Can I get an opinion? (Guitar content)

[Superman]

Wolfe: Sounds good. Seriously. The technical advice you're getting here is probably on target and well-meant. Just keep at it. Sounds good. FEEL it.

I learned to play guitar on a cheap six-string acoustic. In addition to poor action, it also had a VERY narrow neck, at the nut. A person with thick fingers would have no hope of playing that guitar. And of course, it was an acoustic so....it had thick strings. When I learned to play passably on that guitar, playing a Les Paul or a Strat was like.....It was like when you wear those sandbag things around your ankles all day, then take them off. You feel like you can fly.

Also, I happen to believe that many guitarists are using too-thin strings. Sure, it makes playing easier but it also makes the guitar sound more like a banjo.

Targa: I've been suggesting Over The Rainbow and, more often, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star at each of our rehearsals, but so far there's been no agreement.

[ramonesfreak]

i dont sit around studying this guy but when his vids come up in a search, i watch em. he incorporates a ton of good techniques and feeling that you can clearly hear. check out all his videos if you have time



your playing was excellent by the way. i dont mean to diss it. you have a great foundation from which to become superb with a little tweaking! have fun

[WolfeMacleod]

Originally Posted by ramonesfreak

i listened to it when you posted the thread but decided to hold off on giving my opinion. ive thought about it and see now that there are a few above who were thinking the same thing i was thinking...getting more from the notes.

maybe i can elaborate a little. you might want to work not only on your vibrato, but also your approach to how to play a note or series of notes. its a bit too complicated and abstract to describe this in writing but ill try.

this may sound strange, but when i listened to it, my first impression was that you were playing sitting down.

Yes, I was sitting. I can't play standing up. At all...
I slid and bent where I felt it was neccesary for this track, but you're right about my picking hand...I got enough to concetrate on just with the left hand. It's difficult to translate what I hear between the ears to what the hands do.

Originally Posted by ramonesfreak

i dont sit around studying this guy but when his vids come up in a search, i watch em. he incorporates a ton of good techniques and feeling that you can clearly hear. check out all his videos if you have time
....
your playing was excellent by the way. i dont mean to diss it. you have a great foundation from which to become superb with a little tweaking! have fun

I know who that guy is, I contacted him not long ago because of a video he made of a German-made Kortmann 335 which had my pickups in it. Freaking great sound he got out of that thing.

[ramonesfreak]

its difficult to play with feeling if you are "concentrating". in my opinion, if you are concentrating, its because you are not quite there yet. the only time concentration should come into it, is when you are learning something new. 10 years or so ago, i suddenly decided i want to play like merle travis....i was concentrating all the time. eventually i got to where i could make both hands flow pretty effortlessly without brain power but it took a solid year of about an hour a day

play more, keep it simple, slowly incorporate techniques and never give up if you enjoy playing. your certainly much better than a lot of people

[ramonesfreak]

your pickups do sound great!

i was looking into buying some P90 HB size but saw you didnt have any and couldnt wait for my current guitar project..ended up going with Bill Lawrence L609. Someday I would like to try your pickups though

[WolfeMacleod]

Originally Posted by ramonesfreak

your pickups do sound great!

i was looking into buying some P90 HB size but saw you didnt have any and couldnt wait for my current guitar project..ended up going with Bill Lawrence L609. Someday I would like to try your pickups though

I do, sort of. Depends on the guitar, really. I can make them for flat-topped guitar like SG's... or any other flat-tops that require a humbucker mounting ring. It replaces the ring entirely, and uses a slightly modified P-90 bobbin and base-plate assembly, but keeps the original magnet and coil arrangement... something that NONE of the others do. It's a static-mount liek a dog-ear P-90, so there's no height adjustments other than withthe poles. The Gibson P-94 has a coil more like a Tele bridge...tall and fat... and the Duncan Phat Cat has an "almost" P-90 coil that might be wound with 43awg wire. Change the coil geometry, change the sound.... a real P-90 coil doesn't fit under a humbucker-sized cover, which is somethign the others try to do...

It's a real PITA to make the cover, which is why I don't offer it as a regular pickup. Been looking into resin casting the parts lately.

[ramonesfreak]

it was for an SG standard...large pickguard, no rings. I checked your website a while back while researching and I think I read that they would be offered "soon". I also looked at the Harmonic Design Z90 but decided I could get 2 Bill Lawrence PUs for less than the price of one of those. The L609 is actually described as 70% jazzmaster, 30% P90...we'll see, as it should arrive later this week after waiting quite a while for them! Im pretty sure I will be happy with what I got but will look into yours for future projects.

[Jandrews]

Thanks Nostatic...that was amazing!

Dave Targa...sure, let's hear the wizard of oz theme...we're all friends here!

Rick...c'mon, man...let's hear your version of some VH discipleship!!

THanks,

JA

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by Jandrews

Thanks Nostatic...that was amazing!

Dave Targa...sure, let's hear the wizard of oz theme...we're all friends here!

Rick...c'mon, man...let's hear your version of some VH discipleship!!

THanks,

JA

I promise. I will do this. I just need to find a way to record it. I'll try with an iPhone tonight and see if it's at all recognizeable. I just don't have a single piece of recording equipment. None.

[WolfeMacleod]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

I promise. I will do this. I just need to find a way to record it. I'll try with an iPhone tonight and see if it's at all recognizeable. I just don't have a single piece of recording equipment. None.

You got about ten minutes to get to your local GC and pick up a mic and Blue Icicle.

[Rick Lee]

Ok, just got it with my iPhone. This is very quick and dirty, no warm-up, no thought put into it whatsoever. A little VH nugget at the end. I didn't have it too loud, so you can hear my volume pot clicking over the notes.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

I don't think I'll embarrass myself by posting anything!!

[ramonesfreak]

holy crap i thought for a second you were playing naked!

what was that pedal used for the VH nugget?

[Rick Lee]

That was a Boss chorus and digital delay. I had an MXR Phase 90 on the first part.

[WolfeMacleod]

Rick, very impressive volume control work at the end there.