At eighty years old (soon to be 81 in may), Bruce Cockburn is still touring and entertaining fans at the ready when he comes to town. Picking from his catalogue spanning over sixty years with 35+ albums to his name, he shows no signs of stopping. Age has caught up with Bruce a bit – back and hands not cooperating due to wear and tear and arthritis. Cdhanging fingerings and tunings Bruce is able to play songs that were once thought to be never played again. His guitar chops have diminished but the lyrics and his voice is as strong as ever.

It’s been over twenty years and countless shows that I’ve seen Bruce play. This one was special; I’ve learned to not take shows like this for granted because you never know. This could be the last Bruce Cockburn show, you never know. Sounds like a dire prediction but one can’t help but think that. WIth that said, I sat in the front row soaking it in and appreciating the music and inspiration that Bruce has provided me over the years.

“Time takes its toll but in my soul I’m on a roll”

Bruce drew heavily from his most recent release, “O Sun, O Moon”. Songs like “Push Comes to Shove”, “Us All” and what I feel is his motto of today, “On a Roll”. There were some deep cuts like “Red Brother, Red Sister” and “Stolen Land”. The fan favorites “Wondering Where the Lions are”, “Call it Democracy and “Pacing the Cage” made there presence known as well.

Two plus hours of time well spent. My cup is full and feel revitalized. Seeing Bruce and live music in general always does that for me. Is it my last Bruce Cockburn concert? Maybe but I wouldn’t bet on it because he’sl is still on a roll.

Bruce Cockburn Concert Setlist: March14, 2026

1st Set:

• Cafe Society 
• Trouble with Normal
• When you give it away
• King of the Bolero
• Push Comes To Shove
• Red Brother Red Sister
• On a Roll
• Waiting For a Miracle

2nd Set:

• Last Night of the World
• 3 Al Purdy’s
• Understanding Nothing
• Call it Democracy
• Stolen Land
• Lovers in a Dangerous Time
• Wondering Where the Lions Are
• When You Arrive
• Tie Me At the Crossroads

Encore

• Pacing The Cage
• Us All

Humidifying my Little Jane

I live in Colorado and it’s dry here (currently 24 percent in the room where I keep my Little Jane) so keeping the guitar in the case is a must. I’ve found that I need to retune the guitar after a few hours of playing in dry air; unfortunately, leaving it out for extended periods in those conditions isn’t an option. According to Furch customer support, recommended humidity should be between 40 and 60 percent. To achieve this, I use the MusicNomad sound hole humidifier and put in in the case next to the waist of the guitar. So far is doing the trick and I find that I need to refresh the moisture in the sponge about every other day or two.

To monitor the humidity in the case, I put a Govee Bluetooth Hygrometer Thermometer inside. I can monitor through the app or widget on my phone and have alarms set if the humidity gets to high or too low. As you can see by the picture, the humidity is lower than the 40/60 percent. I’m still working on the placement of the hydrometer and the humidifier to maximize effectiveness.

Playing Form:

This guitar is much smaller than my others, and adjusting to the size has been quite a challenge. I’ve noticed that my right arm and hand tend to contort because there isn’t enough body to rest my arm on. If I’m not careful, it can lead to wrist pain — especially important to avoid as a fingerstyle guitarist, where right-hand form matters a lot. Using a pick would probably make this less of an issue, but it’s really not an option for me.

Update: I was able to find an armrest for the Little Jane that has helped quite a bit.

I’ve found that wearing a guitar strap helps keep the guitar at a consistent height, which reduces strain. I’m considering adding strap locks, like I did for my Larrivee, for the convenience of quickly taking the strap on and off.

Action:

The action was a bit high as noted in my last post and I reached out to Furch for guidance. their response was the following:

“Regarding your question about adjusting the action on your Little Jane, the setup works just like on any standard acoustic guitar. You can lower the action by:

• Adjusting the truss rod using an Allen key.
• Sanding down the saddle if truss rod adjustment isn’t enough.”
• The only difference compared to a regular acoustic guitar is the nut—since the strings go through it, the slots cannot be filed down as they can on a traditional nut. Other than that, the adjustment process is the same.”

I have yet to work on the neck and I don’t think it needs it but I did sand down the saddle and that has helped quite a bit. The guitar ships with D’Addario XSAPB1253’s so I’m going to try a lighter gauge which should help (Elixir Nanoweb 10/47). I am concerned that it might impact the tone but we’ll see and I can always go back to 12’s.

So far, I’m loving my Little Jane travel guitar and am really pleased with it after a little over a week. With a few tweaks, modifications, and plenty of playing, I’m confident this guitar will feel like it was made just for me.

My Little Jane 11-SR with the LR-Baggs East-VTC.

Initial Thoughts

• Well that was fast! Seriously, I was expecting it to be at least a ten day wait but ended up being half that.
• Relief: Everything was intact and no visible dings, dents, cracks etc…
• This looks like a solid guitar and I hope that it plays and sounds as good as it looks
• Intuitive, easy to assemble and I did not once worry it was going to break in my hands.

How does the Little Jane Play and Sound?

• Didn’t take too much to tune which was surprising considering it was in the European Union just a couple of days ago.
• Feels good in my hands and is pretty much like playing a parlor guitar. The only difference is that the neck on the Little Jane is a bit heavy but not too bad.
• Nice warm sound and easy to play. Felt like it was meant for me from the get go, *Note: the action is a bit high but not unplayable, just makes it hard for fingerstyle. I emailed support to see if there is a way to lower it but worst case, I can put on a lighter string gauge and all should be good.
• The hole on the upper bout where you put the neck when disassembled is a nice sound port. It works like a stage monitor so I can hear myself better.
• Furch sent a guitar strap with me purchase and I’m glad they did. Definitely need a strap with this small form factor; keeps the guitar in the right position.
• LR-Baggs system sounds great as they always do.

Final Thoughts

• Great customer service: always quick to answer an email and addressing each question thoroughly.
• Quality craftsmanship; a solid guitar that plays and sounds great!
• The Little Jane is nice enough to record and perform with. It’s not just for travel.
• Worth the $$$? Absolutely!!

There you have it! But the proof will be when I take it on my trips. Have a trip to Las Vegas during spring break to watch Dead and Company and the Little Jane will be there. June, we are off to Scotland with the LJ in towe! You will hear back from me with reports on how the trips went! Now time to get some accessories!

Furch Little Jane Demo Playlist:

Be sure to check out my follow-up post for my Little Jane!

First thoughts:

I was happy to see that the Acoustasonic had the ability to sit on the floor at an angle.  Makes it so much easier to adjust my settings without having to hunch over to see the controls.  I plugged my Seagull S6 in and was impressed with the nice clean sound.  It did feel a bit punchy at times , I’m thinking it was because the LR Baggs system on my Seagull was driving the sound too much.  After working on both the amp and guitar, I found a tone that I liked.  Since I don’t currently play live, I can’t really give an opinion on how it would perform out in the field but it does have a line out so you can plug right in to sound reinforcement.  This makes me think that the possibilities are only limited to the mixer you plug into.  I was also skeptical with the claim that this was specifically designed for acoustic players.  I see that a lot and used to think that was just a gimmick.  To test, I plugged in my Stratocastor and it sounded like crap. I could never get a tone that I liked and eventually gave up after about 15 minutes or so.

The effects are solid and fun to play with.  You get a Vibratone (slow and fast), Chorus, Reverb/Chorus combo, Chorus Delay combo, Delay, Reverb/Delay(combo) and Reverb (hall, room and plate).  The only problem with this is that these are preset channels and if you want to customize your effect or try different combinations, you are out of luck.

Summary:

I love this amp.  It’s small enough to where I can keep it in my living room without getting in trouble and but it’s not wimpy sounding like a lot of practice amps.  If you are in the market for an affordable acoustic guitar amp, the Fender Acoustasonic 30 is worth taking a look at.

Pros:

• Clean sound and easy to dial in
• Nice array of effects to play with and can switch between effects quickly
• Line out for recording and playing live
• Ability to tilt amp to view controls (helpful on the old back)

Cons:

• Can’t tweak the effects at all.  This can be a deal breaker for many.
• My Stratocastor sounds like crap on it. (not really a con, maybe)

Links:

Fenders information regarding the Acoustasonic 30:
http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=2213300010