Musician thread

[tzrider]

On the split coil vs. single coil topic:


youtu.be/Ugy165V8llk

One of the things he briefly mentions is pickup placement. This is actually a pretty big deal in the tone of any pickup and I think accounts for the dissatisfaction people sometimes have with split coils, where the active coil isn't always in an ideal location along the string.

 

[Hooli]

I'll have to look into this when I get home today. Probably some comparison videos on YouTube so I can see the difference. I'm looking at replacing the humbuckers on one of my guitars anyway and have been kind of stumped on options.

I've tried some imported pickups from Guitarfetish (I know, that name right? :laughing) They may not have the pedigree of name brand "boutique" pickups (Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio, EMG, et al) but for the price they're worth giving a try. If you like them, fine. If not, you're not exactly out a bunch of money. On the flip side you can always pick up used Duncans or the like off Ebay for nearly the same price. :thumbup

On a side note, as I was sitting in the chiropractor's office today waiting for my adjustment, I happened to recognize Lionel Ritchie's 80's pop song "Dancing on the Ceiling" playing in the background. Didn't really pay attention to it, until I heard the guitar solo. :wow Had to Google it right there. Turned out to be a session player, Carlos Rios. Such great tone and phrasing! :thumbup

 

[tzrider]

Guitar, or firewood - you decide:

 

[poach]

I’ve never seen a bridge like that. What is it?

And that lil protuberance between the E and A? It looks like it’s happy to see me.

 

[Hooli]

I’ve never seen a bridge like that. What is it?

Washburn Wonderbar.

 

[poach]

^^^Well, that was an interesting rabbit hole. Thx!

In other news, I had mentioned that I play to a little old guy at the gym. He said he was an accomplished vocalist and we should get together. Ummm, sure gramps. Whatever.

Flash forward a bit and he sends me a vid of a guy playing “peaceful easy feeling” and singing amazing grace over it. Says that’s the one he wants to start with and we can “have a glass of wine” and work through it.

Not sure whether to be flattered or alarmed.:laughing At any rate it took me 10min to learn the barebones and it might a couple hours to learn a reasonable facsimile of the solo, so....

 

[tzrider]

I’ve never seen a bridge like that. What is it?

And that lil protuberance between the E and A? It looks like it’s happy to see me.

Hooli identified the bridge. If the thing you're asking about is on the bridge behind the saddles (which are rollers), it's another place to screw in the whammy bar. The bridge seems to have been made symmetrical to work on right or left-handed guitars.

 

[poach]

Ah, I see now. What I mistook for a protuberance(which would be really weird)is actually a trem arm mounting hole.

The internet “experts” seem to be torn on whether it’s the coolest trem ever or falls way short of FR performance.

How do you like it?

 

[tzrider]

I don't use a trem all that much, so mostly don't care. I originally made the guitar with a gold fixed bridge, which I liked better. I put the trem on there in order to have a locking nut to stabilize tuning. The neck has no heel behind the upper frets and is a little more flexible than some, so there was a tendency for strings to slide back and forth over the nut and the guitar tuning would drift. At the time, I couldn't find a locking nut separately from a trem. In hindsight, I might have been better off installing the nut but not the trem but I was trem-curious.

That said, I can abuse this trem quite a bit and the tuning is more stable than most setups I've tried. It doesn't really flutter like a modern tremolo, but is fairly sensitive. It will mount on any guitar you can screw a bridge to, though I had to shim under this one because it was intended for instruments where the fingerboard is parallel to the guitar. I made this guitar with a 5 degree (or thereabouts) rearward tilt.

 

[poach]

As a child of the late 70’s early 80’s I was more trem-besotted than curious. All the acrobatics and bad horsie stuff were so new and amazing after Peaches&Herb.:laughing

I keep 4 guitars in stands within reach at all times nowadays, only one is ever trem equipped.

Thanks for sharing your axe man. To me it represents a whole lot of work, not firewood.

 

[Hooli]

As a child of the late 70’s early 80’s I was more trem-besotted than curious. All the acrobatics and bad horsie stuff were so new and amazing after Peaches&Herb.:laughing

I keep 4 guitars in stands within reach at all times nowadays, only one is ever trem equipped.

Admit it, the late EVH made an impression on a generation of guitarists. "Stairway to Heaven" was replaced by wang-bar antics (and two-hand tapping) in Guitar Centers nationwide. :rofl

 

[tzrider]

Admit it, the late EVH made an impression on a generation of guitarists. "Stairway to Heaven" was replaced by wang-bar antics (and two-hand tapping) in Guitar Centers nationwide. :rofl

I was talking about this just this morning with my wife; I can't decide who was the larger influence between EVH and Hendrix. They both left a mark, that's for sure.

As an opening act, Hendrix made more than one guitar hero of his time think, "I've got to follow that?" EVH had to make people feel that way too. :laughing

 

[poach]

Admit it, the late EVH made an impression on a generation of guitarists. "Stairway to Heaven" was replaced by wang-bar antics (and two-hand tapping) in Guitar Centers nationwide. :rofl

I'm a shameless evh fanboi. Even in the VanHagar era, that man had more in his back pocket than all the pretenders put together imho. But my foundational guys prior were:

-Ritchie Blackmore
-Tony Iommi
-Randy Rhoads
-David Gilmour
-Leo Kottke

 

[Hooli]

Today's trivia: Eddie claimed that his biggest influence was Eric Clapton. In fact, he once stated that he couldn't stand Hendrix.

 

[tzrider]

Jason, on the multi effects topic, check out the Neural DSP Quadcortex.

 

[poach]

^^^Can confirm the tones in the Neural DSP plug-ins are phenomenal. I use em all the time.


On a separate subject, has anyone tried Band-In-A-Box or products like it? I'm pretty close to going all in and buying a good bass as well as a high end drum plug-in(Getgood drums etc) for recording my ideas and I'm just wondering if going the all software route with a BIAB type product would be better.

Seems like a bit of a cheat though...

 

[tzrider]

This comes down to preferences, but personally as a listener I connect with live performances. If you can fool me, I’d probably connect with that too.

For demos, a BIAB seems totally practical.

 

[Kornholio]

Jason, on the multi effects topic, check out the Neural DSP Quadcortex.

It looks cool as hell, and appears to be featured-out as all hell...but that price, though... :laughing

 

[tzrider]

I know. I shouldn’t want for anything at this point, but I’m gassing over that thing.

 

[poach]

Now, now boys. Both of you, repeat after me:

“I deserve this. I’m good enough. I shred enough. And doggone it, people like me!”