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Felix the Cat guitar |
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Subject: Felix the Cat guitar From: Suffet Date: 17 Apr 07 - 08:21 PM Greetings: I bought a Felix the Cat guitar today. I am not kidding. It's a limited edition Martin LXM steel string flat top acoustic, manufactured in Mexico and signed by Don Oriolo (son of Felix the Cat cartoonist and creator Tom Oriolo) and by C.F. Martin IV. Felix's face appears twelve times on the top of the guitar body and once again on the headstock. With an overall length of just 34 inches, this small Martin will make a perfect traveling guitar. Even in its heavily padded gig bag, it should easily fit into the overhead luggage bin on most commercial airliners. It hould also fit in the coat closest near the front of the plane. But how is it musically? Great. It sounds really sweet, particularly when finger-picked, and it's much louder than one would expect from an instrument that size. The action is excellent. Has anyone else seen, played, or even heard of this instrument? --- Steve |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Peace Date: 17 Apr 07 - 08:34 PM Never heard of it. Is this the one? |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Suffet Date: 17 Apr 07 - 08:41 PM Yes, that's it. --- Steve |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Stilly River Sage Date: 17 Apr 07 - 09:37 PM Better than Fritz the Cat. :-) |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Bert Date: 18 Apr 07 - 12:05 AM Sounds like a treasure. ...and he kept on waking still... |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: katlaughing Date: 18 Apr 07 - 12:07 AM What fun! |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: JennieG Date: 18 Apr 07 - 01:41 AM How did the song go..... Felix the cat, the wonderful wonderful cat, Whenever he gets into a fix he reaches into his bag of tricks" There's bound to be more but that's all I remember. Cheers JennieG |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Peace Date: 18 Apr 07 - 02:24 AM Lyrics and chords here. |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: leeneia Date: 18 Apr 07 - 09:46 AM and then there's the peace of mind that comes from having a quality instrument that no one will want to steal because it seems like a toy. |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: PoppaGator Date: 18 Apr 07 - 11:29 AM I've seen (and played) a few of these ~ one of them prominently displayed at the Martin factory which I toured a year or so ago, stopping off during one of my many drives back and forth between New Orleans and New Jersey. This is just one of a series of playfully-designed small Martins made of all-synthetic materials ~ "laminate" instead of regular hardwoods. I suppose it's easier to accept all that cartoon decor (paint and/or decals) when you know it's applied to a manmade surface, not desecrating real rare woods. They seem to have a nice bright tone and surprisingly loud sound. As good clear tonewoods and topwoods become increasingly rare ~ as the available stock gets used up ~ ever-increasing use of these new materials in the manufacture of moderate-to-good quality stringed instruments is probably inevitable. |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: SharonA Date: 18 Apr 07 - 08:52 PM I too have played the Felix the Cat guitar! A friend and fellow member of the local folk-song society purchased one recently and allowed me to give it a go. It is exactly as Suffet and PoppaGator described: for a small, all-synthetic instrument, it has a surprisingly nice tone. Incidentally, PoppaGator, I'm glad that you were able to see the Martin Guitar factory in Nazareth, PA while you were up in my neck of the woods. I live about an hour south of there, took the tour about a decade ago, and really ought to do so again since it's so close. Hope you got a chance to venture up to the Mandolin Brothers store in New York! |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: GUEST Date: 18 Apr 07 - 09:43 PM it gets worse http://elderly.com/new_instruments/items/FELIX3.htm but even this looks better than those ludicrously expensive garrishly limited edition real wood painted "Cowboy" guitars they sometimes sell |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Suffet Date: 18 Apr 07 - 11:34 PM Greetings again! Up to now, my overseas traveling guitar has been a Martin 00CXAE thin body flat top acoustic-electric, also made of some weird but nearly indestructibele composition. I took it to London last summer and played it at Herga and at Sharps. Someone at the latter told me that it sounded "almost like a guitar." Maybe that someone is a Mudcatter who would like to step forward at this moment? The 00CXAE has a lot of metallic plunkiness. If you listen to Troubled Waters Rising on my last CD, you will know what I mean. You can hear the song on-line via the Union Songs website in Australia. Felix sounds a lot sweeter and it's smaller. Unfortunately it lacks the built-in pick-up, so I can't plug-in direct unless I want to add that capability, and that means drilling. I think I'd rather leave the poor cat alone! I'll bring Felix to NEFFA. Come to Mansfield High School Room 103 at 7:00 PM on Friday, April 20, and have a listen as I present Folk City Interlude, a set of songs I learned while hanging out on the periphery of the New York City folk scene in the 1960s. --- Steve |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Peace Date: 18 Apr 07 - 11:51 PM Steve's site. |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: JennieG Date: 19 Apr 07 - 02:24 AM Thanks Peace. That is one cute geetar! Cheers JennieG |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Suffet Date: 10 Jun 07 - 09:58 AM Greetings: Here's a link to a video of me playing the Felix the Cat Martin guitar at the 2007 Jacob's Ladder Folk Festival in Israel last month. Enjoy! --- Steve |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Suffet Date: 18 Jan 09 - 10:07 PM Greetings again! Here's an even better link to a video of me playing my Felix the Cat Martin. It was also recorded at the 2007 Jacob's Ladder Folk Festival. --- Steve |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: GUEST Date: 18 Nov 09 - 03:38 PM there are 4 in the series. good luck finding all four. i have them, but bought them first day out. there is also an electric guitar, special order, coming out soon |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Suffet Date: 09 Oct 11 - 05:26 PM Please click here to see me playing my Felix the Cat Martin guitar at the Occupy Wall Street encampment in New York City on October 4, 2011. This little guitar is perfect for the occasion. It's small, lightweight, relatively inexpensive, nearly indestructible, a sure fire attention-getter, and best of all, it's really a Martin. It even comes with its own heavily padded carrying bag. --- Steve |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Suffet Date: 23 Oct 11 - 08:48 AM Click here to see and hear little Felix the Cat in action at Occupy Wall Street. --- Steve |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Silas Date: 23 Oct 11 - 09:08 AM I used to have one of these - really nice guitar. They are great in a session when you get it out of the bag, it looks like a toy - till you play it! |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: GUEST,GeetarGirl Date: 04 Nov 11 - 01:22 AM Hi there, I too have one of the lovely Felix guitars (pictured here http://www.guitar-museum.com/uploads/guitar/55/120197711995-1.jpg), but recently (tragically) I broke my e string. Can anyone recommend what kind of string I need to buy to replace it? I am embarrassingly clueless on this topic! Thanks :) |
Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: GUEST,Silas Date: 04 Nov 11 - 03:45 AM If you are serious, then don't replace just one string, do the lot. I suggest 12s and Elixirs |
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