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17 Apr 07 - 08:21 PM (#2028397) Subject: Felix the Cat guitar From: Suffet 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 |
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17 Apr 07 - 08:34 PM (#2028412) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Peace Never heard of it. Is this the one? |
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17 Apr 07 - 08:41 PM (#2028415) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Suffet Yes, that's it. --- Steve |
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17 Apr 07 - 09:37 PM (#2028456) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Stilly River Sage Better than Fritz the Cat. :-) |
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18 Apr 07 - 12:05 AM (#2028549) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Bert Sounds like a treasure. ...and he kept on waking still... |
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18 Apr 07 - 12:07 AM (#2028550) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: katlaughing What fun! |
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18 Apr 07 - 01:41 AM (#2028573) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: JennieG 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 |
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18 Apr 07 - 02:24 AM (#2028580) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Peace Lyrics and chords here. |
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18 Apr 07 - 09:46 AM (#2028838) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: leeneia 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. |
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18 Apr 07 - 11:29 AM (#2028964) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: PoppaGator 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. |
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18 Apr 07 - 08:52 PM (#2029462) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: SharonA 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! |
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18 Apr 07 - 09:43 PM (#2029508) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: GUEST 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 |
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18 Apr 07 - 11:34 PM (#2029585) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Suffet 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 |
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18 Apr 07 - 11:51 PM (#2029605) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Peace Steve's site. |
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19 Apr 07 - 02:24 AM (#2029698) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: JennieG Thanks Peace. That is one cute geetar! Cheers JennieG |
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10 Jun 07 - 09:58 AM (#2072827) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Suffet 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 |
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18 Jan 09 - 10:07 PM (#2542737) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Suffet 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 |
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18 Nov 09 - 03:38 PM (#2768642) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: GUEST 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 |
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09 Oct 11 - 05:26 PM (#3236380) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Suffet 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 |
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23 Oct 11 - 08:48 AM (#3243472) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Suffet Click here to see and hear little Felix the Cat in action at Occupy Wall Street. --- Steve |
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23 Oct 11 - 09:08 AM (#3243480) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: Silas 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! |
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04 Nov 11 - 01:22 AM (#3250079) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: GUEST,GeetarGirl 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 :) |
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04 Nov 11 - 03:45 AM (#3250098) Subject: RE: Felix the Cat guitar From: GUEST,Silas If you are serious, then don't replace just one string, do the lot. I suggest 12s and Elixirs |
