Guitar thread

[stray]

Heh.. hey i followed your youtube link and saw your cliff vid too. Pretty good, man. You gotta a great feel for it. Bet it sounds great when you're really cranked up.

[Sky]

Yeah, it was much better when I was actually a bass player! Plus, running through a 2x15 with some dirt and a wah, loud enough to shake your molars. Part of why I get down on myself about guitar is that I was pretty damned good on the bass in my day. Ran into our first drummer a week ago and he wants to put together a Rush tribute and was pissed I don't play bass any more. I'd love to get into it again, playing bass is a lot of fun if you can find people who don't get intimidated by a good bass instrumentalist (vs a regular bassist). Just need about four more hours in the day. Wish I had more time to get back on the skins, too.

I should take the guitar bit off, it seems so silly and dated now.

[Sky]

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNzc1NDQ0NTY=.html

 

[stray]

Cool Otis Rush vid I've never seen on Youtube before (I keep track! lol.. )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsXK2zL2-yM


Hey, do you know he plays upside down? As in, he was a lefty, but never restrung.. just turned it upside down. What a trip

[Amarr HM]

That's a cool track I dig the band too. Being a leftie sometimes I'm lumped with playing that way when I'm at parties or at an impromptu jam & only guitars in the house are right hand. Interestingly I have found you can change up your phrasing a little and come up with stuff you wouldn't normally playing with the strings the right way, bit of a mindfuck you're thinking like maybe I should pratice this way around more often but never do it.

My old man gigs with a guy who plays that way http://www.eddeane.com/ he plays a similar style to Otis Rush when they are doing the Bluesy stuff but a bit more overdriven.

[stray]

Pretty cool vibe to that song, although I can't stand the rubbery sound of his strings.  Would love to hear his bluesy stuff.


Yeah, Otis Rush is the man. Guitar wise, singing wise.. Even looks cool. 

[penfold]

RIP Les Paul

This thread would have been alot shorter without Les.

[Nebu]

RIP Les Paul

This thread would have been alot shorter without Les.

Sad news. 

The picture was very avatar worthy.

[Sky]

Even though Les didn't like my SG, it's sad to see him go. He changed the world for the better, not many can say that. Throwing some of his instrumentals on for the afternoon.

Long live The Log!

[01101010]

Sad day for music in general. Multitrack recording is historical and often gets overlooked because of his awesomeness and the guitars...

[stray]

RIP

I've never owned a Les Paul..  I'm sad about that as well   Been wanting a standard one in black (with white pg). Only Gibson I've had is an SG too.

[Amarr HM]

Pretty cool vibe to that song, although I can't stand the rubbery sound of his strings.  Would love to hear his bluesy stuff.


Yeah, Otis Rush is the man. Guitar wise, singing wise.. Even looks cool. 

It's hard to say if it's his sound really cause everything on Irish TV tends to come out sounding like guff, I think they just hire shoddy engineers.

But yeh Otis I'll be honing in on that guy's stuff. Les Paul had some good innings I hope I'm rocking it to 94.

[stray]

could be the amp too.. some pickups/amps give acoustics that rubbery sound.. i just never dug it. well, except when it's supposed to be rubbery like with a classical guitar

you're in ireland?

[Amarr HM]

Actually it could be the delay/looping pedal he is using that has created that rubbery sound & yes I'm Irish, the land of Guinness & Rory Gallagher

[stray]

That's cool. Well, I bet you can sing too, right? heh

[Amarr HM]

I used to think I could after a few pints like any bonafide Irish man, but to be honest I'm a terrible singer, I can play a bit of harmonica though.

[Sky]

When I was shopping for a decent guitar a few years ago, the first guitar I tried was a Black Beauty style with triple buckers. Not a fan of the baseball bat necks, though that may have changed since I last tried one out, because my playing has become a lot better/different.

[Miguel]

Sky, did you get those tapes converted to digital tracks yet?

I'm still waiting to see the F13-mixathon contest.

[Sky]

No, I won't be able to afford it until I pay off my truck. The tape has sat in a closet for almost twenty years, a few more won't hurt. Hopefully.

I've been SUPER LAZY about recording, the only thing I've done in an age was that little Jessica jam.

[Raph]

Snapped a string on the Blueridge (acoustic) over the weekend. Figured it was a good chance to strip it all down, polish, apply fretboard oil, and in general baby it, and get a new set of Elixirs on it. I fish broken pick bits out of the inside, even slide the pick-up out from under the saddle to make sure I get the gunk out.

Get all the way through it, tune it up, and notice a 2nd fret buzz while tuning it up. Hurm. But coming to pitch fixed it. Still, slightly worrisome.

Then I try it plugged in, and there's basically no signal. With both knobs all the way up there's almost nothing through the amp. Very perplexing. I start wondering if I broke a lead on the pickup. I try half a dozen things... check it's not the cable, did I have a knob turned down on the pedal...

Then I notice that the bridge saddle fell out while I was polishing, and I had restrung the guitar without it in there at all. Doh. Turns out undersaddle pickups do better if there's a saddle touching them.

Sounds AND looks great now. Waiting for the overly jangly sound of fresh strings to subside a bit though.

[stray]

I don't think I've ever used elixir acoustics. Really dislike the electric versions though.

[Sky]

Yeah, I also dislike coated strings. I'll probably need to replace the strings on my baby soon, I never have so I'm not sure what it's strung with. They're coated, though, and the coating is shredded and everywhere.

Turns out the tuner I hate for my electric is great for the baby (the alvarez has a built-in jobby). It's tough to tune the baby for some reason, so that's nice. I've been playing it a lot the last week or so, been playing a lot more in general. Playing the baby out on the patio for strummy singy type stuff (Wild Horses, One, Old Man, Wish You Were Here, Melissa, On the Road Again, Catfish), still trying to get the coordination down. My strumming really suffers when I sing, I'm working on it but it's sooo tough.

Also been playing the electric a bit more, they're blitzing HD Woodstock content for a few marketing campaigns right now, so there's some good viewing. A whole bunch of footage I hadn't seen and HD versions of some stuff I have. Always fun jamming with Santana or Sly, or getting vocally inspired by Janice. Oddly, Jimi is one of my least favorites. He really turns me off when he's doing his noise lead thing, it may have been revolutionary at the time, but to me it's noise. Actually I probably like Jimi more for his rhythm work than his leads! And Shankar and Havens are a nice inspiration to jam to, as well.

[Nebu]

Elixir strings remind me of listening to cds through a tube preamp.  They take the bite off the attack.  If you like a strong attack (as someone like Sky may), they're not going to be your thing.  I play with elixirs because they hold their sound well over weeks of unuse.  I prefer the brighter tone of uncoated strings, but they lose their shine when I leave my guitar idle for weeks to play my bass more. 

[Raph]

I dislike the snappy jangly bright tone of new strings -- my playing depends on a variety of tones, and I find that too much of the metal jangle limits that. Elixirs are quieter out of the box, fight the oils in my fingers a lot better (I kill uncoated strings FAST), and were a must when playing outdoors all the time for the Cub Scouts.

[Sky]

I love old crappy strings, I generally only change them when they break. Taking the bite off the attack might be good for me, except I don't like the coatings.

[stray]

Yeah, I've been looking for the old crappy robert johnson sound.. Can't do anything with brightness.   Classicals sound pretty great when bright though.

[Sky]

Got in the new Mastodon the other day, really getting me back into the metal vibe. Such a great album. The drummer is almost exactly how I wish I could play, and the bass player is a monster at creating melody.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nkeBG0nh84
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YloOBK60c04
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVTat27lkmM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDZckzjjK5Y

Rocking the strat at one point, and a cool 9-string at about 4 minutes.

I want to go play some guitar (or drums) right now! Should have my drum riser set up in my basement soon, I'm psyched.

[Sky]

Despite the metal vibe I had, the gods of creativity have given me a new country tune (Get Off My Back) and a new blues tune (Old Black Magic).  Strange are their ways. I'll try to at least get a taste of them up if anyone's interested, you know I never finish things :)

Saturday we saw the Allmans with Widespread Panic opening. Not a jam band fan, and frankly those fans are annoying (if usually harmless). Last time we saw the ABB, Ratdog was opening. Both jam bands feature mediocre songs with rambling, centerless jams. At least Widespread Panic features Jimmy Herring, who fucking jams and elevates the band when he's playing. He sat in with ABB for a couple amazing jams, including a phenomenal three guitar Liz Reed.

[stray]

Look forward to it! I know I have problems recording too. I think I actually just hate the recording process. At least if I'm the one who has to do everything.

My little vox amp has turned to shit (can't repair it.. it's digital). I think I should save for a Line 6. They're better anyways. I like the digital thing, despite the weird problems I'm having (seems to be some short, where the volume kicks down a notch, and everything gets "tinny". I'm not going to even bother figuring it out).

[Raph]

Been ages, but I posted up a new recording. Old old old song though. http://www.raphkoster.com/2009/08/30/the-sunday-song-the-sculptor/

[Sky]

This has got to be legit:

for sale 1958 gibson ele gutair - $60

I have a 1958 gibson ele gutair for sale body has been refinish has bran new saddle all org keys only needs pick ups put in hollow body literst gutair you will ever hold in you hand color metelic red use to have four volume switch pick up s were a double set of hummbuc asking 60.00 obo call gary anytime

[stray]

lol it might have made sense if he just said "gibson" (then you'd assume he was a dumbass just referring to shape, not exact model)



not sure where else to fit this. i decided to stop thumbing my nose for a second.... and discovered that my chemical romance is one fucking amazing band. i wrote them off as typical emo for years now (kinda surprised that the singer is older than me).

[Sky]

I've always liked MCR, they seem pretty creative and talented for what they do. Ran into an old guitar buddy who says my second drummer is trying to get him into a project. They're both metal guys, and the stuff they listen to is a lot heavier than the Mastodon type stuff I've been listening to lately. But they're both very talented and the guitarist has a career, kids, etc so it fits in nicely with the whole "not full time band" idea I've been thinking about. Too bad they're about six years too late, I'm way past my metal peak. And they'd want me to play bass, because they both know what a badass bassist I was. Ah, well.

Lately I've mostly been playing the Baby, it's got tone and voice that just won't quit. Whether I'm playing a blues or a classical piece, it sounds so much better than my Alvarez that it's kind of embarrassing for Alvarez imo. I've also been working on a few country tracks. They're fairly difficult since they're playing and singing simultaneously, which is still a barrier for me. Lots of blues where there is space to play then sing, but country guys are usually strumming along and even simple strums trip me up vocally. Bunch of Willie stuff, a couple Cash tunes, some odds and ends that might go well at the local bar, Friends in Low Places kinda stuff.

I wish I could focus on one thing, heh.

[stray]

It's funny, but I almost want to say MCR delivers on just about everything I'd want out of a rock band. It's crazy actually... how they sort of meet this checklist I had in my head. And I was writing them off the whole time simply on what amounts to appearances.

I also wrote Billy Corgan off for the longest time for the same reasons (and it's funny that Gerard Way resembles him..).


Sounds like you should save up for a real Taylor ;)


I have lousy right hand technique, so that's the only thing that trips me up when trying to sing. I can sing fine when doing up-down strumming motions. Problem is, a lot of my own songs aren't like that.

[Oz]

Hey, Sky.

is your baby the spruce or mahogany one?  just curious.

Edit:  nevermind, you've got the mahogany one.  Search function FTW!