Guitar thread

[Nebu]

Also ran across this tuning video with accompanying comparisons.  I appreciate what he's saying as a bass player... the heavier gauge strings do ring sharp when you attack them.

Taylor tuning

I also found this tuning to provide a much warmer sound.

[Raph]

Nobody mentions Gregg Allman? :(

[Sky]

Not in here. Played a ton of ABB after it happened, though.

Now that I have a decent laptop for work, I plugged my interface into it and made a quick test recording last night.

http://cashwiley.com/test1-61617-12-15-am/

[Nebu]

Came across this video of Mark Knopfler discussing the evolution of his picking style and his use of different guitars.  He seems like such a humble guy given the talent that he has.

Enjoy.

[Raph]

What a fantastic video, thanks for posting it. He's one of my favorites.

[Fraeg]

recently bought an EVH lunchbox 15 watt tube amp to go with my Orange Tiny Terror.  Running it through a 2x12 with Celestions - Texas Heat and The Governor. I borrowed two guitars from my brother so now I have:

2x heads
1x  two by 12 cab
4x electric guitars

• PRS CE 22 with Gibson humbuckers
• Strat knockoff - single coil
• Gilford with active pickups
• Ibanez (forget model) with Zack Wylde EMG active pickups

I am in heaven.  This many options.  I will come up with a riff on the Ibanez and think "Hmm more of a strat riff" swap guitars and presto, or go "yeah this is more of an Orange vibe than the EVH".  Granted the Gilford and Ibanez are simply loaners, but man I am in heaven.  I realize I have been trying to make orange juice with apples for years.  Trying to get modern high gain metal tones through the strat and PRS through the orange pedals.  Simply plug the Ibanez into the EVH and off we go.   Tempted to buy a 1x12 with V30 Greenbacks in it to absolutely seal the deal on the metal tone.

I haven't felt this much desire to just play in ages.

/Squeeeee off

[Raph]

One of these:

https://www.larrivee.com/products/omv-03-recording-series

is sitting at a local thrift store for $800, and has been for two months.

But I need a new laptop (mine died). And various pricey house repairs. And...

[Sky]

I think I've officially inherited the ampeg SVT head I needed for my 8x10 cab, along with a 15 cab. I was storing them in my garage for an old friend who's dad died. She got kinda bummed when I told her most of the stuff (including his handmade standup electric bass) was broken or junk, but this head and cab are decent. It's not the best SVT, but it's worlds better than my old Peavey POS.

Moves into the basement this winter after years of sitting in the garage, and it ain't coming out unless I start gigging. Excited to play the Gibson through it, the weak spot on my old ESP custom was the pickups, it never sounded punchy through the Peavey...

I think my classical guitar is in protest, decided to break a string on the stand. Granted, I only change strings when they break...(and then I replace the set). I don't even remember what I had on it.

I did buy a couple MXL condensers on a good AMS sale, so I should probably record stuff. You know, now that I don't have excuses for not plugging in the Scarlett 18i8. The last remaining snag in my recording ideas is how to track everything myself, since 90% of what I do is improvisational and writing and planning sucks all the enjoyment out of it for me. Also, I'd need to pick up a set of drum mics. And tune my drums. And get another cymbal.

I love drums and avoid that rabbit hole.

[Fraeg]

the drum hole... yeah I have a half build Ludwig set I inherited from an uncle in my garage.  I really need to soundproof that place before I start smacking drums.

[Sky]

Mine are in the basement, when I first looked at my house there was a kit in the living room. And that kid sucked bad. So I'm pretty much good with drumming as long as I don't go over into sound ordinance times...and even when I may have had an urge at midnight to play a bit, nobody has complained, ever.

My guitar was probably much louder, I used to play my amp cranked for natural tube distortion back in the day. It's amazing how loud a 12W amp with a 12" speaker can get.

[Sky]

I'm trying to ignore gear mostly because I've not been playing so much since picking up art...but I was watching a thing with Isaiah Mitchell and holy shit is his fuzz pedal amazing. And just about impossible to get (a Tym Seaweed).

edit: he plays for Earthless and is a monster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sicDBhLQo4U

[Nebu]

Like him or hate him, James is a master.  I thought you'd enjoy seeing how he does his job in a sort of unorthodox way.

Enjoy.

The camera placement is amazing.  

[Sky]

Who could hate James Taylor? We saw him a couple years back. I'm not too into folk music but he transcends the genre into just a wonderful warm listening experience.

Very cool, he's great at what he does.

[Sky]

I've been focusing on art the last couple years and I feel when I come back around to guitar I'm going to hit Stephane's stuff really hard. It's just sooo good, and he is willing to sit and talk like this video, I've talked with him about this stuff and it bums me out I don't study harder to be worth getting such great instruction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH-82YLTjaM

[Nebu]

For all of you that were forced to learn piano when you wanted to play guitar, I bring you THIS.

Creative people... love em.

[Sky]

I wish I had been forced to learn piano!

[Raph]

Almost no posts all YEAR? This cannot stand.

I went to a closing music store today because they were selling things for 50-70% off. Picked up guitar cables and the like on the cheap. All the instruments left were Chinese makers I'd never heard of. There was one all solid very nice looking Merida acoustic -- list $1800 for half that. Passed it up -- slightly too boomy for me. But they had a whole mess of concert ukuleles, and one lonely tenor. We're talking all solid wood $600 ukes. I grabbed the tenor -- solid spruce top, solid bookmatched sapele with a lovely sapwood figuring on both the back and sides, onboard electronics. Sounds pretty sweet. They had the soprano one right next to it -- looked like probably the same tree. Sound was almost identical. But of course, the tenor was sweeter and more playable.

They also had an all cherry wood soprano, but frankly I didn't like the sound of it as much.

If anyone else wants to take a flyer on mail order, or happens to be in the vicinity of Carlsbad CA, it's this place: https://audio-depot.com/ Also on Reverb here: https://reverb.com/shop/audio-depot

[Sky]

Taking up art has really put a crimp in my musical pursuits!

I still plonk away now and again, but it's mostly just noodling to keep the chops from disappearing entirely. I have started playing bass more regularly (via Rocksmith), because the 2015 SG Bass I picked up a while back is just such a joy to play. For guitar, still mostly playing my spanish nylon stringer. I've been toying with the idea of getting an EHX C9 (or B9 or Mel9, but iirc the C9 suits me best), but I just don't play enough to justify it right now (and art is expensive).

I also bought a cheesy little USB cassette deck to transfer a couple old band rehearsal tapes I found, but the build quality is so abysmal, that project stalled. I hate to spend the money to have them transferred, since they're just rehearsals and pretty bad (even the best audio quality one is when we were breaking in a new drummer). Don't want to spend much on a deck, either, because I'll only use it to transfer a handful of tapes and I hate reselling stuff. Blah.