Official Luthiers Forum!

I noticed that you mention Asheville in one of your posts. Am I correct in assuming that you live in the Asheville area. If so, are you associated with any of the guitar shops in the area?

The reason I am interested is that I am moving to Mars Hill in a year or two and am just looking for kindred spirits.

John

Mars Hill? Maine???? Nice area!

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

That would be Mars Hill North Carolina.   Also a nice area if you like mountains.

John

john

i'm in burnsville, about 20 miles east of mars hill, and about 40 miles north east of asheville.

i get referrals from the local small music store but have no association with any of the asheville shops.

asheville has a very vibrant live music environment.

mars hill is a nice area. there are a lot of pickers in the hollers!

That Biltmore estate sure is a cool place to visit.... :-)

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

i know it's tourism heresy but i've not been there! i believe that bill gates notwithstanding it is still the largest dwelling ever built in the us. the vanderbilts cerainly knew how to live in a rather ostentatious style.

i have had a few of the biltmore estate vintage wines on occasion and and both the chardonnay and red(can't remember the varietal) were not a bad drop.

Bill's house is not all that big...and definitely does not feel that big. I work for Microsoft and Bill's house is about 56,000 sq feet but is more a complex of small building spaces tied together by a series of hallways. It is built not just as a residence but as a place for meetings and receptions so most of the size is not directly living space.

He built it specifically to feel small and intimate to the individual while in some other part of the complex there can be a group gathering going on. The house is built into the side of a hill overlooking a Lake in Bellevue which is a Seattle suburb. You can not see most of the house from the road and only some parts of it are viewable from the Lake.

The interior is done in alot of natural woods. He used beautiful salvaged old growth Douglas Fir, Sitka and Yellow and Red Cedar for much of the beams and exposed woodwork. Some of the timbers are 8x18, all salvaged old growth...

I have worked for Microsoft for 10+ years which has given me the freedom to build as well as I can. I tell people that I have known Bill since he was only worth 8 billion!!

Bill appreciates good music but it is Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen who is an active guitarist. He still plays in a classic rock band. He collects fine and vintage guitars. I have played with him but have never worked up the nerve to sell him a guitar.

Heck CMM, we will be neighbors pert near. The land I bought is about 5 miles up the Burnsville Highway, (five miles from I-26) on Ponder Creek road. Got the cabin dried in with full basement for shop. We need to get together someday.

John

[QUOTE=crazymanmichael] i know it's tourism heresy but i've not been there! i believe that bill gates notwithstanding it is still the largest dwelling ever built in the us. the vanderbilts cerainly knew how to live in a rather ostentatious style.

i have had a few of the biltmore estate vintage wines on occasion and and both the chardonnay and red(can't remember the varietal) were not a bad drop.

[/QUOTE]

4 acres under roof, and the land holding on the original estate was 125,000 acres (several times the size of some major cities). It cost $100 million to build in 1899 and would probably require more than a billion to construct today.

Beyond the staggering economics of the thing.... there were many really neat things about it. For instance, they created a very crude air conditioning system, and from one of the bedroom windows they copied a view from a similar window in Notre Dame. Lots of weird little nuances like that. Beyond the money, an ENORMOUS amount of thought went into that house.

Can you tell I like reading about the entrepreneurs of old? The house was built by the Commador's grandson George, but Commador Vanderbuilt was one savvy business man.Brock Poling38532.895162037

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

There is one room the walls of which are covered in red tooled Italian leather. The molding in the room, which is extensive and intricate is all done in marble. I just cannot imagine making crown molding out of marble let alone putting it around the ceiling/wall joint. Any of you guys ever try nailing this stiff up when its made with wood?
This was the breakfast room I think, which really served mostly for lunch.

I attended an Old-Time Music camp at Mars Hill college last summer. Plan to get back next year if possible. Its sure a beautiful area. Next year make sure you go to the Bluff Mountain Festival in Hot Springs, always great musicans and lots of fun.

I used to live in Winston-Salem, so loved going to the mountains, escpecially Ashville. You'll love it.

john

will look forward to meeting you the next time you are up in the mountains. perhaps we can have lunch, and the caffeine dispenser is always "on" here in the shop.