet principle of tithing. I'm going to give away 1/10 of my earnings from lutherie. That works out at roughly a guitar a year.........

Last year I built a guitar and gave it to a girl that I'd never met before at a summer festival .

I got an email from her a few weeks ago to say that she had written a bunch of songs and had led three of her friends into Christianity as a result.

OK, so here is YOUR chance to be the recipient of a handmade acoustic guitar bass or mandolin, made by my fair hand.

I'm spreading this over a few forums that I frequent so that as many people as possible can get involved, and EVERYONE is invited to participate, forum mods, managers, owners, advertisers, members, anyone at all.

The challenge is simple. Follow the soundclick link http://www.soundclick.com/bands/defa...?bandID=278746, choose one (or more, there's no limit) of MY songs that are there and record a cover version. (not the DOD G7 demo or the Dr Who loop, the SONGS, ok?)

How you do this is up to you. Solo, with a band, PC multitrack, whatever floats your boat. Try to keep the melody & chord structure, but feel free to go off on a tangent if that's where you feel it needs to go.

Style is up to you. Folk, Jazz, Blues, Rock, AOR, Classical, Polka, Bluegrass, Indie, Brass band, Techno, Organ & choir, YOU do your thing!!!!!

Anyone putting in swear words into the songs or changing the lyric TOO far from the original will be disqualified.

I'll open a new soundclick account for all entries. I'll post them without revealing who's who so that the "famous" folks here & there don't get a lot of "be my mate" votes.......

I will be permitted to continue to link to these cover versions from my website. I will NOT sell them or put them on a CD without going through all the proper formalities with lawyers etc present.

Once we have them in I'll come up with a voting system so that the members of the participating forums can vote for the songs.

Each member gets to vote once for one cover version.

I'll add up all the votes across the fora and the most popular cover version wins the competition.

I'll build the winner an acoustic guitar, bass or mandolin.

Walnut or Cherry Back & sides, Spruce or Western Red Cedar Top, rosewood fretboard. Bone nut, saddle & pins. Chrome tuners. Wood binding & rosette. Laminated mahogany neck.

I'll put it in a case. And I'll post it. (assuming that the post is under £100, any more than that, the winner needs to help me out.) EDIT***an anonymous benefactor (a member here and at the other forums this is posted at) says that they'll cover shipping worldwide.

If the winner wants extras like exotic woods, electronics, gold hardware, extra necks etc, then he/she will have to pay for them.

I'll post the pics of the build on each of the fora that has kindly hosted this for me.

NO money will change hands to influence the judging. I'm NOT doing this to drum up customers, as frankly negociating someone's wishlist is REALLY stressful and I would rather build stuff that I want to build and then flog it on Ebay that spend hours on inlaying some guys girlfriend's name on a fretboard.......

Have a go. I'd LOVE to hear YOUR take on some of my songs

Submission date?

1st of May 2008

GOOD LUCK!!

here's a few pics of the one I gave away last year.......

here's the soundclick link again........
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/defa...?bandID=278746

***BillSPrestonEsq*** · 03-01-2008, 05:33 AM

BTW, this is approved by me. Man. thats a nice looking guitar!

Guitarman121319 · 03-01-2008, 10:13 AM

I would love to win that guitar but my mom wont let me try (o darn)

**thesteve** · 03-01-2008, 10:31 AM

this is a rad contest. I don't know if I'll be able to participate, but I'm really glad it's happening.

DJ Clown · 03-01-2008, 11:50 AM

I really wish I had recording equipment right about now. My birthday is coming soon, so maybe Ill get some cheap equipment then...
And Im left handed so I dont know how that makes you feel about the building process.

100th post! :-D

**Rainer.** · 03-01-2008, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by martinedwards

I'll open a new soundclick account for all entries. I'll post them without revealing who's who so that the "famous" folks here & there don't get a lot of "be my mate" votes.......

You would think that my friends would easily be able to tell which entry was mine, based on my voice and my playing.

I'm in.

Micahb · 03-01-2008, 12:42 PM

Wow, this is really cool
I need an acoustic bass, also!

I will have to listen to the stuff and see what I can come up with.
How long does this contest go on for?

martinedwards · 03-01-2008, 02:14 PM

1st of MAy is the deadline.

PM me, I'll harvest the songs from your soundclick, name them song 1, song 2 etc and post them on my new site.

Once the voting period is over I'll add all the submission details again.

As to recording equipment, audacity is a free download, and a mic is a couple of $ in any PC store.

Oh yeah, the reason I'm waiting to see who wins is to see if they want a bass... or a lefty..... or something suitable for any other disability!!

irtrogdor · 03-01-2008, 02:33 PM

i think i'll give it a shot with some friends of mine. we'll see what happens.

how much do you think it would cost to ship to Arizona?

AudioAUnderdog · 03-01-2008, 02:58 PM

Too bad I can't sing.

Luder · 03-01-2008, 03:44 PM

thats totally awesome, and that guitar is beuatiful. I'm going to take a look at the songs and see what I can do.

dtaylorl · 03-01-2008, 04:35 PM

I'm not sure that I trust my singing voice... but since its anonymous and that guitar looks awesome I might just give it a shot anyway!

**Sean.thomson** · 03-01-2008, 04:56 PM

Can we cover the Dr Who loop?

But seriously, I'll get started on some covers next week....

EDIT: I think I'll actually record that anyway.... I'm thinking of a banjo/kazoo thingy....

martinedwards · 03-02-2008, 02:12 AM

OK, the DR Who loop and the DOD G7 demo are off limits ya muppets!!!

the SONGS ok???

and as to shipping, an anonymous benefactor (a member here and at the other forums this is posted at) says that they'll cover shipping worldwide.

you now have no excuse not to enter!!

***BillSPrestonEsq*** · 03-02-2008, 03:02 AM

I actually started practicing 2 of them tonight... Since this is a contest, I am moving it to the contests forum.