Terry Gillen – Tring, UK

November 20th Update

Conti Learning Products

I checked out Robert Conti’s Ticket to Improv some years ago after a word-of-mouth recommendation and was immediately impressed by the videos students submitted demonstrating their progress. I bought, and worked through, the first volume. It is probably worth pointing out that in my work as a professional management educator, I have studied how people learn. This means that I can spot skilfully structured learning material when I see it. I was immediately struck by how Robert Conti’s teaching is structured to make learning as easy as possible. I also noticed the motivational effect of playing music rather than learning scales, the quality of the video production and, finally, by Robert’s obvious desire to help aspiring players. A good example of this last point is his chord melody books; by providing several choices of chord for every melody note, you can easily create your own arrangements – he does the hard work while you have the fun and the satisfaction of creating something you feel is your own.

My Conti Equity Model

I also liked the look of the Equity archtop and, after trying one in a London store, I bought one. The looks, sound and playability would have been excellent in most guitars but, at the price I paid, they were astonishing. During a year of ownership, I thought of a few features I would ‘fine tune’ and, as if by magic, they all appeared in the new series of Conti archtops.

The idea of buying a guitar mail order and then importing it to the UK, made me very anxious and, had not been for the Conti reputation and customer feedback, I doubt I would have pursued the idea. I exchanged several emails and phone calls with Mike, the Production Manager, that were thoroughly reassuring and convinced me to place an order.

(Incidentally, if anyone else in the UK is thinking of buying a Conti Guitar, I used transferwise.com to make the payment – very efficient and much cheaper than a bank or credit card.)